Friday, September 7, 2012

Needles in my face (Yay!) +

I, Robot couldn't resist taking this photo even tho
it meant lifting hand/arm with needles in them 
Got back from Seattle yesterday and went straight to acupuncture. I've got a numb face which has gotten small sores on it as well, only on the left side. Misha put lots of needles in my face and in my feet, one of which, when she put it in, made me practically jump off the table. Some of them are painful when she puts them in but it's the kind of pain I don't mind. She said she hoped the face thing wasn't shingles (herpes zoster) which people can get from chemotherapy. I'm wondering now if it might be simply from getting too much sun in Seattle. It was sunny and hot and I went for many long walks.

I was lying there with all the needles in me, thinking about how I might describe how it feels. It's not easy because there isn't anything I can think of to compare it to. It's energy, like there's something more alive about one's body. But it's not energetic, it doesn't make you want to do something, not like energy you get from, say, caffeine, or even meditation. It's subtle but somehow intense. I'm sure it doesn't look wonderful from the outside, though it certainly feels wonderful. It gives me a completely different, joyful experience of my body.

Best breakies ever at Oscar and Debbie's
with The New York Times
Today, very tired. Went back to bed instead of pilates, which I've missed for the last two weeks, and will miss next week because I'll be at chemo. The guilt was subtle. I felt great when I got up at noon.

When I was in Seattle, I noticed that people tend to share their health problems with me. My friend (who is younger than me) said he's worried about what he's going to be able to remember, and how his eye sight has gotten very bad. And as people age they spend more and more time dealing with health issues, many of the same ones I have - bowel issues, lady parts, insomnia, cancer, fatigue, memory loss, hair loss, and more...

I did read about a study on exercise in middle age and how it can help (other people anyway!)
...the results show, in essence, that being physically fit “compresses the time” that someone is likely to spend being debilitated during old age, leaving the earlier post-retirement years free of serious illness and, at least potentially, imbued with a finer quality of life. (from this New York Times blog article.)
By 'exercise' it doesn't mean doing a marathon, but simply walking for half an hour a day.

And some misc. stuff:

Saw the movie Samsara at the groovy Cinerama theatre. It was riveting, and beautiful, though some of it I would say had too much of an obvious 'liberal agenda' even for me.

It finally dawned on me that I accumulate things to read and listen to at a much greater rate than I can read and listen to things. Couldn't resist buying The Autobiographer's Handbook (published by 826) at Debbie's bookstore. Maybe it will help this project.

Bought ticket to Mexico for a 9-day retreat and a week of chill time after that (Oct 30-Nov 20), will land for Thanksgiving at my dad's. I'm loading up all the 'background' reading for the retreat onto my Kindle...

Giving a talk at the GBF Sunday. Egregiously unprepared.

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