Monthly Archives: February 2011

Snow. Lots and lots; seven to eleven inches today, more tonight and in the days to follow. Those warm days were just a teaser.

It’s been a busy week. Our good friend Frank was here last weekend with his son James and on Saturday they hit the slopes with David and Peter. On Sunday it was bitter cold outside, and the guys opted for sledding in the backyard instead. Frank and James were able to stay until Monday morning and it was great to see them both.

Tuesday morning was my monthly appointment at MGH; all routine. It was agreed that even though I wasn’t schedule for a scan for another seven weeks, I would come in for a physical every four weeks. Alice (Dr. Shaw) just felt better that way, and I’m not inclined to disagree with her.

Afterward I joined my friend Sadie and her Husband Pete at the condo they just moved into on the edge of a salt marsh. The three of us enjoyed dinner and conversation together and I slept over; a lovely respite.

Yesterday was filled with errandsw in anticipation of the forecasted snowfall. And then last night, quite suddenly, I was feeling like crap again. Back pain, muscle aches, headache and general flu-like symptoms. After dinner I took some Advil and went straight to bed. This morning I felt a little better but my face was swollen and my head and sinuses hurt.

I began to wonder if my symptoms might be due to the Levaquin, which I had been on for a week and a half. The last time I took it, after ten days my face swelled up as well. After googling side effects, I’m pretty convinced that is the case. Troublesome, as I am resistant to most antibiotics now, and I feel backed into a corner with the recurring sinusitis.

I’ve just got to do what I can to strengthen my natural defenses and frankly, to hold out for spring. It will be a breath of fresh air indeed.

I want to say a little about our family, and, in particular, my sister Laura. We have three other sisters, and two brothers as well. Seven kids total; I am the oldest and Laura is smack in the middle.

Ours was a nontraditional family in just about every sense of the word. The first time I met Laura, she was standing on our front stoop with her younger sister Diana and their mother (or mama, as she liked to be called). Her Mama’s name was Carolyn, and she had just started dating our divorced father. On that day my brother John, sister Bink and I were meeting the three of them for the first time. Carolyn’s first words to me were “man, I dig your overalls”. I glanced over her shoulder to the curb, where she had parked her VW Beetle. Every square inch of it was painted over with flowers, peace signs and raggedy ann dolls of varying ethnicity. I was meeting my first hippy.

Soon the hippy was my stepmother, and Laura and Diana became our sisters. It wasn’t long before our family expanded even more, as Daniel and then Rosalie were born. I couldn’t have been more pleased, as I was now ringmaster of my own circus, with a troop of younger siblings eager to participate in any variety of schemes. We had tea parties, puppet shows, super eight movie productions, and even an annual neighborhood carnival.

My brothers and sisters were also the students and I the teacher when we played school, and I taught Laura how to read before she even entered kindergarden. It was only years later that I realized this accomplishment owed more to Laura’s precocity and determination to succeed rather than any skills in instruction on my part.

But I grew up and moved on. My younger siblings lives became a bit of a mystery to me, just as mine was to them. Over time, our geographical distance increased and our family ties loosened. We’d see each other at the occasional family gathering, but our relationships became less close.

And then, several years ago Laura and I really reconnected. It was a couple of years into my battle with lung cancer, and despite several treatment regimens, it looked as if the cancer was now in both lungs. Laura and her husband Andy responded to this news with what I was to learn was signature Pastor gusto: they invited my husband David, son Peter and myself to be their guests on a Disney Cruise.

I was now beginning to understand that this renewed relationship between Laura and myself would be no casual thing. Laura brings her A game to everything she does; it’s really all or nothing with her. And she was going to expect the same amount of effort from me.

So, it’s no surprise to me that when I asked her if she would consider running in the inaugural Team Lung Love race, she not only accepted, she ran the full marathon and raised the greatest amount of money. And then decided she’d start a team Lung Love in Austin.

That’s my sister. She puts all her heart as well as her considerable talents and energy into every undertaking. I am overwhelmed and honored that she has chosen to work lung cancer advocacy into her already full life, just as she has made me part of her family again.

And I’m holding up my part of the bargain Laura. I’m still here, fighting with all I’ve got, and I love you so. I’ll be cheering you on every step of the way tomorrow, and your teammates as well. Thank you all.

Linnea

I’ve been taking it a bit easy the past week, as I’ve had yet  another sinus infection; this one took up residency in my lungs with alarming speed. I had a ticket to fly to Austin today to cheer on Team Lung Love and my sister Laura, but I made the difficult decision earlier in the week to not travel yet. The past few months, every time I’ve flown somewhere, I’ve gotten sick almost immediately afterward. Whether it’s the pressurized cabin, or perhaps the the close quarters; I’m not certain; but it’s been a trend I’d like to end.

Yesterday it was sunny and in the forties, which felt like the eighties compared to the chilly temperatures we’ve endured for months now. I felt well enough to strap on my snowshoes and to venture into the woods. Almost immediately I found a beautiful little nest that had somehow weathered all the storms; perhaps that of a wren.

The sun warmed my face and a whispery rattle was coming from the beeches, which hang onto some of their papery leaves until the new ones bud. I placed my hand on the trunk of a large maple, and I swear I could feel the sap running.

I came done with an instant case of spring fever.

Today the thaw continued, and Buddy and I were able to walk the two miles up and down the road; the dust kept down by running water. It felt so good. When I picked Pete up at the bus stop, a mall flock of ducks was circling endlessly above us. I think they had the fever too.

Before you know it, we’ll be sipping iced tea in the same adirondack chairs that are yet up to their knees in slushy snow.