<p>LTS, joining in to wish you a blessed Christmas season. Those of us who have encountered the cancer challenge have a special appreciation for each holiday, I believe. Along with so many others, I will be wishing you the very best for 2008. (I know your resolutions are already set! 
)
Please pass these sentiments from CC on to your devoted D as well.</p>
<p>Blessings for a season of peace.</p>
<p>LTS and all here, May the joys and blessings of this holiday season descend on all of us and our families.</p>
<p>amen. </p>
<p>(10 char)</p>
<p>Very best wishes for wonderful holidays to everyone here as well. D and I decided to spend Christmas with just the two of us, cancelling all of our standing traditions with others, just because we wish to selfishly have lots of fun together. Our tree is stunningly beautiful and everything is just so perfect and happy. I have also convinced her to go to Indonesia after Christmas, so I am very happy that she is going. I have chemotherapy again beginning January 2 I think but havenāt had any issues with it so far, so, hopefully the 6th session wonāt be any different.</p>
<p>Calmom - Iām with you re the chocolate. Comparatively, trust me when I tell you, broccoli sprouts are absolutely, totally disgusting. Whoever decided sprouts should be packaged up and sold as food is one very sick twisted puppy. Iāll do the chocolate instead. If I drill really hard I bet I can produce a credible study that says that chocolate enhances the impact of chemotherapy. </p>
<p>Epistrophy, thank you for the link to the poetry project. I wish I could have participated!</p>
<p>"Just"amom, you are quite correct in that we are all here on a temporary basis. I consider myself very lucky; I at least have fair warning, and time to do things like write letters to grandchildren that I may never see, and prepare letters for my daughter to open on her wedding day, etc. I am in no way giving up the fight but just want to make sure that my daughter is as supported as possible and knows that regardless of outcome here I am with her in spirit. We have also been able to have very detailed, frank, open, calm, dry-eyed discussions about end of life issues and my final wishes, etc. This is a tremendous gift because many people leave this world without the opportunity to have such discussions. Doing so takes the elephant out of the room so to speak; it allows us to consider the matters known and understood, and then we can lay them aside, move forward and continue the fight. One of the very few commonalities I have noticed about the long term survivors of this cancer is that all of them accepted, did not appear to fear, and prepared for death.</p>
<p>Mmom I am so sorry to learn of your husbandās cancer but I am glad that he is doing better than expected. </p>
<p>There are other members and spouses of members of the CC community who are struggling with cancers or other illnesses; may we all experience healing in the days ahead.</p>
<p>Marite, that news just broke my heart as well. I cannot even imagine such a thing. But unfortunately it does happen to a lot of people. Some are even noticed of their termination while theyāre in the hospital. Itās horrible. And itās not just the psychological impact, itās the income, and, even more devastating, itās the potential loss of health insurance coverage. </p>
<p>This is one of the issues (and there are an overwhelming number of them specific to cancer) that are stacked on my desk for Q1.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh LTS, this reminds me of something in the book I mentioned a while back (āIts Not About The Hairā). The chaplain was working with someone who was dying and very sad and bitter facing this. When she asked him how heād prefer to die, if he could pick any other way of dying, he grudgingly realized the same thing: that while it was terrible to die, period, cancer at least gave him these chances to prepare, resolve relationships, communicate to loved ones, etc. </p>
<p>Sorry about the broccoli sprouts. I actually love them but I stuff them into giant Dagwood sanwiches where they wind up pretending to be lettuce.</p>
<p>Have a wonderful holiday!!!</p>
<p>SB</p>
<p>PS when we did our will I wrote these same sorts of letters to my kids, just in case.</p>
<p>Dear LTS, you are so dear to keep us apprised. You slide from the particular in your life to the global questions about how we all will face medical bureaucracy, mortality and the unknown with the ease of a novelist. You have enviable perspective, vitality and courage to burn! How very unsurprising that you have a magnificent daughter and that the two of you are dear friends and confidants. As parents, we cheer you for persuading her to enjoy her getaway with BF and his family, but allow us to also remain totally unsurprised that right by your side is where your daughter wants to be. </p>
<p>always keen to read your posts
Faline, an 05 and 09 mother in Virginia</p>
<p>Bravo to D for choosing Indonesia in early January! Itās not always easy to make a mom happy. This time, it sounds as though for LTS, the longdsitance air ticket is a huge boost to morale for both of you. </p>
<p>One year my D and I shooed everyone away (something unusual; H had a job interview out-of-town and took S-2; S-1 was in college that weekā¦). So she and I just celebrated Passover alone together. The ultimate family time, but it was just us 2.</p>
<p>We could explore everything exactly as we chose to, cooking, laughing, reading, whatever. Itās a great memory for us both. We had other options but declined them
all. We were a world unto ourselves. She was around 20 years old then. </p>
<p>Enjoy your Christmastime, just You and the D.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Life</a> Changing Cancer: Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi](<a href=āhttp://dahlborg.blogspot.com/2007/03/peace-prayer-of-st-francis-of-assisi.html]Lifeā>Life Changing Cancer: Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi)</p>
<p>
While I am far more convinced of the obvious mood-enhancing properties of chocolate than the cancer-fighting properties, if you want to research the latter, here are some starting points:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>A (40g) bar of milk chocolate contains about the same level of polyphenolic anti-oxidants as a glass of red wine. These can reduce cholesterol levels and help protect against cancer.</p></li>
<li><p>Flavonoids found in green tea and onions, which also occur in chocolate, can help protect against cancer.</p></li>
<li><p>Cocoa also contains another anti-cancer agent called ferulic acid ā used in sun creams and to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.</p></li>
<li><p>Pentameric procyanidin (pentamer), a natural compound found in cocoa, deactivates a number of proteins that likely work in concert to push a cancer cell to continually divide,</p></li>
</ul>
<p>And hereās a link to a good chocolate article: [Chocolate:</a> A cure for cancer? - Independent Online Edition > Health](<a href=āhttp://news.independent.co.uk/health/article3260693.ece]Chocolate:ā>http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article3260693.ece)</p>
<p>Of course there is a lot of cognitive dissonance involved here, but it sure is more fun researching the health benefits of chocolate as opposed to broccoli sprouts (rich in sulforaphane, but as you noted, not so much fun to eat)</p>
<p>Well, I personally believe that pleasure in lifeāwhether induced by chocolate or something elseāprobably does more for healing than many things that are supposedly better for you.</p>
<p>LTS, wishing you and your daughter the peace of the holiday season.</p>
<p>LTS hereās to many more!</p>
<p>I send prayers for peace and blessingsā¦thing is, it sounds like you have already opened your heart to blessings that can only be found in this unimaginable situation (for us who are ālooking onā) in which you find yourself. And you have managed to bless us all by sharing the wonderful and sensitive lessons you have managed to glean from your experience. </p>
<p>It is we who have received a gift from you already, many times over. I thank you!</p>
<p>I send everyone one this thread a virtual box of chocolates, with a second box to LTS and calmom. Enjoy!</p>
<p>Just wanted to send you extra special Christmas wishes, LTS. Yesterday my aunt, whoās young and full of life, was found to have a large, malignant tumor in her brain. I hope that she can handle her cancer with the courage, spirit, and grace that you haveāso far, I think she is. Thank you for being such a model and inspiration.</p>
<p>LTS,
Thinking of you at Christmas and hoping you are enjoying every moment with your daughter. Hereās to you and continued hope for the new year.</p>
<p>Strange ā after I send cyberchocolate bars someone rang my door, left a huge, decorated chocolate bar and ran away. I have no idea who!</p>
<p>Peace on earth, goodwill to men (and women) to all.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[A</a> Pastorās Cancer Diary](<a href=āhttp://cewilton.blogspot.com/]Aā>http://cewilton.blogspot.com/)</p>