The conference went well

Posted in After treatment, Bumpboobs, Fun, Travel by

Okay I’m heading for the bed because tonight I need to stay up late (like past ten) so that I can review the Ukrainia concert that is going to be happening. Honestly, the review will probably go like this: they were awesome! And we danced.  Because I’m no music critique.

But I wanted to first stop in here and tell you about the conference. It went great. Great! The entire audience was composed (with a few exceptions) of nurses. Wonderful, beautiful, ever-learning nurses.  I know that as a patient, I might over-idolize the people who helped me (and demonize, since my mood can change depending on the drugs getting pumped) but when it comes to nurses, well, can they get enough praise? Like I said in my earlier post, during treatment there was no way I could handle saying what I really felt – but last Wednesday in the Midland country golf course, Catherine told it like it was.

And how they had helped.

What was inspiring.

How the journey became easier.

Which was all down to simple humanity. People being kind.

Anyhoo – they seemed to enjoy the speech, enjoy my way of presenting (Dad was all, “don’t stand behind the podium, get a clip-on mic and no power point. So I followed his urgings to, I believe, my benefit. It was a great talk), and most importantly they enjoyed my content. Hugs followed. Many, many hugs.

So it was a day to smile. Zsolt and I had a small vacation from Ottawa, and the conference was really enjoyable. Two thumbs up for a positive experience. May there be many more in the future.

Give them the truth

Posted in After treatment, Bumpboobs, Writing by

Good afternoon, lovely people. Welcome to another great day 🙂

I’m in a good mood today – and you wanna know why? Because I’ve finally finished prepping for my talk. Okay, not exactly finished. (My mom has a surprise waiting when she gets home from work: me giving her this speech!). But the structure has been hammered out, and I feel good about the contents.

You know, when I agreed to give a talk on the ‘patient experience’ for this upcoming Palliative Care conference, I knew that going back to the dark times might be difficult, but I didn’t expect it to also be relieving. In this talk I dig down into some of the hard packed crap that made treatment particularly difficult, and I’ll be exploring it with the very people whose jobs are to help alleviate that stress. So how great is this? Certainly a group I can appreciate, and now I get to show them a little of the ‘hard truth’ I never brought with me into the hospital.

None of my nurses knew of Bumpyboobs during treatment. None of the doctors knew either. Because really, they inspired a lot of that content, and I didn’t want any grudges held against me.

But this Wednesday in Orillia I get to be honest. Really, truly honest. And we get to go over the highs and the lows.

I’m looking forward, and hoping my knee caps don’t shake too much.  (Oh, I used to debate in high school and as I was up there talking, my knee caps would shake and shake and shake. Good thing I wasn’t carbonated.)

On a different note – I think November ought to be the month I gear down and get internal. Falling leaves, preparations for winter, the lessening of sun – can there be a better moment for down shifting? What with the Writers Festival blog, Narrative Nipple design, the palliative care talk, and the writing course, I’ve totally neglected any actual, love-of-my-life writing. There are projects that need completing and characters who deserve my attention.

And so November will be a time to breath. I’ll keep you updated on how far that takes me. Resolutions are not promises, but I really do want this time to write. (And not be distracted, Catherine, so stop surfing the internet!)

You know, there was a time when I craved a busy life, a life that wasn’t restrained to the treatment chair or bed. And now I’m living that beautiful reality. It feels good. It feels great.  

And today I’m happy. 🙂

Greasing up for breast cancer

Posted in After treatment, Bumpboobs, Fun by

Well it’s ten p.m and I should be going to bed and not blogging, but Zsolt and Daniel are behind me watching “Maximum Overdrive” so what the heck.

Guess where I was tonight? The Mayfair. They were hosting a fundraising event for the Canadian Cancer Society, specifically raising money for breast cancer. Katie from The Bald and the Beautiful brought me into the know of tonight’s event, and I have to say it was a fun evening.

Firstly – I met Katie. She’s way too young to have gotten breast cancer, but nevertheless counters the crap  with ample amounts of determination and involvement, helping spread awareness to other young people about the dangers of BC. We both write blogs for Facingcancer.ca, and this afternoon was our first ‘in person’ meeting.

So there we were in Starbucks drinking our green tea, having our first ever chat, and I swear, it must have been a conversation to catch the ears. Literally thirty cementers from us was this long haired woman trying to focus on her papers, but yeah right. I don’t mean to be self-absorbed, but we had a good conversation rolling, and it was all about breast cancer – how does that not attract attention?  (It’s like eavesdropping on a couple who are having their first date. I don’t want to listen in, but I can’t help it; they are so fascinating. So very hilarious and fascinating.)

Maximum Overdrive Update: Okay. Emilio Estevez is now feeding gas to the angry eighteen wheelers, who moments ago just shot dead the waitress when she ran out of the restaurant and screamed, “we made you. We made you!”  ACDC is now ringing out with ‘Hells Bells’. Rock and roll.

Anyhow, so after our Starbucks meet and greet, we headed over to the Mayfair to enjoy the pre-show fun. That included buying popcorn with really terrible butter, and getting a quick manicure and face treatment. Lovely. They woman who was doing the spa session had me put a mud mask on my lips. But I have to say, it worked really well. These pink puckers are smooth.

And that’s when the real fun began.

Grease Lightening, baby.

Wow! That movie is all camp and cheese. It’s been so, so long since I’ve watched it in full, I didn’t remember how charmingly cheesy this film gets – and Danny Zuko was brilliant – he was so incredibly cheesy, it was an absolute hoot. The women behind us were singing, hooting, clapping, and shouting.

But wowzers, it’s totally crass too. Funny crass – but some of the lyrics! Some of the lines! Beneath all that grease and hair spray and push up bras and ice cream colouring is a truly racy movie. Oh, the language. It was hilarious.

And then Danny and Sandy flew up into the sky in their pimped up hot rod, and the credits rolled.

Overall I think it was a good night. Great to meet a fellow blogger, and really fun to go to this film. The showing was a bit sparse – certainly someone needs to be paid to do some marketing for that group. But otherwise, really fun.

Anyhow – Estevez is now formulating a plan to escape the angry trucks and machines. I think this Stephen King movie (also incredibly cheesy) is nearly over.  Oops, there goes a tracker driving over a few cars.  Oh crap, and here’s a killer ice cream truck. Well anyhow, the film is climaxing, so it’s time to stop writing.

Have a great night, and a lovely tomorrow.

Bye-o!