Weekly Update: 3 year chemo-versary

It’s been three years today since I finished my chemotherapy and have been in remission. I spent the day celebrating with my family, I’ll have another celebration next week, and I’m about to watch Mischief Movie Night In to finish a very nice day indeed.

Having dealt with cancer at a relatively young age sets certain priorities very straight in life. Health, family, friends are above all. I start my journaling every day with a 4-5 things that I’m grateful for. I’m constantly aware that everything in life is fleeting, everything can be taken away from you at any time, so it’s really important to take the time and appreciate everything that you have, even if it’s not always everything that you’ve wanted.

Teddy bears getting ready to be photographed for Inkvent

Reading

I have finished two books this week, Cal Newport’s “How to Become a Straight A Student” and Samantha Harvey’s “Orbital”. Newport’s book was excellent and I plan on using the advice within it to help me prepare for a big certification exam that I’m taking this year. Harvey’s “Orbital” won this year’s Booker prize, which is why I read it, and it’s a complete waste of time. It’s around 140 pages of bloated, purple description, with no plot, no interesting or fleshed out characters, and nothing but platitudes to say about humanity, humankind or the planet. I have no idea why it won, and it was so bad that it completely put me off of trying to read Booker award winning books.

Inkvent

I’ve managed to build a small buffer, which will come in useful as I have to write this year’s Inkvent summary post and I’m still not sure how I’ll tackle it. This year’s calendar isn’t like the ones previous, and so I will need a fresh approach to this summary post this time.

Planning

I’m gearing up to switch planning notebooks after next week, and to start a new quarter. My plan for next quarter is largely ready, and is a little different this time. I’ve pared things down, and I might even streamline them more. I have a week to hammer out the final details, and I’ll likely be dedicating a post to the process in the end.

Have a great week and remember to count your blessings.

5 thoughts on “Weekly Update: 3 year chemo-versary”

  1. debraji's avatar

    debraji

    Congratulations on three years cancer-free! That’s wonderful.

    I, too, had cancer in 2013, and so far, so good. Better still, my son, a childhood leukemia survivor, is expecting his second child in early March. May we all continue in good health.

    –Debbie

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  3. Daphna Kedmi's avatar

    Daphna Kedmi

    Congratulations on your remission and I totally agree with you. Looking at what we have as opposed to what we don’t shows you the many blessings you have.
    Reading about Orbital put me completely off the book. The only book I mean to read from this year’s batch is Stoneyard Devotional, and maybe The Safekeep.

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  4. judybat46's avatar

    shellseeker93

    Congratulations on being in remission for 3 years!

    I’m not sure that I’ve ever managed to read a Booker Prize book all the way through. No, I take that back. I’ve read (and actually enjoyed) Pat Barker’s The Ghost Road. I liked the whole Regeneration trilogy.

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