It’s supposed to be springtime, but it’s a bit late coming this year!  We are supposed to have twelve hours of snow starting tonight, though it’s not supposed to accumulate.  But the grocery stores and gas stations were really busy today!  I’ve always thought of springtime as a time of new beginnings.  I personally prefer, if I am going to make New Year’s Resolutions, to make them on May first!   It a time when all that was dead comes back to life, when the world is again filled with color.

This year I’d like to lose a little weight and get in shape to go backpacking and biking!  Last year I did a bicycle century, rode my bike 100 miles in a day.  I did that once before, six month after I completed chemo. I did trained for it while I was on chemo!

I was asked again today what I did differently after my cancer diagnosis.  Did I live my life differently, did I change my diet?  The answer is no, I lived my life after cancer exactly as I had before cancer.  I did then and still do now sometimes eat fast food.  I still occasionally eat junk food, and did right after my cancer diagnosis and treatment.  I rode my bike a lot after the cancer diagnosis, but that was kind of my emotional outlet, when I felt scared  or stressed I rode my bike.  I remember on a bad day riding my bike in the rain when it was only 40 degrees!  I smoked when I was diagnosed with cancer, and didn’t quit until 2 years after my diagnosis….getting diagnosed with cancer makes it very hard to quit smoking if that’s how you deal with stress!  So I did nothing “magic”: to survive Stage IV signet ring cancer for so many years.  I just got good medical treatment.

I’ve had some ask me about support groups.  There are not usually in person support groups for this cancer as it is so rare.  I know of an online one, PMP Belly Button Club.  I also have forums on my new web site that I hope will become support groups.  They are for patients and families.  Those who read this blog, please try to sign p for the forums!  I’ll be there!  Maybe we can get a support group going! It is a tad tedious to sign onto the forums, but that is a good thing.  I had a forum on a previous web site that was 80% spam because it wasn’t as secure as these forums.

I hope springtime is filling you all with the sense of a new and beautiful beginnings!