This One's NOT About Cancer

My blog used to be fun. Now it's all cancer this and treatment that and I'm sick of it. I'm turning things around and from this point on my posts will only be cancer related when I have something to report. I need some change of scenery.

Daylight savings time has come to an end (or is it just starting? I can never keep track) The fact is we gain an hour of time today and that means that while my body is telling me it's 6 am and I should get up and have coffee and rice krispies (I have a new found love of rice krispies....don't ask, it's really not that great a cereal but I've gone through two family sized boxes on my own in 3 weeks) my computer clock is in fact telling me it's only 5:22. That just means that I'll be ready for a nap right about the time that the rest of the family is getting up. Not a bad trade off I guess but still.....I'm not a big fan of the spring forward/fall back business.

Yesterday we went for a walk down behind the GM headquarters. It has a really nice trail that goes through the woods and leads to the beach. Emily and Mary at reaching that point that family outings are not all that so as an added incentive we told them to pack their cameras and we'd have a photo contest. They could pick their best 10 to be judged and the winner would get 10 pieces of Halloween candy.

Here's three of Mary's best...

She liked how the sun sparkled off the water. I did have to crop it a bit and adjust the lighting for her.

This is a face she made out of rocks. Head, eyes with eyeballs, nose, mouth and ears. (for reference sake the large sandy coloured oval shaped rock is the nose)

Red berries on a tree. I thought the colour in this one was really nice. She took several of these pictures but hasn't quite got the concept of not sticking the camera so close to watch she's taking a picture of that it's out of focus. This was the only one that was relatively focused.

And here are two of Emily's best......

I loved how she didn't have us centered in the picture and was able to still capture us all. Good eye.

This was my favorite of hers. I probably would have tried to take a similar picture. She's got more focus on the bull rushes in the front but she managed to capture the colours in the back too....

Emily has a slight advantage in that she was using my camera instead of her own. My mom was using hers at a party. So we had to take that into consideration when judging. Also, given the difference in experience and age....and the fact that in many situations with the girls I will avoid having a clear winner if at all possible. They are two very different kids  - as different as can be - and choosing a winner in that kind of situation - not wise.

So, Mary won 10 candies for her sparkly water picture....she had a vision and she did her best.
Emily won 10 candies for her picture above of the pond.

And both girls were happy.

On our walk, back to the car we took a wrong turn and what should have been a short 10 minute walk back turned into a 30 minute hike through heavy brush, a parking lot and a swamp. Add to this that (even though this post is not about cancer) I was 2 days off of  chemo I was beyond exhausted when we got back to the car.  But it was fun nonetheless.

So I think for today, I'm going to take that extra hour and use it to soak in the bathtub with my kobo and my iPod and the door locked. 

Happy Sunday everyone!

Hallelujah!

And an Amen for Emend!!

Sorry for the delayed update for those of you who are not FB or PP friends.

I've discovered the miracle anti nausea drug called Emend and am painfully sorry that I didn't know about this back in September during the treatment from hell.  My whole chemotherapy experience would have been drastically different. This drug is obscenely expensive ($175 for 3 pills) so it's only prescribed to those with a drug plan. (for my international readers - while our government health care covers my Doctors visits, tests, hospital visits, meds administered in a hospital and all my chemotherapy it does not cover prescribed drugs. Many people though have additional medical insurance through their workplace to cover drugs. Ours also covered my prosthetic ever 2 years and 4 mastectomy bras a year)
Having said, without a drug plan Emend is worth it's weight in gold and I would have gladly paid for it out of pocket if need be.

This time 6 weeks ago I was in the hospital pumped full of Zofran, antibiotics and fluids because of dehydration due to vomiting.

This time 3 weeks ago I was on the couch in a tedious balance with nausea wondering what would send me over the edge and into the barf bowl.

Right now, I've just finished a bowl of rice crispies, a cup of coffee and I have not felt nauseous even once since Thursday. I do have the hint of queasiness but I think it's mostly due to the mouth watering. (can't escape that side effect it appears.

Last night I had a bit of a scare though. I had a pain in my chest and in my back. I was this close to going to the hospital for fear that I was having a heart attach. See, the chemo I'm on can effect the heart, I have to go for a stress echo in a couple of weeks and I know that in women, often times a heart attack presents differently than the standard 'pain in the chest, left arm tingly'.  In fact, a friends mom died with a misdiagnosed heart attack because the pain presented in her back.

The pain however passed and my hear didn't seem to be doing anything wonky. If it happens again though, I'll go get it checked out. You can never be too careful, I just don't relish being in a germy hospital with my weakened immune system.

My friend/coworker came to visit yesterday. She brought a plant and card from the staff. It was lovely and it made me feel good to know they were thinking of me. I know I've complained that I've only heard from a couple of them and it hurt my feelings but I really do understand that it's most likely just a case of people not knowing how to handle it and feeling awkward. I get it. Anyhow, I plan to go into work in a couple of weeks when my immune system is stronger and thank everyone personally. I also want to talk to the principal about possibly coming in a day or two to volunteer and perhaps a back to work plan for the new year. I know my class is in a bit of chaos. My friend thinks I'm nuts to be considering going back this year at all, apparently my stress level will be through the roof but frankly my mind needs the challenge and I think bringing order to chaos will do me a world of good. I miss it desperately.

So there you have it. Today is my last day with Emend and then it's just my Zofran and steroids to help me manage the nausea but I think the worst of it will have been passed. I'm so glad this was the way I ended the FEC portion of my treatment and I'm anxiously (nervously) looking forward to Taxotere.  

Halfway done baby!!