It doesn’t matter that you “know” something in your head, the heart with its “feelings center” can overrule you. I had my annual cancer checkup this week. I had breast cancer over 13 years ago. Checkups always make me nuts. Over the years I’ve had to go back for further tests and biopsies because the mammogram wasn’t clear or looked funny or something. None of them turned out to be cancer but they all caused quite a bit of worry. (Yes, I know that worry doesn’t accomplish anything. That’s just another thing that my head knows but my heart doesn’t!) I wish I could approach this calmly. This year they have a new mammogram machine that takes “slices.” The radiologist reads it while you are there. I was cleared on the spot. That was worth another mocha latte to celebrate! (It was too early for a margarita!) Woot woot!
Another crimp in the taxes – I have to calculate the cost basis of a decades old stock plan I had with a former employer. Guess I’ll be pulling that number out of my butt! They do need to simplify this!
The warmest day this week was full of rain. I could have used some sunshine! The weatherman said we only had 5 full sunny days so far this winter. Boogers!
When I was a kid, we were encouraged to give something up for lent. I haven’t done that in decades. I can’t say that I did it with gusto when I was a kid either. In school we were encouraged to give up candy. The school stopped selling candy for lent but sold pretzel sticks, which I preferred. I never cared for candy so it was easy peasy.
Yesterday I walked through the dining room to see this. This past weekend we had guests in so everything was cleaned thoroughly as one of the guests has an allergy to cats. It doesn’t last long here!
That is the best cat picture ever. Queenly indeed (RC will be muttering we are not treating her as regally)
Yea – get that screening over ( you can’t help worrying) Cheers!
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Hazel will be sending RC table posing instructions shortly. She has to be in the center and try her best to look adorable.
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Glad everything came back clear (and fast!). That’s a lovely new centerpiece you have. What kid doesn’t like candy? Although, pretzel sticks are great, too.
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Never did like candy much. Even now the most I’ll eat is one of the “fun size” candy bars if I eat any at all. One piece of Russel Stover (as long as I got the caramel center) would do me at Christmas.
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Great news on the health front. Cats know they are beautiful and are meant to be centerpieces.
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Always in the center of anything!
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That adorable centerpiece is just too funny! I think your cats provide the endorphin boost as stand-in for no sunshine. And I am so happy for you to have received a clear and positive message from your mammogram right on the spot! That’s an amazing diagnostic advancement and I wish it were possible to be so immediate with all medical tests. Here’s to another healthy year before the next checkups, Kate.
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I was surprised by the quick turnaround. Usually they have me wait until someone “looks” at it but they don’t give results. I always assumed they were checking that it wasn’t blurred. Getting the results is wonderful. Wish you could get blood results faster.
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Mammograms – I have been avoiding them like the plague ever since hearing about the huge number of false positives they produce. Seems like you went through this experience yourself. So glad to hear that you are doing well.
Now (!) – when it comes to celebrating good news after cancer screenings – it is never too early for a margarita.
And where can I get one of those cat centerpieces for my dining room table?
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Don’t avoid the mammogram. That’s how they caught my cancer early enough that I didn’t need chemo. Most cats would be accommodating to decorate your dining room table!
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I have a crazy Cat that likes toasted buttered brown wheat bread and she doesn’t like artificial but she will eat fresh flowers all day. You have to put a fence around them if they are in the house.
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So…do you put a fence around the flowers or the cat?
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Great to hear you were given the all clear!
Love your new centerpiece … hahahaha! She seems to think that her placement is as normal as flowers or fruit.
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There is usually a ceramic hen with two chicks on the table (can’t have artificial flowers as I have one cat that chews on them). I hadn’t put them back on the table yet when she commandeered it.
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Quick results save so much wonder and worry. I don’t think my clinic offers a “slice” machine yet. Do they also not smoosh the girls as much? That picture of Hazel made me laugh… they are so weird… and lovable.
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Yes they smoosh the girls. They do a standard mammogram first and then the machine glides from one side to the other taking “slices” of the breast. The tech I had did not do the super painful smoosh where they catch my lungs in the machine and I can’t breathe.
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I am so pleased for you Kate.
Your centerpiece is a hoot! But isn’t there supposed to be an apple in her mouth?!
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No. A tuna maybe but not an apple.
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For some reason the majority of my friends in college were all Catholic, most of them pretty devout. Well, meaning that even though they were smoking pot with me on a Saturday night, they still got up early the next morning for mass and most likely confession. That kind of devout. Anyway, every year I had this little joke during lent that I too would give up something: I gave up fish. It was stupid and yet every year I said it and they all laughed. One or two of them send me an e-mail every year at lent telling me they’re too giving it up.
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It’s best to give up something you won’t miss! You were halfway to becoming a good Catholic!
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Six-month checkups are rather comforting. Not complaining never did get easy. The secret was to banish the thought before it could reach my lips. People wondered why I quit talking!!!
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Complaining, as long as you don’t go on and on, is therapeutic. At least that’s what I tell myself.
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I hope you had the margarita later in the day. So glad everything is well. Anything else is secondary..:)
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Me too. You know how stressful these tests can be.
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Glad your news was good.
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Me too!
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I’m so glad you had good news quickly. I had uterine cancer two years ago and am still going back for 6-month checkups.
I don’t remember things I gave up for Lent. Obviously, it wasn’t a big deal. One year I decided to add something instead of taking something away. I would go to church (required for this organist) and NOT COMPLAIN! It was the hardest thing I ever did.
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Oh no! That’s a bad one! I was on 6 month checkups for about 10 years. You gave up complaining for lent? Wow! I’m impressed. Don’t think I could do that.
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Congratulations on a good report! I haven’t heard of the slices mammogram but may ask about it next time. Your dining table setting looks interesting!
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The dining room table would be even more interesting if there was food on it.
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So glad you got the all clear Kate! And the fact you didn’t have to wait for the results must have given you such relief!
I see the God type person (he who was late and rude) on the 20th for the after check up, then will have my anniversary mammogram in September.
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For the first 10 or so years, I was on a twice a year mammogram schedule with an annual MRI. Now it’s just once a year with the mammo and no MRI until things are hazy. Hope all goes well with you and maybe you won’t need to see the God-type again.
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I hope not after the 20th, and actually hope we see one of his team instead!
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Glad you got a good result. We have a friend who was just recently diagnosed and had to have a mastectomy. She thought she had avoided the chemo and radiation part but found out she has to have it. I can’t imagine the fear. About Lent (Catholic school girl here so I know the drill) I’m over 60 so the rules don’t apply but I’ve decided that my “penance” is going to be adding some exercise to my day because I’ve already given up candy and sweets for the most part.
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I was fortunate in that I avoided chemo but I did have the radiation. It created scar tissue that gets troublesome sometimes but still better than having chemo. Age has a way of giving you a form of penance.
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That news made my day, Kate. I’m so happy you got an “all clear” report. That’s reason for celebration!
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And the fact that I got it almost instantaneously was fabulous!
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Happy to hear about your test results. I remember that anxiety all too well and it’s wonderful that you don’t have to sit around and wait for the results. Mom was cancer free for 40 years but one of her radiation buddies got cancer in her other breast while they were still in treatment together. At that time, I think Mom was considered clear after seven years but that anxiety, the what if, raised it’s ugly head every mammogram.
I love your table decoration. One of my cats would invariably jump up on the table when I had guests over. “What?” she would say. “I’m always allowed up here.”
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🙂 Cats — I try to explain that she’s not allowed there (she isn’t but she doesn’t listen) but I’m not kidding anyone. As for the big C — you can get a reoccurrence anytime. I have two friends who eventually died from it. One had been cancer-free for 9 years and the other 14 so I don’t take anything for granted. Happy that your Mom was one of the lucky ones! Today’s treatments are better (mostly) but there still is no surefire cure that guarantees anything.
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Hazel looks awesome as Queen of the Doily! Congrats on your test results, Kate. I know that’s always a relief . . . aah, so much better!
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Queen of the Doily! Perfect!
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I was always around kids who gave things up for Lent, so I joined in. I still think about doing it every year, and sometimes do give up something. But this year, I’ll just let the whole idea pass me by. Perhaps that’s a perk of not being a child.
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I went to Catholic school so it was almost a requirement. The good news is that everyone gave up candy which didn’t matter to me. Can’t remember ever giving up something that really mattered to me. However, as I got older, I’ve had to give up foods because my gut wasn’t happy. Does that count?
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Yes it does. A kind of perpetual Lent, as it were.
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Yes and I whine about it!
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I love this centerpiece of your table :o) I’m glad you got super good news from your doc, I celebrate this all clear days like a little birthday with my BFF when she is back with good news…
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I’ll tell Hazel that you approve of her pose. We celebrate good news with the same gusto that we celebrate holidays!
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Gorgeous centerpiece! So glad that you received the ‘all clear’ on your recent health check. Hope your well deserved mocha latte was extra delicious!
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It was wonderful! I’ll pass your comment to Hazel. Wonder if she will want modeling fees.
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So happy you were cleared on the spot! It is the waiting that drives me up the walls and causes all the anxiety. Back in the 90s where I had my mammogram done they told you before you left the results. I still drive two hours to the same place but now have to wait for a letter that takes two weeks to show up. I have a history of cysts and that always means call backs because the radiologist peeps always want another look. I like the new machine you mention… I am thinking it is a step up from 3D? I just know you did a happy dance!
I don’t give anything up for Lent anymore… 🙂
That is THE most attractive centerpiece I have seen! She positioned herself perfectly and posed for you!
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They called it a 3D but the machine moved and took pictures in increments like a CAT scan. Mammograms are very important. My cancer was spotted very early through a mammogram before there was any palpable lump. However, you get frightening call backs. Most turn out to be nothing but……
Hazel was pretty proud of herself, perfectly placed. She didn’t even move as I clicked away.
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Cats always have to be dead center, right? Dead center of the table, the bed, the middle of the kitchen floor…
I can’t decide if it appeals to their sense of symmetry or it’s the best place to be in a human’s way.
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Definitely the latter. I’ve seen them hang over the edge of a sofa precariously just because it was annoying. No symmetry there. Gotta love ’em.
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“Slices” sounds brutal and enough to make you run screaming out of the room! Glad to hear about the clean bill of health in that department!
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I thought that when I wrote it but I didn’t know how else to say it. The pictures taken are slices — no knives hitting skin. It was pretty cool. Similar in a way to a CAT scan.
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I’m glad the cancer screening was clear – good news!
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Good news for this year. Last year was one of the multiple test years so I’m hoping I’m good for a few years. With the new machine, I’m hoping I won’t have to go back for my testing ever again!
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