one to go

Sorry for the break since my last post! Round #4 was particularly rough on the nausea front and once I got back on my feet I was spending time with Dad as he was hospitalized the day before my fourth treatment and remains in hospital. We are hoping he will be coming home soon under the watch of palliative care. I had my fifth treatment on Tuesday this week and it is going much better than the last two. I am actually on Bonamine for sea sickness and it seems to be working! It was an idea that my doctor had and so I am being a bit of a guinea pig. I can't believe I only have one more chemo treatment to go. I remember the nurse saying it would go by fast and it certainly has. My last treatment is on July 14th and then they are giving me a break to recover a bit before radiation begins on August 31st. It will be nice for the whole family and hopefully we will have some good weather!

change in plans

I had my pre chemo appointment with Dr. Rayson today and he has recommended that I keep going with the drug treatment I am currently on instead of changing to a newer treatment for doses 4, 5 and 6 like he originally planned. The steroids I take with the chemo have been giving me heart palpitations and with the new drug I would have to take six times the dose I am on now and he is concerned about what will happen to my heart. I am disappointed as the new drug can reduce the risk of the cancer coming back by an additional 4%, and I'll take every percent I can get, but I plan on living a long time and need my heart, so it is what it is.

Anywho, I turned 37 last weekend and Dave took me to Hamachi Steakhouse for dinner, the one where they cook the food in front of you. It was so much fun and the food was delicious. I had to watch out for Dolly though because she melts in high heat so when the flames were flaring I was leaning back to keep her safe. Gotta protect Dolly!

doing some math

The doctor said that I am allowed to have one drink from time to time. My drink of choice is a vodka tonic which is 35% alcohol. Does that mean if I just have Corona that I can have 7.6 of them? May be worth the experiment...

1/2 - an even bigger fraction

I had round three of chemo this week and to be frank, it sucked. It was the worse yet and the extra nausea drug they added didn't seem to help. But, it is turning around now so brighter days ahead! Plus I am at the halfway mark…50% complete...over the hump…all downhill from here…hitting the home stretch...seeing the light (not the bright one) at the end of the tunnel. Now THAT feels good.

for kicks

Paula called the other day to check in and told me she used the lint roller on her head too! This was just too good...the makers of this product really should know how great it is, beyond what they make it for. I certainly always appreciated receiving positive messages from the public on something I worked on, so I figured why wouldn't they? So I emailed 3M the other day and checked off "no reply required" but to my surprise I received a message back today thanking me for sharing my experience and indicating that they would share my story with the marketers and technical engineers of the lint roller product. Hopefully they get a smile out of the story...and if you see the lint rollers repackaged as a hair removal kit, you'll know who gave them the idea!

introducing Dolly

When the wig is sitting on the stand it seems alive somehow...so really she needs a name. Thus in homage to Dolly Parton who has been a pioneer in mainstream wig wearing, I have named her Dolly. I donned Dolly the other night for dinner with friends, so here I am in all my glory with Dolly and Suzanne.

achieved freak status

My hair is almost gone, just patches of wispies left here and there, so I have taken to wearing hats everywhere and have a favourite - adidas cadet hat. It is comfortable and I was thinking that I looked fairly normal...apparently not so much. I was at the school yesterday for student led conferences and was waiting outside Jonathan's classroom when a young girl walked by and she was looking at me so I smiled and she smiled. When she got past me a little ways, she turned and walked by again...looking...then again...looking...and yes again...looking. Staring and straining her eyes into her periphery to absorb as much as possible. It wasn't until the third pass that I actually realised what she was doing. Surprisingly it didn't really bother me, but clearly I'm not fooling the people like I thought!