I am a survivor of breast cancer.

And this is about health care Portuguese style. I live in a country with socialized medicine. Therefore I have the right to the Portuguese public health care system even though I have never worked in Portugal and have never paid into the system by way of income taxes. I am a Portuguese citizen, a cancer survivor and, therefore have these rights.

Which means:

1. I am allowed to have consultations with my surgeon in the public (even though now private/public) hospital. Fee: 2 euros 75 centimos each visit.

2. My medicine treatment, Tamoxifen is given to me free (and I need to take this anti-hormone medicine for five years).

3. Necessary blood tests, x-rays, mameograms, any treatment having to do with my breast cancer is included. So I pay very low fees. 7 euros 70 centimos blood work done. Mameogram, 2 euros 70 centimos. Chest x-ray 2 euros 70 centimos.

4. I have been told that if I had any mortgage to pay to the bank I would be exempt during my treatment course. I think that this is if you work and would not have a salary coming in to pay the bank. You also would get help with electricity and basics. I do not fall into this category.

I am lucky that I live near a good hospital and only 1 hour away from Porto and the IPO, the hospital in the north of the country where most cancer treatment takes place. The other good hospitals are in Coimbra and Lisboa.

I also have a private insurance which I pay each month and is a guarantee for instant treatment and allows me admission to private hospitals. The public health care system can have waiting lists and being on a waiting list can mean life or death and is a big problem for many of the population. Unfortunately, like all systems, there is favoritism. If you know someone in the hierarchy you will most likely be treated quicker and maybe even bypass the wait-list.

When I discovered my breast cancer it was during a routine mameogram. I remember well; (who ever forgets these events)

It was a Wednesday afternoon, had the mameogram done and was told to wait for the results, did not think anything of it, only that I would not have to come back in 2 weeks time and wait in line again to get the results.
Well, I got the results and got into the car and opened the envelope right away and saw the news that was advising me to get a biopsy!

It was 6 PM.

In my frame of mind I wanted to see a doctor right away, I was panicky and told Andre to drive to a medical office near-by where a good friend had recommended to me an OB-GYN doctor.

When I arrived at the medical office I showed my private insurance card. The receptionist told me that the OB-GYN doctor was not there that day, but there was a surgeon in the office working.

Okay. The receptionist spoke with the surgeon and showed him my mameogram. He told her that he would see me that very evening if I wanted to wait.

Of course I'll wait, who wouldn't. I did not have authorization from the insurance company before hand, but I didn't need it. I would pay 30 euros instead of 15, but who cares about money when it comes to your health!

Luck for an unlucky event.

The first thing he asked me was if I had come to see "Him" since he is considered the specialist on breast cancer in Viana do Castelo. I told him the story about the OB-GYN doctor in this office who had been recommended by a friend. At that moment I knew that I was in good hands

He examined me and found a lump on the upper quadrillel of my left breast and a possible lump under my left arm.

Don't panic he said, and asked me how fast I wanted to do the biopsy.

Rapido, I said.

He got on the phone right there in front of me and called the radiologist personally on a direct line. Being married to a doctor I remember how it's done when someone really wants to help. Doctors are usually available to other doctors right away.
Well the biopsy was scheduled for the Friday afternoon, 2 days away. Then he proceeded to educate me about breast cancer.

Till Friday, I just had to wait.

When Friday came and I had the biopsy and I then had to wait till Tuesday to get the results.

Sleepless Nights thinking about the worst. And waiting. Tell myself that it is nothing, only a little lump and not cancerous. At times such as these the mind is impossible to control. Just having to wait can be tortuous!

Today, I was busy as a bee and it felt good. Made a scrumptious dish. Braised lamb breast and no skin lentils with root vegetables. Braised the lamb in vinho do porto because I did not have any red wine. I did the lamb first thing in the late morning. It did not take more than 1 1/2 hours including prep time. I also made some more hummus. This time I put in less garlic, added a bunch of parsley and pepper flakes and used dried "grãu de bico" and still have some tahini left. I need to find a store that sells more. Maybe the healthfood store in the mall. Can you believe we have a mall here in Viana do Castelo. I rarely go, but tomorrow I will be close by and might take a peek at the health-food store. I also made apple turn-overs. They were really applesauce turn-overs. I had bought some frozen "pâte feuilletée" or "massa folhada" in Portuguese and had it in the freezer.

In the afternoon I walked up the hill behind the house to pick some flowers and some fresh eucalyptus leaves, it had rained earlier in the day and the smell of eucalypus was strong. Later on Miguel came by. He is an old friend of Josh, they are the same age. André is teaching him how to draw.

Just watched the news on TV and they were showing Chavez, the president of Venezuela,
in a photo with our prime minister of Portugal, José Socrates who a socialist. It's fun to watch on our TV news the comic acts Chavez's makes on "bushy w" especially the one when he called, "bush, the devil" and that "the air still smelled of surfur" from bushie's visist at the U.N. the previous day. He's falling and he's going to fall with many in his hard headed group, soon. Good-nite

Beginning the Beguine". I've been asked why no recent posts? I have no excuse, so I'll "begin the beguine."
The weather was rainy last week and fall's showing it's fantastic colors. The hurricanes across the Atlantic are bringing us rain, and wind, and thunder, and lightning, but it's the wind that can be so scary.

Last Saturday, rented 2 films that turned out to be completely two poles apart and it was unintentional. The first film I had wanted to see forever. It takes place in Galicia, Spain not far from where I live. It's a region I love, and less than an hour away, and if I spoke better Spanish would move there in a second. In the iron age, the whole area was occupied by the Celts. There are many existing "castros," round hut villages from the ancient times. The bagpipe is played there, still. Andre says that the bagpipe was played in Viana do Castelo in the past, too. We even speak a very similar language, Galego and Portuguese are very similar and understandable. Remember the film "Pharmacratic Inquisition" They spoke about Finisterra and the winter solstice, well it's located in the same Galicia. And it was there, in Finisterra that Stephanie cut her finger.
The film, because of it's "heavy" subject matter, I needed to be in a good frame of mind. The film, It turned out to be the most fantastic that I have seen in along time. It deserved the "Oscar". So poetic and so real and natural. Even in the way people communicated in the film, it never seemed like acting. It's a film about euthanasia. Now you know what the name of the film is, "Mar Adentro" the sea inside. Rent it and you, too, will float inside, outside, and all around the beautiful dialogue and music and story line. It's not depressing at all. A artistically beautiful story of love, and family, and compassion, and obligation, and sexiness, and more. And it really happened.

The second film was on the opposite spectrum, about wanting to live and helping to save a life in the name of love with our Italian Charlie Chaplin, Roberto Begninni. "Tiger and the Snow" has some funny scenes, but it is not as profound as the first film. I must say that Spain, today, has some outstanding directors. Art in Spain should be considered. The Spanish are very cultured and love life and are appreciative of art and it shows when you go into Spain, which I love to do.

Oh my gosh, I just read my last post and saw all the errors. I am sorry, I can't get the spell check to work and I wanted to put in a picture and that, too, didn't happen how it should. What's a girl like me to do?
Tonight we had our first roasted chestnuts while watching the first part of a five part series, I think BBC, about the origins of art and what attracts us to certain art. anyways in a nutshell it's all about EXAGERATION. In exagerating the human form it becomes much more interesting. So out with realism, it is too boring. They did a test with seagulls. Baby seagulls right after they are born peck their mother for food. It was found out that what the babies were pecking was the red in the beak of the mother. A test was done with a stick with a red painted stripe at the top and the babies pecked and pecked as if it was their mother. Then they decided to paint three red stripes on another stick. Both sticks were put in front of the baby seagulls. Low and behold, the babies were extra excited by the "three" red striped stick and even ignored the "one" red stripe stick. They showed that exageration of the stripes caused the increased excitment. Think about it and how exageration is used in the world around us in just about everything.

Tuesday and it's so hot. I going to make beet borsht. i am going to grate three cooked beets and add some fresh lemon juice and sugar, (about 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 of a small lemon) and 3 tbsp sugar) 3/4 tsp salt, white pepper, 1 tbsp dried dill, 3 tbsp fresh minced chives, 4 cups water. put it all together and cill. I am chilling it now cause I just made it. After it is chilled, I will add 1 cup of crème fraîche. I love this chilled soup and brings back memories of my childhood, my mother and both my aunt Stella and aunt Marion made this soup.

sunday morning, first things first......folic acid and B complex then cafe au lait with some toast brought to me by André as he does just about every morning. I know i'm lucky in that aspect, he can be so kind in the mornings, but don't get me wrong, he's not a evil person. He just drinks too much and by evening, well. He admits it. Anyway getting on with the days a Have been sewing a skirt for my grand-daughter and her mom . I just finished both and am worried the skirt for vega is too small, but I sewed it according the measurements.
A friend, Isabelle and her boyfriend, Ricardo came over for lunch. She is a Portuguese language teacher and he works and lives in Porto. André cooked and made a feijada, which ia bean stew. It has a lot of stuff in it, pork, chicken cabbage, sausage, and vegetables. It is a typical meal in Portugal, although in Porto the traditional feijada is made with tripe. I eaten it before, but do not like it and thank goodness, neither does André.
finally going to post this.