A Bit of a Breather

The Jetty, Carey's Bay

I heard back from my surgeon yesterday, or at least from the young woman who works for him. He doesn't want to see me until November, which is a pleasant change from the "please come first thing tomorrow morning, and bring your wife" routine which had become a bit of a stuck record over this past few months. I guess it means that whatever he's found down there is not going to cause my imminent demise, and we can all have a bit of a breather. That's OK by me.I've been reading a book by Ian Gawler with a very self helpy type of title You Can Conquer Cancer. Ian Gawler managed to beat a very nefarious type of bone cancer through diet and meditation, so, much as Betty Edwards deserves a hearing purely on the basis of results, so does Ian Gawler. I read his psychological profile of the typical cancer patient which described me with such accuracy that I cringed at every word.

The course of action described in the book seems rigorous at first glance but it's not so bad in practice. The largely vegetarian diet he prescribes, by one of those odd pieces of synchronicity, is pretty much the diet Clemency (though, regretfully, not me) has been existing on for a decade or more. The meditation he recommends is a close cousin to the one I have been using for a while, and all I have to do is beef up (Oh... whoops. New regime, right? Sorry. Tofu up) the frequency and length of sessions. There are other changes required, more profound than mere food, but the transitions have, so far, been easy and I have time to grow into them. It's only been a fortnight but I feel better for it already. I'm very keen to see what a month of it does before my next warrant of fitness.

My friend Alden (aka Tillerman) has been here for a few days with his wife Christine. We had lunch at the Careys Bay pub and a couple of long evenings sitting around putting the world (well, no....actually the Universe) to rights. My brother in law Jonathan has also been. Jon is one of the funniest people I know - a dangerous thing for a companion who has recently had his urinary system poked around with. There was an inexpressible comfort in being with people I have known for decades: people who share a basic worldview and whose opinions on politics, books, food and brands of motorcycle are reliable enough to need no defending; people who have forgotten more about my history than most of those around me will ever know. It has been a strong calm week in which it feels as though some sort of deep tide has turned.

Me, Christine,Clemency, Alden at the Carey's Bay pub

Comments

Anonymous said…

Kelvin, that is terrific news; as a new friend (at least I hope you consider me so!) who appreciates your wisdom, humour, spirituality, creativity, and scholarship, not to mention your writing ability, I am glad, glad, glad to hear that you have had a reprieve!!! Thank you Lord!!!!

4 October 2008 at 15:41

Kate said…

Well, I just want to say "Good"! But emphatically.

4 October 2008 at 16:46

Kathryn said…

That's great news Kelvin.
say Hi to Alden from me too!
Take it easy.
Kathryn :-)

6 October 2008 at 16:11

Alden Smith said…

I would like the Careys Bay Pub to change its name to the 'Very Pub'. Its the place you go with very good friends, to have very good conversations, eat very good food, drink very good beer, supplied by very helpful and personable staff, whilst being surrounded by very good iconic nz art.

And that is very good news Kelvin, lets hope and pray that you are out of the woods at last.

11 October 2008 at 23:10

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