Chemo Today

Just got back from chemo. It took a bit longer than usual because pharmacy was late getting my prescription to daycare. No troubles ... I had a bunch of DVDs to watch.

As usual it was very busy ... all the beds were full. To my right was a senior lady. She had a couple of supporters sitting with her. To my left was a lady getting her second treatment. We chatted briefly. What I loved about her and her husband is that they were both bald. I believe he was purposely bald in support of her. In the two beds across from me were a couple of young people ... twenty something. Both the girl and guy had their mother's with them. It was so nice to see everyone had a loved one there for them.

I'm feeling pretty good ... so I'm going to take advantage of that and do a few things.

Hope everyone's doing O.K.!

CT Scan - Mixed Results

Just came back from the Cancer Institute from my oncologist appointment. Blood work looks good for chemo tomorrow.

We have mixed results on the CT scan.

When looking for changes on the CT scan, generally we focus on two of the largest tumors and compare them from scan to scan. On this CT scan, we noticed the largest tumor did shrink a bit but we also noticed that the smaller one grew a bit. The first thing the oncologist said is that there is no need to panic. We aren't sure why it grew. I asked if it was because we cut back on the chemo dosage and she felt that 'no' that wasn't it. One reason for growth may be that the tumor is getting smart to the chemotherapy. She said we are not going to change anything and are going to continue with the same treatment because other tumors are still shrinking. She said we'll be watching it closely on the next CT scan.

The doctor said not to panic ... I'm not panicking.

Alberta Health Services

Changes are happening ...

Alberta Cancer Board is now a part of Alberta Health Services (AHS).

So it looks like we have the ... former Cross Cancer Institute website, we have the former Alberta Cancer Board website, we have a new Alberta Health Services and a new Alberta Cancer Foundation website.

I'm confused.

I guess we'll have to watch and see how this all shakes out in the end.

Living With Cancer Ranked 13th

Living with Cancer has been ranked 13th of the Top 50 Cancer Sites & Resources by the Asbestos News Cancer Blog. That is kind of exciting.

When I started this blog back in August of 2008 I lacked the confidence to share it with anyone. Finally in about October I sent the link to my good friend Arlene and said to her ... would you have a peek and see what you think. She thought it was a pretty good idea and encouraged me to continue writing and sharing. It still took till December before I was confident enough to give the link out to most everyone I knew.

Today I am blown away by the support I get. I don't know where I'd be in this cancer journey without this blog and my online friends.

Thank you friends ...

On My Soap Box

Last night a friend of mine called and said she was sick with the flu/cold and would not be able to make it to our lunch date for today. She didn't want to risk me catching it. I was so glad she called to cancel.

Colds and flu are actually quite dangerous for people undergoing chemotherapy.

When someone is getting chemo generally the white blood cell count is down. Because the white blood cells are the body's weapon against infection and they are now lowered, the immune system is weakened. So the body is not able to fight off a cold or flu as a normal person might.

This could easily turn into something worse like a high fever or pneumonia ... and/or delay treatment.

So long story short ... please be aware of that if you are not feeling well or have family members that are not feeling well do let the person undergoing cancer treatment know so that they could make the final decision.

There I can get off my soap box.

Quiet Day Here

For the past couple of nights, my husband has taken me for a walk down the ally to a certain telephone pole. Today we measured the distance to that pole and back to our house. We used Google Map Pedometer. So I can walk 560'.

In my other life ... I walked a marathon ... 43 kilometers/26 miles.

I am a bit motivated by a fellow metastatic breast cancer survivor who is undergoing very similar treatment as myself. I believe she started Taxotere pretty well when I did in August of 2008. She has hired a personal trainer to get herself in better shape ... which should get her more strength and energy. She says she does what she can. I'm amazed at her enthusiasm.

I know exercising or even just walking is the right thing to do ... but if you have ever experienced chemo for any length of time ... for me anyways, it's the last thing I want to be doing.

Today is a quiet day but the highlight of it is that coffee tastes pretty good. I think I've already had three cups. Up till now the taste buds have been preventing me from enjoying it.

Hope everyone is doing O.K.

A Bit About My Course

The course I take at college is called Principles of Management. It's part of a Human Resource Diploma I am very close to completing.

Well as with any college course there is group work. We have a group project that is due in a couple of weeks and the topic is 'Green Housing'. We are given a 'green house' building business scenario and we are to analyze it.

The portion I needed to have ready for tonight's group meeting was research on how generation X, generation Y and the baby boomers view environmentally friendly housing. So baby boomers are born from 1946 to 1961, generation X are people born from 1962 to 1979 and generation Y are born from 1980 to 1999. These dates do vary depending on which article you read.

I spend about 2.5 hours last night searching the Internet looking for information. It wasn't easy finding something but I did find something I could use. The information is not that exciting so I won't bore you with it but I just wanted to share a bit about what I study in school.

I must admit juggling school around chemo is a challenge but so far I've been lucky with exams falling on good weeks .... not bad. I haven't told one person at school that I'm under treatment for cancer and I want to keep it that way.

This afternoon is coffee with our breast cancer support group and tonight school.

Looks like another gorgeous day out there ....

Gorgeous Day Out There

Just got back from having coffee at an outdoor cafe. It was sunny and breezy and wonderful. Nice to get some vitamin D. It really felt like a mini-vacation. Our weather here has not been the greatest so any good weather we get is muchly appreciated.

I remembered and went to class last night. Woohoo for me! I carried my laptop to class which really felt like I was caring a 30 pack. I walked back to the car with another girl and really had to push it ... I didn't want her to see me struggling.

For the remainder of the day, I'm going to work on school assignments. I need to get ahead on some of that stuff this week ... because next week is chemo and then it kinda goes down hill from there.

Not much more to report ...

Hope everyone is having a good day!

Forgetful Daria ...

I tell ya ... I have no memory left ... chemo has taken over my memory. I just keep forgetting things. I think it bothers me so much because in my other life, I was pretty organized ... O.K. annoyingly organized.

So yesterday, I started writing everything down and I mean everything. There are going to be reminder notes for everything. I've got reminders to go to my patient support group this afternoon, to go to school in the evening plus bring my laptop to class (because I don't normally) and take my medication in the evening.

I even have a reminder to make reminders for the next day. I've decided this will ease some of the stress in my life. Somewhere along the way things have gotten out of control. I think I was letting cancer get the upper hand here and slowly letting go ... well I`m fighting back ... I need some of that control back.

Today I had my PICC line redressed with adhesive bandages ... no more dry dressing. Things are looking good. As nice as the nurses are ... they said they didn`t want to see me till next week. I don`t feel offended ... I`d rather not see them till next week either :) .

In the mean time, this is my good week so I am planning to get out and about as much as possible.

Hope everyone is having a good day!