A Mindful Life

Mine, all mine! At preschool, Claire had a tendency to hurtle into tears if a small thing didn’t go her way, or if she perceived some other child’s behavior as a slight. My response typically had been to croon, hug, and comfort. For instance, one day she brought a stuffed animal with her. In circle [...]

As my husband says, nothing is ever halfway with me. After reading Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, I’ve wondered exactly how to follow his advice: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” I recently purchased a small pile of books, several of which feel intuitively revolutionary to me. The titles: [...]

Hi dear readers (all 5 of you who are left). I know I hardly post here anymore. But today I have good news to share. The saga of the breast cancer question has been answered. I had the genetic test done for BRCA 1 and 2 (thanks to insurance paying), and the result is I [...]

The case is solved. I have NO CANCER!! I have a referral to an oncologist to discuss risk reduction options and to a genetic counselor to discuss testing for BRCA 1 and 2. I’m higher risk but so is living in general. Time to celebrate! And here’s another craft Claire and I did (since life [...]

Gas prices have taken off! This made me laugh. I do expect, however, that prices here will reach $5.00 a gallon by mid-2012 at the latest. I’m basing the costs of preschool (and whether to continue commuting to our current one, which is a 34-mile round trip) on this assumption. We shall see!

I met the surgeon Friday. He ran way behind schedule, but he was collaborative and kind. My surgery is scheduled for this Friday, the 11th. I was told to find a front closure support bra that I will wear home from the surgery, which is an outpatient procedure. They will use wire localization to find [...]

Today I have my surgical consultation for the discovery of atypical ductal hyperplasia. I’ve been waiting two weeks for this to discuss and schedule it. Up until today I’ve carried on normally, but today I’m as tense as an overstretched rubber band. I haven’t got more to share, although I do have another letter. Claire [...]

I got a phone call at noon on Thursday with my biopsy results. The news wasn’t the worst, but it’s not the best either. I have Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia. In simplest terms, this means there’s a spot on my breast with too many cells growing in the duct that are taking on suspiciously irregular forms. [...]

I’ve got to hand it to Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Almost every encounter I have with them is an interaction of efficiency and compassion, from the desk staff to the doctors. Today I had a stereotactic breast biopsy. That’s where you climb onto a table that’s a cross between a massage table and an auto [...]

I wrote the following on October 20, before I got ahold of Geneen Roth’s book, Women Food and God. I like to eat. I like to eat sweet, salty, and calorie-dense foods. I eat when I am not hungry. I eat when I am bored. I eat when I feel stressed. I resist the idea [...]