Mileage... and Cherry Caipirissima Cocktails

Cherry Caipirissima Cocktail

Chris sent this delicious cocktail recipe from the NYTimes and we mixed some up over the weekend. Fresh cherries muddled with fresh lime, the simple syrup and rum over ice. We share cocktails image and recipes between here and Atlanta. It's a funny 4-way text stream. The flowers are from our yard in Connecticut.

We're working on our mileage as our century ride is 5 weeks away. The Flattest Century of the East which starts in Dartmouth, Massachusetts and hugs the Rhode Island shore. We did it in 2015 and 2016 but not last summer as I was having too much numbness from the cancer.

Over the weekend we rode 56 miles over crazy Connecticut hills with 4,000 elevation change. I recently got new bike gears to make it more possible to ride rather than walk the hills. Now I'm on 11/32 gears which makes a huge difference. 

What hip pain?

All clear! I had scans (CT of chest, abdomen and pelvis and bone scan) on Friday. We met with The Vixen this morning at 8am and all is stable. Meaning that whatever tumors I have had in the past are still around or in some state of scarring, nothing new has shown up. And this is fantastic news.

We chatted with her a bit. We are seeing eye-to-eye at this point. I shared that over the last 1-2 weeks, I have had "pain" in my left hip. And that if scans were clear, the pain would disappear immediately. She laughed and said this is quite common. A friend of Tracy's used the word "scanxiety". The Vix says that scans can be "therapeutic" in the sense that they assure the patient that all is well.

She offered that anxiety a few weeks before is actually psychologically healthy. She didn't pathologize me - in either direction - that I'm in "denial" or too anxious. Good! She said that the ability to compartementaize is helpful.

The plan at this point is that I will go in for bloodwork every 6 weeks (rather than 4). Scans in 6 months (rather than 4 months) and Zumeta infusion every 3 months. So over the next 6 months I'll go in 4 times rather than 6 times. She knows I like to roll that way - less is more.

As we sat over a pizza last night, it felt impossible to plan even next weekend. I felt pretty worried this time. But now that all is well, it's like, see you on the golf course Friday night with drinks and dinner on the patio. Then we do a high mileage bike ride on those battering Connecticut hills. It's so hilly there that we took my bike in yesterday to get new gears - I hope that with a different gear ratio I can kick it up those hills.

Our century ride is 6 weeks away and in 7 weeks we go to Acadia National Park for a week of R & R at the same little cabin on the cove that we've rented the last 2 years.

Just today an email was sent about a colleague who was 45 with two young kids. Diagnosed with cancer last year and died on Friday. Chilling. And another colleague's husband died of prostate cancer after being sick for 5 years And here I am almost 10 years out. 9 years 11 months. Each day, each month, each good scan. It's really a gift.

My deck

My deck

This summer I've gotten really excited about my deck. It's not really mine - my upstairs neighbors have equal access to it but actually never use it.

Recently Glenn and I were walking through the neighborhood on a Saturday morning and found these crazy prints for sale. We learned that the artist is "famous" - funny how that goes. The famous Russian artists I never heard of. And I was a Russian major in college and an artist. Tretchikoff. His Wikipedia page says that his prints are second only to Picasso in terms of how many have been sold. Anyway I spend most of my free time at home out there which is very pleasurable. I'm also growing tomatoes and peppers and herbs. And a fig tree too.

Today I get scans with results early Monday morning. As usual I'm freaking out. New aches and pains. And if everything is OK, I will walk home Monday morning feeling totally fine. What a head trip. Last night I threw up - that rarely happens. I attribute it to nerves. I find myself cleaning, cooking, baking, gardening, working in my studio. All this morning an it's just after 9am. That's how I attempt to bind the anxiety - I work.

Glenn will go with me on Monday. I'm pretty sure I'm fine. But it's always good to get confirmation of that!

Pickle juice

With Glenn and Andy

Pickle juice... it's my new go-to thing for bike training. I've seen it offered at distance bike events but never tried it. Until recently. I am prone to leg cramps after a ride and it's really agonizing. I bought a huge jar of Vlasic dill pickles recently and as it was so crazy hot and humid, I decided to give it a try. And guess what? It was biting and cold and delicious. So now before and after a ride I drink a few ounces of it. So does Glenn. And no more leg cramps. How could I be riding all these years and not have picked up on this hint?

We're working on our mileage. On Saturday we did 45 miles of hills in Connecticut. And I mean HILLS. We plan to ride The Flattest Century of the East the weekend after Labor Day out of Dartmouth, MA. We did it in 2015 and 2016, skipped last year because of the cancer flare-up and are doing it again this year. Our friend Michael signed up as well.

Glenn found an article in The Wall Street Journal about pickle juice. It was hilarious. Closet pickle juice drinkers are now more comfortable to "go public".

I get scanned on Friday with results on Monday. I'm feeling great but based on past experience, that doesn't necessarily = all is fine. But I'm forever the optimist.

Tonight I"m starting a 6 week meditation class with Chris Berlin. He was on staff at the Dana Farber 10 years ago (it's been 10 years???!!) and helped me a lot at that time. He teaches meditation in Cambridge and just signed up for this class. Looking forward to it!