Spending Mr. Bush's Money

Remember my digital camera? I thought it was the batteries? It may just be old age. I think I've had it about ten years. I know I bought it with a Team Award from the phone company. I know I spent a lot of money for it at the time--it has 2.1 megapixils! Whoop-di-do! Whatever, yesterday, I decided I needed a new one, so I went out with my economic incentive, or whatever it is called, and got a new Canon--8 megapixils--and a library of instruction manuals that need to be read before a single shot can be fired, it seems. So I think I will take my dying old Canon to Sonoma with me. For all the times I 've been there, I've never taken pictures. This time, I'll be taking pictures--of the room, of the pools--of my massage therapists, if they will let me. I might take the new camera and the books in case I run out of reading material...
The last time I saw my oncologist, she said it would take longer to get over each cycle. She was right. I'm still not feeling completely good. I went to an Eastern Star reception Friday night. I didn't have to drive, but it still took a lot out of me. I was really hurting by the time it was over, and it really wasn't all that long. Yesterday, I was supposed to walk the survivors' lap in our local Relay for Life. I didn't even want to get out of my jammies when I was supposed to be there. I left a message for our team leader and went back to sleep--and slept till after noon. I went out long enough to buy the camera and some more books, came home and went to sleep for a few more hours. I think I was awake maybe 5 out of 24 hours. Each day I feel a little better, but there is still lots of room to go. The only thing on my list tomorrow is getting blood drawn and packing for Sonoma--basically swimsuits, sweats, underwear, and jammies...and books and knitting and needlework. I think I can handle that. In the evening, i have a date with Glenn for dinner and a movie for my birthday week. I could make him sit through Wall-E or the American Girl movie, and he would, but I think we'll see Mama Mia! I think that would be the least torturous for him. Tuesday, it is the oncologist, a referral to a radiation oncologist, and off to Sonoma. My first treatment is at 4 PM.
xxppxx

Happy Birthday to ME

A little tiny part of me is thinking that if I hadn't had the infection, I'd be having my last chemo tomorrow--at least I think that's how it would have worked out--but then maybe I couldn't have gone to Yosemite or Wynyard, Saskatchewan, and I wouldn't have wanted to miss either of those journeys. So there we are--still with almost 2 weeks to go till the last one. And it is my birthday--all day. I'm feeling better than yesterday but not as good as tomorrow. It was mostly a good day, lots of phone calls, flowers, my favorite thing in the whole wide world, from my sister, dinner out with Dory, a lunch date for tomorrow with my friend Meg and her daughter--Meg and I share the birthday, but I always remind her that she's WAY older than I am. My daughter and the grandchildren are coming over tomorrow afternoon. Life is good.
Now let me tell you about cut flowers. You get them, you feel special, they look beautiful, then they die and you can throw them away with a clear conscience and not have to worry about where to put them. My sister sent me yellow and orange roses, which match what I'm wearing today and the Atomic Orange I put on my fingernails today. As I said, life is good.
About dinner--we went for Chinese, since it is my traditional birthday feast. I was told several years ago that noodles on your birthday were good luck, so dinner included chicken chow mien, of which I am very fond. When it came time for the fortune cookies, we did that properly--I handed one to Dory and she handed one to me--you never pick out your own fortune. I unwrapped my cookie, broke it open--and there was no fortune. I looked sad and Dory started to laugh and said that apparently the noodles weren't doing their job. I thought maybe it was folded and looked in each half--no fortune. By then we were both laughing hard--as was the waiter, who took pity on my and brought me a new cookie--with a good fortune. Whew!
I've made it through the first week of this chemo cycle--I've hit as far down as I will go and am now on the upward swing. It will be a little better each day till the middle of next week, when I'll be feeling my best till #6. And am I going away? You betcha. I see my oncologist on the 22nd then leave for Sonoma and five days of pampering. Life is very good.
xxooxx

Side effects

I'm making it through chemo cycle # 5. I pretty much spent the weekend lying in bed, taking meds at the proper times, reading. I'm working my way through the Sue Grafton Alphabet Mysteries. Don't know what's taken me so long, but I read the first three this weekend. I watched the Giants, who finally won one for me yesterday--and I didn't even have the heart to watch the end of the 9th inning. I was so afraid they would blow it, I didn't want to give them the added pressure.
The drugs helped keep the pain down--I wasn't comfortable--still not comfortable--but I'm getting by. I have yet to experience the nausea that used to be standard with chemo--that would be thanks to really good drugs. The bone pain is still around, along with some stomach pain--no nausea, just pain. Then there's the one I never heard about with chemo--peripheral neuropathy. My fingers and toes are either tingling or numb. It isn't fun. It is supposed to go away after chemo--or not. I've got no energy at all. My big exercise is going out in the morning and getting the newspaper. I am exercising my mind, since I've started doing the crosswords. I never really liked them before because I can't spell, but let's face it, I've got lots of time on my hands, so there we are. My sister and Margaret should be proud of me, because I think it was their influence that made me try the puzzles.
That would be it for now. Tomorrow should be better.
xxooxx

OK--OH Canada part deux

So, the camera still doesn't want to down load my pictures, but I got a handy dandy compact flash reader that more or less does the same thing. Now I'm trying to get them into the blog--in no particular order.

Here are my hosts, Margaret and Ken Melsted, Ken wearing one of his 11 new Tilley Hats, courtesy of Lee. That was the actual purpose of the trip. Ken and Margaret were great hosts. they let me do as much or as little as I wanted to do. Mostly it was just laze around.

This is the farmhouse. Ken was born here.

Next, we move to some grain bins. There are lots of grain bins. It is a huge farm.

And just to prove there is some livestock, here is Ken with the horse. They also have breeding stock pure bread cattle--the bulls were hiding in the shed behind the horse. How many bulls do you see?

Last, but not least, this is the Provincial Flower of Saskatchewan, the Red or Prarrie Lilly. Margaret has two growing in her garden. With luck. the bulbs will multiply as the lilly is in danger if extinction.

I didn't have my camera out with me in Saskatoon--too bad, it was really pretty around the hotel and park where we saw The Tempest.

Orc report--so far, so good. Not even any drums beating yet. I don't hold out hope of a stay for more than another day, though.

xxooxx

Chemo Five

Well, I was going to download my pictures from Canada and post them tonight. That would be one of the best laid plans of mice and men ganging aglee. The camera keeps shutting off when I try to access it. It may be the batteries, so I'll get some new ones and try again tomorrow. I'm not overly happy about that, but thems the breaks, as a co-worker of Lee's used to say.
Chemo went fine today. I can't believe it's the fifth one already and the last one is just around the corner. Fortunately the block that corner is on includes the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa. Before I get there, I have to survive the orc wars and walk in the survivors lap in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life--hopefully the orcs will have retreated by then.
So what have I been doing lately. Monday was my annual eye exam. Something in my life is going right--no changes, no glaucoma, no Macular degeneration, no cataracts--yet. Have a good life and we'll see you next year.
Went downtown to see my therapist yesterday. I was feeling much better than I did two weeks ago. After the visit, I walked to the San Francisco Center, where I bought some more books--started on the Sue Grafton series, finally. Also went to Nordstrom where I couldn't find any clothes that I really wanted but did get some makeup--my eyebrows have been steadily thinning, so I got brow makeup to enhance them. My hair is still coming out, but not as much and now in inch or less long strands that are hard to pick up--so I'm just shedding.
Sorry about the pictures. I'll see what I can do about them tomorrow while I'm still feeling fairly good. I'm also hoping to make a run to the office to show the guys I'm still alive. Once I start radiation, I'll see if I'm up to maybe four hours a day. I need to get back to work before they figure out that they can get along perfectly well without me--if they haven't already. I miss my spreadsheets and fighting with vendors--er--setting vendors straight.
xxooxx

Home again, home again

Got home safely, but not without some excitement.
To catch you up, we went to Saskatoon yesterday and saw The Tempest on the banks of the Saskatchewan River. It was a little hard to understand at first, but things improved. Prospero and Ariel were wonderful. It was an outdoor theatre and somehow, I managed to get mosquito bites through my clothes again. Not so many as Yosemite, but enough to itch.
Ken and Margaret got me to the airport in plenty of time and the flight from Saskatoon to Calgary was fine. I was met by my wheelchair driver. We got to the baggage claim for those of us continuing on to the states. Remember the 6 hours and change I had between flights getting to Saskatchewan? Well, I had about an hour in Calgary. So imagine how thrilled we were when there were no bags coming through. There was some sort of jam in the system. My SF flight boarded at 1745 and it was already 1735. My driver said we could wait till 1805 at the latest, then we would have to board the SF flight, bags or no If our bags didn't make it with us, they would be flown to SF tomorrow and delivered to us. While that would have made life somewhat easier when I landed, I really didn't want to have to go without my suitcase full of dirty laundry overnight. Finally the bags started moving. Mine came up and we were off through US Customs, put the bag back on a conveyor belt to get to the plane, through security, and on to the plane. I was one of the last ones on, but I was on. I got settled all snug in my seat and the plane couldn't move. Seems the bridge from the airport to the plane didn't want to move and they had to wait for workers from the airport to fix it. So we were a little late leaving. I was thinking "That's two..." and thinking it wasn't a good sign. We had a little turbulence--nowhere near as bad as coming in--but otherwise the flight was without incident and we made up the time in the air and landed on time. Again I had a wheelchair waiting for me. The gentleman took me to baggage where we waited. And waited. And waited. A bunch of bags came up and were collected then nothing. Seems there was a bag jam in the system. Where have I heard this before. Finally, finally, the belt began moving and mine was the second bag. Glenn was there shortly after I got outside. I had a great time, but I was glad to get home. Pictures will follow tomorrow or whenever I get them downloaded.
Time for bed.
xxooxx

Taking the waters

We went to the spa at Manitou Beach on Canada Day (that would be yesterday). It is by a lake in which it is impossible to drown because the mineral content is so high. The townspeople built a spa (probably more than one, we just went to the main one) using these waters. There are pools of varying degrees of heat. Learning to navigate in the mineral water was a little difficult, but the heat felt good. It was the first time I'd been submerged since I was at Lake Louise (in the heated pool and hot tub, not the frozen lake) in February before all this wonderfulness in my life started. It was glorious--salty, but glorious.
Today is another lounge day. I'm getting lots of rest and feeling quite good. I know my blood counts are coming up (ready for the next attack), by my energy level and I'm not bruising as easily as even a few days ago. When we got back to Wynyard yesterday, I missed the top step into the house and the worst thing I bruised was my dignity.
That's it for now.
xxooxx