Chemo, Cookies, Ribbons and more....

Hello everyone - from the very soggy West Coast!

Just need to get a vent out. To the person who thought it was amusing to post porn on my blog yesterday - it was not appreciated at all. You insulted me and hurt me as well as it would have hurt others had I not deleted it this morning. This blog is about my cancer journey through life - love, laughter, support, silly stuff, visits with friends from around the world. Do not spoil it!

Ok, now that is out of the way.

Had my chemo yesterday and had Gabbie as my nurse, she is a sweetie. Katya came with me and Patrick did too, so we had a gang. Got the blood work done and then we went down to Londsdale Quay for a while and meandered around there, and yes Shannon, we went into the cook store - Patrick found lots of stuff he liked and so did I - will be visiting there again!!! And then back to Lions Gate. Stood on the scale - down 2.6 lbs from two weeks ago, so they will be watching that a bit. I didn't mind it though! Gabbie came over and chatted and asked if I had brought my Granisetron which I had, and i took my first one then - it is an anti-nausea preventative which I will take for two days. She said that my numbers were a bit low so I would have to stay on the Geupogen till the end of my chemo, so had to call over to the pharmacy and reorder it - $1700 - thanks goodness for drug plans. She the ran saline through me to get me hydrated, then stared their bag of anti-nausea medications - takes about 20 minutes, and finally she started the vinorelbine. Once that was done, got my drugs from the pharmacy and made our way home. Of course there was issues with GWL again, but will deal with that on Monday.

It is cookie baking day today - Meghan, Tamara and Megan are helping make cookies for the Relay for Life next week - butterflies, and flowers. It was a lot of fun. I made the dough earlier in the day so it was perfect by the time th gals got here. Tamara picked out a perfect recipe for both the cookies and the icing! Lots of fun was had - and lots of broken pieces to nibble on (some broken on purpose!!!) And we really didn't eat that many of the cookies, really, we didn't!!! We also got the last of the daffodils cut out and Meghan finished off the ribbons. Just a couple more things to get ready for the relay next week and will do those on Monday and Tuesday. We have at this point 20 team members and I thank each and every one of them for joining - means a great deal to me.


Little Miss Madelynn

Little Miss Alexus


Also picked up more ceramics - the ones that Patrick and I did a couple of weeks back - he is a cool looking monkey and mine is a funky frog - they look great. I want to go back and start picking out Christmas decorations to paint and give to friends and to the nurses. They have so much nice stuff at the store - and not overly priced actually. And the staff are great - for those of you in the area, it is called Club Colour and is on the Fraser Hwy in Langley.

Well, that is about all for now. Will post after the Relay next weekend - there might be some surprises for you!

Hugz
Roni

Balls, chemos, needles and fun shows!

Great introduction huh!

The past few weeks have been a little crazy to say the least. Went to Club Colour with Patrick and we painted some ceramics – mine is a stoned frog and Patrick’s was a monkey. They are fired and now ready for pick up. Great way to spend a few hours with someone and at a relatively inexpensive way.

On the 8th, we went to the 65th Garrison Military Ball held at the Hotel Vancouver. For the most part, it was a wonderful evening. Lots of fun getting to dress up in my ball gown and very sexy heels!!! It was the 100th anniversary of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada as well as the Royal Canadian Navy. We had a great evening, even if it was a bit long. And it is always fun to stay at a hotel downtown and just have a nice time.

I got the results of the CT scan which was one of the last things that I had done through the BC Cancer Agency. They sure weren’t what I was expecting. There are a lot of new spots and the ones that were there had grown. You know it is not good when your doctor calls you on your cell to tell you the news. I told Gary that I would not be coming back to the clinic and that I was going to see Dr. Klimo. I have had two chemo treatments so far with him and am pleased with how things are going. Other than with the insurance company, but that is a whole different ball game. When I went for chemo on Friday, my RBC was low, so I was immediately put on an immune system booster – damn expensive stuff I might add! $1000 for 5 little vials. Thankfully my insurance does cover 70% of it and the Victory Program covers the other 30%. I had a great nurse, Karen and she was a lot of fun and so helpful in explaining new drugs. I am booked till mid August for my chemos, so hopefully between now and then will have had a few CT scans and get good results. Even a small amount of shrinkage will be a welcome bit of news! The hospital (Lions Gate) changed my nausea meds and has me on new meds to be taken the day of the chemo and for two days afterwards. And my family doctor put me on new pain meds which work like a charm. Really happy with that.

This weekend has been busy. Saw Stars on Ice (Canadian version) on Friday night, with Patrick. And then Saturday, on a boat cruise with Shannon for the Canadian Cancer Society Volunteer Appreciation. The weather was perfect – sunny and warm. Then a wee meander through the public market on Granville Island for some cheeses and meat for Shannon’s dinner. Then last night Brian and I went to see Celtic Women – awesome performance. They sing like angels.

Starting to get donations for the silent auction for the Relay for Life on Jun 5. Chantal made and donated a beautiful afghan. Cooks ‘n Corks are donating a gift basket as she has in the past. And Just Fine Wines is also donating a gift basket. We are slowly getting our team together – we have one full team of 15 and working on the 2nd team. Can’t wait – it will be a lot of fun. This will be my last year working on the steering committee for the relay – time for some new blood to come in and take over from the group that has been together for at least 6 years.

My garden is starting to look pretty – some of the flowers are huge this year, as you can see from some of the pictures. I think I am winning the battle with the clover in the front garden – try and go out every couple of days and yank some of it out. I think in the fall, we will pull up all the bulbs and then work the soil and get rid of the clover. Then replant the bulbs along with some that didn’t quite make it into the garden last year and hopefully have a stunning garden again next year.

Well, that is about it I think. Thought there was more, but guess not! Hope to see lots of comments from my friends and I will try and reply back to them all.

A dragonfly, shoes and roses

Hello friends

I know it has been a while since I wrote on the blog last, but lots has been going on and as well, I have not had the feeling that the blog was being read or was of any interest to people.

I have met with Dr. Klimo and he put me on the capsitabine (the oral drug) and will be on it two weeks on and two weeks off. I also had my first shot of faslodix which is the anti-hormonal drug that I will be getting once a month – it slows down the production of estrogen – not that I have much left – LOL! And by the way, the needles for this sucker is about 2 inches long and I am not kidding! If you remember, I was on capsitabine through the Cancer Agency, but at a much higher dosage. I am now on for the first three days 1000mg and then after that 2000mg per day. This is in comparison to 4000mg right off the bat with the agency. I have had mild side effects with this drug – mostly the hands burning a bit and drying out. The feet are just fine! Last Friday, I started the Vinorelbine at Lions Gate Hospital – via IV – doesn’t take long to get it into my system – think getting the anti-nausea meds first took longer! Had some issues with the insurance company and the drug pharmacy that provides the drug to the hospital – had three phone calls during my treatment! Was funny in one way, but stressful in other ways.

The side effects from this drug are nasty – far worse than some of the other chemos –but at least for only a short time. Was sick from Friday until Sunday, so I can handle that – not the greatest way to drop pounds but I lost 7 over the weekend. Gives you an idea how bad the side effects were!

Meghan and Madelynn came with me to the hospital. The nurses loved Madelynn and she was such a good baby the entire time we were there. We found out that she loves to play with napkins and shred them into pieces – it was actually quite fun to watch her!

Next week will be busy for me medically! Supposed to see Dr. P on Tuesday, but I think I am going to cancel the appointment and just get my paperwork from the last month – which will show the results of my CT scan which I had last week. I also see my family doctor for my injection, Dr. Klimo on Thursday to see how I am doing and get blood work done and then on Friday have my IV chemo! See, I told you I would be busy!

Ok, now that we have the medical stuff out of the way! Onto the fun stuff. Shannon took me to a place called Club Colour – a place in Langley where you can paint ceramics. They have just about anything you can think of from frogs to horses, monkeys to lizards, travel mugs and regular mugs, cookware, Christmas ornaments, dragons and castles. It is amazing. And so much fun and inexpensive! I can’t say what Shannon was working on as it is not finished and could be a gift for someone or she might keep it for herself! I went small and painted a dragonfly. Now when you paint your ceramics, you have to put on three thick coats of paint, use the blow dryer on the item. It may sound easy, but the small pieces can be a bit of a pain! And when you finish them, they don’t look that great, but once fired, they look wonderful – as you can see by the picture here. Now, I had so much fun the first time that Patrick and I went today and I painted a stoner frog – you will see him in a few weeks and well, can’t say what Patrick painted as his is a gift for someone! It is an inexpensive way to have fun and just be a kid again. I will be going back a whole lot more!

Now, for those of you who live in the Vancouver area, you know about the annual Army & Navy shoe sale. I have never been! That has now changed. Though I didn’t go opening day – that gets a little crazy. But Shannon and I went to the one in Langley the same day we did our painting. And I got the sexiest shoes for the Military Ball Brian and I are going to this Saturday! 3.5” spike heels with some bling on the toe – they look fantastic – and yes, there will be pictures after the ball! And Shannon bought me some cute little mules – orange and black – they are so cute and so comfy.


Been working in the garden a bit – well more Brian than me, but I will get there. I have been using the weed puller getting rid of the dang dandelions. Brian got his veggie garden going and I got the seeds planted and some of them are starting to sprout. The roses in front of the house are starting to bloom – yes, I said roses!

Getting ready for the Relay for Life. My personal goal is $2,000 and I am just $76 shy of it. The team goal of $10,000 – well, at this point in time, we are a long way off – about $7,000. Hopefully, once we get some more team members, we will raise our goal – I want our team, the Country Dancing Boobies to be in the top 20 teams this year. Have also been busy with the steering committee, my partner Mary and I are getting things ready for the Survivor Tent – not must breakfast, but some fun activities which I think all survivors will enjoy. I know she and I will enjoy them! Also, my friend Rae came over along with Patrick’s girlfriend Lisa, and we cut out about 100 daffodils which will be used at the Relay. We will have to get together again and finish off the last 100 and make some other items which we will sell at the Relay and maybe beforehand.

This Saturday, is the 65th Garrison Military Ball and is being held at the Hotel Vancouver. I love going to this ball – it is very formal and elegant. Men in their dress reds and blues or tuxes and ladies in full length ball gowns. It looks amazing. This year is very special. It is the 100th Anniversary of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Navy, the 65th Anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands and the 65th Anniversary of VE Day. So a lot of pomp and pageantry. The Lt Gov of British Columbia will be there as well as the Dutch Ambassador and his wife from the Netherlands. Lots of military bands will be there. The band that is always there is the 15th Field Regimental Band along with the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders, the British Columbia Regiment Pipe Band and hopefully the Naden Band from CFB Esquimalt. There will be lots of pictures for you all to see in my next blog.

Almost forgot - bad me - but we also went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago - the first of 4 this year. Cam and Kyara got married on the 25th. Cam is Corey's twin. Kyara looked so beautiful and Cam cleaned up very nicely! And Ryan was the cutest little ring bearer, even if he did steal the show at some points! We had a great time and wish the newlyweds a liftime of love and happiness.

Well, that is about it – I am done and time for me to head to bed. Ok, after I attach some pictures here and then bed! Hope to hear from more friends on the blog –I do love to hear from you and it means a great deal to me!
Hugz and love
Roni