... and they (dare to) call it berry smoothie

Rudyard Kippling

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Tu sem-tumor

conversa com a M. há uns instantes:

M.: Sabes que prenda é que eu queria mesmo para os meus anos?
E.: Não sei, diz-me.
M.: Tu sem-tumor
E.: Já te esqueceste, no dia dos teus anos eu estava assim como tu queres, sem-tumor! Lembras-te? Porque é que eu estava no hospital?
M.: Sim, foi a minha prenda, tu sem-tumor. E ainda tenho a minha prenda!


E com um sorriso, satisfeita com a ideia de uma mamã sem-tumor, a M. voltou a adormecer.

Felizmente. Porque eu fiquei sem saber o que dizer. Quando ela voltar a perguntar se ainda tem "eu sem-tumor" espero poder responder que sim.

I can't get no satisfaction

from my taste buds.

Nothing tastes like it is supposed to.
Food is neither sweet, sour, salty, bitter nor umami. Instead it tastes like metal.
I have noticed that I am adding vinegar to everything I eat. Cold food tastes better than hot food. The good thing is that I am not losing my apetite. Hoping to find something that will satisfy me I am constantly eating.

morena platinada

I started a new treatment today, a platinum-based chemotherapy combined with a diabetic drug. I have been repeating to myself: no big deal it is just another treatment... I know it is not true, but for now (and while my nausea is controlled) I am going to believe that this carboplatinum chemo will be a breeze. Could it be that if I fool my brain I will not experience any of the nasty side effects?

A harmless mass of fat

When I first heard of Sarcomas I was being diagnosed with one. That was seven years ago. At the time I did not associate any malignancy to the word sarcoma. I though that my retroperitoneal liposarcoma was just a harmless mass of fat.