Bring out the hats and horns!

Yippee! Today was my last nasty chemo! Everything went smooth as clockwork...I got a good checkup with the doctor, got into a private room immediately (usually we have to start in the main sitting room with several other patients), my port worked, and my lunch bag didn't leak, at least not when I was using it (I put the ice in a baggy inside the lunch bag, which then leaked once the ice melted)! I have three more weekly, easy chemos before they are changed to being every three weeks through the rest of the year. I will definately be glad when that happens!

I am now losing my fingernails...augh! They started out looking like they had dark bruises on the nailbeds, but now that is turning to a yellowish color and the nails are loosening. I've been assured that they will all grow back quickly and normally...no deformities will occur, so I'm glad for that. I look like I have a bandaid fetish, though, as they are tender and I need to cover them to protect them!

Both Jill and Anne called me immediately after I got home, to celebrate the end of my nasty chemo with me. And a beautiful bouquet of flowers was delivered from Jill & Matt, to further congratulate me on my "marvelous adventure"! They have all been rocks through this, and I am so grateful for all of their love and support.

And my wonderful, thoughtful husband continues to spoil me! You remember he bought me red patent leather Kate Spade shoes before my surgery? Well, on the way home from my chemo today he looked over at me and asked me what was in the pocket of my car door. I looked, expecting to see something I had left by accident, and saw that there was a jewelry box there, instead! It was wrapped in silver paper with a big red bow...I was so surprised! Inside, was a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet, to celebrate the end of my nasty chemo! Oh, my!! What a wonderful surprise! I immediately put it on and I feel like a queen! And he is my knight in shining armor! His unfailing love and support has kept me going through the good and the bad, and I am so blessed to have him in my life.

P.S. We had one more celebration after dinner. Since I can't have any alcohol for the first five days after chemo, we went to Captain Sundae, where I got my usual Tommy Turtle!! Yum, yum!

Smile for the birdie!

Last month when I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon, Liberty Hoberman, she asked me if I had heard of the American Cancer Society's fundraiser, Relay for Life. She told me that she was putting together a team from the office, and was asking a few of her patients if they would be willing to be professionally photographed as inspiration to other cancer fighters and survivors. She went on to tell me that she loved my smile and twinkling eyes, and wondered if I would like to be one of those patients! I said yes, of course!

So, yesterday we gathered together at DeVries studio, after meeting first at Alpen Rose for lunch and introductions. There were seven of us in all, including Liberty, and we all dressed in black. Two of us wore hats (I was one of those), one wore her wig and the other three showed off their new hair. We were photographed individually and then as a whole group, with Liberty in the center. It was a powerful experience to be among other strong, positive women who have come through cancer and chemo on the winning side. We laughed and talked and compared experiences, and found that we had a lot in common, of course. They were a gentle and kind group of women, and I felt proud to have been asked to be a part of them.

We were able to see the photo results immediately and we all chose our favorite shots of ourselves. They all were beautiful, and dramatic with our being dressed in black. I think we were all pleasantly surprised! Liberty plans on having the photos of each of us blown up and set on easels by their booth at Relay for Life. We were each asked to write down a word that sums up our experiences, and those words will be placed under our photos. So if you're participating in the Relay, which is June 4 & 5, be sure and look for my smiling face on one of the easels!

Eureka!

Last week when I had my "nasty" chemo, I decided to do an experiment. A few days earlier I had been in to see the nurse about my fingernail that is falling off (ick) and, in the process of conversation, she told me about a study she had just read having to do with taxotere (one of my nasty chemos) and resulting burns on hands. The study found that if you iced your hands for the entire time you were given the taxotere, it greatly reduced the probability of burning because the cold constricts the blood vessels, making it harder for the taxotere to spread there. I was all ears! So, on Tuesday, I dutifully took my insulated lunch bag with me to fill with ice, and a pair of "surgical" gloves to protect my hands from getting wet and chapped.

When it was time for the taxotere, I went to the ice machine and filled my lunch bag with ice, put on my gloves and settled down for an hour of iced hands. About ten minutes went by and suddenly I felt cold water trickling in my lap...my lunch bag leaked! Oh, no! My experiment was doomed from the start! I tried putting a towel under my bag, but it was not to be...I was still getting quite wet. So Rich dumped the ice for me while I mourned the failure of my experiment. But then my eyes fell upon the large container of pop I had sitting on my table...full of lovely ice. Why don't I just hold onto that for an hour? And that's just what I did! It was easy to hold on to and I was able to move my hands around and get them all nice and cold for the time it took to finish the taxotere. And guess what? It worked! I noticed a couple of small red splotches on my hands yesterday that would have turned into large burns without the icing, but these are hardly visible, and don't hurt at all!

Good news...I have a brain!

It's been an interesting few weeks for me. I have a history of having migraine headaches, preceded by an aura which can start as a "star" in my vision or a "half moon", both of which are glowing and then spread and eclipse my vision for about half an hour. In the past, the aura would be followed by a killer of a headache (the migraine), but lately I've just been having the auras without the pain. ALOT of them. Yesterday I had two, back to back, within a half hour. When I told my doctor about these, she told me that she wanted me to have these checked out immediately, to rule out any cancer that might be going on in my head. We really didn't think anything was wrong other than my hormones going crazy from the chemo because of my previous history of having migraine auras, but she is very pro-active and wanted to be absolutely sure. So she scheduled a CAT scan for me. The whole process took about 15 minutes. I checked in at the hospital, the tech found a good vein in my arm and hooked me up, injected me with the radioactive dye, slid me in the "tunnel" and took a couple of pictures of my head. That was it! Rich hardly even had a chance to turn the page of his magazine before I was back out and ready to go home. And the good news is that, contrary to popular opinion, I HAVE A BRAIN! It may be just a little pea brain, but it's there and is HEALTHY! No cancer! So, yippee! This is just one more weird side effect I'll have to put up with, I guess, but at least I finally know there's something inside my head!