Gifts For My First Cancerversary

I’ve discovered that celebrating a cancerversary, the day you were diagnosed with cancer, is something that people like me, who are living with cancer as a chronic disease, tend to do. At first it made no sense to me: WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE CELEBRATE SUCH A THING??? Now that I’m at my first canceversary, however, it makes a lot more sense.

It means so far, so good. And when 50% of the people who receive your diagnosis don’t make it through a year’s time, I’ve already beaten some pretty nasty odds. In my case, I feel good, and I am stepping forward into another year of living with cancer with realistic hope that I have some more good time ahead of me.

I’m even celebrating with gifts! The first one: a short drug holiday. I took my last dose of Tarceva on Sunday, and will take my first dose of Rociletinib on Thursday. It’s darn exciting to have three precious days of reset and detox. Note to self: go drink another glass of water.

The second gift: a new and promising treatment. 

The third gift: looking outside my window at the lovely rain falling on this beautiful world. Right now I am at peace and pretty much living my life day by day. 

The fourth gift: a new scarf I just finished a half hour ago.
































The pattern is the Flower Scarf by Robyn Diliberto. I’ve made several of these as gift for others over the years, and finally made one for myself. It’s 100% silk, made from what is called a silk cap. A silk cap consists of layers of silk, each layer from one cocoon made by a silkworm. The cap can be dyed, and the one I bought was dyed with black and a brilliant rosy red. To knit with a cap, you peel apart the different layers then take each round circle of silk fiber, poke a hole in the middle, and gradually stretch the fiber into a roving that is the thickness you want. You can spin the roving, or you can directly knit it. For more on the process, here is a website that explains it well: About Silk Caps.

Here is the finished scarf not on me:



























And here is a picture of the beginning of the project, showing all of the layers of silk I peeled apart from the silk cap.

























It was a quick, fun project, and I enjoyed using up most of the silk cap that had been waiting in stash for a few years. I did something new to me, and completed a project I’ve planned to make ever since I got the silk cap. And it feels great on my neck, very soft and not too warm.


Onward, in peace and delight. And a comfortably warm neck.

Comments

  1. Eleanor GangJune 9, 2015 at 4:16 PM

    A friend of my daughter was knitting with a silk cap and showed us the process of separating a layer and turning it into yarn. I got to hold some in my hand and realized right away that you can’t have any roughness on your fingers or nails as the silk grabs onto it. It would be a really good reason to get a manicure!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anita FiguerasJune 9, 2015 at 4:44 PM

      El, my best friend during this project was Lavishea, a great solid hand treatment that is shea butter and soy wax. I coated my hands first before picking up the project, and it helped to keep the silk from snagging on my hands.

      Delete
  2. WizenedWizardJune 9, 2015 at 8:49 PM

    Congratulations on reaching this first cancerversary. Red(s) is/are my favorite color(s). The scarf is beautiful and the silk cap amazing - as are you. Knit on, my friend! You inspire me so much, and I look forward to our next trip to that city to the north! You are a marvel! XXXOOO

    ReplyDelete
  3. ameliaJune 11, 2015 at 8:21 AM

    Beautiful colours and truly wonderful silk!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please support the EGFR Resisters Research Fund!

To help improve outcomes for people like me with EGFR mutated lung cancer, please donate to the EGFR Resisters' Research Fund. All donations are tax deductible and are in a restricted fund with the Bonnie Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, a four-star rated charity. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!


Popular posts from this blog

Why I am Using Research-Based Medical Treatments Instead of Naturopathic Treatments

Image
I’ve heard many stories of people being sent links to websites promoting alternate naturopathic treatments for cancer by well meaning friends and family. It finally happened to me. I got an email from an acquaintance who told me she believed that I was making a mistake signing up for a clinical trial, and that I should be using natural treatments based on diet and supplements such as turmeric and IV vitamin C. She quoted the saying “Let Food be your Medicine”, and pointed me towards the website thetruthaboutcancer (no, I am NOT going to link to that site from my blog, it gets enough traffic). She also told me that I was signing up to be a guinea pig. This blog post has been in the works in my thoughts ever since. I do not think that this good-hearted person is on the right track, and sincerely hope that, for her sake, she never develops cancer and never has to put her alternate treatments to the test. In thinking about what she said, however, I finally crystallized for myself the reaso
Read more

New Year, Old Dusty Blog

It’s been almost a year and a half since I posted anything here except links to paid work published elsewhere. This blog has remained in my thoughts throughout the whole period of silence.  Silent here, not elsewhere. The past year has been full of speaking engagements, patient advisory panels for pharmaceutical companies, other words in other places. What I’ve written and said has been sincere and well-researched, but has not included some things I think about. When you are writing and speaking for pay, you aren’t really free to share everything that might be on your mind. The customers for paid pieces want them to be hopeful and encouraging, to suit their purposes. My time and energy has also been invested in establishing a new patient advocacy group, the EGFR Resisters . Co-founders are Ivy Elkins, Jill Feldman, Teri Kennedy, Allen Lee, Ildiko Medve, and Colleen Sturdivant. Besides a website, we also have a closed Facebook group with over 900 members who share  treatment ex
Read more

I am not a rock. I am not an island.

Image
After a busy couple of months, I have retired, and I am under treatment. The treatment is a pill taken first thing in the morning. The medicine is very expensive, to all of us in the aggregate although not to me as an individual. Thank goodness for good health insurance. I do have a genetic mutation in the cancer and am able to take targeted treatment. I’m dealing with some side effects, but they aren’t as uncomfortable as full-bore chemo. I’ve been taking care of business. New wills and powers of attorney are executed, my passwords are in a sealed envelope in the lawyer’s safe, beneficiaries are updated, and expenses have been dialed back. I finished my job as neatly and completely as possible, and left matters in good shape for my successor. All of this is liberating. As each task gets done, there is more time to simply enjoy living. I am an oldest child, and I’ve spent much of my life being a responsible person. Now I am pulling back from that role. At the moment, I have very few re
Read more