The Dog Days of Winter

It has been awhile since my last blog so I thought I’d update you all on what’s going on… and… that’s not really a whole lot. Jon’s mom came down for about ten days, which was really nice, and gave me a reason to get showered in the morning. Yes- sometimes I need those… The two of us went down to Santa Cruz for the weekend with Jon and experienced some of the Chilean wine valley that Sandi had yet to visit. It was a really nice trip.     Other than that, I’ve just been extremely tired. I’m almost done with my steroids, which means I don’t have any energy from the drugs and am really feeling the effects of the radiation. It’s like I went from Ellen Burstyn maniacally vacuuming her living room in Requiem For a Dream (disturbing movie) to having the energy of a sloth. Not fun. I do have good hours but I have to plan my activities pretty carefully so that I have a rest time in between, sort of like a small toddler or infant.

I’m also ready for winter to be over and for warmer weather to come about. Chile doesn’t believe in insulation so it’s colder inside the houses than outside here right now and some days all I can manage is to move from one warm blanket to another in the quest to stay warm. Spring is just around the corner but while Sandi was here we had a cold spell with lots of grey days, rain, and snow. During that time I switched from sleeping in a hoodie with the hood pulled down (not comfortable) to a warm beanie in order to keep my bald head from getting cold. I vowed to ask the first bald male I saw if winter was a little rough for them what with all the temperature changes. They quickly responded yes, so I felt validated by my winter headgear.

I, of course, haven’t spent all my time just hanging around the house. I did manage to show Sandi some places she had not seen before. Such as closed restaurants and shops. (Lesson of the day: don’t go to Barrio Italia on a Monday, cause it’s not open…)   Jon and I are also partaking in the Scottish Caledonian Ball next weekend so on Sunday we practiced some of our dances. Watching giant Jon hop around like a Scotsman is a bit of a hoot, and I also learned I am entirely out of shape. Oh well, it will be fun.  I’ve also been doing a lot of reading and have delved into some very good books recently. I seem to either want to read books of hope or books with extremely depressing plots since they make me realize how many people suffer in life, and, on the other hand, that people can survive terrible things against all odds. Both of those ideas are very comforting at the moment, as they make me feel ready for whatever is to come my way.  So if you have any good book titles for me or want to know what I’ve been reading, I’d be happy to share.

Speaking of the future, we still don’t have a date for the MRI to determine whether my treatment is working or not. Jon and I have a trip planned to Salta, Argentina in mid September for the Chilean national holiday, so we are looking forward to that. We asked if we could find out the news till after our trip, and Dr. Majlis agreed, so I guess I will find out sometime after that. So, really, even though I wrote a whole blog, there is no new news on my end. Hope everything is going well with you all!