Living Life to Its Fullest

So, this year I've made a few strides in living life to its fullest.  My checklist still has lots of items on it, but at least some of them have changed from a status of "going nowhere" to "in progress".

Last September I started curling again.

I love curling. I forgot how much I love curling.  I love to play, I like to watch. I LOVE CURLING!! And, I'm totally okay if you think I'm a dork for it... especially if you've never tried it... you know the saying "don't knock it 'til you've tried it".  I'd say that's especially true for curling.  Until you've tried it, you don't understand the thrill of the strategy behind the sport, the excitement of watching your sweepers get the rock just by that front guard, the joy of making that elusive double take out or tap-back raise to the button.  Ahh... curling... why can't you be a year round sport?  I am definitely curling again next year (even with the somewhat steep price tag of $350 per player per year). Living Life a Little Bit Better - CHECK!

Around the same time I also started taking piano lessons.

As a quick aside... This futuristic Schimmel Pegasus Grand Piano that looks "like it came out of a wormhole in StarTrek" can be mine for as little as $159,000 US! (as Joel would say, "It's a Bargain!")

Anyway... my piano teacher, Michelle Aalders, is great.  A bit more conservative than I would prefer, but I suppose she's not supposed to be my friend, she's supposed to be my teacher.  Don't get me wrong, I'd totally go out for a mochachinno, chocochino, frappucino, cappuccino, rappachino, al pacino, WT*? (oops! no swearing at piano lessons!)

For those of you that have no idea what just went on:  (but be warned, LOTS of "coarse language")

Anyway, back to PIANO!

Michelle is highly qualified having played piano for over 30 years and receiving her Bachelor of Music from Acadia University in Nova Scotia (her home) and then her Masters in Music Degree in Piano Pedagogy (pedagogy = the art of teaching) and Performance from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.  She's a member of the Saskatchewan Music Teachers Association and is also the accompanist for Saskatoon's acclaimed Children's Choir... the list goes on!

According to Michelle, I'm doing very well. Conquering all things she's challenging me with in good time.  I started with a paino book geared to adults and have since moved on to the infamous Royal Conservatory of Music books.  Scary.

With piano, I've probably always been my own worst critic.  My right hand has it easier as my years of playing the flute have left me a far better sight reader in the treble clef.  My poor left hand though - it struggles, but even when I get good at playing a piece's bass clef music the next challenge arises.  PLAYING THEM TOGETHER! It is infinitely harder to play both hands at once.  Even with both hands 100% mastered when playing alone, it's a whole other ball game when you have to put them together.

I am also really good at quitting when things get tough.  The music for this week is HARD and I'm struggling.  I can hear it in my head far better than I can play it with my hands.  It's frustrating, sometimes debilitating.  My shoulders hurt and I feel defeated.  Time to walk away from the piano bench, do something else for a while, and then get back at it.  My goal is to practice 6-7 hours a week.  Ideally 1 hour per day, but with lessons being Thursdays at 5:00 there is no time to practice beforehand, and with curling Thursday nights until 11:30pm it's hard to sneak a practice in after supper - and who wants to practice RIGHT after their lesson anyway?  So, I try to make up for it by practicing over an hour on Saturdays and Sundays... maybe all at once, or maybe in two sessions.  Sounds easy, but it can be hard for me to pull myself away from my old habits and make time to better myself.

I'm not sure if everyone would consider this a step in living life to its fullest, but for me, music is an important part of my life.  A part I've never felt good enough at.  For all of the natural ability I have, I should be better than I am.  I am living life by not watching that extra hour of TV on the couch.  I'm playing piano, practicing piano - living my life.

Much more improvement needed, but I'm working on it... this summer will be my next big challenge.  Lets all start praying for some nice weather now, ok?

Renal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Well, it's been just about 5 weeks since my surgery date and I'm doing very well.

I should have posted something long ago...

Surgery went well - everything as expected.  Dr. Lau and his team removed the tumor in my kidney and a portion of my kidney itself.  I suspect I will know more about how much kidney I have left and what it's function level is after my follow up appointment which usually happens 6 - 8 weeks after surgery.

For the many who have asked - we are still awaiting results of the biopsy to confirm any diagnosis such as Renal Cell Carcinoma.  Dr. Lau said results usually come in 4 - 6 weeks.  This Thursday will be Week 5, so hopefully we find out soon so that we can share with you all.

Norovirus made surgery day sad.  Joel was supposed to be able to follow me right through to the surgery doors basically, but as it turned out, he had to say goodbye at the elevator almost 2 hours before surgery was scheduled.  Thursday after surgery without visitors wasn't bad.  I don't know if it was the anaesthetic or the morphene, but something was making me very sleepy, so Thursday flew by.  By Friday night it was becoming a bit of a different story.  There were a few tears shed when I received some flowers at the hospital - they not only came from friends that I did not expect to send anything, but they also reminded me that they were my only visitors.  The friends couldn't come visit, family couldn't come visit - just the flowers. 

On Saturday they pulled out the catheter (thank goodness!) so I was up walking around more, and feeling more ready to go home.  Sunday I had my first shower in 4 days - and for any of you that know me well - I was SO relieved to finally wash my hair.  Dr. Lau had come to visit and asked if I wanted to go home that day or wait one more day and go home Monday.  I couldn't fathom anyone wanting to stay longer than necessary - especially when the hospital is infected with a contageous bug that A) I could catch and B) was ensuring I could have no visitors.  OF COURSE I WANT TO GO HOME TODAY!!

On Sunday I was released at lunch time.  Home.  It didn't take me long to figure out that home was where I needed to be... I was back to work 18 days after surgery (part time for one week, full time after that).  I am doing well and pretty much everything is back to normal.  Yay me.

...On another note, Joel's mom and dad are here for a few days.  Joel's dad had a Dr. appointment yesterday, only to find out he has Squamous Cell Carcinoma (of the skin)... he has the 2nd most common skin cancer... Cancer! Stupid Cancer!  A small patch below his eye that will have to be removed by the delicate hands of a plastic surgeon sometime in the upcoming months.  I know very little about this, but from what I read and understand from Bert, Fran, and Joel, is that it is fairly minor in nature, easily treated, and very rare to spread.  I believe it was Bert that told me he could probably live with the small spot on his face for 5 more years without worry of the cancer spreading beyond his skin into other body parts - that's good, partly because it sounds as though he may wait a few months before getting in to see a plastic surgeon.  I'm not sure if they just do a local anaesthetic (that's what I'm assuming, but I neglected to ask!)...

Seems cancer is everywhere these days.  Each one of us seems to be touched with cancer, either within our own bodies, or the body of someone we know and love. I guess that is why we should try to live each day to its fullest.  WAY harder to do than it sounds... at least for me, but it's something I want to learn to do... must practice doing....

Okay - going to sign off now - going to go practice living my life to its fullest.