Saturday, April 16th, 2011 Just another Saturday :)

Helllllooooo Bloggies!

Hmm... well there hasn't been much to report over the last 2 weeks or so, and when that happens, I guess I get kind of lazy on the Blogging chores. The thing is, I'm sure there IS stuff to report, but unless it is some spectacular event, the mind just doesn't click in to think it's worthy of reporting.

Hehehe... ok, so I'm trying to ignore the elephant in the closet which is our Federal Election that is looming on the horizon. Since so many of you see what I post on Facebook, I'm not about to drag you all through Cheryl's political views and how we need to bring in a new government party :) I am doing my bit to hopefully convince the younger folk (19-30 year olds) why it is so important that they get out there and vote, especially in this current federal election. When I was that age, I seriously didn't understand our Canadian politics and to tell you the truth, couldn't care less about them. Part of that was just the times and part of it was just being young and not that affected by stuff. So, it wouldn't surprise me at all if that's not how a lot of young people feel these days and have probably asked themselves why bother going out to vote when it's always he same old, same old stuff repeating itself. I don't blame them for thinking that way... except it IS important to get out and vote, otherwise we WILL be having to repeat the same old, same old, over and over again. And that is NOT a pretty or safe sight!!

Anywho... moving on. This week is a chemo week. I had my chemo infusion on Tuesday and although Tue, Wed and part of Thurs were "ok", it still is kind of yucky. By yucky, I mean no to low energy and that is very hard for me since I'm used to being able to do stuff. Even if it's stay at home and do stuff, I like to be on the ball and getting things accomplished. But when I have these low energy days, things like getting computer stuff done, or doing some basic chores around the apartment just don't get done. The other stuff like getting laundry done, which means up and down 2 flights of stairs... well, suffice it to say the laundry is piling up and then when I get my energy back, I end up spending hours (or a couple of hours over the course of a few days, just doing laundry.

This week, yesterday (Friday) was the worst day so far. I did get out and about yesterday while the sun was out. I treated myself to a late breakfast at De Dutch, my favourite breakfast restaurant. Then it was off to Fingertips and I got a LONG overdue pedi and eyebrow shaping done. Oh, that felt sooooo good to get that done!!! Seriously, a girl can NOT let a pedi go that long otherwise one's feet just look a total disaster area.... and when you have damaged feet (neuropathy and nerve damage) anyways, well suffice it to say, it's imperative that one keep their feet in good shape. After the pedi, I did stop at Safeway and pick up a few things... and then headed home.

I was not home for more than an hour and all of a sudden a wave of nausea struck! I'm not sure how to describe chemo nausea... in some ways it's similar to when you get a stomach flu, but on the other hand, it is very different in that you may not necessarily get sick to your stomach but have these waves of nausea similar to food poisoning. Make it a combination of food poisoning and stomach flu and you might be close to it. It is NOT pleasant!! The longer those symptoms last, the weaker you feel so even taking Bridget out to the back lane to do her pee is pretty much a tough thing to do. Obviously, if I had to do it, I would... no doubt about it... but I am so lucky to have Toby living across the hall from us and she is a life saver. She is Bridget's "walker" as walking Bridget is not something I can physically do anymore. I keep hoping that when the weather warms up, I'll be able to take her out for short walks, but even that I have to wonder if it's going to be doable. If it's not the walking that is a challenge, it's the lack of physical energy when I am outside because of the chemo/side affect drugs. To tell you the truth, I really and truly don't know what is the cause of all this... is the lack of energy because of the chemo? Or because of the drugs I'm on to prevent the nasty side affects? Or the damage to the nerves/muscles that the combination of chemo/drugs causes? I don't think anyone has the answers since everyone who has to go through chemo reacts differently.

Now the blood work I had done on Monday before the chemo, all blood tests showed fine, that my cells are regenerating so that I could do the round of chemo on Tuesday. So that is a good thing... that my immune system and cell regeneration is still healthy. What I'm not too pleased about (although I suppose it could be worse) is my CEA reading. As I reported in the last couple of blog entries.... it had gone as high as 25.0, then had a nice drop to 15.0, then two weeks later to 13.0. This week it is holding steady at 14.0. The good news, it's holding steady ... but I'm not happy that it's not going down. What does this mean? It's anyone's guess at this point. It could just be it's holding and it will drop in the next reading. Or, it could mean that it's about to start rising. This is that roller coaster right a cancer patient is always on... waiting for the good news and then worrying when the news is not what we want to see.

I have a CAT scan scheduled for May 13th. This is standard procedure, to have a CAT scan after 3 months of chemo. It will be this scan that can tell us that the chemo has been working and whether the tumours in the lungs are shrinking. Soooo, don't be surprised if I'm getting antsy as we get closer to the CAT scan and then it will probably be about a week after the scan before I get the results. Scans are one of the most anxiety ridden procedures for someone with cancer because the either give good news or bad news. Rarely is there anything inbetween because the chemo is either working or it isn't.

But hey... tomorrow is a new day! I'm going to meet a friend for coffee... either get out and meet him in the 'hood, or here if need be. We have a potential project we might be working on together (which I can't mention till all the i's and t's are dotted and crossed) so we need to touch base to see where we are at with it. My participation will be in PR and promoting it online, etc. So this is something I can do from the comfort of home... yet still be involved :) Hahaha... it's not as if I don't have a couple of computer projects on the go! There's the Metro website, the new season which has to be adjusted and then update everywhere on the website, doing the publicity for the last two shows of this season and coming up will be the June 1 eNewsletter. All of these things are projects I can and do do from home... so being organized is something I need to do. Right now, I'm looking around at my desk and I'd say there's a big need for me to tidy up, get new file folders and start organizing the new season/year/summer :D

Ok, if I was really kewl, I'd now insert some photos just to break up the monotony of all this text, but alas... if I wait to do that, it may be days before I post this!! Soooo, I'm going to post this blog entry, then, over the next couple of days I'm sure I'll be feeling a bit more perkier and I can start taking some photos and fun bits :)

Ciao for now!!

Cheryl