Saturday, March 14th, 2009 - It's RAINING outside!

Hiya Bloggy!

Long time no write in! :) It's going on 1am at the moment and it's absolutely pouring outside. I mention this only because the rain is coming down so hard I can hear it pounding on the pavement even with the TV on. This heavy rain is a little different for us since, for the past week or so we've had COLD temps outside but clear days and nights. But sometime late this afternoon the clouds rolled in and voila! Tonight, it is pouring out :)

Hehehe... well, a few of you have mentioned that there hasn't been a blog entry for awhile (oops, my bad) so I figure I just better sit here and do one because no matter how good the intentions, it seems that days and weeks go by before I actually get around to it.

There's not too much new to report in my life. No major complaints... just the ongoing ones that I've had for awhile. My feet and my legs both continue to be my only real problems. Unfortunately, to do all the things that I would like to do, requires me having use of both my legs and feet... go figure, eh??

Oh, I think I mentioned awhile back that we have Mr. Coyote who has made the area in Stanley Park that surrounds the TUTS office (and the theatre) his territory. This coyote is a wild coyote (well, one doesn't usually have tame coyotes in the wilderness) but he has no fear. He is also a well-fed coyote, so you know his winter he has obviously had no problem with squirrels, rodents and rabbits. According to the information on coyotes in the park, they even eat bugs!! Well, Mr. Coyote has made his presence known on more than one occasion, which is why I have to be very careful when taking Bridget from the car to the TUTS office... always on the lookout for Mr. Coyote. He has gotten two small dogs this winter that the Parks Board is aware of.

Last week, in the morning, he was out by the TUTS office again. One of the fellows from the Ecological Society who has their office upstairs from the TUTS office was coming to work and had his camera when he got to the office... and there was Mr. Coyote. Is he not a good looking animal??



If it wasn't that he is partial to small dogs for lunch, I would really like this animal... but I know he and I would disagree big time if he took a liking to Bridget ;) As it was... some weeks back he obviously smelled the scent of Bridget having walked down the walkway and into the office because he came to our office window and was staring inside. Bridget, meanwhile, was totally oblivious to the danger outside the office window and was sound asleep in her little pink basket on her chair ;)



Ok, the picture is a little dark but you can see where Miss B. is perfectly content to sleep in her little Box Office bed when Mom volunteers down at the office in the Park.

Speaking of the TUTS office... it was only last week that Vancouver got snow again!! In the West End, where I live, we only got a dusting... but other parts of Vancouver got a good couple of inches. Hello?? This is March people!! We are now on Daylight Savings time for heaven's sake!

So here are two pictures to compare... the TUTS office in the winter:



and the TUTS office in the summer:



Hahaha... they don't look like the same place, do they??

Ok... and here's a picture where I was trying to get a little artsy... the combination of Spring (crocuses) and Winter (snow)...



Ok... and I did have the help of this nifty little program where I can turn a digital photo into B&W and then add just a bit of the original colour back into the picture.

Oooooh... and I know something new since the last blog entry! I decided to bite the bullet and I got my hair all cut off... so now I'm sporting a sassy little short do...



In the morning... ok, around noon, today, I am actually going back to see Brent who cut and highlighted my hair and have him trim a little more at the back, just behind the ears. It's amazing how, the highlights are the same that I've gotten all along, even when my hair was long... but now that it's short, it appears to be so much lighter!

So, that's about it for current news. I've, once again, got to go to see my GP regarding getting some insurance forms filled out and getting copies of all my progress reports, lung ablation reports, cat scans, etc. to submit for the Long Term Disability Insurance. You know, the wording on these forms is still one of my biggest pet peeves! I remember when I first had to get these forms filled out, I was so upset because I was in the hospital with the fight of a lifetime and here I had to get these forms filled out proving that I was legitimately off work. It really did a number on my psyche... because I had the feeling the insurance people didn't think I was sick enough to be off... and it's just because of the way the forms are worded. So the gal who is my insurance claims person apologized and said that the forms were written by the legal department and had to use that lingo... well, here we are, 2 years later and the wording still upsets me and makes me anxious. It's like I feel I have to prove that my having Stage IV cancer is worthy of being off work. Especially now that we are coming up to the 2 year anniversary of being on Long Term Disability, they word it as "We are now beginning an extensive review of your claim to determine whether benefits will be payable beyond May 12, 2009". I had only, last week, talked to Linda, the gal in charge of my claims and she was so friendly and helpful... and then these forms come in. It makes one wonder if the friendliness is just put on trying to trap me into saying something... or if they really are all ok, it's just the way the forms are written... and why CAN'T they write them with words that aren't quite so accusatory??

Oh well, I will take these forms to my GP, get copies of the reports, send them in and hopefully that will be that for another year.

Meanwhile... next appts. come up at the end of March. I have a CAT scan and followup appt with Dr. Halkier (the radiologist who did the lung ablation at Royal Columbian Hospital) on March 27th. I'm not looking forward to that appt., although it's just a followup appt to make sure the lung is doing what it's suppose to. I just didn't care for his attitude which was doom and gloom ... but after that scan and followup appt., my friend Nancie who lives out by the hospital and I are going to have a dinner/movie night :) On the same day that I get the CAT scan at Royal Columbian and see Dr. Halkier, I'm also suppose to be getting a blood test to measure my CEA levels. Those results will get sent to Dr. Sharlene Gill, my oncologist at the BC Cancer Agency... and I have an appt. with her on Apr 3. So we keep our fingers crossed that the spots in the lungs have not grown significantly... and the CEA levels are low. If that's the case, then we can hold off going back on chemo :)

Ok... it is now after 1am, so time for me to crawl into bed!

Ciao for now!! Happy Spring Break, everyone!!

Hugggggs,

Cheryl