Lessons Learned

Today, while walking on the treadmill, I bought a pair of shoes, using the Rue La La app on my iphone.  Once I completed the purchase, it occurred to me that if I was walking slowly enough to buy shoes, I was probably walking way too slow.  Live & learn, right?

Here are some other things I’ve learned, or been reminded of, since being diagnosed with cancer.

• Peppermint mochas are really, really good.
• If you come back to The Young and the Restless 15-20 years after you last watched, the characters will all be doing the exactly the same thing with all the same people.
• I have a lot of v-necks in my wardrobe, most of which I am not yet ready to wear.
• When I feel stressed, or uncomfortable in my own skin, I buy shoes.  This would be an expensive byproduct of my diagnosis, if not for the fact that until Monday, I had not bought any other articles of clothing, other than my post-surgery pajamas, since my diagnosis.
• At the moment, my “cleavage” is reminiscent of Tori Spelling’s, circa 1995, which, for those of you who don’t know, is not a good thing.  I don’t know whether my exchange surgery will fix this, or if it’s just karmic retribution for all the comments I made about Tori, both when 90210 originally aired, and all the years later when I watched 90210 in syndication.
• Kids, and in particular my kids, are amazingly resilient.
• I don’t have enough high-energy music on my iPod.  Today on the treadmill one of Abigail’s favorite songs: “breakthrough,” from Disney’s epic film, “Lemonade Mouth” shuffled through and it was the best-paced song I had heard all morning. Most of my music is so slow it forces me, FORCES me, to buy shoes while working out.
• I have amazing friends who have shown up for me in ways I couldn’t even have imagined over the past 3 months.
• It is easier than I would have thought to wear yoga pants and a fleece every day, but then harder to wear all the 3-inch platform heels I’ve bought. I either need to buy more sneakers, or start wearing more jeans/pants.
• Growing up in a small town may seem stifling when you’re young, but when you’re 41 and have cancer, it is amazing and wonderful to have so many people from your past extend a hand as though not a day has passed since you last saw them.
• “Luck” is in the eye of the beholder.
• “Hart of Dixie” is a reasonably cute show.
• I have a wonderful family.
• My hair really was too long before I chopped it in December.  I like this length better.
• I finally tried on some of my clothes today and although things fit differently, they do seem to fit.  Except for the things that don’t fit because of the peppermint mochas.  And the cookies.  And the muffins.  And the pasta. Details.
• Camp friends are friends for life.
• Although I miss my job a lot, the past 3 months confirmed that leaving was the right thing to do.
• Calories still count, even if you have cancer.
• I am stronger than I thought.

I also learned way more than I ever wanted to about the specifics of breast cancer, but you can read all about that elsewhere on the internet.  This is the stuff that matters.