Phoenix revisited

So let's test the truth of the aphorism: A picture is worth 1,000 words.
December 2016:
Phoenix, Arizona. I'd just been diagnosed with osteoarthritis; other than this short crutch-walk in the courtyard, I'd spent most of our vacation in our suite.

August 2018:
Phoenix, Arizona. Same resort, same courtyard, same woman -- only 130 pounds lighter, and walking without crutches or pain.

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It's way more complicated than that: Why I'm reviving this blog today

Hi again. It's been a while. Those who know me, including the approximately three of you that read "My Body, My Identity," know that I've got different concerns these days -- concerns that are related only tangentially to body weight, body identity, fitness and lifestyle. I have cancer -- diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, diagnosed March 8. My focus now is on killing those malignant cells before they eat me alive, and with a chemotherapy regimen, administered at the UW's Carbone Cancer Center, the chances of that happening are very, very good. With two of my six chemo treatments completed (I get treated every three weeks), I have good days and bad days -- mostly good, but I'm sitting out a bad day today. With cancer and chemo, my weight has become less of a priority. But concern has not entirely abated about maintaining the 135-pound weight loss I worked so hard to attain over the last two years. The diet that my oncologist recommended is pretty close to wh...

On loan

One year ago, I wrote this Facebook post. Today, a twinge in my "operative" knee reminds me it's still true. How's my knee? It's actually behaving itself. I've had a long string of "good knee days" -- but folks, I don't take them for granted! Everything about our bodies -- our mobility, our senses, our strength, our minds, even our very lives -- are on loan to us. We are called to treat them with the best stewardship possible. But even if we do so, none of these things are ours to keep. Yeah, I get a little PO'd about that, but I work through it. God graciously listens to my rants.

My story: Why I'm reflecting on my body and my soul

I'm a Luddite at heart. Although I've been a newspaper journalist and columnist all my adult life (plus a good-sized chunk of my adolescence), I'm inaugurating a blog to explore what happens to the soul of a 60-year-old woman when her body size undergoes a major change. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that about 160 million U.S. people -- about three-quarters of the men and a little less than one-third of the women -- are overweight or obese. I was one of the overweight, and by some measures I still am and always will be. The health risks associated with excess weight are very real and numerous. Heart disease and diabetes come to mind first, but in my case, the extra weight I've carried for most of my adult life (plus a good-sized chunk of my adolescence) resulted in osteoarthritis -- the wearing-away of the cartilage in my left knee, resulting in significant pain and impairment of my mobility. About one of two adults will have osteoarthriti...

My body, my identity

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