First... a shout out to all my Canadian friends and family -- HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I hope you all have a wonderful "gobble gobble" weekend, full of feasts, family and friends :) :) Me, I'm going to have a low-key weekend because it is a chemo weekend. I got my Thanksgiving dose of chemo on Friday and so far (knock on wood) all is going really well!! My new anti-nausea meds seem to be doing the trick... I have had absolutely no signs of nausea. I'm being careful and not waiting for the nausea to show up before I take the meds... I figure, for the first 4 days, if I take one pill every six hours during the day, then we will keep that up since it seems to be working :) :) What I have noticed (and this is to be expected and totally normal), I get a bag of gravol in my IV before they hook up the bag of chemo. So I have this IV gravol PLUS my anti-nausea pills PLUS the chemo... so guess who is very tired the first day or three?? But hey... I much prefer being tired and just taking it easy for about 3 days than to have the chronic nausea feeling for 5 or so days :) :)
Soooooo, Saturday, I spent the day lazying around. I really didn't do anything that I can say accomplished a lot. I did put a couple of announcements up on the theatre's website and hopefully today (Sunday) I am going to get myself organized for the coming week. I have lots of little computer jobs that need to be done. None of them are serious, big time consumers, but there are a bunch of them that I just need to put my nose to the grind and do them. I also have a few schedules that need some adjusting, so would like to work on them and get them out to the people that are affected by them. Once I have those done, I will feel like I've been productive :D
Meanwhile, this morning, my friend Michel LaFleche stopped by for a quick visit. We both are soooooo excited!!!
As of Dec 1, he is going to move into an apartment that is 10 steps up from my apartment, in the same building! We are going to be neighbours in the true sense of the word in that he literally will be living next door to me :) Michel and I have been friends for eons... but for the past 20+ years or so, he has been living in Toronto and Stratford, Ontario. And it's really only recently that we reconnected on Facebook... so now he's moved home, was looking for an apartment that was pet friendly (he has an adorable little terrier named Cody) and lo and behold we are going to be in the same building. I love it when things all fall into place like this!! :D
Meanwhile, speaking of reconnecting with people on Facebook... another reconnection of old friends!! My friend, Peggy... we also have been friends for years. She lives locally, although not in the city... I want to say Langley, but she will correct me because she's on the other side of the river from Langley and my mind has gone blank as to where it is she lives. Anywho... Peggy and I actually met each other a kajillion years ago in Hawaii. For YEARS we would only meet in Hawaii and we'd have the time of our lives. Two crazy chicks does not even begin to describe us
Again... due to all sorts of things, Peggy and I had lost touch. And we don't go to Hawaii anymore because I can't fly and have to stick close to home because of my chemo treatments. But Peggy recently joined Facebook and she found me there! So of course we reconnected and have been talking non-stop since. The other night, we met for dinner and to catch up in person. Can you tell the two of us were having a good time???
Yep... crazy whacky chicks in their own little world! Peggy had her iPad2 with her, hence the pictures... but we were laughing so much, they aren't totally in focus and something about the artificial light at Boston Pizza... I have no idea why but we both came out very orange with the background being very orange as well... alas, I removed the colour because they definitely look better in black and white than in orange
I know I have more to babble about, but it is now 1am... so I'm thinking I'll just save this entry but not publish it yet. I'll finish it in the morning then will publish it for all of your weekend reading enjoyment LOL!!
tick tock... tick tock... tick tock... tick tock... tick tock... (sleeping while the clock is ticking away)
Ahhhhh... morning, people! Ok, more like "'Afternoon, people!" :D It's now officially Sunday... and between the dark gray clouds, the sun keeps poking her head out. I have a funny feeling the clouds are going to win in the end, but for now, Sunday definitely is having some sunny moments :D And I'm feeling good enough that I'm going to actually go out this afternoon. Pretty neat to be able to do this only the second day after chemo :)
Meanwhile, sleeping beauty is taking advantage of the sun on the bed. Can you find the dog on the bed??
Wait! I think I see a back leg and thigh :) She certainly does love her sleep!! ;)
Well, there certainly is a amazing selection of musicals going on in the city right now! And all of them are worth seeing!! There's "A Light at the Piazza" which is a gorgeous show with a gorgeous musical score. It has never been done in Vancouver before and Patrick Street Productions has done a fabulous job with it!! I believe it only has one more week left in it's run and you really should try to get to see this show if you haven't already! At the Arts Club Stanley Theatre, there's the musical "Next to Normal", which opens their season. Again, a very well done show and they handle the topic of mental illness with sensitivity and awareness. This isn't your typical laugh and sing the songs in your head along with the cast kind of musical. It is actually quite intense, but intense in a good way. For lighter fare, there's Fighting Chance Productions' "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum", which is one heck of an entertaining evening at the theatre. This show is being run down at the Jericho Arts Centre. Then, last but not least, there's "Ride the Cyclone", a wacky crazy FUN new Canadian Musical from a group in Victoria who are set now to tour the show in various cities across Canada on their way to Chicago and then perhaps to "Off Broadway" in NYC. What a fabulous cast and fabulous musical that is! Imagine that, 4 musicals going on at the same time... never a dull moment in Vancouver!!
Then we have our show at Metro. Right now it is a murder/thriller - "Making a Killing" by John Nassivera. This show opened last weekend and will be running until October 29th, to be followed by the comedy, "My Three Angels" which will be running the month of November. So I'm doing publicity for all the season shows at Metro which, let me tell you, it keeps me hopping non-stop!! :D
Hahaha... now usually, part of my non-theatre day is spent going over recipes and deciding what sorts of things I'd like to try out. Of course, with this chemo, most all day I don't have an appetites so to make anything fancy or time consuming is kind of out of the picture because I won't be able to enjoy it. Hence, I look for casual recipes. Here is a pot of clam chowder I whipped up the other day. The problem with making chowder is, by the time you've added everything, it makes for a rather large pot! Luckily, I've been in the mood for soup because it seemed to last forever!! LOL!
Nom, nom, nom!!Wow...it's now 1pm on Sunday.... a mere 12 hours ago I was saying it was 1am!! LOL! Where DOES the time go? I guess I better get off the computer, have a shower, get dressed and by then hopefully I'll know where I'm going. I think I need to get out to pick up some milk and maybe some veggies. Hahaha... I KNOW the rains are on the way so it's a matter of getting out and getting some errands run before they hit. I hate going out anywhere in the rain. Of course, when they are here for days on end you just have to grin and bear it... but I'd just as soon stay home when it's monsooning out :D
I'm so hoping that this feeling good after chemo is now a sign of what it's going to be like. Like I say, I can handle the fatigue... that's what having a comfy bedroom is all about. It's the nausea, split fingers around the nail beds, and itchy rash that I hate... but one hurdle at a time! Looks like we MAY have the nausea mastered :D
Ok... that's it for now.... next blog remind me to talk about my newly married oncologist who is taking a year off to go to China with her new hubby. I'm not sure what he does, but I'm assuming he's in the same line of work (or something similar) and he has taken a position in China for a year... so of course she is joining him. I do not deal well with change and I am a little nervous since I totally trust her and what our plans are. But supposedly I will be getting an oncologist while she's gone and he is a favourite with the staff and patients alike. We shall see... and I have to find out if, when she gets back, she will be my oncologist again. One step at a time!! :)
Ciao for now!
Cheryl
1 comment:
I'll have a bowl of your clam chowder, it looks so yummy.
Hugs,
Maryann
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