My anxiety levels are starting to increase, and will likely ratchet up during the week. One thing that is causing me the increase in anxiety is the lack of information coming from my surgeon’s office. I don’t feel like they have a whole lot of empathy for what I might be going through. There are some assumptions that seem to happen in this system – one of which is that the “other” doctor will share results. The surgeon’s office sat on my bone scan results for 2 days. That may not seem like a lot, but as the patient it is literally life or death – that is, me contemplating whether or not this cancer recurrence is terminal or not. It is so very frustrating.

Hubby and I spent the weekend at the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival. It is actually only a 25 minute drive, so we were not staying there – although, as I said last year, I wish I was! The artists were AMAZING. I continue to be impressed with the talent of the local artists, and the quality of the festivals here. Of course, there was not just local talent but also some international talent that really resonated.

The most influential for me was Holly Near. We were not familiar with her name (bad on us), but we were familiar with a bunch of her music, as we sang her songs in the Unitarian Church (thanks Jane). One thing that made her more influential was that she shared her story as a recent cancer survivor. To be go through the extreme lows of treatment only last year, and then pulling herself up and getting back on stage was truly inspiring. It really helped me think that if she can do this at 72, I can do this at 52. And her health journey was definitely more traumatic than what this recurrence is apt to be. Her music inspires me (love the song Hattie and Mattie and the second time she sang Singing for our lives, I bawled my eyes out. I stood there swaying, holding and being held by my hubby crying. It was what I needed.

Another surprise this year what Heather Mae. She is the partner of, and touring with Crys Matthews, but also an amazingly talented singer-songwriter. They are definitely a power duo on the folk scene. Just watching them sing love ballads to one another brings tears of joy to my eyes.

On the more local front (and yet they are touring in Europe) were Madison Violet. They are a seriously powerful duo. I could not get enough of them. Lisa MacIsaac is an amazing fiddle player, and when the two of them (Lisa and Brenley MacEachern) belt out a song, their voices are just amazing.

Other artists really enjoyed include: Terry Spenser, Ben Caplan, The Gilberts, David Myles … and pretty much everyone I listened to! I have started an iTunes playlist with artists from the concert.