I actually have a routine of getting up twice. The first time anywhere from 4-6A I get up and have a small tidbit of food and shove down my first round of morning-before and with food - medication. I try to do this without actually waking up unless it is 5:30A and I can watch a half hour of BBC News. I then go back to sleep till around 11A and get up to have my second round of after-food medication. Since I rarely go to sleep before 2A, I am able to get quality REM sleep during my second round. It seems that I can’t get out of the house before 1-2P, and really get going around 3P. I know I’m not the only insomniac in here. Oh! On my second rising the first thing I do is look outside and smile at the beautiful weather. I also go outside every night to look at the moon before I go to sleep. It just feels good. CA

Hear! Hear! Diana…CA

I agree phyllis. I think of the eight years we have lost when I watch my mother’s Essential Tremor disorder deteriorate almost daily. Since it is similar to Parkinson Disease it wouldn’t take a quantum leap to help her. We are now five generations with this disorder. This week-end the increase in one of my mother’s meds has reduced her short term memory to 60 seconds. So Sunday she cut back on the one med so we could assess a true memory baseline in about a month. Last time this happened she was able to get back to where she was before the increase and I have faith that it will again. We had to have the Alzheimer discussion and it almost broke my heart.  Sorry I’ve been away so long but I have been medically challenged myself. CA

Hi all! Sorry I’ve been away so long, but medical issues have had me over whelmed. As for vacations, QM and I are not cancelling them. We are taking a 7 day cruise next month instead of a longer one. We are also capitalizing on frequent flyer mileage for a longer flight to visit family in June. As for next year, QM will turn 80 and we are still planning on taking a much longer cruise to celebrate. I save and plan all year for upcoming trips. I shop every possible discount without sacrificing my comfort level for flights and cruises. I have found if you ask if there is something or some way to cut costs (like adjusting dates of travel) you can save quite a bit. I must say that I am blessed to have had a father who planned well for QM and his retirement. Now a widow, she hasn’t had to make any adjustments in lifestyle without the economic downturn because her losses were not in money used for living expenses. We also live in a location considered a great winter/spring tourist destination. Right now we have major league baseball spring training going on and the weather will continue to get better until June. I can’t complain about anything except not having the ocean to play in, but that is just a short hour flight away. My Best to All. CA

No! No! He must of made a great impression on me…I can’t remember who it was. But, the man who absolutely broke my heart contacted me last month ‘just to see how I was doing,’ after 32 years of never speaking. It was a very strange conversation, and I was so shocked that I forgot to ask him if he had ever left his wife. I guess he would have told me , eh? CA

I haven’t changed a thing. I may do a little less and not bake out of sheer laziness. All the holidays have been important in our family and now that we are just two…it’s not hard to spoil just one person with over indulgence. Happy Holidays to All! CA

Ditto! A blessing for the both of them. More proof that there is ‘life’ after cancer. CA

Kelly Kelly, Almost 20 years ago I was diagnosed with uterine ca. It was not detected by the first biopsy, but by an internal ultrasound followed by a more invasive biopsy. The uterine cancer saved my life because when they operated they found that I had undetected and completely unrelated (not mets) ovarian cancer that I would have likely died from. I would seriously suggest that you get a second opinion. It is better to be safe than sorry. A couple of extra tests gave me 20 extra years to enjoy my life. CA

I think we all can relate to Oprah…body image issues can be overwhelming. When I first got cancer my weight dropped to 89 lbs. I was bones with a little skin and I looked awful. I finally gained some back and weighed 104 lbs for quite a few years. I was still skinny, but it became my norm from 1990-something until 2003 when I had bladder ca surgery. After that I didn’t lose weight…I started gaining it and when it leveled off at more than I wanted, I couldn’t lose one itty-bitty pound. Everyone complimented me on my new curves and I thought I looked HUGE in my size 4/6 clothes. I know how irrational that sounds. My point is that we have this standard set in the media of what a woman is supposed to look like, and when we think we have gone over that line we take on all this unrealistic guilt. Or is it just me? I don’t think so. I don’t want to find myself half-dead, but happy because I am back in my size 0-2 pants. CA

I’m not sure, but I think it adds up to around 5-7. I also never go to bed before 2A and then wake up a couple times and watch tv or go online. I finally get up about 11A. Lizzie it seems we keep the same hours. I don’t start to get my motor running well until about 3P and from then on I’m balls-to-walls. Everyone I know goes to sleep early and they get up early. It’s weird…I run into my neighbor out picking up the paper. I know she is just getting up, and I haven’t been asleep long enough for it to count as REM. I’d be in trouble if I had to go to work in the morning. CA

I agree Diana. I was going to mention them as well, but the name of the show had slipped my mind and all I could remember was Dame Judy Dinch (sp?). I love both shows and the come on back to back on Saturday evening here. In case I get too busy leading up to Christmas (I have tests at the hospital next week), I want to wish you, your families and all those here on wow who celebrate in one form or another, a very happy, safe and loving holiday season. CA

I love the Brit Com’s! Hyacinth & Richard on ‘Keeping Up Appearances’, for starters. But, Lucy & Ethel have to be the all time comedic duo. CA

Financial fears…hmmmm. I’ll trade you for my health fears. December marks the semi-annual cysto to see if my bladder ca has returned, then comes the annual endo and colo to make sure my pre-ca esophagial problem is under control and whether my colon ca has returned. WooHoo! Oh, somewhere in there I get my every 3 mos renal bloodwork done and see the Nephrologist about my failing kidney. All that before Dec 15th. The co-pays will be more than my monthly income. Somewhere in there I am treating myself to leg waxing. Am I being too extravagant? Honestly, I’d much rather worry about money than cancer and kidney failure. CA

‘When you’ve got nuthin’ you got nuthin’ to lose.’ I don’t have much to start with. CA

Exactly! Or a Jonathan Kellerman consulting child Psychiatrist murder mystery. Analysis of the criminally insane…my fav. CA