| (no subject) |
[Jul. 23rd, 2011|04:07 pm] |
Wow. It's been a while.
Watching the news today has been surreal. Norway is the last place I would expect that sort of a terrorist attack (and a right wing, white, christian terror attack, I point out to the assholes in the world who claim that all terrorists are Muslim).
As for Amy Winehouse, it was a surprise... and yet not. If anyone was a shining example of burn bright and flame out young, she is definitely it. I hope she finds a little bit of peace.
On a personal note, for those who sent good thoughts concerning my cousin, Katherine, sadly, passed away on June 18th. They'd stopped treatment, since it wasn't helping, and it made her miserable. The brain tumor had been dealt with, but the primary cancer turned out to be melanoma (our family is mostly irish, and she was a pale-skinned, freckled redhead, which makes this sort of thing more of a concern). At her funeral, so many people showed up that the church overflowed into the basement reception room and even outside, with speakers so that everyone could hear the service. She was much loved. And damnit, she was only 49, and a mother of two.
This was right about the same time that my mother spent two weeks in ICU after going in to have a lump removed from her colon (pre-cancerous, thank heavens), and her blood pressure bottomed out on the operating table. She's since had about a bazillion tests, and the verdict is congestive heart failure, so her diet has been restricted even further. Thankfully, she's coming up clean on tests, and improving to almost where she was before they found the lump.
And now I need to actually go out into the heat to run some errands that didn't happen this morning due to weather headaches (heat and humidity give me some doozies, although rarely in the migraine category)
This entry was originally posted at http://lianneb.dreamwidth.org/186081.html. Please comment there using OpenID. |
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| Well, crap - Update on my cousin |
[Mar. 7th, 2011|06:31 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | family | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  depressed | ] |
She started radiation this past week. 10 treatments, full skull, so she's really out of it again.
After all the tests on the tumor they removed, the verdict was:
1) It is cancer.
2) It is malignant.
3) (this is the worst part) It's a secondary cancer, and she's just not strong enough yet for the full body scans they need to do to find the primary cancer.
So, for now they treat the cancer they know about it, while trying to rebuild her strength to aggressively hunt for and treat the cancer they don't know the location of.
Her daughter is staying home from University for the moment, just in case.
Damnit, she's not ever fifty, only a few years older than me. And my wonderful mother had to point out that she's known several people who were discovered to have brain tumors that were secondary cancers, and all of them died about nine months after diagnosis.
Crap.
This entry was originally posted at http://lianneb.dreamwidth.org/185726.html. Please comment there using OpenID. |
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| Slowly inproving |
[Feb. 20th, 2011|10:37 am] |
My cousin has been moved out of intensive care and into one of the standard hospital rooms. This is definitely a good sign. Still waiting to hear about the MRI
This entry was originally posted at http://lianneb.dreamwidth.org/185553.html. Please comment there using OpenID. |
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| Worrying... |
[Feb. 10th, 2011|05:49 pm] |
Last weekend, my cousin went to bed with a headache. A while later, her husband went to wake her for dinner, but she wouldn't wake up. So he called 911.
When they got to the hospital, it was found that she had a tumor behind one ear that had burst, and she was rushed into surgery fast. They think they got all of the tumor, but there was so much blood... They need the swelling to go down so that they can do an MRI to find out.
But she ended up in a coma, with her blood pressure periodically spiking. Her older child was called home from university, just in case.
Thankfully, she woke up today. She was even able to eat a little bit of jello and banana. Her blood pressure seems to be normalizing. She's not out of the woods by any means, but at least she's awake.
It's things like this that scare you awake, so to speak.
This entry was originally posted at http://lianneb.dreamwidth.org/185242.html. Please comment there using OpenID. |
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| March 2010 Reading |
[Feb. 2nd, 2011|08:49 pm] |
A State of Disobedience – Tom Kratman (Baen)
The Egyptologist – Arthur Phillips (Random House)
Liberating Atlantis – Harry Turtledove (Roc)
Sleepless – Charlie Huston (Ballantine)
Buried Deep – Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Roc)
Rogue Angel 20: Footprints – Jon Merz (Gold Eagle)
Thermopylae – Paul Cartledge (Blackstone Audio)
Ah, the month that I got informed that I was being laid off, and that I had four weeks notice. It was a rough month for me, and I dealt by burying myself in reading. Okay, a few of my choices were not exactly good ones for my emotional state, but ah well.
( A State of Disobedience )
( The Egyptologist )
( Liberating Atlantis )
( Sleepless )
( Buried Deep )
( Rogue Angel 20: Footprints )
( Thermopylae )
Phew. So that’s it for the month of March, 2010. If I have to pick a favorite, it’s a toss-up between Buried Deep, although I recommend reading at least the first book of the series first to get the setup of the world, and Thermopylae.
The next two months of reading were equally full, as I had more time on my hands and a need to distract myself.
Also, for anyone interested, I have set myself a goal this year of reviewing every book I read over at Goodreads.com. I am Lianneb over there as well, and I’ve got 7 books reviewed so far this year, with two more nearly finished. I’m aiming for 100 books this year. You can see the list here (hoping the link works for someone who isn’t me)
This entry was originally posted at http://lianneb.dreamwidth.org/184942.html. Please comment there using OpenID. |
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| Happy Anniversary! |
[Jan. 14th, 2011|06:24 am] |
Ten years ago today, the first two gay couples were legally married in Canada. There were death threats, and the minister wore a bullet-proof vest, just in case, but everything went off without a hitch.
Today, those same two couples will be going before the same minister (*not* wearing a bullet-proof vest) to renew their vows.
May they have another ten years of wedded happiness, and may more countries come to accept that gay marriage is not the end of the world.
This entry was originally posted at http://lianneb.dreamwidth.org/184577.html. Please comment there using OpenID. |
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| One last christmas present arrived |
[Jan. 13th, 2011|06:50 pm] |
Back before Christmas, Tor.com was running a daily giveaway. I actually was one of the winners for day 16, and today the package arrived with two Steampunk novels by George Mann, and two proofs, one for a debut science fiction novel coming in the spring. More books to the TBRQ. (and the George Mann books are ones I kept meaning to buy, so winning them was a great bonus)
This entry was originally posted at http://lianneb.dreamwidth.org/184562.html. Please comment there using OpenID. |
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| Fast Five trailer |
[Jan. 3rd, 2011|09:16 pm] |
Okay, part of me is drooling. The trailer to Fast Five, the next Fast and Furious movie, is out. It's got Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, plus two guys from the second movie, and a character from Tokyo Drift (which apparently is after Fast Five in continuity, since he died in Tokyo Drift).
Oh yeah, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, sporting some hefty chin hair and a bald scalp, is in as a federal agent out to bring Vin Diesel down.
And the promo shot that has shown up recently? I Can Has Cheezburger put it best.
This entry was originally posted at http://lianneb.dreamwidth.org/184291.html. Please comment there using OpenID. |
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