Cover UP

Been meeting so many great women dealing with cancer. When first diagnosed I tried to ignore, cover up thoughts of it, keep myself busy, doin' for others, but couldn't make it disappear. Was always still there. Tried O Gotta' get that meat outta' our diet. But that don't mean you can't and won't backslide sometimes. We all do. We just had the State Fair of Texas here last month. It's the biggest funfest around. And people, kids, mom, pop, grands come to gawk, point, laugh; and do a lot of eating. There's food of all kinds... a lot that folks plan all year and concoct, and it's all fried, wid lots of sugar, bad greecy bad, the most unhealthy oils. It's all bad-d-d-d - GOOD! Went to the fair since I was a little girl, way back when we only got to go on 'colored day'. You know that was a long time ago. Anyway, I know I'm not suppose to eat anything out there. I'm even suppose to take my own water. Helped my daughter hand out free samples of grilled chicken fixed with she and her husband's gourmet spicy seasoning. Boy was it smellin' good; and folks were lined up. No-o-o-o... I didn't eat any. But on our breaks we went out on the midway searching for cotton candy, fried catfish, tamales, corn-on-the-cob, and everything else fried we could find. Well... Everything bad was out there. It was a fried-fest. Boy did I partake. I worked there two weekends and had a ball. Yes. I ate the bad stuff. But I got back on track once it ended. I'm sayin' this to say. We get off track, but we can recover. So don't beat yourself up when you stray. Educate yourself. Learn what you need to do and try to stick with it. But, when you backslide, know that you can turn it around again. Sue

Brain Food

Cancer is always in the back and front of your mind once you've gone through the scare, treatments, quick change of habits and thinking. But you start gettin' comfortable after a time no matter what. And you cheat. It's back to sweets, i.e. cookies, cake, ice cream, fries. But not all the time. Still not eating meat. Proud of myself. Don't miss the hamburgers or chicken. Fish is filling the void. So I look for good fish places. Discovered one last week on the way to one of those designer circus'. Got free tickets. Not about to pay high price for food there. Knew circus food would not cut it for taste. Spotted a fish place. Decided to stop and try it. Man, it was good! They had fried shrimp, catfish, tilapia, red snapper, and buffalo. Got the tilapia (fresh, cooked to order, moist, not too salty); had great fries and a timble of cole slaw (slammin' good). But it was fried. Not so good. This place is on the other side of town, and with gas as high as it is, I won't be visiting too often. But those evenings when I'm yearnin' for something special, I might make the trip. Can't remember the name of the place, but I know how to get there. Sue

Backslidder

I'm not eating and exercising like I should and I know I've gotta' get back on track. When I first got the diagnosis I got serious. I was on top of things. I was taking pilates, shopping at Whole Foods, reading and surfing for info to help me, praying and quoting scripture to pull me out of the doldrums. Now my hair has grown out (not to my shoulder yet), and I've started partaking in "healthy" desserts from time to time, stuff like blackberries and blueberries. The only problem is they're in cobblers, and topped with Bluebell ice cream. I know what I need to do. I just have to get back on course and get serious again. I know I can do it. Everything depends on it.

Day By Day

I'm one year through my breast cancer discovery and the time I made myself tell my husband, and on to when I got to the doctor and agonized and finally convinced myself to have the chemo, and surgery. I've always been tough. Some say "stubborn. Everybody depended on me. I took care of everybody else. Even searched for people to help. Having to really lean on somebody else was so hard for me. But I've made it this far and I'm doing some things I want to do for me. It's kinda' scary and freeing at the same time.