Erella and the Cameron

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Erella Ganon

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Jul 1, 2011, 12:42:17 PM7/1/11

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It has been a little while since I have written.

Everything changes.

Spring has come and with it new opportunities and art openings.

I had my big 52 party at my friend Shawn's home.

It sort of started a cycle of getting together with friends that I hadn't seen in a very long time.

Very great.

My main specialist these days is an endocrinologist that focuses on rare diseases and cancers of the endocrine system.

I had been weaning myself, reducing my daily intake by 5mg a week of the drug that had been killing me. It turns out that was too rapid and my body wasn't reacting well.

He's super vigilant and watches my numbers closely. I am in contact with other patients with similar ailments to mine and realize how very fortunate I am to have the dedicated doctors that actually care for me.

The goal is to be less than 20 mg a day and I was at about 25mg a day. My vital signs (white cell count mainly) were hollering but I was ignoring the signs out of some kind of belligerence, I suppose. I am motivated to get to a healthy amount of these drugs.

I had been in contact with a 28 yr old woman in Saskatchewan who was doing a similar wean of the same drug as me after a similar surgery as mine.

She hadn't been feeling well and two weeks ago she DIED of an adrenal insufficiency crisis. Same thing that I was having issues with. shocking and deeply upsetting, of course. It was a devastating loss to the small community of Cushing's patients that I communicate with on the internet.

To avert a similar death, my doctor convinced me to start over on the wean. I was so proud to be able to reach 25 mg a day and I had to start back at 60. It will be months before I reach 25mg again.

I took a break for a month, taking the stress dose of 60 mg a day to let my body properly recover. The break was good. I felt stronger again. Thank goodness.

I have begun the SLOW wean, taking 2.5mg less per day. I am now back at 50mg a day and feeling pretty good.

This weekend was the Paradise Show at MOCCA (Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art) that my friends, Herb Tookey and Rae Johnson have been curating/ working on for years. I have been assisting in the curation process to celebrate the art work that was created in garrets but shown at the Cameron Public House. In the early 80's it was a kind of community centre, a fabulous space where art lived and breathed. I was glad to take part in the celebrations.

Starting in September I will be curating art shows in the bar itself. Making a circle in a way. I am glad to continue my relationship with that establishment.

I just created a little zine/book for the launch of the MOCCA show, Cameron Tales.

It is funny stories about the cameron.

There are two editions that may interest you.

The limited to 22 signed and numbered coloured ones are still $25.

The other ones are still crisp and lovely black and white with a colour cover. $10

I can mail them for an additional $4 for postage and envelope and paypal charges, if it interests you.

Otherwise, I am out enjoying summer, music, my friends and family and you.

Thank you for being here for me.

love,

Erella