The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy, especially at work, so I've been out of the loop. Here's my personal, bitchin' 'n moanin' update for your COR wh00r3s. The wife has completed 3 of her chemo sessions for her lymphoma. The last one (which was last Wed.) was bad enough that she said she was refusing to go back and complete the treatments. I did my best to encourage her, and I told her that I understood and that I would support her no matter what she decided. I think it was just the initial impact, like when you wake up with a splitting headache/hangover and swear you'll never drink again...then Friday night rolls around and it's, "Whoooooo, party!" She had bloodwork done this week, as it's her off week. Her white cell count was doing some crazy stuff (they think she may have an ear infection), so they called her in an antibiotic (forget which one, but they are 875mg tablets about the size of your thumb). She has her 4th chemo next Wed., and after that she'll get an updated PET scan, which will tell her if she has 2 or 4 more sessions. We're really, really hoping for 2. Surprisingly, she has a lot of hair left. Granted, I am find it all over the house when I clean. It's brittle and breaks off. I told her after I vacuumed the couch off last time that she is finally shedding more than the dogs.

Some good news: she qualified for up to $2500.00 in benefits from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), which will help us cover her health ins. premiums while she is out of work. We also carry a cancer ins. policy through a company I briefly sold insurance for, and we received the first "initial diagnosis" benefit check from them yesterday. Drops in the proverbial medical bills bucket, but any drop helps.

That is all really positive news to hear! Fingers crossed for just 2 more sessions.

Does your wife know that a bunch of dickheads from the internet have her in their thoughts and are rooting for her?

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Originally posted by Silky Johnson That is all really positive news to hear! Fingers crossed for just 2 more sessions. Does your wife know that a bunch of dickheads from the internet have her in their thoughts and are rooting for her?

LOL, probably not in exacting detail. We have very, very different senses of humor, which is why I frequent the COR...to surround myself and bask in cynical, juvenile antics.

But, from a 50,000 foot view, yes, she knows she has a ton of people from all walks of life pulling for her. And we do appreciate it.

Oh right, what am I doing this weekend... Well, my phone bricked so I had to hit up my provider to get a landline connected (I've been using my husband's cell in the meantime, but I realized the necessity of a landline now that I'm at home with the baby all day); they have a service bundle promo on right now so I signed up for tv and internet through them also. So that's happening tomorrow.

Swimming with the baby today. Prob hit up the inlaws' on Sunday for my MIL's birthday.

It's been quite lovely not having a cell phone for a few days. The unfettered access to the internet, Facebook, group chats, etc., not only outgoing but incoming as well, has been so peaceful.



edit: when I called my current internet + cable provider to ask if I would incur a penalty to cancel my service, I think I blew the guy's mind when I told him we were going off the grid in response to his question "But what will you do?" BAHAHAHAHA.

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Originally posted by Zoso LOL, probably not in exacting detail. We have very, very different senses of humor, which is why I frequent the COR...to surround myself and bask in cynical, juvenile antics. But, from a 50,000 foot view, yes, she knows she has a ton of people from all walks of life pulling for her. And we do appreciate it.

lololol yay!

Yeah man I'm pulling for you and your wife. Cancer is a piece of shit and nobody invited it to the fucking party. Fucking asshole.

On my end I went back to work a couple weeks ago and I've been trying to balance helping raise the baby and train for a triathlon. I feel really bad going out for several hours to ride bikes or run or whatever while my wife is home taking care of the kiddo. But I talked to her about it and my feeling is that when I'm sedentary and I don't have any goals I have a tendency to get lazy and gain weight. So to avoid that I'm actually training for something to stay active. I don't think it has ended up being too bad, luckily he is a relatively easy baby to take care of, he just doesn't do very well chilling by himself, he usually has to be held.

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Originally posted by Silky Johnson Swimming with the baby today.

Yeeeah! Is it like a Mommy & Me class, or just you two playing in the water? Is she comfortable in the water? I've always shouted from the rooftops that swimming is by far one of the most important skills that you can learn early in life. Get on it soon and often and your child will be more comfortable in the water than his or her peers, and will swim circles around them! Plus knowing that they are skilled enough in the water will put your mind at ease when they swim because they are much less likely to go into active drowning or other such disastrous outcomes.

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Yeah it's a parent/baby class. She LOVES it, thank goodness. I was concerned if she would even like the big open pool area, the people, etc. but she takes in every new experience with such ease. She even enjoys the submersions; the instructor was impressed she's never freaked!

We're all signed up for the next round which will take us to summer, and then we have our own pool for her to enjoy.

I 100% agree that it's an ESSENTIAL life skill. Water safety is paramount, especially because we do have a pool. Plus, growing up in Canada it's just part of summer life. Half the bloody year is basically winter, I don't know many people who didn't spend their summers cottaging, at the beach/lake, or local community pool. I mean, we definitely secretly laugh at people who can't swim, lolololol.

Having swam constantly since I was 4, I tried my best to pass along my knowledge for 6 years to kids and their parents about swimming. Now that I'm no longer a coach, I still take it upon myself to highly recommend lessons or classes (I actually ran into a former lesson of mine who is now a teenager and it was awkward and reminded me that I'm old). It's not always as easy for a lot of people though.

It's no coincidence that inner city children (especially African-Americans) have a difficult time with swimming because pools are usually at gyms and gyms require memberships and memberships require money, and poor urban families don't have money, so their children never learn to swim. Meanwhile, you can find a basketball hoop on every corner. Pools are also expensive from an upkeep standpoint. It's unfortunate that it's predestined that a large portion of inner city youth are doomed to never learn to swim. I wish community pools were more plentiful and had more support, primarily for outreach through schools and city initiatives to teach swimming. But I digress.

How do you feel about your little one and extracurricular activities? I am absolutely in favor of my kiddo having something that he works towards after school. I swam competitively but I never really had that edge to be the best. I was Top 8 in the state in my senior year in 2 events but that was my peak. There were a lot of times as a young teen where I thought about quitting just because it was so much work and I was a little burned out, but I didn't because it was all I had known. I'd like my child to be able to communicate when they weren't enjoying something anymore and to let them have the freedom to choose what they want to do. As long as they are doing something, not just sitting at home on their ass.

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Swimming is integrated into the school curriculum here, fortunately. So all kids get exposure/lessons in the primary school years.

Re: extracurricular activities; we have a fairly active lifestyle, so she'll definitely be skiing or snowboarding in the winter and enjoying a wide variety of outdoor activities in the summer. As she gets older and develops her own interests, I will certainly support whatever she wants to pursue. I'm not into this culture of being busy shit with activities up the wazoo - not that I think that's what you're saying, but yeah. I agree about not sitting around on her ass, but I'm not too concerned about it because we don't/won't model that kind of behaviour or lifestyle.

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Originally posted by Silky Johnson Swimming is integrated into the school curriculum here, fortunately. So all kids get exposure/lessons in the primary school years.

To me, I think that's definitely key but I also think it should continue to some degree through even further during development. Just like a lot of things, a rudimentary ability and understanding of swimming can help you get by from point A to point B, but if you really want comfort in the water, a lot more time needs to be spent instructing and drilling in order to help teach the strokes and the proper ways to do them. I think swimming should be a core component to physical education studies up through High School, where teenagers can turn into adults that possess a complete ability to swim.

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I'm not into this culture of being busy shit with activities up the wazoo - not that I think that's what you're saying, but yeah. I agree about not sitting around on her ass, but I'm not too concerned about it because we don't/won't model that kind of behaviour or lifestyle.

Yeah, it always pains me to see helicopter parents who haven't let go of the dream that their child is some kind of prodigy or sports superstar in the making, shouting at the coaches or refs to "Put my boy in, or I'll have your ass!" Those pathetic souls who must live vicariously through their children because they are insecure about their own success in life. Not everyone has to be a world shaker. I'm probably going to live my entire life and die being largely unknown to the general population and planet's history, which is absolutely fine by me.

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Originally posted by Silky Johnson Swimming is integrated into the school curriculum here, fortunately. So all kids get exposure/lessons in the primary school years.

At some but not many schools, towns or cities over here that's also the case. My son and daughter both had swimming lessons once a week for two years starting at the age of five. I think we had to pay over $500 for each.
Both got swimming diplomas A and B of the so called ABC system. They even have to swim in clothes: https://amsterdam-mamas.nl/articles...imming-diplomas

Although in the south we don't nearly have as much of water as the north as far as I know almost all children get swimming lessons.

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