Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

Primary care physician (for general care) Well woman exams Dentist Dermatologist for the vitiligo Oncologist Breast Reconstruction Surgeon (still continuing) Lymphoedema Masseuse Various tests scheduled by any one of them And these are just MY appointments, far less the schedule to include the kids' appointments. To get everything in and still be somewhat productive in my job requires precision coordination around early morning appointments, lunch appointments and late afternoon appointments. Sometimes I feel being spontaneous and taking the day off or going out to lunch is out of my reach and scary - who can afford to be spontaneous when everything hinges on the wheels turning just so at the appointed time? Perhaps spontaneity is overrated, but I sure would like the opportunity to try it every now and then.

Over New Years I visited with a cousin M of mine. She was very interested in finding out if we still had Lucas on his regimented schedule. Apparently she thought that that was a bad thing (mind you, this particular cousin has no children). Now, even though I have 4 timers going in the morning to get us through the breakfast-dress-and-drop-to-school routine, I feel we are much less restrictive than we used to be. (Are you still stuck on the 4 timers?) As I explained to her, really the only thing we are basically uncompromising about is his sleep. He watches more TV, plays more video games and is forced to eat less of his food than his peers (or so I believe). But he has to be in bed and lights out by 8:00pm..maybe 8:10 on a weekend and if we are really crazy - 8:15 on holidays. (July 4th, sleep-overs and international travel are exceptions). Anyways, I thought about what M said, and it struck me, she said, "... we weren't on a strict schedule and we turned out ok."...