Scenes from yesterday's hike at Thacher Park. Restorative to get some fresh air and movement during the holiday.

Annual Xmas Day viewing of CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT. 🎄✨

When you're in a job interview and they ask, "What's one book you've read recently?" and all you can think of are the 6 books on cancer you've consumed this year ... 😅

Our first weekend away since ... everything. And it was the perfect time to revisit this city I love so much (Kingston, Ontario). 🇨🇦

Lovely hike this morning at Five Rivers. And we encountered this beautiful buck who was just off the trail! So glad to be able to get back out in nature again, even if I still have to stick to flat easy trails. 🦌

I'm just a person, standing in front of an insurance company representative, asking them for the eighth time to explain WHY an in-network provider's bills keep getting classified as "out of network" ...

Post-surgical followup went well! Surgeon lifted all restrictions, so in theory I don't need my old-lady reacher to pick things up off the floor anymore and can start light weight training again, etc. (In practice I expect to remain cautious for another 4-6 weeks so I don't risk tearing stitches.)

Surgery recovery is going a bit better: I feel more like myself, planning for future things, which wasn't happening a week ago. But I'm still sad about losing my summer. As Monday (my first in-person teaching day of the fall term) approaches, I'm mourning the vacation we never got to take in May ...

I keep almost posting and then deleting it. This surgery recovery has been really rough; I'm only six days out but it feels like forever. Feels like it'll be forever before I'm back on my feet, back to myself. My body is trying to figure itself out again and throwing me wicked anxiety too. Ugh.

Am I ready for my hysterectomy + oophorectomy on Monday? Not sure. But ALL of my lesson plans for both schools are DONE! For the whole semester! And all assignments and materials are up on each LMS. I can spend the rest of my summer recovering ... ❤️‍🩹

Onco-gyno appointment this morning. Looks like I'm having a hysterectomy + oophorectomy to reduce my uterine cancer risk from the hormone receptor modulator meds I'll have to take for up to a decade. Those meds increase uterine cancer risk by 30%! Surgery is scheduled for 8/11. Here we go ...

So many things I didn't know about breast cancer before I was diagnosed: lymphedema risk, recurrence risk, years of medication after initial treatment. Possibility of other cancers. If it recurs after double mastectomy it might show up in chest or spread to bone or brain or liver or lung.

Saw 20 rabbits and a pair of beautiful deer on my hike at Five Rivers this morning. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in April, I didn't think I was going to reach my #52hikechallenge goal this year. But I'm back on track and I've already done 41 hikes this year. I can do it.

You've been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who's coming to save you?