True Confessions of a Cancer Patient

It was caught on film, so I guess I should confess: I went hiking yesterday.

Not like just a walk in the park, or a stroll in the desert, but a bona fide destination hike, like the kind if you came to visit me in Tucson I might take you on if I didn't have cancer: I got some friends together and hiked out to seven falls. It was a little longer than I remembered. By the time you get to the trailhead and all the way there and all the way back it turns out to be a little over 8 miles. The weather was beautiful and we took it pretty easy with plenty of breaks for water and snacks. My friend Rachel who's visiting from St. Louis even carried all my extra water. I was tired at the end, and had puffy fingers (from blood pooling instead of chemo-induced liquid retention. Yes!!), but I don't really have sore muscles today. And then in the evening, we went to the international festival downtown to enjoy the ethnic food and variety of local performers with international flavor.

Now, in some books this whole episode is entirely against the Rules of Proper Behavior for Cancer Patients. I mean, I feel a little bit like a fraud, telling people I have cancer when I can hike 8 miles and still have the energy to stay out late eating greasy gyros watching Bollywood dances. It would be a more convincing act if I spent most of the day laying in bed being waited on and lit candles and took bubble baths and started oil painting.

This not an inspirational tale about the woman with cancer who wouldn't let torturous nausea and fatigue prevent her from going out and proving herself. The simple truth is, I feel great. I felt great yesterday, so I went hiking and festival-ing and had a blast. I don't always feel great (see posts from last weekend), and then I do spend a lot of time laying in bed being waited on - a bubble bath doesn't sound bad. But I feel great now and will probably feel great for the next week. Besides, the accordion has so much more . . . oom pah than oil painting.

Here's the rest of the photographic evidence of Margaret's Unorthodox Cancerous Adventures:
(Rachel's the one with the hair).

Tonight's project is dinner. We're hoping for pumpkin soup in its own shell, but can't promise anything about the integrity of our particular pumpkin's flesh. The recipe is from here.

Today's Cancerous Disappointment: Movie theater popcorn (at the rental store) is unsatisfyingly unsalty.