My course of radiation therapy is done! I had my last treatment today -- 32 treatments in all over the past six weeks. To commemorate, here is a photo essay of what the treatments have been like.


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As I think back over the past year, the feeling I have is something like the Hanged Man tarot card. The Hanged Man carries the meanings of sacrifice, letting go, surrendering, patience, waiting. Robin Wood says, "This card means suspense, change, looking at things from another viewpoint ( Read more... )

Snow's been coming down all day, and it's still coming down. I anticipate my drive home will take 2 hours. Really not looking forward to it. I suppose this is as good a time as any to update on my chiropractic appointment yesterday ( Read more... )

My chiro appointment went very well. Dr. K is super sweet and attentive. Her intake discussion with me was very detailed. She listened carefully to everything I said, and agreed with me that my current problems are probably related to the introduction of the foot orthotics. It helped that she had cards for Foot Solutions on the front desk; ( Read more... )

When my mom was here, I picked her brain for what she could tell me about managing arthritis. She told me a doctor would tell me to do all the self-care I am currently doing: flexibility and strength training with yoga; taking glucosamine/chondroiten, calcium, Vitamin D, and Omega 3 supplements; and taking care to rest any painful joint or muscle ( Read more... )

The problem with having cooked and eaten so much lasagna* in the past week is eating all that pasta. White pasta, too (I usually cook with whole wheat pasta, but I wasn't sure how that would work with the recipes we used, which were made for white pasta ( Read more... )

I never finished updating you all about my plantar fasciitis issues, did I? When last I left off the story, the long-awaited New Balance shoes I wanted had arrived, as had my custom fit orthotics. That was in early October. I have been back to the Foot Solutions store a couple of time since then for minor adjustments to the orthotics (which is ( Read more... )

I started writing an entry about how this was the year I first really started feeling my age, then I looked back and found I wrote the same thing last year. Heh.

BodyLast year I noted that I could no longer stay out late, but had to make sure to be in bed at a reasonable hour. That's still true, and I have so easily integrated an consistently ( Read more... )

I managed to irritate my quadratus lumborum muscle (lower back/sacrum area) yesterday, and it was in spasm when I woke up this morning. I had to sit with a heating pad for an hour or so before it was loose enough so I could walk upright. I got to work a couple of hours late. I suspect the major problem was standing around in flats instead of ( Read more... )

I picked up my new custom fit orthitics last Saturday. They provide crazy arch support: much higher than any I have ever worn before, because my arches are so damn high. The orthitics raise my feet up and out from their normal, pronated, position. Theoretically they place my feet in an anatomically neutral position than I normally walk/stand in. ( Read more... )