Thursday, May 10th, 2007 -- Kimberley, RIP - May 10, 2005

Hi Bloggy,

Well, there's so much to catch up on, I just know I'm going to leave something out. So for those of you reading, go grab yourself a coffee or beverage of choice because this is going to be a LONG entry!! Consider yourself warned!

I have to start this entry off with a tribute to our friend, Kimberley Regent. It was two years tonight, that dear Kimberley passed from this earth and touched so many of us in so many ways. Even now, two years later, the Kim Care Team is still going through many emotional highs and lows when we think back to how her death affected us individually and as a group.

In this picture, we got Kimberley all dressed up so that she could attend the Smallville wrap party for that season. Kimberly was the props mistress for that series, although, at this point she could no longer work. This picture was taken in her room at the Cancer Agency and so yes, I can honestly say that two year later, on the anniversary of her death, I would never in a million years have guessed that I would be in the same building, hooked up to an IV getting rehydrated! It definitely gave me lots of food for thought today and Kim, if you are up there checking up on us... know that you are never far from any of our thoughts!!

Ok, so you all might be wondering what the heck I'm talking about being hooked up to an IV today getting "rehydrated". Well, as you recall from my Sunday's blog entry, I told Bloggy that the reason I hadn't been making blog entries was not because I was sickly, but because I was being a social butterfly. Famous last words! Hahaha! On Monday, I came down with some bug or reaction where the nausea took over big time. Nausea, intestinal cramps, fatigue, you name it, I had it!! I thought it was probably a delayed reaction to the chemo from last week, but then it went on all day Tuesday and Wednesday too. So I knew it wasn't that. Maybe I had overdone it on the weekend and took on too many social activities... but why would I be soooo sick??

I saw Dr. Sharlene Gill (oncologist) today and she was pretty sure it wasn't the chemo... if I was going to react, that would have been the Thurs/Fri of last week. She feels I may have eaten something that was off or been exposed to a flu bug, in which case my immune system may have had a problem fighting off either. But, no matter what it was, I had become quite dehydrated. So she set me up with the Medical Day Care up on the 6th floor for 3pm to get rehydrated. This meant getting hooked up with an IV through my portacath and having 2 litres of saline solution put back into my system. She also ordered a small bag of Ondansetron (anti-nausea med) to be put through the IV. This took four hours... but I was back to my old self once I was rehydrated!

Now, for someone who does not have Extended Health Coverage, I have no idea how they handle the finances of these drugs. For instance, any drugs that they give me at the Cancer Agency, the Cancer Agency covers the cost, which is great because these drugs are NOT cheap. Any prescriptions they give me that I get filled at a pharmacy, I pay for depending on my drug coverage, and that is what everyone does. Your mileage may vary depending on your coverage.

So, we figured out that the anti-nause pill that Dr. Gill had prescribed for me just wasn't doing the trick. Who knows how sick I would be if I didn't take it, but suffice it to say, it didn't do much good with this bout of nausea I got big time this week. So, she says that she will give me the pill form of Ondansetron which will stop the nausea in its tracks. This is the same pill I take half an hour before each chemo session and I have not gotten sick with those strong chemo drugs.

But the catch is the cost. For 20 pills (which she prescribed for me today), the total cost if I had no drug coverage (extended health coverage) would be $239.64 which is about $12/pill. That is not the most expensive pill I take, so can you imagine?? But, because I do have the Extended Health coverage, I paid $1.00 for all 20 pills.

Ok... enough about that!! The good news is I'm rehydrated and feeling back to my old self. Onwards we go! I start Radiation on Monday and Dr. Gill is going to hold off starting me on the oral Chemo pills until we see that this nausea is gone and the Radiation doesn't bring it back. I see her next Thurs in the morning and if I'm still feeling good, then we start the oral chemo then.

Ok... let's talk about FUN stuff!! On Friday, my crazy co-worker, Dave Jenkins, had taken it upon himself that he was going to shave his head in support of me and my journey, and at the same time see if he can raise some funds for the BC Cancer Society. He had a goal of raising $100... and lo and behold if all the wonderful people at work (both the Vancouver IMB office and the Victoria IMB office) and some of you wonderful non-work related friends who wanted to pitch in... didn't end up coming up with $800 for Dave to send to the BC Cancer Society!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! And Dave, you hold a special place in my heart... but if you stick around in it for too long, I'm going to have to start charging rent (GRIN).

Hahaha... am I having fun or what??? Yes, Dave gave ME the honours of shearing his locks!! Oh, the power, the thrill!!! He was a brave, brave man... but I didn't draw blood even once!! (grin)

And here is the end result!!! Dave now has no hair!! I still have at least half of my hair. And most important... he is still talking to me after the Dave Shave Job!!! Hahahahaha!!

There are oodles more pictures and if you want to see them, just click on
this link to get to the official Dave Jenkins - Shave Dave page.

And, if you want to check out the BC Cancer notification I got in email this morning letting me know about this wonderful gesture everyone did, check out
THIS link which will take you to the BC Cancer Society notification.

My friend, Kathy flew in from California. She was coming to Vancouver for the weekend for her son's wedding ceremony to his partner of 7 years. So once she got into town and settled at the Best Western Sands by the Sea hotel around the corner from my place, we got together and went to The Keg on Granville Island for dinner. Had a wonderful dinner and managed to get caught up in person... although could have chatted for many more hours!

On Saturday, we had our Girls Plus Two Boys lunch! What fun!!! I have been trying to get this group of gals together forever but someone is always out of town! It doesn't help that one lives a good part of the year in LA as an actress so lives where the work is. She has been in movies, series, etc. Another is a fabulous singer and headlines on the Princess Cruise lines. So trying to get these two gals in town at the same time is a miracle in itself and it happened this Saturday

Here are the two gals, Lynda and Lelani, who we are going to have to nail down if we want to get them in town at the same time so we can do this again!! We had so much fun reminiscing over the years and realizing that we have all known each other for 25+ years!

Here I am with dear Lynda!! I am so glad that she is getting lots of work in LA, but darn it, it would be nice to know she was closer to home and we could get together more often. Hmmmm... then again, there's lots of good shopping in LA. Lynda, I may have to come and crash at your LA digs, catch some sun, some smog and do the rounds of shopping :)

Here I am with Nancy. Nancy and I co-hosted the lunch, but she was a doll and had offered her condo for the get-together. THANK YOU, NANCY!!!

Here I am with John Payne and Lelani. Hmmmm... do you see a pattern here?? I seem to be getting in every picture... and have you all noticed my gorgeous, straight hair?? Yes, Greg the Hair Wizard came over to my place in the morning to do my hair so I could show it off at the Lunch.

I love this picture!! It's Lynda, Jo and Lelani taking the Charlie's Angels pose! Sometimes we are all crackers, but we all hav the same sense of humour so it's not hard for us to crack each other up :)

Jill and Greg, deep in conversation. Yes, that is Greg, the Hair Wizard! Since Greg had spent years living in New York City and San Diego, he and Jill hadn't seen each other for years, so there was lots to catch up on!

There were more pictures but you get the drift... fun was had by all as we tried to cram a lot of news over the years in one afternoon :) And yes we WILL do this again!!

Now, on Sunday, I had the honour of attending Kathy's son, Brian's wedding ceremony to his partner of seven years, Ed. It was a lovely service and there were approx. 18 friends and relatives who showed up from all over the States... mostly from the Eastern States. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone and was only disappointed in the fact our weather last weekend was probably one of the wettest, grayest, foggiest, drizzle that we've had in ages. Everyone assured me that they were having a good time and the weather didn't bother them, but I would love them to have seen Vancouver in the sun... like this last couple of days!

There were more pictures but I don't want to take the limelight away from Brian, Ed or Kathy... once they show pictures then I'd feel better about posting them. Hehehe.. I do not want to be the thunder stealer!!! (grin).

Ok, I just noticed the time and it's almost 1am, so time to go get some beauty rest. Tomorrow is a retirement lunch for my manager, Kerry Winkler, and I have every intention of attending it. Hey, one only really retires once!! And to think Kerry is going to retire BEFORE I get back to work. I have to have words with him :)

So, I hope I haven't forgotten anything, but sleep is calling me!!

Nitey Nite!

Cheryl

Sunday, May 6, 2007 -- Lots to catch up on!

Heya Bloggy!

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't put a blog entry up since May 1st! Yikes!! Where has the time gone? Sorry if anyone got worried... no, it has nothing to do with me maybe not feeling well or having any problems. It all has to do with me being a total Social Butterfly and don't have the time to be sick or tired or fatigued (grin).

Anywho... I did want to put in a quick little note here to let folk know that I'm fine and thanks for checking on me! And to all my cyber-moms out there, I know, I know!! I've had a few too many late nights this week and that is not part of the Chemo Week One's plans. I will try to do better... it just so happened that this week was chock-a-block full of plans. What I have done is scheduled Tuesday for a quiet day and night... the whole day. I may not even answer the phone all day (grin).

I have lots of pictures to upload to the bloggy too. Just as a preview of what I am going to yak about and upload pictures of ---

Thurs - no pictures, but had a wonderful evening spent having dinner with friends, Joan, Deb and little Sophia. Just us gals having a girls' evening and pasta!! (forgot to take any pictures of this)

Fri - it was the great "Dave Shave" where my co-worker, bless his heart, decided to do some fundraising for support of the Cancer Society and in support of me and my little journey. He has raised over $700 and it's still not too late to send in donations! If you are interested, let me know and I'll give you the info! Pictures to be set up soon!

Then, Friday afternoon, my friend Kathy from California flew in and the two of us went to The Keg on Granville Island for dinner.

Saturday - Greg, my Hair Wizard came over in the morning to flatiron my hair because this was the day of the Girls' Lunch that we were having at Nancy H's house in Marpole. Ok, it was a GIRLS' Lunch, but we had to have our two token boys... ok, 4 token boys since Nancy's wonderful sons were home. So, besides us gal pals, we had Greg, John, JJ and Brett. Fabulous time and I'll be putting up pictures soon.

Sunday - Kathy's son and his partner had a BC wedding ceremony, then a brunch/reception at The Bayside Room. Some of us gals then went shopping at Park Royal. I'm now resting, before meeting them all at Milestones for dinner.

Monday - I will be driving Bridget out to Dad's in the morning, so he can doggy-sit while I go to the Cancer Agency in Surrey. I have to get an abdominal scan done on some kind of machine that they have at the agency in Surrey, but the Vancouver agency doesn't have. This is the pre-radiation scan that they will be using as a baseline to compare the other post-radiation scans to. After I get that done, then I'll go back to Dad's and have a visit with him and Pat. It's Jerry's birthday on Monday (Happy Birthday, Jerry!!) but I don't think he will be home when I'm there.

TUESDAY will be a definite day of rest... and hopefully, that will be when I can catch up with the blog :D

Sooooooo... all is well! I do still have the major sensitivity to cold because of the Monday chemo. But this is now Day 6, so I'm thinking by Tues or Wed it should hopefully be gone... and hopefully I won't have to deal with it while doing the radiation :)

Ciao for now!

Cheryl

Monday, April 30th, 2007 - Chemo Session #4

Hiya Bloggy!

Me again.... same date typing entries, but different day that I'm writing about. Right now, I'm writing about Monday's adventures :) If you are reading this right now and haven't read Sunday's entry, you might want to go back and read that. Sunday was the day of the afternoon party in Paradise Valley and I've included lots of pictures. Monday's entry doesn't have any pictures :D

Naaa... today was Chemo day! As well, since I forgot to get my blood work done on Friday, I had to get up early so I could get Bridget out for her morning walkie and then get me to the Cancer Agency Lab and beg them to do my blood work so we wouldn't have to reschedule the afternoon chemo appt. They can't go ahead with the chemo treatment if they don't have the latest blood work results because the results from those tests will determine whether my immune system can handle the next chemo treatment, or whether they would have to postpone it to let the white blood cells regenerate.

Sooooo... off I went to the Cancer Clinic and lo and behold, they were soooo nice! Not only did they say of course they could do my blood work (I knew they would, I just figured I might be there all morning waiting to be squeezed in without an appt.) but they took me in right away. I didn't even get a chance to sit in the waiting room!

The blood work took all of 5 minutes from the minute I got there until I was finished! So then I went to the 4th floor to my oncologist's office because I had forgotten to tell her when I saw her last week that I was running low on my Oxycodone pills. She wasn't in because she also works at the University of BC, so her secretary said that she would get a hold of her and then call the prescription in to my drugstore...and she would call me once she had done this so I would know when it would be ready for me to pick up.

I then went in search of a "Touchless" car wash. Hahahaha... after yesterday's adventure on the dirt roads up at Paradise Valley, my Saturn Vue was FILTHY!! So I just couldn't stand looking at it in the carport looking so dirty, so I now had time to get it washed before I had to be back for the chemo appt. in the afternoon. Oh joy... it was great to get it clean again!!

Now I had time to go out for breakfast! Is this not a pampering kind of day or what??? I went to the Dutch Pannoekoek House... my favourite breakfast restaurant! There are a few of them throughout Vancouver, so I went to the one at Oak and 16th.

By this time, Steve O. had called to hunt me down. hahahaha... poor boy was hung over! He had been out the night before with friends, and went to a couple of pubs while the Hockey Game was on... then they just carried on. So I told him that if he was feeling rough, not to worry. I was out and about and could get myself back to the Cancer Agency for the chemo appt... and I had my book with me so could amuse myself during the four hours I had to be there for the chemo. Nope... Steve wouldn't hear of this... he was going to come with me whether he was hung over or not. Although he knew I could get myself to the clinic, no one knows whether one time, I could be hit with symptoms/side affects after the chemo and wouldn't be able to drive myself back. Besides... both he and Jo figure that I shouldn't have to go through the chemo on my own. Also, there are a lot of others of you friends out there who have all volunteered to drive and sit with me, so I am surrounded by you wonderful folk! Of course, Steve won out, so after I finished my late breakfast, I headed over to his condo. From there, we went to the appt.

Hahahaha... I DROVE!! And we took my car since I had it there and he said that if I did have a problem and couldn't drive home, then he would just have to learn how to drive Standard in my car on our way home (grin).

When we got there, our nurse today was Anna. She was delightful! And I think she was very intrigued by us because once she had me hooked up, we brought out our Blokus game (the strategy game with tiles and a board). She as very interested in the game and how it worked... but was cracking up at Steve and my banter back and forth. I kept reminding him that he had to let me win, after all, I was getting chemo because of my cancer, don't you know. He would say, forget it... he was suffering a lot more than I was because he was hung over. At one point, when I had to go to the bathroom, nurse Anna said that it was so nice of Steve to come and support me during the session and drive me to/from the session while he was hung over. Now that was a sign of a true friend. Hahahaha... Steve said, "Are you kidding?? I made HER drive and she will have to drive home. I'm here to play blokus and by the time we leave the hangover should be gone." Well, nurse Anna just cracked up over that!

Oooooh and here's the good news! I asked nurse Anna if she had access to the blood work that I had done a couple of hours earlier and she said yes... and that she would print me off a copy. So, here are the results -- the first numbers are my results, the numbers in brackets are what are considered a normal, healthy reading:

CBC & Differential

WBC Count (white blood cell count) 8.7 (4.0 - 11.0)
RBC Count (red blood cell count) 4.84 (3.80 - 5.20)
Hemoglobin 123 (115 - 155)
Hematocrit 0.378 (0.35 - 0.45)
MCV *78.1 (82 - 98)
RDW *18.3 (11.0 - 15.0)
Platelet Count 176 (150 - 400)
Neutrophils 5.3 (2.0 - 8.0)
Lymophocytes 2.4 (1.2 - 3.5)
Eosinophils 0.3 (0.0 - 0.2)
Alkaline Phosphatase 83 (50 - 160)
AST 15 (10 - 38)

Creatinine
Creatinine 60 (40 - 95)
Estimated GFR 91
(Glomerular filtrtion rate extimated from serum creatinine: subject to diet, drugs, and clinical state. Values less than 60 indicate reduced kidney function.)

Bilirubin, Total 6 (0 - 18)

So, there you have it... overall a wonderful set of results considering this was going into the 4th Chemo session. The only two that were under or over the norms was the MCV and RDW results. MCV is:

Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) - This helps diagnose a cause of an anemia. Low values suggest iron deficiency, high values suggest either deficiencies of B12 or Folate, ineffective production in the bone marrow, or recent blood loss with replacement by newer (and larger) cells from the bone marrow.

So, I figure if maybe I up some of my leafy green veggies and get a bit more iron in me, this would bring this up to normal status.

RDW is:

The red blood cell distribution width, or RDW, is a measure of the variation of red blood cell volume that is reported as part of a standard complete blood count. Usually red blood cells are a standard size. Certain disorders, however, cause a significant variation in cell size. Higher RDW values indicate greater variation in size. Normal range in human red blood cells is 11 - 15%. If anemia is observed, RDW test results are often used together with MCV results to figure out what the cause of the anemia might be. It is mainly used to differentiate between iron deficiency anemia, in which RDW is elevated, and other microcytic anemias. It may denote hereditary spherocytosis. An elevated RDW, i.e. red blood cells of unequal sizes, is known as anisocytosis.

Mathematically the RDW is calculated with the following formula:

RDW = (Standard deviation of red cell volume ÷ mean cell volume) × 100

My RDW is slightly elevated at 18%... but not high enough to indicate anemia, so I don't think this one is too much of a concern. At least, the doctors don't think so. They think my blood work is as close to perfect as it can possibly be and who would have even been able to tell that I am getting two very aggressive chemo drugs pumped into me.

So, I beez very pleased with the above :)

There you have it... I am now almost caught up in the blogster! Well, I do have to record my today's (Tuesday) blog, but I'm getting a little tired right now, so I will catch that up tomorrow (chuckle).

Ciao for now!

Cheryl

Sunday, April 29th - Paradise Valley

Hiya Bloggy!

Ok... I know this is a Sunday entry, but I'm actually writing it on Tuesday, May 1st. Go figure, eh?? So little time, so much happening. But, while watching American Idol and the results for Dancing With the Stars, I plan on catching up with the blog. Mind you, I am watching American Idol right now from 8-9pm, then I have to switch over to watching Dancing with the Stars on the bedroom tv because I will be taping House which is on at the same time as DWTHS :) hahahaha... now why I'm mentioning this on the Sunday blog, when the shows I'm talking about are on Tuesday night... it's all part of my multi-tasking kind of life :D

Ok... back to Sunday. Had a FABULOUS day and evening!! My friend, Dr. Dave (a veterinarian) was having his annual Spring Celebration of the Daffodils party at his place. Now his place is in Paradise Valley... about a 2 hour drive from Vancouver. For those of you who are locals, it is on the other side of Squamish... you take the Paradise Valley/Squamish exit once you get outside of Squamish and then you follow the road that winds around and eventually turns into a dirt road. Then you go over two single lane bridges and you know you are in the middle of nowhere (grin). Nowhere that is very, very beautiful!!!

Anywho... Dr. Joan (Bridget's vet) was bringing 3 others so it would have been very full and uncomfortable for 5 of us and two dogs to come in her car, so I told her that I was fine and would take Bridget and me in my own car.... and it was just fine. Besides, I had my cell phone and she would be close by... not to mention Dr. Steve (another vet friend) would be not too far behind us either.

Well, as much as I am a party animal, I'm always a little hesitant when it comes to going to a party where I don't know everyone. I knew that there would be about 20-25 people at this party and the only ones I'd know would be Joan, Dave and Steve... and I have met Phyllis, their 83 year old friend once or twice before, but highly doubtful she would remember me ;) But, what the heck... I would have my own car so if nothing else, it would be a gorgeous drive up there and I could leave at any time if I was feeling uncomfortable.

Ha! Silly me!! I had a fabulous time!!! It is, seriously, the first party I have ever gone to that was NOT a theatre party so I did not know everyone there... and yet the people at this party were all so wonderful, warm, friendly and there was no cliche groups. Lots of really down to earth, no airs, fun, warm people. I had a ball and totally enjoyed myself... not to mention, the environment was soooo pretty!! No city life here... all woods, nature, rivers and DOG FRIENDLY!!! Hahahaha... we figured there were about 20 people at any given time and about 25 dogs!! The thing that I found absolutely fascinating was, this was a large number of dogs in one place and it could have very easily turned very messy with dog fights, dog domination, big dogs dominating the small dogs, etc. But that never happened. They all got along, and played, ran and had a ball. I let Bridget off the leash when we first got there but I think she got overwhelmed with all the dogs (at that time there were only about 5 dogs) and she decided she was going to head home to Vancouver.... and proceeded to go down the long gravel driveway, completely ignoring me calling her and not looking back. When she got to the end of the driveway, which then turned into the dirt road, she wasn't sure which way to go, so that's when she looked back and realized I wasn't right behind her... I was at the top of the driveway (about a city block away). I opened my arms and she came running back. But, that made me nervouse so I put her back on the leash. I would drop it and let her wander but it made it easier to keep her under control.

Besides, she, being a goofy city girl, had no idea of the dangers of being up in the mountains and near a river. Dave's back yard ends at the river... and Bridget actually thought she'd somehow get down the cliff and check out the fast moving river!!

Ok... guess we should back up a bit. On the drive over, I was actually surprised to see that some of our local mountains still have a fair amount of snow on the tops. The scenery on the Sea-To-Sky highway is absolutely stunning, but there is nowhere to pull off to take pictures, so you are just going to have to take my word for it. Right now the whole highway is under construction as they widen it and get it ready for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It is probably one of the most dangerous highways in BC because it is so wind'y. You have sheer mountains on the one side of you, and sheer drops into the water on the other side, meanwhile very little straight stretches. Hehehe... I took this picture from inside the car while driving on a straight stretch as I was coming into Squamish (I believe).

Here is the dirt road I was telling you all about. The paved road turned into this dirt road. I pulled over after we had gone over the first single lane bridge. Hahaha... had to get a picture of the car on the dirt road (yes, Bridget was inside in the back seat in her little pink plaid carbed with her seatbelt on, so she wasn't about to hop out that open door). Let me tell you, after being on this dirt road getting there and then coming home... my car was FILTHY on the outside. In the two years I have had this vehicle, it has NEVER been this dirty!!! (grin)

Ok... here are some of the pictures of Dr. Dave's mountain retreat. It is sooooo peaceful and beautiful ...and rustic up there! Here is a gazebo in his backyard, overlooking the river at the end of the lawn. I just love it up here! It's hard to describe... you have the beauty of the peace and quiet of being so far from the city, and yet the strength of the river and lots of wild life around!

Here is another view of the backyard, including the Gazebo in the background. Can you just imagine waking up everyday to this rustic, lovely mountain air and environment? Dave lives up here year round, but comes into the city on the weekends where he works part time as a holistic veterinarian. So he gets the best of both worlds... city life for a visit, but peaceful, stressfree life up in this wonderful part of the world.

Here is a picture of some of the dogs playing in the backyard. It was the most amazing thing to be able to sit and watch all these dogs having so much fun with each other. Most of them had never met before so one would think there would be some territorial things going on but not a one! There was fun play barking and lots of running around and chasing each other, but no fighting or dominant behaviour. Even little Bridget, who can get quite vocal when she sees other dogs, especially if they are playing... she just took it all in, let them do their thing and she did her thing. When any of the dogs wanted to sniff her and say hello, she let them... that in itself is amazing!

Dogs, dogs, everywhere! I was in doggy heaven (grin)! Meanwhile... a little hard to see but on the left the gal in light pants and white hair is Dr. Joan. In the background, the guy in the hat is Dr. Dave. Hahaha... neither of them are facing the camera, so I will try and get some better ones put up.

Hehehe... here we have brave little 2 1/2 year old Jonah making friends with Bridget who was just the right size for him. Bridget, on the other hand, was more interested in checking out the roots of the grass up here. She LOVES eating grass roots... never gets sick, it's one of her favourite foods (grin). So Jonah and her got along great because a dog who is more interested in eating grass roots is not a threat to a 2 1/2 year old child :)

I really like this picture of Bridget. I have many that are somewhat like this, but this was her own doing. She found a quiet place on the grass, that was nice and cool and out of the way of the running, playing big dogs... but she could lie here, rest and watch the big dogs play. Every now and then she would give a little yodel to let them know she sees them, but she was quite content to let them do the running and jumping and she would just observe... totally relaxed and not stressed out at all, even though there were so many of them.

This is an adorable picture! Gigi is a little Westie who is 19 years old! She has a lot of health problems, but the little monkey was getting around just fine. This little boy, whose name slips my mind, was absolutely adorable. He was 6 years old and full of chatter! He was an interesting little guy in that he was really drawn to the smaller dogs, more so than the larger dogs. There were certainly a lot of choices from little, medium to large dogs for the kids to play with!

Ahhhhh! Here are my two little angels!! Sophie is the little 10 year old girl who I met for the first time on Sunday at the party. She is a wonderful girl and look how Bridget took to her too. Sophie is such a free spirit and we got along like a house on fire. So much so that when we left the party for the two hour drive back into town, Sophie came in the car with Bridget and I and we got to chat all the way back into town!

Here we have a great picture of Sophie, Dr. Steve and Dr. Dave... and let's not forget Sydney, Dr. Dave's gorgeous shy dog. Dr. Steve and Dr. Dave are like Sophie's godparents... both were around for her birth and have watched her grow up. Sydney was her own private horse when she was a toddler (grin). Lots of love here!!

Ok... I could probably put up a bunch more but this is already long enough as it is! So I'll end Sunday's entry here. Suffice it to say, we were planning on leaving about 6pm while it was still light out to travel home on the Sea-To-Sky highway. But just as we were getting ready to do so, some other friends arrived and said to wait it out. There was an accident where a car was going too fast and ended up going over an embankment, so traffic was stopped in both directions and the lineup was incredible! So, better to wait it out at Dave's rather than sitting in traffic on the highway. At 8pm we thought we'd chance it but turned on the radio to local traffic news and low and behold they had gotten the traffic moving until some idiots decided to jump the queue and ended up causing a 3-car pileup!! So the traffic was stopped again!! Arrrrrgh!!

So, we ended up not leaving Dave's until 10pm. It was now dark (grin). Well, the traffic was all cleared up but now they had started the night time construction on the road. So you would go from pitch dark patches of road and your eyes would be used to that and then you'd turn a bend and would be drenched in halogen floodlights. All the time you are on this wind'y road!! Hahahaha... and to top it off, young Sophie wanted to drive back into town with Bridget and I. No problem... love to have her along, but I'm not used to having a child in the car so there's this added subconcious responsibility that you drive much more carefully, or at least you are aware of driving much more carefully, because there is a child in the car. We had a lovely 2 hour drive back, with Joan, Deb and Phyllis in the car ahead.

All in all, it was a fabulous day/evening. Bridget was totally knackered... and slept like a rock that night... and all day on Monday (grin). Me, I had to get up early Monday morning because I had forgotten to get my blood work done on Friday, so wanted to get to the Cancer Agency early in the morning to make sure they could do my blood work before my afternoon chemo appt. But I will put that in the Monday Blog entry.

Ciao for now!!

Cheryl

Friday, April 27, 2007 -- Forgtful Memory

Arrrrgh Bloggy!

I can't believe it... or maybe I should?? I didn't remember today was Friday. I have no idea what day I thought it was, but for some reason it didn't dawn on me that it was Friday.... and I totally forgot to go to the lab on Burrard St. to get my blood work done for the chemo on Monday!! Arrrrrrgh!! That surprises the heck out of me because, although my memory can be affected by Chemo Brain, I have never forgotten something like this! And the thing was, I was at home all day today. I could have gone up at any point, which is why I asked Dr. Gill if I could go to the Burrard lab, which is closer to home, than the Cancer Agency lab, which is that much further away and I'd have to drive.

Well, I don't think all is lost. I will get myself to the Cancer Agency in the morning on Monday and tell them my plight and that I have a 2:15pm chemo appt, so if they could slip me in and get it done. Then I'll drive to Steve's place, and come back with him in the afternoon for the chemo which will be from 2:15 - 6pm or so. Gotta remember to arrange with Robyn/Graie to take Bridget out in the afternoon because it looks like it's going to be a long day for me on Monday... only to have to get up early on Tuesday to be back at the Cancer Agency at 8:45am for the Radiation scan.

Let's see... what else has happened around here? Oh yes, Peggy and Greg came over to my place yesterday and we had a Hair and Pizza do!! Greg flatironed my hair again, so it looks great! Even though I'm losing hair each time I brush, touch or wash it... I have so much of it, that the flatironing actually takes a long time to do, hence why it looks way better when Greg does it than when I do it!

Peggy and Greg discussed how she would like her hair and she said that how she'd really like it, other hairdressers have told her they couldn't do it because her hair wouldn't suit it. But Greg figured that it wouldn't be a problem if cut with "deep points" vs "cut straight". I'm not sure of the terminology but suffice it to say, Peggy told Greg to do whatever he felt would work... and away he went at it. We had soooo much fun!! Greg was snipping away, we were all laughing and talking, then the pizza came. I made a Caesar Salad and we took a break while we ate. Then Gray's Anatomy came on, so the hair salon switched over to in front of the tv .

Here is the before sort of picture... when Greg was just starting out with Peggy's hair. She has gorgeous hair and I'm sooooo jealous! It is already straight. Of course, the curse of straight hair is that if you DO want to do something different and maybe have some curls, the curls don't stay longer than 20 minutes :D

And here we have the "AFTER" picture with the blunt cut bangs. The picture doesn't do total justice because what you can't see is the wisps/feathers all down both sides of the face. It truly looks gorgeous and Peggy was really happy with the end result!

So now, Greg has been given orders never to move out of town... and we have to get together in 6 weeks to have another hair/pizza night. Then in the summer we will have a hair/pool day :D

Ok... it's 10pm on Friday night. I did absolutely nothing today, and as I mentioned above, didn't even think about going for the blood work today. I was kind of sluggish. But I have a bit more energy tonight. Not enough to have gone out anywhere, but I do have a load of laundry in the washer, so I'm going to run downstairs and put it in the dryer. That will be nice to get it done before the weekend :)

I also have dishes in the kitchen to wash, dry and put away (no, I do not have a dishwasher) (grin). Also, I believe the Barbara Walters special on 20/20 is about to start... so I'm torn. Do I finish watching Notting Hill with (hubba hubba) Hugh Grant, or do I switch over to the Special?

Ciao for now!

Cheryl

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - mid week

Hi Bloggy,

Well, nothing too exciting to report, which could explain why it's been a couple of days since I've posted an entry. Right now, I'm watching the 2 hour American Idol-AID special, meanwhile, I have a little four-legged diva sitting at my feet complaining because she wants her evening baby carrots (grin). She is such a routine girl... heaven help us once we get into a routine she likes and I'm late for it! My name is mud... and there is no excuse as far as she is concerned that is acceptable. When she wants her baby carrot, she wants it NOW!

Oh, but there was a funny incident yesterday. I forget what it was I was cooking on the stove, but sure enough, I spilled some of it on the hot burner, which of course caused the smoke alarm to squeal (not unusual when I cook). Well, Miss B. does NOT like the high pitched alarm and as soon as she smells burnt anything, she makes a run for the bedroom. She is terrified of any high pitched noise and the smoke alarm is one of her worst enemies! Anywho... I just let her go pout in the bedroom and I continued cooking whatever it was I was cooking.

A little while later, I went into the bedroom to check on her. Hahahaha! Her little Royal Highness had set up camp in bed, on her Mommy's side, not only amongst the bedding, but with the pink fuzzy blanket with the satin lining. She was quite content, thank you very much!! Hahahaha!

Well, I plum wore myself out this past weekend. What with going to the theatre Sat night with Steve O., Jo, Don, Steve S., Alan and Colleen to see Pat W. in the closing night of Sand Castles and not getting home until 1am, then on Sunday we celebrated a belated birthday for Steve and an early birthday for Jo.. well, let's just say on Monday I was knackered big time! And I paid for it... ended up napping a lot on Monday.

Tuesday, I went to see Dr. Gill (oncologist) and her assistant oncologist. They are both very pleased with how well I'm doing and both confirmed that my blood work is excellent. The results from the bloodwork show that the bone marrow is in excellent health/shape. Since the white blood cells are created in the bone marrow, this is a very good thing.

She did send me for an ECG while I was there, though. She was a little concerned about the reaction I had had after the second Chemo... that Tuesday morning when Bridget and I went out for our morning walkies and the cold air shut my throat down and hampered with my breathing. For a couple of days after that, I had a "heavy" feeling in my chest, so she wants to make sure my heart is ok and get a "baseline" for the heart, should I have any other problems with breathing/chest because of the Oxalpilatin(sp?) chemo drug. Well, the ECG came back just fine. Strong heart, no murmurs or skips. So it's just one of those weird side affects. Apparently, the tingling and super sensitivity to the cold in the hands and feet is very common... the throat and breathing problems is not as common, but is definitely caused by this chemo drug.

So, next Monday I go for Chemo #4. Then, even though I'll be hooked up to the chemo pump, I'll have to go back to the Cancer Agency the next day and go to the Radiation department where they need to take a scan and get the info needed for when I start Radiation (May 14th). Then on May 10th, it's back to see Dr. Gill because she will be putting me on an oral (pill form) of chemo which I'll be taking twice/day for the whole 5 weeks I'm getting the radiation.

All I can say is thank goodness for date books. One has to write EVERYTHING down, otherwise there is no way one would be able to remember where one has to be and when :) I sure hope I have mine up to date and haven't forgotten anything!!

Well, back to American Idol I go. Will be back soon... well, in a day or two :D

Cheryl

Saturday, April 21, 2007 - Catch up

Hello Weekend Bloggy!

Yep, I'm slipping, I haven't put in an entry since the great hair makeover! And now, I'm on my own. Somehow, I have to recreate the look all by myself today. I swear there should be a law that one's Hair Wizard should never live more than 5 mins. away and be on call 24/7 (grin).

Let's see... this week, Chemo Session #3 has gone very well. I was actually quite shocked at just how well it's gone. The only noticeable (pain in the butt) side affects this week is the hyper-sensitivity to the cold. I mean, it's not even cold outside and yet, I have to wear a winter coat, gloves and in some cases, a wool scarf. And that doesn't help the legs. Even when I wear long pants, this week the backs of my legs all went tingly and frozen. Pain in the butt, let me tell you!

Anywho, I was expecting Thurs and Fri to be my rough days. But I woke up Thurs morning to gorgeous spring sunshine and I felt great!! No sign of nausea, headache, fatigue... nothing! So Bridget and I went for a 1 mile morning walkie and I felt GREAT after that (other than the cold stuff). So, you'd THINK I'd just enjoy the fact I felt great, right? Noooooo! I was on a mission! I took myself out for breakfast (yum... went to the Dutch Pannekoek House on Robson), then because it was so beautiful and I had treated myself to a lovely breakfast, I decided to walk it off, so walked up the hill (Robson) and then down to pay work a visit. Had a wonderful visit with my co-workers... will add pictures at the bottom of this blog entry... and disrrupted everyone from what they were doing. Then, I not only walked back home (1 1/2 miles), but had to take Bridget out again once I got home. Still, felt like my old self, so all totaled I walked 4 1/2 miles on Thursday.

Ha! Well, it hit me on Friday. Could I not have just kept the walking to oh, 2 1/2 miles on Thurs??? The fatigue on Friday was pretty intense! I did take Bridget out in the morning, but we literally only walked a half mile, tops. Just enough to do her business and give her some fresh air. The rest of the day was spent napping, reading and more napping. I can't believe I ended up also sleeping through the whole night last night after sleeping most of the day. I guess I was tired :)

Sooooo... here it is, now Saturday. It started off as sunny this morning but the clouds are rolling in. Forecast is for some showers later in the day, but then it should clear up sometime tomorrow. I'm just going to take it easy at home this afternoon. Well, I'm not sure about easy... I'll be washing my hair and trying to replicate what Greg has done with it because tonight a bunch of us are going to Metro Theatre to see a friend, Pat, in the current production of "Sand Castles". Tonight is closing night. I'll be driving out with Steve and Don since I'm not sure I should be driving that far after yesterday's fatigue.

Meanwhile... here are some more photos... of my visit with the gang at work and some of the unfortunates who couldn't escape my camera (grin), and then some of the flowers/trees on the walk home from work.

The two trainer chicks! Charmaine is now holding down the fort while I'm on sebbatical (grin)

Here I am with my buddy, Ken. Hey Ken, what fort are you holding down?? I have to get you something to do!! (grin)

Ok, here I am with Boss-man, my manager, Kerry. But alas, the bum is going to retire next month!! So he won't be there when I get back!! Traitor, I tell you!! (grin)

Ahhh! Can we spell TROUBLE? Yes, Mala and I... a very dangerous combination!

Here I am with Shirley P.! We have worked together over the years and gone back so far, well, I think we are both older than dirt! It has got to be a good 30 years that we've worked in one form or another at the same office.

And then a group shot -- Dan, myself, Ken, Mala and Shirley sitting in front. The rest of the gang... beware! When I next come to visit, you have no idea if I'll have my camera or not!

This is one of my favourite streets. Ok, so this isn't a street, it's an apartment garden. I just love it when someone makes the outside of their apartment look so country-fied!

It's getting a little late in the season, but on some of the sheltered streets, you can still find the Japanese Cherry Blossoms around the city. The white/pink ones are gone, but now the pink pom-pom like ones are here.

These purple tulips are interesting. Last year, in this same garden, they were so deep a purple they looked black. This year, they are an actual purple. Not sure why, but there you have it :)

It's been kind of a weird spring! The daffodils came up really early and there are still a ton of them around! Usually once the tulips come up, the daffodils are over, but not this year!

I think rhodies have to be one of my favourite flowers! Here are some early red ones that have sprung up. My other favourite is the azalea. They have started blossoming around, but it will be a couple more weeks before they are out in full force.

Ok, had to put this one here. Not sure if the detail will show up on the blog, but this was a pretty exquisite blossom and would make a terrific background wallpaper on the computer :)

Ciao for now!

Cheryl