A perfect dinner for a dark and stormy night, and float the crackers in the hot soup, obvi.
My long long-time friend Les, living in Boston for many decades, passed away last week from Parkinson’s, Congestive Heart Failure, and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Everyone knew it was coming, and as Elizabeth wrote “Be comforted by the knowledge that Les parted this world exactly as he wanted to.” What a blessing for me that we got to have an excellent zoom visit the week before he passed.
Then, I had decided before going to Uzbekistan that I wanted to find a woman oncologist whose entire practice was breast cancer. My Physical Therapist knew of and recommended such a woman at the Saint John’s Cancer Institute, so I had an appointment on Monday and transferred my care to her.
These two events sent me on a googling frenzy re metastatic breast cancer life expectancy. I’ve been dealing with this cancer for more than a year and as yet I’d never focused on this question because I understand there are so many variables, no one knows the number. But actually, there is a number, statistically, and that number is five years. The internet reports from many sources that 30%+/- of women with metastatic breast cancer are alive at five years past their diagnosis.
So, the last six months of a cancer journey is not so great, and I’m already one year in, and that leaves three and a half years feeling good if I make it to the 30%. WOW, now that’s a reality check! Honestly, this is the first time I’ve absorbed the math. On the bright side I have the most treatable kind of breast cancer, the scans are showing improvement, I’m generally in good health, and oddly, being post-menopausal is a benefit for survival.
After a day of making lists, I’m back to just me, adept at one-day-at-a-time thinking, and it comes naturally to me to do-what-I-can-do and not dwell on the rest. And I’m re-reading what is so far an excellent book even the second time around: How to Be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci. Finally, a philosophical worldview that suits me.
So that’s it, one-day-at-a-time, and I want to be the best person I can be every day, kind, attentive, and looking ahead. And I’m springing for those business class tickets!