Alchemy

I'm not a medical expert but basically, it says no evidence of recurrence or spread.

I'm in the clear.

I felt like crying when I read it, but the tears wouldn't really come.

And now I sort of don't feel anything.

There's a lot of endings happening right now, and I think I'm just having trouble wrapping my mind around it.

I'm gonna go catch a movie with my buddy Gary tonight and blow off some steam. That's a nice way to celebrate.

I think I won't properly exhale until I see my doctor on the 15th.

And I’m like

Cause the way I can’t stand anyone to be in the kitchen when I’m cooking.

Like right now I’m on the porch waiting for my mom to get out of there so I can finish making dinner.

My last turn came up.

Her final score was 340. I was at 269.

And I had a shot at a 3W tile.

And I had the tiles to spell “Quinoa”

And the Q landed on a 2L tile.

I hit enter and BOOM!

80 points.

Final score: 347 to 340

I beat her by 7 points.

I just burst out laughing. I can’t believe I won. She was ahead of me the WHOLE GAME.

Talk about lucky

I have no memory of doing all of this, mind you. I must have done it about a month ago when I was writing the first chapter. I then detoured to gather more research. Then I took on the monumental task of reading through it, making notes, and organizing it all so I could refer to it at a glance.

This chapter is the most load-bearing of the thesis because it bears the foundation on which my argument is built.

I am happy to report that I am extremely pleased with it. I know the research so well at this point that it was much easier to write than I thought it would be. It was wise to sort out my lit review before I tackled this section.

I’m going to give myself a well-deserved day off tomorrow. I’m well ahead of schedule.

I had my follow up CT scan today. I had some time to kill so I went in the back of the hospital to take a little walk and enjoy the sea. Living on a Caribbean island you’d think you’d see it everywhere, but we’re so industrialized in the capital that it’s hard to get a glimpse of it, even though we live in a port.

I had a bit of an anxiety attack on the drive there and started crying. My first CT scan was a little traumatic. The room was terribly cold, they stuck me over and over again trying to get a vein, succeeding only after the sixth try, and despite taking a regimen of antihistamines I still ended up having a reaction to the contrast dye for which I had to be monitored and medicated.

Rex comforted me in the car, and when I went in he stuck his head in and blew me kisses of reassurance, and that really made me feel a lot better.

They gave me a strong dose of antihistamines before (the needle thankfully went in on the first try) and the scan was smooth. I wasn’t freezing. And I only had a very slight reaction, one little hive on my cheek that’s gone now.

When I first got my diagnosis, this scan felt like a million miles away. And if I’d followed my original course of treatment I’d have had it six months ago. So to get here today… I feel a bit… like I don’t have any context for it. I’m still on meds and after a year and a half of treatment (I finish Sunday), I sort of don’t know what to do with the ending. It sort of just crept up on me.

I don’t see my doctor until the fifteenth so I won’t know the results until then, unless I try to decipher it myself which probably isn’t wise. I have some anxiety about it of course, but there’s no reason to believe I won’t be in the clear. We’ve thrown everything and the kitchen sink at it.

The Rotunda Gallery sent an email informing me that the show opened today. So I guess going to the opening isn't gonna be a thing. There's no opening. It's open, I guess? Thanks for the heads up.

I’ve wanted one forever.

We have to like, clean up the floor space, get all the cords out of the way and according to the instructions, vacuum the place three times before we use it.

It’s still sitting in the box. Nobody in this house has either the time or energy to do all that right now.

Of course I wanna pitch my laptop across the room now cause I’m sick of it but hey I got shit done that I’ve been meaning to do for month now! Yay me!

I just need the full name of the curator from my gallery before I can submit (they asked for references).

1. Finish that residency application because the deadline is today.

2. Sort through the rest of my research and just get shot in order.

3. Update my website.

I’m gonna be working from my bed today because I’m fighting off something, my throat is a tiny bit sore but I took some cold meds and I’m feeling better but my body doesn’t want to sit at a desk for hours.

Every so often I think about one passion I had, but didn’t pursue.

Geology.

I studied it in high school and college and I absolutely loved everything about it.

I love how you can just look at a rock and know how it was formed. With some simple tests and observations you can determine its mineral content. You can look at a river and know how old it is by the bends. You can tell the age of a mountain range by its shape. You can read the earth! It’s so fascinating.

I think that’s why when I went into jewelry making, I started off using gemstones in their raw state. I just love rocks.

If I had known what career opportunities were available in that field, I think I might have pursued it, but I had no idea at the time. Ironically, coming from an oil- and gas-producing country, it would have been very useful right here at home.

I actually looked into the geology programme at my current university when I started. But then I decided I didn’t have time to get a whole new degree and start a brand new career in my fifties.