Lord of the (Wedding) Rings

Last week was my latest tri-monthly visit to Princess Margaret Hospital for a post-treatment checkup. Maria the volunteer and fellow oral cancer survivor was once again on duty so we caught up and compared notes on living with dry mouth. Then it was on to see Dr. O’Sullivan. All was well and so he sent me upstairs for a routine chest x-ray and that was that. My next checkup will be in three months.

At my weigh-in I checked out my weight history in my chart. For those keeping score, I am now more than halfway back to my pre-treatment weight. All told, I lost 20 kg (44 lbs.) by having part of my tongue removed, getting irradiated, and eating through a tube for several weeks. A guaranteed weight-loss program, but one that makes heavy duty exercise look awfully appealing.

Anyway, although I’m well on the road to regaining my girth, my fingers remain stubbornly svelte. Slim digits pose a problem for keeping the ol’ wedding ring in place, a problem exacerbated by the cold, dry winter’s effect on the skin. After a very brief scare last winter when I thought I’d lost my ring (it fell off in my glove), I began wearing it on my middle finger, where it fits perfectly. I’d hoped by this winter it would be ready to return to the ring finger, but no dice. I’m hesitant to get it resized lest my finger finally fattens up again. Jeanette insists she’s fine with this strategy, but I still feel weird about wearing this symbol of our love on a finger that traditionally sends another message entirely. You’d think I’d be used to it – after all, the ring on the same finger of my right hand is the actual ring we used at the wedding because the real deal was being, yes, resized. Ah well. I supposed there are worse problems one can have involving rings.

In other news, I have now completed four of my six weeks at Clinton Street Public School and am continuing to have a great time. Today I was “in charge” of the class for the full day. I use quotes because I still greatly relied upon and appreciated the support of the teacher and the E.A. Today we finished up our taste portion of the five senses unit. We graphed the results of students’ likes or dislikes for samples of sweet, sour, and salty foods. No surprise, strawberries and pretzels were met with universal acclaim. What was unexpected was that all the students voted for “like” after biting into pieces of lemon. Most kids even went back for more! Only the teacher and I found it too sour to endorse.

Hmm. Maybe I have more in common with Gollum than I thought. In any case, I am happy to report that this has been my only sour experience with these great kids. I’ll miss them when I move on to my grade 5/6 placement in three weeks’ time. Stay tuned!