Where did August go?
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| Day 5 - working on power lines. |
During the first week of the month we had a power outage for five days due to tropical storm Isaias. We had no electric, no internet, no landline, no cable and were missing a number of shingles off the peak of our home. Cell phone use was off and on until they installed a generator on the cell tower not far from our home. We tried to be creative making meals on our gas stove to use up all the frozen food which was thawing. To be safe though on the fifth day we still threw out a large bag of food. We spent time conserving the charge on our phones and were happy to have fully charged power backups at the start of the outage. Cold showers were not fun. But sitting outside at sunset when the fireflies came out was pretty awesome. My grandson made up a song about the fireflies and he added to the song each night. The iPads and computers were off, low on power, but no electric was needed to play a rousing game of Crazy 8's by camping lantern.
The second week of August was a busy time playing catch up. We were doing things we could not do during the outage : laundry, food shopping, vacuuming and catching up with online work. I got a chance to prep and participate in the August #gyncsm chat on Endometrial Cancer.
The third week of August was a time to say goodbye to my daughter and grandsons. Due to COVID-19, they traveled to the US in late March from their overseas home. During the time they were here, The international school they attend offered remote learning. So the boys spent 5 days each week ( Sunday - Thursday, due to the time difference) doing school work. I enjoyed helping them with their work, learned to use See-Saw and happily took photos and videos for them to send to their teachers. But we also had time to play, pick strawberries, cook together, build with Legos, draw and paint. It was tough to see them leave but I am happy they are back home with their Dad.
During the latter part of August, I spoke to ovarian cancer patients as a volunteer with Cancer Hope Network, attended two of my cancer centers online webex Scientific Review Board meetings and also had a zoom call with some ovarian cancer survivors. It was so nice to hear and see these women. They are more than ovarian cancer survivors and advocates, these women are my friends, some for over 10 years.
Today I am looking ahead to next month, National Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. I signed up for the OCRA's Ovarian Cancer National Conference which will be held virtually September 29, 2020 - October 2nd. Past conferences have conflicted with vacations and other events so this conferencewill be my first one and I am very excited to attend.
Christina Lizaso and I are busy planning this month's #gyncsm chat on Rare Gynecologic cancers which will be held at 9pm ET on September 9th on Twitter. Did you know that there are different types of ovarian cancer? Do you know how vulvar, vaginal or GTD are treated? Be sure to check our blog for information on how to take part in Twitter Chats.
I also registered for this year's virtual Kaleidoscope of Hope Ovarian Cancer Foundation Walk. I have been raising funds for ovarian cancer research by taking part in a KOH walk for over 10 years. Support my efforts with KOH a or find a local ovarian cancer walk to help researchers find a screening test and better treatments for ovarian cancer.
This month threw a few curve balls my way but things in the end all worked out. See you in September!
Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!
