The studio clean-up continues

I've hit upon the most scathingly brilliant idea to help me clean up the hideous studio mess. Instead of saving everything and trying to figure out how to store all the stuff I gather and hoard, I'll create nice little collections for other people to use in making their art! Good idea, right? I'm calling them Collections of Curiosities and the first five are up for sale at my WickedWaifVINTAGE Etsy shop. You can click on any of the pictures to see its listing in the Etsy shop.

Hear ye, Hear ye ... the latest cancer update

The incredibly good news: it appears the tumors have been eradicated, i.e. I do not now have any evidence of cancer. I hesitate to write it, say it, believe it. I do not want to tempt the fates. I didn't even realize the doctors had told me this wonderful news because they are so low key about it. It wasn't until a month or so later that I understood because I mentioned "my cancer" and they told me (again) that there were no tumors left. I was gobsmacked. I kept making them repeat it. I asked, where were the cake and balloons? They smiled their laid back smiles. I love my doctors.

Some less pleasant stuff: A common side effect of the treatment is called Radiation Pneumonitis, and I have it. Geeze Louise, it was hard to believe the good news when I was still coughing and breathless. Now I take a lot of pills and elixirs to treat the inflammation in my lungs and I'm slowly getting better, but some of the pills, probably the Prednisone (a steroid), caused their own hideous side effects which I suffered with, maybe for too long, because my situation became worse and worse until I landed in the ER recently, in agonizing pain. It turns out I have ulcers in my esophagus and a lot of inflammation there and elsewhere. But, I’ve stopped taking the Prednisone and I have pain killers to see me through while the healing takes place.

For the moment

And then there is this: I recently saw a pulmonologist in Danbury, someone new to me. He said, "You’re clear of cancer, for the moment." For the moment? Did he really have to add for the moment? That bugs me. Hopefully, it will slide into that place where so many memories get lost, but for now, I just can’t quite shake it.