Hi Friends,I recently received a support package from the Canadian Cancer Society. In that box were the following items:
1) Pamphlets on nutrition and adjusting to a cancer diagnosis;
2) A yellow "squeegee" ball to keep up hand strength;
3) A pink pillow with pink and red poodles and a pink ribbon on it;
4) A rope.
A rope? Does anyone else think that it's a bad idea to give someone undergoing chemotherapy a rope? I could imagine a long rubber band for post-surgery exercises, but this leaves us slightly confused.
If any of you have suggestions on how we could productively (and safely) use this item, please feel free to suggest them to the blog. Prize for best suggestion: a rope.
Love,
Kip
That is most odd. Perhaps you are meant to be skipping rope and chanting? Maybe Walter can write a rhyme for you. But skipping rope does seem a bit more aerobic and juvenile, and not of your taste.
ReplyDeleteI hear (via email) good news from Leda and she writes of the importance of connecting with you. I wonder if Leda received such a package? She is now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.
I am so happy that you and Leda and Karen have connected.
Love,
Roberta
String can be used for a wick in a candle. Maybe for a really, really big candle?
ReplyDeleteHey Kip:
ReplyDeleteSo my guess is the rope should have come with some instructions, as per:
"Use this rope to prepare for your next match. Note:'In 1974, 32-year old former world boxing champion Muhammad Ali fought the younger undefeated Heavyweight Champion, George Foreman who was heavily favored to win the fight. Ali used an unusual strategy he called "rope-a-dope" to tire Foreman. He then proceeded to knock Foreman out and win the championship. In this head-to-head competition, Ali used deception to get Foreman to overextend himself. The loss to Ali so demoralized Foreman that he retired from boxing at age 28."
Love,
Abbie
Worse than getting a rope is getting a rope that looks like a noose! Use it for cat's cradle and make some creative designs. Or, if something is out of reach, you could lasso it with the rope. This takes practice, of course, but I'm sure you could master it in time.
ReplyDeletemacrame?
ReplyDeletecomment on the rope ...Hmmm
ReplyDeletefrayed knot
Carry it with you to your next hospital appointment, in your outstretched fist, proclaiming it to be part of your recovery. (You may be seen more quickly, and perhaps by more than 1 specialty.)
ReplyDeletelove K
For practicing to join the Navy or the Boy Scouts?
ReplyDeleteI got distracted by the the pink and red poodles, to be honest.
Can't believe they sent the rope in the shape of a noose!! Maybe the rope is a new type of belt for your pants. I'm sure with all the nausea and mouth sores you've likely lost weight. Sometimes with a belt you end up in between holes, so using the rope you can just tie it off wherever you need to.
ReplyDeletehow about trying this? -- a rattlesnake key fob. betcha never thought of that!
ReplyDeletei especially enjoyed the 'shredded chicken' part of the explanation. talk about engaging commentary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhO_j65tWSQ&feature=related
just plain weird
ReplyDeletep.s. this is felix g.
ReplyDeleteomg, huge big belly laugh! that certainly eclipses the pink ribbon/red poodle kitschiness on the bizzaro scale.
ReplyDeletebut really, what were they thinking? your guess about exercise seems close to the mark, but why not send a resistance band in that case?
so, here's my guess (which i must admit i came to after extensive research at "uncylopedia," the wikipedia parody site): a low cost meat filler included in the package in recognition that going through cancer treatment is a hugely expensive undertaking even in a country with universal healthcare coverage. i'm sure amy sedaris has some excellent recipes you can use......
@ e.m.: i think the rattlesnake key fob instructional video guy needs to post a health warning with his artwork. i was nodding off within the first few seconds. that voice is quite something!
ReplyDelete@ sjk - you should hear him introduce his 'honey basket' - months in the design process, apparently...
ReplyDeleteThink of all the people who have run, baked, sold daffodils, cut off their hair, done cartwheels, sung songs, walked and walked and walked so the Cancer Society could send you that rope (and the pink poodles)! Do you think people with lung cancer get the same package? What would Lance Armstrong have done?
ReplyDeleteWell, the rodeo just ended here in Edmonton which got me thinking... maybe the cancer care package person had a small child who was playing rodeo, and just decided to drop the lasso into the package without her/his parent knowing and maybe now junior is sitting in a boring math class imagining who got the lasso and whether whoever received it has a plastic cow to play steer roping with... but I digress.
ReplyDeleteI think the rope should be read as a management strategy for all the pink on the pillow. It could be used, for instance, to strangle all the pink poodles. Alternatively, you could use it to make a "butch bow" to replace that pink ribbon in the corner.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hkbcf.org/article.php?aid=137&cid=65&lang=eng
ReplyDeleteWhen one googles chemotherapy rope, Kip's blog is the second entry that appears!!! Quite a ways down, is the above entry which provides a description of the uses for the objects in the care package....if the Canadian Cancer Society had thought to include an explanatory note, we would never have had so much creative energy appear on the blog.....hmmmmm......keep the suggestions coming! Good luck Kip on Chemo #7 Love J
I think the rope is for Kip to lasso the UPS delivery truck driver! "Give me more surprise prezzies....!"
ReplyDeleteLove Ruth
Thank you, Jules, for finding the 'real' reason, but it still seems un-real. The HKBC "comfort package" has a purple rope that is much more aesthetically pleasing than the frayed lariat. I have been imagining Kip in black toque, cool dark sunglasses, leather jacket and hospital gown, carrying the rope into appointments and using it as a comment on the day-- 'don't mess with me', 'what the __ ?', 'lah-de-dah'-- so that rather than speaking the rope becomes the magic expression for whatever needs to be un-said.
ReplyDeleteActually, this whole process has seemed very 'Alice in Wonderland' to me: nibble on this drug, and it melts your tumor, nibble on this one and it 'manages' your pain/nausea/sleeplessness/mouth sores/etc.' So I think that the pillow is a mattress for when you're really really small, and the rope is for jumping when you are that size too. The ball is extra for working on your abs....
ReplyDelete