Cancer Bloggers: More Catching Up

I've been slow to get around to all my favorite cancer blogs since the big trip, but here are some more updates.

Of course, the list of my favorite cancer blogs keeps growing, so now it takes more time to stay up with everyone, but that's a good thing.

John
One of the newest, and the only guy among my cancer blogger friends, is John, who's been having kind of a tough time (my perception--he sounds great) with oral cancer.

John had to have all his teeth pulled and dentures made before starting radiation therapy for his cancer.

He wrote a post thanking all his doctors:

Kudos to the Doctors

That's great to read. I get a lot of e-mail from people who have been treated very badly by doctors or other medical folks.

Dubutaunt
After kissing a lot of frogs (haven't we all?), Debs has met The One!

She writes: Had a wonderful visit with my sweetie, Tim, (yes, he is now officially the debu_sweetie) last week here in San Antonio. He was my eHarmony match. Yeah. I know. It's Zoe's fault. If there is a male version of me, it's Tim.

Best of all, he lives in SEATTLE, and Debs and the incredible Zoe are coming up to visit later this month. And they'll all be coming to dinner at my house, so I can check out the Debu__Sweetie. I plan to lure Zoe away from her mother (did I say I've always wanted a daughter?) with the litter of kittens I will be fostering. (Kittens arrive this evening.)

Actually, Debs has agreed that I can be an honorary auntie. So I guess I'll only get to keep Zoe for an afternoon.

Read all about it on her blog:

Thems Some Lofty Goals, Zkat

Amorette
Amorette, who is pregnant with twins, and who I want to adopt as my little sister (Do you notice a theme here--are these people becoming my family? I think so), had a scare this past week. Her waters broke, and she ended up in the hospital over the weekend.

She's home now, on strict bedrest--flat on her back, until she gets to 24 weeks, then she'll be in the hospital for the rest of the pregnancy. Babies' heartbeats are strong, and they are kicking away.

So I don't know how much she'll be able to blog over the next few weeks, but she said it was OK for me to write about this.

Send positive energy Amorette's way (She lives in Ohio, so in that direction, please). And the magic number is 24. She needs to carry those babies to 24 weeks, at least.

24-24-24-24-24-24-24-24-24-24-24-24-24-24-24-24

I did my positive-energy-support-thing by knitting two baby hats for the twins. I'm going to take a picture before I mail them off to Amorette, but I won't post it till she gets the hats, because I want her to be surprised. Well, OK, here's a photo of a detail of the hats.

Next challenge: baby socks! I've never knitted a sock before, and there's all this mystique about "turning the heel," but I have a pattern and I'm game. And the lady at the yarn store said she'd help me if I get stuck. They do a lot of that.

Amorette's blog

Oh, I ordered a book that has some of Amorette's bentos in it. It's called "Face Food." You can see it, and order a copy, on Amazon:

Face Food

While on bedrest, Amorette is hard at work on photos and text for another book that will feature some of her bento art. She made me one for my birthday:

Birthday Bento

Carver
Carver, who takes the most amazing photos, has been living in a drought for six months now. Every time I put up a post on my blog about my gardening efforts, she adds a comment about how she can't grow anything because she's not sure she'll be able to water.

So I was delighted to see that Carver's area finally got some rain. But--and this was amazing--the six days of rain only moved them up a category, from "extreme" to "severe." Can you spell climate change?

Go to her blog to read the whole story and to see some lovely photos of rain-drenched blossoms:

Rain at the End of the Downspout

Lisa
This is how Lisa introduces herself on her blog: I am an active, 30-something physician who has never really been sick before. I take care of critically ill babies, I am not supposed to be a patient.

How could I not want to be her friend?

Lisa wrote a great post about adding up all the miles she drove in order to get cancer care last year (she was doing her taxes, and miles driven for doctors' appts. can be deducted, at 20 cents/mile--what's the rate for business miles now? At least 35 cents/mile. Maybe 38. How is this fair?).

How many miles have you gone?

Meanwhile, slacker Jeanne hasn't even done her taxes yet. And I have an accountant. I'm getting my accountant to file for an extension for me, and I swear I'm going to do them the first week of May.

Laurie
Turns out, Laurie was/is part of a cancer cluster. A cancer cluster is a group of people who all get/got cancer at about the same time, and live or work near each other. Typically, they get the same cancer, I believe.

She writes: There is a group of seven women with whom I meet regularly. We are working on a writing project together. Each of us is smart, funny, strong, perceptive and unbelievably supportive of the others in the group.

We share a common set of values. We are all feminists, trade unionists and committed to working for social change. We have all had breast cancer. And we all worked in the same building.

Read the rest of the post:

the building

Dee
And, last but not least, Dee.

Dee and I met a few months ago (online, not in the real world yet) because we were both on Tykerb. She searched for info on Tykerb and found my blog. We've been e-mailing almost every day since, and she has set up a series of three speaking opportunities for me in Oregon in May.

In addition to Tykerb, Dee is also on xeloda (the most common combination), and some friends have written and recorded a song for Dee called "My Xeloda." Xeloda is a conventional chemo drug (Tykerb is a targeted therapy), so she has the typical chemo side effects.

My Xeloda

I'm going to stay with Dee when I go to Oregon to give my talks, and we've been keeping a list of all the things we want to talk about when I'm there--everything from men (of course) to sociolinguistics to kids to cancer.

The Circle Tightens
So of the cancer bloggers I know, I've now visited Jacqueline twice, and Debutaunt is going to visit me in Seattle later this month. Then I'll meet Dee in May, and most of the rest of the gang in July at the Cancer Bloggers Reunion.

I could say something really mushy here about what all these people mean to me, but I think it's obvious.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008

Comments

[Carver]

Hi Jeanne,

I could say something mushy too. I am so glad to have met you through your blog.

The details of the hats for Amorette's twins are great and I'll be sending out 24 24 24 plus vibes for her.

As ever, Carver

[laurie]

Thanks for the link. Among the characteristics of the cancer cluster is - numbers, same kind of cancer and an unusual group (ie several unusually young women getting breast cancer).

Love what I can see of the baby hats. Hopefully we'll get to see pics of the hats on the wee ones (after they are born, healthy and at full term)!

[Lisa]

Thanks for the nice thoughts JEanne. BTW, going rate in the business world is 42cents per mile. The IRS is less than half that. Oh well, every little bit helps.

[Dee]

Jeanne, Thanks for the cancer round-up. I've enjoyed reading these other blogs ... and am looking forward to July!

Yes, the hats look great . . . 24 24 24 24 for Amorette and the babies.

[jeanne]

What a wonderful group we are. I'm very proud of us.

Jeanne

[debutaunt]

beyond excited!

[Amorette]

The baby hat details are adorable, Jeanne. Thank you so much.

Now I just need to keep these little troublemakers inside of me, where I can protect them, for about 6 more weeks! At week 24, they at least have a chance, and that's what we're shooting for. The hospital has a great NICU that has machines for saving tiny lungs, and that's what we need...just a little while longer.

Thanks, everyone :)

[jeanne]

Amorette--it's down to six more weeks! That's doable.

You will be bored out of your skull on bed rest, but I'll keep you amused with tales of my attempts to knit baby socks for your twins. I'll be mailing you a package probably early next week with the hats.

[The debu_sweetie]

Jeanne-
I am really looking forward to meeting you in a couple of weeks! I certainly hope that I pass muster with you (grin). You are in for such a treat...Debs and The Zoester are every bit as delightful in real life as they are in the blogosphere. See you soon!

Tim

[jeanne]

Tim--and you even let Debs call you the debu__sweetie! You are a good sport. I'm looking forward to meeting you as well, and of course Debs and Zoe. I'm counting on you to get them to move here.

Nothing like a little pressure from the friends, hummm...?

[Sara]

Thank you for linking to the book featuring Amorette's work. I do not believe she has linked to it on her own blog, at least not prominently (ahem, cough, cough). I hope she sees some money from it, even if it's just by way of bringing her clientele via additional exposure.

You all saw the amazing chocolate suffragists she made, right? No? Go here:

http://sakurakokitsa.blogspot.com/2007/12/chocolate-suffragist-play-by-play.html