How to set up a RSS Reader

Posted in Fun, Life, Reading, Writing by

This morning I was at the coffee shop with my mom (again), and as we sat there drinking our drinks (me: green tea, she: soy-milk latte) the conversation rolled around to blogs, facebook, and social media in general. You see, my mom often mentions that she’d like to do more with the internet, but having so many projects on the go, time is not always available.

(Never mind that we spent our morning at a coffee shop, because tea with people you care about is, in my opinion, a valuable use of time. It offers connection, reflection, and stillness. Something everyone can use.  . . even my husband, Zsolt, though he 100% believes it’s ridiculous to pay for a cup of tea when we could brew and entire pot at home. But he’s a man, and that’s just man logic.)

So, anyhow, I suggested, once again, she learn the wonderful world of the RSS Reader.

Have you heard of a RSS Reader? Because for ages I had no clue what this was, but heard it mentioned occasionally  . . . some pro blogging site had been discussing those ‘share’ links at the bottom of posts, and mentioned that a really good blog will always have a ‘RSS Reader’ option.

(Unfortunately this blog doesn’t have that link. I’m no WordPress Wizard, and haven’t a clue how to add one. But thankfully wordpress works in RSS easily, all you need to do is add the website address.  And I guess it’s likely you didn’t understand that last sentence. But hey, if you keep reading this post, you will by the end! Exciting prospect, no?)

Okay – because I’m such a huge fan of online ideas, and online community, and learning through experience, and keeping up on local happenings, and having my interests targeted . . . I ‘heart’ my RSS Reader, and think you might as well. So here is a very short introduction. There are tons of options online for getting a reader, but I use Google Reader and it’s damn convenient, therefore that’s what I’ll be sharing.

Right. . .

RSS Reader: A page that groups your favourite blogs, and presents new posts collectively on one page. This basically means you don’t need to bookmark a blog or subscribe by email. (Unless you want to, ’cause that works better for some.) Just add your blog of choice to the reader, and all notification of updates will arrive to this page.

Pros: Eliminates email clutter. Cuts down on browsing time. Allows you to preview a post before deciding if it’s worth the read.

Cons: Well, you actually need to set it up. I guess that’s half the battle. The other half is using it – but I check mine every morning like I check the news.

Steps:

1. Go to Google’s RSS Reader sign in page. If you have a gmail account, sign in using that username and password. If you don’t, then create an account.

2. You’ll be taken to a page that welcomes you to the reader. If you love reading detailed instructions – go nuts! Otherwise, hover over that red button that says ‘subscribe’ and click it. Here is a picture, I’ve drawn in an arrow, which won’t appear on your screen.

3. After clicking subscribe, a little box will appear below the button. Here’s what you do with that box:

  • Open your blog of choice in a new window.
  • Copy the entire web address of that blog.
  • Paste it into the little box on the Google Reader page.
  • Click Add.

You have now added a blog to your reader. This can be done with nearly any blog online – so whether you like to follow someone’s cooking page, comics, breast cancer journeys, inspirational people, news sites, TED, local event blogs – whatever, just cut, paste and add them to your reader. (And if that doesn’t work try a CNTRL + F with the phrase ‘RSS’ to see if they have a reader friendly version.)

4. Choose the settings you prefer. I like to have a list of blog titles when opening my reader (for quick scanning), other people might prefer the title and the first paragraph of text. Just play around with the ‘View settings’ button and find your preference.

If you click on a title, it will open a preview. If you click the title again, it will open the actual blog page.

5. Now that your reader is set up, you can keep abreast with all  the latest posts very easily. It’s like a miracle if you are involved in social networking, or enjoy getting your news online. Loads of wonderful people have blogs, and it’s fantastic to follow their stories – pick people you admire, choose topics that interest you – the great thing about a reader is it’s completely tailored to you, by you.

And this is what I do, because I hate online clutter. Every time I scroll the page of new posts, and read/skip whatever appeals or doesn’t, I then click “Mark all as read” – and ‘poof!’ they are eliminated from the screen. All cleaned up.

 Okay – so this post isn’t for everyone, I get that. But sometimes there are tools that are simply so worthwhile, I have to write about them. Of course, for many people setting up this reader isn’t worth the time (cause you only read a few things online, and I’m totally honoured to be one of them). But if you follow more than, say, three blogs – try the RSS Reader and see how it feels.

I’m sold, even though it’s free.

And that’s what I told my mother this morning. I even put an app on her tablet so she can quickly access the posts . . . whether she uses it is another issue. But I’ve tried. Sometimes that’s all you can do.

My American Idol eggs

Posted in After treatment, Bumpboobs, Fertility by

“What a beautiful uterus,” says Shannon the technician. “All dressed up in her Sunday best.”

Yep, that’s my uterus – a real girly girl, getting all dolled up before trips to the fertility clinic. I tell her it’s no big deal, just wear sweat pants like me and my lulu’s – but no, she likes turning heads when she leaves the house.

So my uterus is on the display screen and looking good. Having established that ( and having taken a picture with her fancy machine) the technician takes a short break in her ultra sound scanning so I can go to the washroom. One hour before the appointment I drank about half a litre of water. Zsolt was pushing for the full litre, “Come on, drink more!” and I pushed back, saying, “I’m full! I can’t manage another drop!” What I didn’t mention was that I was mainly full because (only two minutes before) I’d stuffed two cookies down my throat in a bit of a ‘need a snack, oh, there’s a snack’ quick-fix indulgence. But nevertheless, I drank the minimum required amount of liquid one hour before my ultra sound, which meant by the time we arrived at the fertility clinic and were escorted in for the scan, I was bursting to use the washroom.

A minute later and I’m back in the scan room, relieved of holding it in, and with a sheet wrapped around my lower body (trousers and pants removed) as the technician has me sit back on the table.

Earlier, as Zsolt and I waited to be called for the test, Shannon (the technician) came out into the waiting lounge and asked, “Catherine?” To which I replied, “That’s me!” and hurried over to her side. She then asked, “aren’t you taking him with you?” So Zsolt, who is used to not accompanying me on my tests because generally speaking, nurses at the hospitals here in Ottawa are not keen on a second person in the room, put away the Playbook and joined us for the scanning. Today he was allowed to hold my hand as Shannon investigated the status of my ovaries, and I’m really thankful for that. It means we both know more about the situation.

(I’m strong in my belief that a patient ought to be allowed a source of support during tests and procedures. Even if they are sitting across the room, it so helps to have a loved one nearby during those challenging moments.)

So I’m on the table, and we’re getting down to the real stuff here. In goes the ultra sound wand. (In where? You guess.) After a few uncomfortable attempts to capture my left ovary, where she pushed down on my abdomen and prods upwards with the wand, we have a clear picture.

Basically, we are examining my ovaries today to learn about the eggs. Now, Shannon is not a doctor, so the results of my scan cannot be 100% confirmed until someone trained for years up on years in ultra sounding has examined the images, but she does explain what she sees.

“Basically your eggs are like contestants for American Idol. There are so many, that you can’t see the individual people (i.e. eggs) on a scan. But every month there are try outs, and the people who succeed for those try outs (i.e. eggs that try to ovulate) and get through to the competition are given costumes and makeovers – and then we can see them. (i.e. the follicles change in a way that makes them apparent in an ultra sound).”

So, looking at my left ovary . . . not too many contestants made it to the try outs. The blob that represents my ovary is small, and she counts only three follicles. That is a low number. (But better than zero, in my opinion.)

Onto Ms Right. Moving to the other side, with more compression and squeezing of my abdomen, she takes a picture of my right ovary and then explains what she sees.

“See how it’s so much larger?”

And it is – it’s like three times larger than my left ovary. Apparently, according to Shannon, the left ovary often takes the hit when it comes to declining fertility. Mine certainly has. But in my right there are seven follicles. That’s not horrible.

Apparently, the minimum number of follicles (eggs that made the competition) the doctors are happy to see in women when combining numbers from both left and right is eleven. Eleven. My combined number was ten. Ten.

Therefore, I have low fertility levels . . . but . . . well, ten is almost eleven, right?

“You might have to get on that earlier than other women,” she suggests. What Shannon means is, I ought to be trying for a baby now as opposed to later.

Which is more easily said than done, considering I’m only one year out of treatment. But Zsolt and I have a plan, and it involves waiting at least another year before trying. And in the meanwhile, I’m on tamoxifen and trying to keep this body healthy.

The truth is, there are more tests they could run, more scans they can take – because knowing the state of my eggs is really only a starting point. But I promised Dr Canada to abstain from the fertility yellow brick road . . . and though I agreed to have my eggs tested (because I WANT to know), there will be no further investigations for quite a while. Yes, I have to go back and get my blood taken on day “21” of my period, so we can know whether I’m actually ovulating those American Idol eggs . . . but that’ll be the end of things for now.

Fertility can become so confusing, so overwhelming, and so panic-inducing after having had chemotherapy. Last summer when I thought I couldn’t have children, that was totally crushing. This past Autumn when the doctor gave me some hope – that was relieving. But one way or another, things are going to work out, and I have faith in that eventuality. Chasing down this information is a good thing: I look forward to learning the results because then, finally, I can plan for the future with a clear picture of the options. But there are times to step back too, and after this upcoming consultation – that’ll be my time to step away from the babies and just focus on here and now.

Maybe you know what it’s like to run this fertility race? If you want to share, please do  – it will help others reading this post who are hoping to learn what comes next.

What was your experience?

And in the meanwhile, have yourself a lovely loved-filled day. See you next week.