In Fall 2024, I broke my radius (arm) at the wrist of my dominant hand, and didn’t map at all for 2 months, gradually picking things up as my arm healed and gained strength. It was agonizing to not have my daily OSM fix - and a palpable relief when my wrist could once again handle an extended session with a mouse.

Not content with my previous mapping outage, in Fall 2025 I had a cancerous tumor in my parotid (cheekbone salivary gland) removed - except that a relatively straightforward 2 hour surgery turned into a 13-hour marathon and an overnight hospital stay ballooned into 8 days in a hospital bed. The cancer had spread to lymph nodes, to one of my jugular veins and into muscle tissue in my neck. Recovery from the surgery turned into immediate chemotherapy + immunotherapy and radiation.

So now I map when I’m able, which unfortunately is not very frequently. My #Mali project gathers dust, with almost all of my current OSM edits focused around related work with my one remaining freelance client. There does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel (I’m pretty sure it’s not a train). My body has responded well to treatment, and there’s talk of moving me off chemo and onto straight immunotherapy. Looking forward to that possibility.

All of this to say: treasure the time you have. If the difference you make is measured in your OSM edits, then by god make those edits. But more importantly, if the difference you make is measured through those around you that are intertwined into your life, make sure you give sufficient time to them. Your life-changesets are important too.

The More You Know…… ;)

GR