Warm & Fuzzy

So during the wedding, and afterward, amongst my friends, the duck cake seems to be the source of much fascination, and I can see why, since I have never seen such an accurate cake in the form of a duck. I mean, various searches on Flickr and Google for "mallard duck cake" turned up not so impressive specimens such as this one or that one but it appears that it may not be a Korean tradition in this case (mallard ducks mate for life, so it is a traditional wedding symbol in Korean households, where there is usually a pair of carved ducks somewhere in the home).

Instead, it may be part of a tradition I was not aware of (also, I generally tend to avoid wedding-related hoo-hah) known as the groom's cake (here's another duck version). The origin and customs are described by TheWeddingChannel.com (see previous link) with a hilarious picture gallery on this site. So perhaps the duck cake was actually a nod to the groom's hunting pastimes (for example, there was a photo of him during the slide whow surrounded by his dog and 10 or 12 dead pheasants). I have no idea which is the case and the bride did not explain, so this is just my librarian curiosity run amok. What can I say? Occupational hazard.

And in other (completely unrelated) news, except for the fact that it is now COLD again, my mom and I were amused by the ingenuity of a deliveryperson in her neighborhood. Note how he (and let's face it, it's usually a he) grafted warm, fuzzy mittens onto the handlebars of his bike.

Cold weather also makes me extremely fond of my pink flannel sheets, down comforter, and humidifier. Yay!

Speaking of mom, she has been calling me daily, checking to make sure that I have been as (in)active as a bump on a log, since she is convinced (and I'm not arguing) that all of my various obligations and activities have been preventing quicker healing of the coin-pocket-slot in my boob. She did grant me dispensation to go visit doctor today.

Tonight I went to go meet with the radiology oncologist (for 2 hours!) about post-surgery treatment, which now looks like it will include chemo (18 weeks, once every 3 weeks) as well as radiology (daily for 5 weeks, after the chemo ends). At least the chemo looks less arduous than the chemo that my boyfriend's dad has: mine is only 60-90 min. once every 3 weeks, but his is 48 hours every other week! The chemo will not start till at least March 13th while they wait for my incision to progress.

However, altogether, this means that I am facing an endless series of doctor visits, and treatment sessions, for the next 6 months (25 weeks min.) which kind of boggles my mind. So my friend Marci's roommate Bill (who is really a sweetie) suggested that I join Gilda's Club, named in honor of Gilda Radner, which has many resources (such as support groups) for cancer patients and their families, all free of charge.

Although I have walked past its striking red door many times, usually either on my way to and from The Film Forum, I never thought I'd be availing myself of their services, but then, I never thought that I would be diagnosed with breast cancer either. In fact, I still have kind of a problem wrapping my brain around the whole idea, and I sort of mentally shy away from the whole concept of cancer, like the way you can sort of glance sideways at the sun, but looking directly at it fries your eyeballs. It's that classic "cancer is something that happens to other people" mentality. So enlightened, I know.

Therefore, Bill's suggestion sounds sensible. Although my family and friends have been wonderful (you guys are GREAT! as my doctors keep asking, I do indeed have a fabulous support network -- you all! MWAH! MWAH!) it makes sense to speak with other breast cancer patients. Even though my Pearl of Wisdom also had breast cancer (so she really means it when she understands how I feel!) it would probably be helpful to speak to people who are also currently undergoing treatment.

As my friend Marci, and my sister both said to me tonight, they're there for me, but there are some things they just can't help me with, since they don't know what it's like eyeballing the Big C (for which I'm grateful -- I never want anyone I love to go through this, no matter how "favorable" the outlook is). So I am going to meet with someone at Gilda's Club next Thursday, as part of new member orientation.

I'm also planning on registering for the Avon Walk For Breast Cancer, a 2-day, 26-mile event which takes place in NYC in October (and other cities throughout the spring and summer). So get ready for me to hit you all up for money this summer and fall, folks (HA!) since each registrant must pledge to raise a minimum of $1,800! Yikes!

And now I leave you with this lovely closeup of one of the yellow lilies sent to me previously by my friends Sarah and Sam (see what I mean about fabu friends?) since all this blah-blah-blah verbiage deserves a pretty picture in compensation. Let's hear it for macro-focus! Yeah!