Bog Person

I thought I'd share my "bog person" shot from Larnie's birthday party the other night, where we imitated ancient mummified people found in peat bogs. You can see the rest of the shots on flickr.

Lots of no fun with some fun intermixed

Thanks to a comment left by a certain special somebody on my last post which was about 20 years ago, or so it seems, I'm finally posting. So thanks for that little kick I needed...

Went in today for Round 4, part 2, and it went fine. I took an ativan in the morning, so didn't barf, but still had a small crying meltdown with the nurse. She totally understood. Then they gave me more ativan in the IV and I pretty much slept the entire time. Jewelz came to visit and got a lot done on the scarf she is knitting!

I've been dealing with this nausea which fluctuates between lurking in the background and actually barfing. I now carry a big plastic bag in my backpack just in case. Thankfully, I've been home for the times I would have needed it so far. Oh, except once in the chemo room, waiting for the nurse to start the IV and premeds. I think part of what I'm experiencing is what they call "anticipatory" nausea, more of a mental experience, but the end result is as physical as it gets. I've gotten a few more meds in my anti-nausea arsenal, and I can already tell things are getting better. And the bottom line is that chemo is harsh and no one, no matter what they do can eliminate the side effects completely.

Numbers- I know I said I wouldn't obsess over my tumor marker #s, but since they're still moving in the right direction, I feel this is a cause for at least a minor celebration! Last round my numbers went from 14 down to 9, and this round they went down from 9 to 8 !!! You may all do a small, but rowdy round of tap dancing for me at this point! Ok, you can stop now!! My MD said the goal at the end of chemo was to be in single digits. This puts me in the best possible position moving forward. So now I'm focusing on keeping the numbers from going back up and even better, to keep them creeping downwards.

After a few days dealing with Round 4, part 2, I'm so happy to have a good week coming up! My last good week I did a lot of fun things including going to a live butterfly exhibit with Will and Dot and Sarah, followed by my first time to an icecream shop I've been wanting to go to for 10 years. Also had a great appt. with an MD at an integrated medicine center. He had tons of advice for me, including giving up dairy, sugar and soy COMPLETELY. Not really what I wanted to hear, and now I'm figuring out how I can learn more about this, and try to incorporate it into my life without going totally overboard.

Oh, and I got a new vacuum! You can tell how exiting my life has gotten...

Mail

This made my day- opening the mailbox, finding a package inside (addressed to me!), containing a book with the hilarious title, "Any Day with Hair is a Good Hair Day." Now, last time I got some books in the mail from an unknown sender they turned out to be from Michelle... How are my detective skills, Michelle?

Movies

Movies I recommend dealing with cancer issues:

Crazy Sexy Cancer- a documentary by Kris Carr
In the Family- a documentary by Joanna Rudnick
The Breast Cancer Diaries- a documentary by Ann Murray Paige and Linda Pattilo





(I'll add on to this post as I go)