I have sourdough starter in my freezer. I plan to thaw it and get started baking sourdough bread. Someday.

I planned to start last fall. Thanksgiving is a big deal in our family, and we host at our house, so I decided to wait until after Thanksgiving to get the starter out and, well, start it.

Then cancer hit. Mammogram with suspicious results, followed by ultrasound, followed by biopsies. The timing wasn’t the greatest – is there ever a good time for cancer? Nope. I had the biopsies the Friday before Thanksgiving, and the doctor told me I’d hear results in three to five days. Business days, I was sure, and given that my biopsies were late in the day on a Friday, followed by a short holiday week, I resigned myself to the possibility that I wouldn’t know until after the festivities.

The diagnosis came the day before Thanksgiving. Wednesday morning.

The sourdough starter stayed in the freezer.

The month of December was full of appointments, scans, blood tests, and more appointments. Surgery finally came on December 31.

The sourdough starter remained in its corner of the freezer.

January included follow-up appointments, more blood tests, scans, and tissue tests, followed by meetings with two new doctors: radiologist and oncologist. Good news: no chemo needed! News news: radiation recommended. Another appointment to set up and prepare for radiation – and then waiting two to three weeks for the phone call that will schedule my radiation visits.

Today marks two weeks from that appointment. No phone call yet, and the sourdough starter still waits in the freezer.

When I’m done with radiation and start maintaining with medication, etc., I’ll start my post-cancer regimen with a new project: sourdough bread.