The Other "C" Word

And body rehab begins. I started on my low carb diet yesterday, actually looking to follow the Weight Watcher's plan again without the weekly weigh in. I was graduated from the stationary bicycle to the elliptical machine in pt yesterday, and continued to work with weights, increasing the number of sets rather than the weight load. I still suck at balancing on my left leg, but I think I sucked at that even before I had surgery. Then it was four hours of Booz work, followed up by meeting Wayne at the gym at Schofield to start upper body weight training again. I'm getting back into a groove, I have to!

I know that the "c" word has many connotations, and although "can't" resonated most loudly with me over the weekend, there is one that is even more oppressive: "cancer." So many people in my life have been touched by the disease. My father's baby brother died of Hodgkins and Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, his mother of advanced lung cancer at the ripe age of 82. My mother is a breast cancer survivor. My friend Janet's mother is not. I go to the dermatologist anywhere from 2-4 times a year to deal with actinic keratosis -- pre-skin cancer cells. My father has had to have a chemical facial peel to deal with his skin cancer cells. My high school health teacher's wife just died of lukemia.

And now my sister's mother in law has been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer, very advanced. They took her to Sloane Kettering last Friday, but the results are only with my sister and brother in law. They haven't told her, or her husband. This is a horrible disease, with even more horrible treatment that doesn't even truly cure a person.

It's October -- breast cancer awareness month. Do yourself a favor. If you are 40 or over, schedule a mammogram (boys get breast cancer too, by the way). Mine is due in November. Find a cancer walk and either donate money or your own two feet to walk it. Susan G. Komen foundation has hundreds of them. Wear someone's name on your shirt and walk either in celebration, or in memory. 1 in 5 women will be struck by the disease. Early diagnosis is the only saving grace, so do your self exams and get those mammograms. Especially if someone in your family has already been diagnosed.

I'm registering Wayne and me to walk the October 19th race for the cure in Honolulu. I hope some of the rest of you do the same!

Aloha!