Of health and a New Hobby

Did I mention that the Typist got Cancer a couple of months ago? Her treatment was not a great inconvenience for me and my housemate, Buddy.
She went away for six days to live in a small room all alone, with her new iPod, laptop all the while connected to free, high speed Duke University internet, cable TV, and wretched food. She lost ten pounds but got them back not long after she came home. For us, it was like one of her vacations when we are locked in the house with two big litter pans and all the food the cat-sitter can dish out.
We mostly slept and wrestled, leaving clumps of fur for her to find when she returned home. Not bad for me, but October is one of Buddy’s favorite times to roam the forests. I didn’t mind, but I missed her and our conversations. And there was no one to write for me.
She has-- and at some point may tell me “had”-- an uncommon type of cancer on and under the iris of her right eye. Too advanced to cut out, she opted for a tiny radiation shield to be sewn on for 5 days. It emitted 100% stronger radiation than is shot onto soft tissue tumors. Then, after the days of incredible pain that they do NOT emphasize in the pre-op, they wheeled her back to the surgery bed where the marvelous and personally charming surgeon, P. Mruthenjaya popped the shield off, gave her a variety of eye drops, and sent her home for 4 months before she has a follow-up exam. If she keeps it dust-free and without infection, then after two years the cancer should be mostly gone never to return in her lifetime.
Otherwise, they will pop her eyeball out as a failed attempt.

(Oh, did I mention that I have a congenitally leaky right eye? None of us is perfect...)

According to my Typist as a convenient Cancer this one rates on the level of a bad cold, but not yet gone to pneumonia. There is some vague possibility it could appear somewhere in her lower regions in the future. Not likely.
For myself, my health is good. I have never seen a Vet since moving up here to the mountains. We expect to leave next year, maybe by plane again, ugh! Then we will need all those shots again and a health certificate. I do not look forward to that, but, at least it is not Cancer. I would not want to spend 6 days in the hospital. I cannot run the laptop by myself and the iPod is too small for my paws.


New Hobby!

Just before the Typist went away for her Cancer Holiday she began sewing 9-inch Japanese quilt blocks. They require precision cutting and straight-line sewing. I had no idea I was talented in this area. But, I began to love several parts of the process. Strange that the Typist would pick such a visually challenging hobby to begin when she was going to return home either visually “challenged” during recovery or actually blind. But, that’s her all over….
Since returning home with one good eye and the burned one dark red, seeing in blurred, and in fragmented parts, she has been sewing a lot and swearing a lot in English, too. I have been helping with the sewing as much as possible, and enjoying her new Quilters’ Chair [Product review later] every time she stands up.
Stay tuned for a new PD Budd Block Blog featuring all her creations. So far photos of only 30-plus blocks for her friend’s (Ted, my cat sitter) new bed quilt will appear on the blog, as well as a few, highly attractive, eco-friendly, soft shopping bags. She gives these to her friends so they will stop using plastic or paper bags. The small quilt patches personalize the bags besides making them pretty.
As usual I will continue doing all I can to lay out (on) the fabric, chase the scraps and threads, and sleep on the Chair whenever I can. When my new webpage comes online with the pix you will be the first to read about it here.