With all the hoopla about this year’s flu season, I thought it was a good time to ask Dr. Hampshire the oncologist if I need a flu shot. I’ve never had one before, and only rarely get the flu, but being a relative newbie in Cancerland, I don’t know what the protocol is. He said yes, I should get one.
Susan the acupuncturist, however, had the opposite view: First, since I’ve never had a flu shot before, we don’t know how my body would react to it. Second, lymphoma is a disease of the lymphatic system, and the lymphatic system is a part of the immune system. Flu vaccines work by stimulating the body’s immune system, and since my immune system is already in overdrive from the OncoMar and OncoPlex – which possibly contributed to “The Summer of My Shrinking Lymph Nodes” - we don’t want to inject something that could possibly short-circuit that. She recommended a homeopathic flu med, and - since I’m doing so well on the natural and homeopathic remedies she’s had me on for the past eight months – I’ll be giving it a try.
Other than that, it’s fanatical hand-washing and staying
away from sickies for me!
The next CT
Meanwhile, I’m still (and will forever be) in Info Junkie
mode – and a recent trip to the bookstore resulted in three more tomes added to
my Cancerbrary:
 |
| An absolutely fascinating and extremely well-written book - it's impossible to put down! |
 |
| There's not enough hours in the day for all the reading I want to do! |
Besides the CT scan, the next BIG THING coming up is the
half marathon on January 27! Saturday’s
workout session with Team In Training was awesome – so much energy, enthusiasm,
and spirit. It’s great to be involved
with a huge group of AMAZING people whose goal is the same as yours: to wipe out blood cancers.
Lemme tell ya, tho – it was HARD HARD HARD to get up out of
the warm bed on Saturday morning in the pre-dawn darkness and head into the 34
degree chill outside to put those miles under my shoes. Even harder was trying to scrape ice off my
windshield. We just don’t have ice
scrapers in our cars here, so I had to resort to a SoCal improvisation: a credit card.
 |
| Dubbed "The Defrostinator" by my daughter..... |
A special treat at session was seeing an old bro and his beautiful daughter working one of the aid stations.
Mark and I – along with my Ultimate Cancer Hero and Goddess
Carol - worked together many years ago and will always be buds. Mark is one of those genuinely GOOD people,
with a big, generous heart and a fabulous wit – and I’m blessed and grateful to
have him as part of my posse.
Saturday’s session was the next-to-last official training
we’ll have before our event on the 27th and we had a great turnout,
so it was the perfect time for a team photo:
 |
| San Diego Team In Training Winter Marathon Team is IN DA HOUSE! |
Earlier this week brought a big-ass Proud Mom moment: my Baby Gazelle was asked to speak at an event for the upcoming summer season for Team In Training. AND, to top off her fabulousness, she signed up to do her first full marathon! She’ll be competing in the Mayor’s Marathon in
 |
| The Baby Gazelle |
Although her feet fly over the miles when she’s running, she
still manages to remain grounded and balanced in her other life as a Park
Ranger:
Now THIS is the embodiment of spirit and life!
