Missy Diggs

Well, it’s been a heckuva year around here. And I am hoping for all the best for next year, which starts in just a few hours. Especially I want to find more time to be creative and get things done, and spend MUCH LESS time lying around feeling terrible.

The year ended nicely, and today I even graduated from physical therapy, which I had been receiving for my little lymphedema problem (lifelong complication of breast cancer surgery, hurrah for me). It doesn’t mean that my lymphedema is gone, but it does mean that I am now expected to manage it on my own. It’s a lot of work (self massage twice a day, exercises twice a day, wear the sleeve and gauntlet every day, bandage my arm to look like the Michelin man every night, bandage during the day for plane rides and high altitudes) but it is part of my new reality and really does seem manageable.

I am planning to treat myself to an extra sleeve, so I have one to wear while one is in the wash, and I am even hoping to get one of these stylish ones, from LympheDivas.

Now the only question I am struggling with is what to say to people who ask, “what’dya do to your arm?”

Usually I have my daughter with me, and I don’t want her to hear me lying to people about anything to do with my cancer… because I don’t want her to get that weird feeling you get when you hear people tell lies, the feeling that something is not right here, there’s something to hide or fear or be ashamed of. So I usually tell the truth: “Oh, I have lymphedema from breast cancer surgery.” Well, I tell you what: this makes people mighty sorry they asked!

So, even though I don’t want my daughter to hear me lie, I have started to wonder if there’s a better answer.

Here’s what I came up with:

“Oh, that. It’s just an old foozball injury.”

Here’s what my husband prefers:

“well…. I got caught masturbating.”

My physical therapist suggests, “Oh, I just have some swelling and this helps keep it down.” True but not dramatic, which I like. Though I do wonder a bit how important it is for me to let people know the truth about what has happened to me, what is happening to more and more young women like me every year…. Is it my job to educate people about cancer, about how it is all around us and it can strike anyone, how you never know what the person you are talking to is dealing with, how people who look just fine can have serious things going on? And will that help in any way to uncover the causes of cancer and help us change our environment so we can prevent it?

Or do I get to fly under the radar, slip through the cracks in people’s perceptions? I think the answer is yes, sometimes. To all these questions, and many others.

We haven’t done it yet, but I’m hoping that this year we will manage to do some outdoor ice skating at the Whole Foods downtown. My current plan has us there on Christmas Eve (would be convenient as I have to pick up a certain something at Book People right across the street). Here are the details, from the Whole Foods Calendar site:

Friday, November 28th through Sunday January 11th

Fourth Annual Ice Skating on the Plaza

10:00 am – 9:00 pm $10.00 includes rentals

The Holiday Season is here!  Bring the family out to Whole Foods Market for Austin’s only outdoor ice skating rink.  $10 a ticket – includes skate rental and 50 minutes on the ice.  Tickets are available for purchase an hour before desired skating session.

40 people maximum capacity on ice (50 during private party)

To reserve a private party, please call 512-542-2225

Regular Hours 10am – 9 pm

Special Holiday Hours:

Dec 24^th – 10 – 7
Dec 25^th – closed
Dec 31^st – 10 – 7
Jan 1^st – 10 – 8

One of our freezers is full of old coffee cans, which in turn are full of water (now ice). Mr. B has plans to make some robot face luminarias following this method:

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/ca_crafts_projects/article/0,2041,DIY_13721_2269907,00.html

Poor guy, I don’t know when he will ever get a chance to make them! I just hope the cans of ice have a shorter stay in the freezer than Vivi’s placenta (five years and counting…..)!

One of the things I loved about Christmas time when I lived in New Mexico was the lighting of the luminarias. I just found out that there is a luminaria trail here in Austin, for two nights only, and tonight is the second night.

I haven’t found much about it online, but here is a post from the Austinist three years ago.

If you live south or west, apparently there may be a similar event at the Wildflower Center: (from KVUE)

Luminations
Dec 13-14
Holiday celebration includes more than 3,000 luminarias, twinkly lights and torches in the winter gardens. Enjoy music, crafts and a special menu at the cafe. Hours are 6 to 9 p.m. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, 4801 La Crosse Ave.
AUSTIN
Call for info: (512) 232-0100
www.wildflower.org