The Only Thing I Am Certain Of Is Uncertainty.

 After I finished my cancer journey (15 months of chemo, surgery, radiation, forty-two pound weight loss, blood transfusions, lifetime inhibitors) and I was deemed 'cancer free' my oncologist told me I had a 15% chance of some form of cancer returning. When the factors of my breast cancer returned, it would be Stage IV (4) incurable and I could only be kept alive with drugs. The parts of my body where the cancer might return would be my brain or my lungs or some other vital organ, other than my breasts. It's a devastating future, for sure, but it's one filled with angst and uncertainty. Every time I feel an ache or any sort of pain, especially if I get a headache, I think the cancer has come back.

How would you like or be able to live like that? I do it because what's the alternative? Death. And I won't be having any of that!

Enter our current economy and the cost-of-living crisis we all are living in. No one is immune from the uncertainty we all are facing. It's no benefit to any of us of the constant change in plans, on or off again tariffs, continual rise in inflation and now the upcoming increase cost of goods. To say that I am stressed out over all this newfound uncertainty would be a severe understatement. Besides worrying about the state of my health, I have the added negative bonus of worrying about paying my bills, the availability of future affordable cancer drugs, my social security, my Medicare, my property taxes, upcoming repairs on both my home and vehicles and on and on and on. The last thing a surviving cancer patient needs is STRESS. Stress, in my case, kills. I can not be stressed and every single day now that I am awake and tuned in to the outside world, I get stressed.

I can't do this to myself. Stress for me would be a killer and I didn't go through 15 months of brutal cancer treatments just to die over an on again-off again tariff. I don't care about prices. I live in a rural area, in upstate New York, not far from the banks of the historic Hudson River. I will ALWAYS have access to milk and dairy products (butter and cheeses) as I live near several, in business, dairy farms. I will always have access to fresh baked breads and bakery products  (they grow their own wheat). I will always have access to eggs and the best tasting chickens this side of the Mississippi River! (they have their own poultry farms). Beef and pork are also available to me but I don't eat that as much as I do chicken! New York State is the largest producer of apples (as well as peaches and other produce), has ample FREE access to state parks, water falls, hiking and biking trails, mountains, lakes, streams, historic beautiful sight-seeing towns as well as being the birthplace of Corning (everyone knows I love Corning, Corelle and Pyrex which are all ample and cheap, cheap, cheap up here). Toilet paper is manufactured nearby as well as pellets (for heating my home with a pellet stove) and other necessities. In other words, to hell with everything. I have what I need up here just fine.

I have to concentrate on my good mental and physical health now. PERIOD!

I went through our budget the other day looking for things to cut. There really wasn't much as we already live close to the bare bones. The only thing I am insisting on is taking two RV trips per year (down from 5 or 6). I want to spend one week in the summer at a beach and I want to spend one month in the winter in Florida. I'm not selling or giving up our RV. To lose it would mean never being able to afford a vacation again. Especially with a dog! We're going to stick to state or federal parks (they offer low-cost camping fees). New York is known for their re-vamped gorgeous state parks (free to any resident over the age of 65 from Monday to Thursday, and that includes Niagara Falls State Park!!) lakes and beaches (Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean). I made a list of smallish towns, within a 3 to 2 hour drive from our home, that we can go and do day trips (such as Saratoga, Corning, Albany etc). New York has tons of free events (Tulip Festival in Albany NY as an example) as well as free concerts and plays (Shakespeare In The Park). And let's not forget the wineries and the newest trend: beer gardens!! The only one caveat is that we AVOID New York City at all costs!!! 'Nuff said. In the winter is skiing (Lake Placid) ice skating, ice sculpture events (Lake George), snowmobiling, sledding and cross-country skiing. In other words, I love New York. It's the best kept secret IMHO. (NYC gives upstate NY a bad rap)

Here's a little community town hubs and I found today. I had always wanted to go down this road along the Hudson River and today, we did. It turned into a marina area with a side access to the Hudson River. There were gorgeous homes dotted all along the shoreline. Some of the homes were in the $200K sales category. Hmmmmmm? We parked the car and hubs, the dog and I went for a very nice walk, in the early spring weather (62F degrees) in the sunshine. If there is ever an anecdote to releaving the stresses of every day life, this was it.

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