Metaphors and an outing

Metaphor #1: Dahlias

Daily activites give me clear comparisons and contrasts to my past year or so. Last year I had to limit my activites more and more as my health got worse and worse. The culprit ended up being cancer that has spread to my bones.

But Letrozole is working to slow and even heal the cancer and have me feeling much better. Feeling well enough to tend to some flowers and have some outings.

I posted this on Facebook yesterday and wanted to share here, too. This is Metaphor #1:

I can compare how I feel with last year by taking care of flowers. Last summer I felt too bad to tend to flowers and didn’t have any on my porch and only a few in my yard. But Letrozole has slowed the cancer and gotten me feeling well enough to water and prune and deadhead a few flowers. These dahlias are some of the porch ones I have this year.

I haven’t had dahlias in decades so I’m having to learn how they need to have most buds pinched off as soon as they form so that the energy can go to form bigger flowers. I choose only a few to let get to full size.

It’s kind of a metaphor for my life now. I get tired really easily so I can’t let every activity bud get me to do it. I can only choose a few activities for my energy level.

BUT in comparison to a year ago or even just four months ago I’m feeling sooooo much better!

And I am so very grateful!! These flowers are tangible evidence of the cancer meds’ doing great work for me.

Metaphor #2: This Pokémon card

I pinched off enough buds of activity this week so that I had enough energy for an outing today to a card trade show, which is a big gathering where vendors sell and trade and buy trading cards. I collect sports cards, mostly baseball and women's basketball cards. A lot of people collect TCG cards, which are cards based on trading card games (thus the TCG) like Pokémon.

I was looking for cards for my PC (personal collection) today but didn't have a lot of luck there. I took some cards I'd gotten in boxes I've bought over the last three or four years and traded enough of those to break even in a trade for a rookie card of one of the big WNBA players of last year. There was one auto (autograph) card I thought about buying, but I decided it was just too expensive as a card that wasn't exactly what I wanted.

I also branched out and bought a handful of Pokémon cards. As someone at the local card shop pointed out to me last year, Pokémon characters don't get hurt (and their cards lose value) as athletes do.

But I also found a metaphor in the Pokémon cards that appealed to me. A couple of weeks ago I decided to order some cards from eBay, and I chose cards with images/characters that caught my eye, that made me interested in them.

I didn't look closely or analyze. I made quick decisions based on the image.

Well, when I received the cards I looked up the charcters. This particular character's name is Marowak. It carries this bone. There's a whole big story that goes with it, but what struck me is that I instinctively chose a character with a bone. And the cancer I have has spread where?

To my bones.

Another metaphor.

Or maybe this one is pretty literal!

Anyhow I'm going to collect Marowak (who whacks with this bone and other bones, which have marrow).

And I'm going to learn more of its story. It's a long, complex one.

In the past couple of weeks two metaphors have struck me, pointed out something about my life right now.

Maybe Metaphor #3 will appear? Since things seem to come in threes?

We'll see.

But for now I'll enjoy being able to tend to flowers and collect cards and have outings here and there.

And I'll be very, very grateful that my current life includes those activities and time either in person or via phone or text or even snail mail with nurturing family and friends.