'Watch and Wait', and what's behind the language? First, I should acknowledge that this post is my second post today.  It's partly connected to and inspired by my earlier post about " MRIs and a connection to tackling some of life’s obstacles ", and evidence that I'm perhaps feeling a little 'chatty' today. For context, when talking to other cancer patients and in particular those in Canada and through Brain Tumour support group connections, I understand that we often use the words "watch and wait" to describe the period where we are not actively treating a tumour or cancer with surgery, radiation, or medications like chemotherapies, but where we are taking periodic scans to monitor progression, such that we wait to trigger active treatment at the right time for optimal balance of risk and benefits of the therapy. I'm in that state right now, and have often described it as "Scan and Plan", though I do hear variations lik...

In this blog post, I’ll weave one of my typical stories that will begin with my enthusiasm and excitement for MRIs, again with a series of numbered citations for those interested in further reading.  The timing of this post is connected to me recently having my 13 th MRI, on Friday September 13, 2024, where my enthusiasm overflowed for a few reasons.  In this post I will explain my excitement about MRIs, link back to a challenging MRI experience, then will use my own approach to handling that challenge and subsequent ones to build on the ways we can all approach life’s obstacles and challenges and include some references along the way.  In talking about challenges, I might touch on topics that make you consider the obstacles or challenges in your own life, so please, take care while reading.  If it sounds interesting though, please read on! My first MRI took place on October 13 th 2022, nine months after my initial ...