Operation Reduce Regrets

It's a new year, and my cancer has been stable lately, so it's time to launch Operation Reduce Regrets. The idea is to use the time of relative health that I presently have in ways that will leave me with the fewest regrets when the cancer starts to grow again. That means making a special effort to spend memorable time with family and friends on the one hand and to complete projects that personally mean a lot to me (like my punctuation book) on the other. Ideally, I would do some of both without exhausting myself too badly. 

An iguana, posing for Operation Reduce Regrets in Puerto Rico

The first major undertaking in Operation Reduce Regrets was a trip that Anand and I took to Puerto Rico last week. We visited Old San Juan and the rain forest in the eastern part of the island, each for a few days. Traveling is difficult for me because it's so fatiguing, but we promised each other before we left that we would just enjoy being there together rather than feeling like we had to see or do anything specific. We almost kept our word. It is very hard to travel somewhere interesting and then have to stay holed up in one's room resting for much of the time. So I both pushed a bit too hard and spent a lot of time resting. But we did manage to see and do some interesting things and to soak up some sun in January. Most importantly for Operation Reduce Regrets, we made some new memories together, the lizards (see picture) and the singing coquí frogs (not pictured—they come out at night) among them.

It was good to see the water and soak up some sun.