My hometown is small--really small--especially people-wise. Which means that if there's any gossip, it travels faster than the speed of light, across county lines, state lines, even across the country and across the U.S.-Canadian border to here. It also means that gossip is sometimes, usually, mostly, maybe, probably, kinda connected to someone I'm directly related to or someone that I might have been related to somewhere down the line a hundred or so years ago. I think more people live along my one block in Vancouver than in all of Mifflintown. I think there are more churches than schools, and that the church to people ratio is about 1:9. This post is for Mifflintown.
I gather that my name has been passed among churches because I've been getting a lot of cards from people's whose names I don't recognize, but I do recognize their surnames. I also got some cards from people from my high school class. All this is really awesome. It's funny when people write, "I know you aren't religious, but I'm praying for you anyway. . ." I totally appreciate that and am grateful because while it is true that I don't ascribe to any religion, I am a spiritual person and believe in the spirit of life and some sort of afterlife that exists for spirits, so I do feel the positive vibes that people are wonderful enough to give out generously, even if they don't know me at all!
I also know that some people come here to find updates about my situation, which is also great! I mean, really, this blog is straight from the horse's mouth (I hate that phrase--it sounds gross, like the horse is chucking up a hairball or cud...but I guess horses don't eat cud?). But what I heard is that people are reading my blog and then going to a certain someone who shall remain nameless (which is pointless, I know, because as soon as I describe him, people who know, will know) to chat about my situation.
So this certain someone is my gay (bisexual?) ex-brother-in-law who owns the most popular hair salon in town. I heart him cuz I've known him forever, so he's like my brother...but alas, he's a brother I haven't spoken to or heard from in a really long time. Probably the last time I saw him and talked to him was over a year ago when my husband, kids, and I went to Mifflintown for a summer vacation holiday break [chemo has turned me into a monster of redundancy]. Anyway, I would love for him to come visit me--or even just call me, or email me, or phone me, but I know he's busy, I'm busy, so yeah, haven't spoken to him in a while. Now I hear through the North American grapevine that people ask about me when they go get their hair done, and that he has said that he will buy cheap plane tickets for my family to come see me. I'm not sure why he's saying these things--good gossip? Slow news day in Mifflintown? Maybe. But even if this is all purely gossip (whatever "pure" means), let me say that: #1) there are NO cheap tickets between there and here. Crossing the U.S. border jacks up the price, and the cheapest ticket I ever found was no less than $500--so if you happen to find one that's cheaper than that, let me know asap!!!; #2) if my family wants to come see me (and I know there aren't many who do, out of fear of flying), I will help them pay for their tickets. So as much as I love and respect my ex-bro-in-law, his generosity in terms of my current situation that he may or may not be talking about in his salon is as of yet unfounded. He has been very generous in the past with all the free haircuts, colorings, and so on, for which I am grateful. But plane tickets and phone calls? No.
Anyway, I wasn't certain about posting smalltown family hearsay on my cancer blog, but why the fuck not? I mean, it's the only way I've been "communicating" with some people, it's easy for me, and shit, if we gonna gossip, let's ride this cyberspace wave! Mifflintown people know me as shit-disturber, I think the word is. Truth be told, not much has changed since I left in 1993. So let's disturb some shit.
But seriously, all this is fun but stupid. I just want to set the facts straight--and also thank people in Mifflintown for their prayers and thoughts--and gossip!
Speaking of hair, mine is almost all gone. I still have little splotches here and there that annoy the fuck out of me, but I'll just let them be for now. The tugging and rubbing on my head is getting old, and I have better things to do. Today, I'm getting a CT scan on my leg where I have a stress fracture. I'm surprised that I'm getting this scan because I think they pretty much ruled that it's a stress fracture in my leg, but I guess they want to make triple-sure, which is a weird thing for Canadians, who don't believe in unnecessary, or excessive, testing (it costs money). But hey, if they wanna scan my leg, great!
I've been wanting to eat like crazy. I guess with this chemo, at first I want to puke my brains out, and now, the steroids are kicking in or something, cuz I'm never full. But I'm trying to keep the eating normal and not gain a crapload of weight. So far, so good.
On Monday, Henry and I went to a free fireside chat session at Inspire Health, which is an integrated healthcare organization for cancer patients, which just means that their doctors and staff help you find ways to cope with the side effects of cancer treatments and optimize health and wellbeing during these times. After the fee for their two-day seminar and membership fee, access to their doctors and programs are free, but they also have a naturopath and acupuncturist if you want to take advantage of that, for a fee. I feel super fortunate that we live in a place where such a thing exists!
So yeah, thanks for reading the blog, you in Mifflintown, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Germany, California, Seattle, New York, Madison, China, Florida, and wherever the hell you are!
Rock on.
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