So I got a call...

I received a call from our naturopath last night. Profusely apologetic. Outraged our calls to the clinic hadn't been returned, although 'I've heard this complaint before', and promised to dig into it deeply. Understood how our confidence had been eroded given the lack of ability to get a hold of our health care practitioner. Gave me her direct email, and said she checks it daily no matter what. Apologized for not getting back to us with the result of her conversation with our oncologist regarding a specific treatment, said she thought he would be contacting us (now that was a lame excuse), but did take responsibility for not following up.

When You Talk About Cancer

There seems to be a pattern. Typically we talk about Meagan's cancer in the morning, over tea. The discussions here tend to be a bit less emotional, leaning more to the process, logistics, practitioners, "what do we do next" kind of talk. I'm usually pretty ready for this, as I've been up for a couple hours already, have read a lot, probably researched quite a bit, so my brain is functioning. This is a good thing, because you can't have a non-functioning brain when topics come up.

Dining Out

Dining out brings a set of challenges which I suppose anyone who has allergies or philosophical issues (vegans) is used to addressing. Our anti-cancer diet at home is quite good. We don't want set-backs when we go out, by fueling the cancer with bad stuff (fried foods, hormone laden protein, refined starches, high sugar). When going out though, if we are not going to a pure vegetarian place such as Thrive or Chaco Canyon, we have had our moments.

Turkey Tail Mushrooms

Went to our long awaited appointment with the oncology naturopath at Bastyr University yesterday. Adding to the anti-cancer team. Many pros and cons about this.

Rituals, Centering and Connecting

One of the best things which has come out of our cancer journey is the presence of ritual in our lives. Every morning Meagan prepares our matcha tea (an incredibly powerful antioxident, and what is used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony - although our version is the medium grade, not the ultra expensive tea ceremony version). Using the right bamboo whisk is important and we joke each morning about the amount of froth which is developed through the mixing process (matcha is finely ground tea leaves, and you mix it with water - it is not steeped). We then drink it out of our special, authentic tea bowls our friend Dennis gave to us. It gives us an opportunity to share some time talking about the day ahead, the journey ahead,and what we are grateful for.  Then it's my turn - while she jumps onto Facebook and email - I make the special oatmeal, and serve it up and we share a meal together.

There is something about each of us making and offering to each other the tea and oatmeal that is powerful. It's supportive, an act of kindness, and sets the stage for an ability to connect. We laugh a lot about how much froth there is in the tea, and how we don't drink it properly according to Japanese ritual (or so we've been told). Or how filling the oatmeal is, particularly with the chia seeds. In our world of up and down news about the cancer, this act is very centering and grounding.

Now this is what a cancer fighting fridge looks like! How a husband supports his wife.

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