My cancer journey

Don’t waste your cancer (or any other ‘bad’ thing)

Screenshot 19:08:2014 1:47 pmI know that’s a weird title for this page ‘Don’t waste your cancer’… but I was reading an article recently with that topic name and it got me thinking. So many of us spend all our time trying to ‘get well’ and not to use our journey and experience to build our character and faith, inspire others and to change the way we live life. As I said before, I’m living life more with cancer than I ever did without it. So here it goes…

I’M SOOOO EXCITED!!!! Last week I was offered an ‘Artist in residence position’ at Luther College in Croydon. It’s for 2 weeks. I was a little concerned that they wanted me to do it before the end of the year, given my circumstances but after meeting with them today I am excited to say I start next week. They were totally unaware that my 3 kids all went through Luther College from year 7-12 but that makes it even more meaningful. Oh and my daughter in law went to Luther College in Hamilton, Victoria (coincidentally)!

I am going to design a piece which will be left at the school to hang. They are very open to flexibility, which I am not used to in my usual line of work but that suits me very well. We got very enthusiastic and I’m now going to teach 2 classes and include technology, children’s book self publishing and drawing techniques. I’m also going to speak to the 1200 students at chapel and talk about my health, art and my journey.

I am making up the dates I attend and can work from home if I wish. So yes… this week isn’t on my list of dates given that I had chemo today!!

Splinter update

The MOTH is healing up well with his splinter. Today he told the story to all the nurses in the chemo room and again in the breast clinic. They gave him a piece of pineapple and patted him on the head. They are always laughing when we leave and I’m so glad he can cheer them up as they have such a difficult job and he is so good it.He thought the whole scenario was so funny and is now exaggerating it beyond belief. I think they think we are the circus coming to town. If it’s not him telling funny stories it’s me. 

One of the quiet nurses today dished it right back at him big time. She told him that our daughter would never get a word in with him in the house. It was such a surprise coming from her! Dad and Margie were also with us in the chemo room today so we all had a good laugh. Colin was quite speechless at the time which made it funnier. I think we were like some big Italian family in the little chemo room. They all breathed a sigh of relief when we left ha ha.

Vomit and stuff

hollow_art_dhh021News flash: My hair started falling out again. I was so proud of my 1″ long sparse white fluffy growth. I thought it looked like grandpa hair but Sophie told me I looked like Hook without his wig. Now we have shaved it off again and Marley has had a shave to match. All of the Wood boys EXCEPT THE MOTH have shaved heads. Marley (dog) looks very very ugly. It matches his endearing personality:)

Eyelash count= Nil

I had my 6 hours in the chemo lab today getting more of that bright red goodie that feels like a baddy. Especially when you pee it out the other end and it’s the same colour. Too much information I know. You lose a sense of dignity when you’re a patient he he.

I’m pleased to say that after a hellish week following the last chemo dose, I had two ‘good’ weeks and managed to run 10k and continue with Les Mills Body Balance twice weekly. Doing all those ‘down dogs’ and other weird body contortions isn’t good with nausea so that’s an achievement which my back just loves!

I don’t want to say ‘I’m expecting a bad week’ but I am ‘prepared’ for it. Already I’ve been nauseous this afternoon but unlike last time the Maxolon helped. The nausea didn’t hit until the following day last time so lets see what happens. I’m not allowed to take the magic wafer pills until Saturday so that’s quite upsetting as I was very happy to have a ‘plan of attack’. Apparently I already have a whopping dose of that drug in the IV during chemo so taking the wafers is doubling up. I had it in the IV last time and it did nothing *sob*. So the doctor said ‘there’s nothing else you can take’. Love to hear that… not!!! I hope to be pleasantly surprised in the morning and bounce out of bed. I can take 3 Somac for the burning pain, stomach ulcer, so that’s something.

ALSO… while I’m on a whinge… my white blood count is low and on the ‘borderline’ of ‘too low’ so they almost didn’t give me chemo today. Given that I’ve had 5 months of chemo now (and 2 to go) that’s not so bad as my blood counts have all been fantastic up until now. Consequently, now I have to be careful of germy bugs. I’m hoping I can re-coup the blood cells before the next chemo or I’ll have a blow out of all my treatment dates so I’m spraying everyone with Glen 20 and eating orange and yellow vegetables. Do Pineapple donuts count? I snuck one today which is way off my ‘health diet’.

14 chemo session down… 2 to go!!! Roll on Sept 29.

The splintered Wood

10603176_10152348560474506_144051450_nThis story will prove to you that a splinter in the finger is more serious than cancer… or anything really.

Last Tuesday, the MOTH begrudgingly went out into the garden to do some major pruning, which he hates. After an hour or so he arrived at the door with a sore finger. He thought there might be a splinter in it but I couldn’t see one so I put a bandaid on it and he went back out and continued. Nice try Col… I know you don’t like gardening but that’s a pretty lame way of getting out of it.

The next night he asked me to see if there was a splinter in there and if I could cut it out. I got out my craft knife and sliced across it but he couldn’t take the pain so I put detol on it and a bandaid and he went to work the next day. I made an appointment at the doctors for him for Friday morning and off he went.

The doctor took a look at it and said ‘I think you’d better go to casualty. ‘But it’s just a splinter!’ Colin exclaimed.

Casualty at Maroondah had many people in it apparently. He met a man with chest pain and got chatting to a woman sitting next to him who had a broken ankle. Guess who got taken in first? Colin with the splinter in his finger. He kept saying ‘but it’s just a splinter!’ but the medical staff could see the serious nature of the injury.

Most of you know that he is the only person in the world who doesn’t have a mobile phone. So the woman (patient) sitting next to him took this photo and sent it to me with no explanation. I received the photo and thought ‘WHAT????’ I was incredulous. Why are you in plaster up to your elbow with an IV in???? Well I would have asked this but of course, he doesn’t have a phone so I couldn’t.

The doctors were very concerned. They told him he needed two lots of surgery and to stay in hospital for 3 days. He would need at least a week off work. So I went in to casualty to see the poor man with the splinter. This was a little problematic because I had my car as well as his parked in 2 hour spots at the hospital and it was 3 hours before we were meant to go away on our family trip.

In casualty, the MOTH was creating a circus. A nurse had growled at him and told him to sit still because he was wandering around, the other medical staff were all looking ‘amused’ at the performance he was making about the splinter. He was behaving like Croc Dundee in New York. Having never been in hospital in his life, the novelty was wearing very thin.

After a short while, the porter came to take him up to the wards. Colin held his arm up and said to her ‘I’ve got a splinter!’. She was most concerned and offered to get a wheelchair.

So he settled into bed with a TV and a paper and INSISTED that I went to Rosebud without him. I felt a mixture of amused, sad that he missed out and incredulous… even annoyed at the amount of fuss they were making. He was fasting for surgery and like a tiger in a cage so it wasn’t too difficult to wave goodbye.

Ashlee came and helped with the cars and Soph and Jarrod drove me to Rosebud where we all worried ourselves sick about the splintered finger.

 What was all the fuss?

Apparently the splinter was near a tendon in his finger which could give him a stiff finger or at worse he could lose it because the infection could eat it away. They were talking plastic surgery, skin grafts and so on. Later that night they took the splinter out under local anaesthetic and cleaned it up. No plastic surgery or skin grafts and the wound looked fine. Apart from them putting the anaesthetic into the wrong finger all went well, According to Colin the splinter was 20cm long. Given that it was going across his finger which is 1cm wide that’s what remarkable (said with a touch of sarcasm). He spent 24 hours on an IV drip and then DROVE himself to Rosebud to join us. He has no plaster now but his ‘rude finger’ (middle one) has a big bandage on it and he very rudely sticks it up at us at any given time. He announces frequently that he ‘has a splinter’ and can’t possibly get himself coffee, water or any other thing and needs to sit in a chair all day.

PLUS… the district nurse is coming every day to change the dressing (!!!).

I am almost speechless. It seems like a candid camera episode or something. Do I sound unsympathetic? Well part of me wondered if there was missing information and perhaps I should be worried but I just couldn’t find it in myself. My brave fireman had a splinter and it just seemed so… well… trivial. He told the nurse it was worse than my cancer and she agreed! Of course he thinks it’s as funny as the rest of us and it’s now his talking point whenever we meet people.  So glad I haven’t got a splinter like he has he he.

I’ll leave you with my favourite YouTube clip which will amuse most of the women in this world…

 

Living life with perspective

1a560329b6ffb045b286c8521d85c720-1I’m all ready with my armour on to tackle the next chemo sucker due on the 19th. In many respects I’m not getting as many symptoms on this chemo as with Paclitaxol but with my current stomach problems the next and final 3 hits are going to be a challenge. I’m so glad they are only 3 weekly now and that I get time to recover, unlike before when chemo was every week. I feel much better now and even drove the car! Whee! I am concerned about my concentration on the road. My brain is getting worse and worse. There is so much fog in there I feel like I need a personal assistant. If you see me on the road clear outta the way.

I’m soooo excited about this weekend. All 8 of us (kids and partners) are going away for the weekend and staying in a big house. A house full of noisy extroverts and a boisterous staffy pup named Angus is just what I need ha ha. Marley is staying at home where he will remain calm and not bark all weekend. Hmmm. We are so blessed to have AMAZING next door neighbours who are also very close friends. We only have one house adjoining ours so it’s just as well they are so tolerant of ‘Sir Barkalot’.

This little chapter of my life isn’t all about fighting cancer. It may sound odd but I have gained more positives from having cancer than negatives and my purpose in life feels crystal clear. It’s not about bucket lists and last wishes or a feeling like I am going to die… it’s just about prioritising what’s important. That’s why I am excited about the weekend. Spending time with my amazing family and their partners is going to be wonderful! I just love how they have developed as adults and that they all get along so well. They spend time together even when Col and I are not there which warms my heart. In fact, it was one of the partners who organised the weekend so it’s nice to know they aren’t dragging their heels to come. Us mothers just love harmony in the nest:)

Oh and I managed to run 3k on the treadmill yesterday without throwing up my cookies. The gym team are very grateful I’m sure he he.

 

‘Maroond-in-dah’ hospital

Here’s a little update for those who aren’t on Facebook…

On Friday, after 3 days being flat out on the bed/couch with nausea and stabbing pain in the stomach I relented and went to casualty at Maroondah where I was ‘marooned’ for the day. The staff were really helpful in casualty and sent me straight to a room of my own so I didn’t have to sit in the waiting room or lie in a cubicle for which I’m glad of.

After many uncomfortable procedures, xrays and a plethora of drugs and fluid through the IV they sent me home 7 hours later. Those little anti-nausea wafer tablets which cost $8 each are AMAZING!! I had two so that was an expensive dose he he. As for the stabbing pains… they think I have an ulcer. I had xrays to see if there was a perforation (which there wasn’t) but they didn’t want to put a camera down there since my stomach lining is very frail right now. So I’m taking double Somac which isn’t taking the pain away entirely but it’s manageable. I cant manage anything remotely hot (temperature) and nothing spicy… except the MOTH:) There’s no bleeding so that’s gotta be a good thing!

The nausea is manageable with Maxolon now, although it makes me drowsy unfortunately, but it’s all part of the balancing act. I’m making myself stand upright so I don’t become a couch potato but once I’m off the Maxolon it will be easier. They have taken me off Voltaren which I take for arthritis as it irritates my stomach. Sigh. Now I’m going to have to find another drug of preference. I am beginning to look like a drug addicted person right now since I’ve had 5 cannula insertions into my wrists this week which all have huge bruises.

If this is what I am to expect for the week after this chemo I’m ready for it next time with all my wafers and drugs!! So if you want to rob me of the most valuable thing in the house right now it’s wafer tablets. $50 for 6 of the little buddies. I only have 6 so don’t get too excited but my friend who just finished chemo is going to slip me some later in the week. YAY! I’m like a little squirrel.

Three more doses of chemo to go (one every 3 weeks). Roll on October!!! The days seem to float past me in my world of fog. I have no doubt I will barely remember most of this. So glad it’s all here on the blog to refresh my memory. Not!

Eyelash count= 3

Hair washing day at the Wood Hood

Hair washing day at the Wood Hood

Erk Time

Just a quick update. I had my first dose of the new chemo on Tuesday and haven’t left the house since, apart from a walk with the dog yesterday. Today I’ve been dozing in a chair all day popping Maxolon and cortisone to stop the nausea. Feeling ghastly but the dr said it should only last 3-4 days. I have this chemo 3 weekly instead of weekly so praying that it’s temporary.
I’m trying to keep fluids down and Marley is keeping me company on my recliner chair:)

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A funny thing happened on the way to a party

Jen2For some weird reason, my hair all fell out and then began growing back again. For a while I shaved it off but then I left it. It’s white and soft like baby hair and now about 2cm long. It’s very sparse so you can still see my scalp very easily but even so… it’s hair. The even weirder thing is that everywhere else my hair has gone and isn’t growing back. I haven’t shaved my legs for months. Yay for that. I’ve alway done things differently to everyone else ha ha.

I usually spend 3.5 seconds doing my makeup but my personal assistant (daughter) has kindly made it her duty to prepare me for the public eye when it comes to special events.

In this case it was an engagement party. As you can see (above), she did a pretty good job of the eyebrows, although according to her (and me) one eye brow is just plain odd. It’s quite challenging even for her to get it right. Today Sophie glued fake eyelashes on me even though I’m not supposed to wear them due to the particularly frail state my skin is in from the chemo. Then came the wig. Voila!

So off I went to the party, trying desperately not to blink furiously and/or to wipe my eyebrows or eyeliner off while navigating the way in the car for the MOTH. My wig was in my eye so I flicked it furiously out of the way so I could see the GPS instructions. Oops. I soon discovered that my eye lashes were glued to my wig. Now I had one corner of the eyelash hanging off and no idea how to fix it.

A quick SMS to Sophie resolved it. It all seems so simple when she says it like that…

Screenshot 26:07:2014 8:11 pm-3

 

 

I’ve been microchipped

Last week we stayed at Rosebud for a break and for 2 of the days I had an art retreat by myself. On the Tuesday, however, we had to drive back to Maroondah so I could have a titanium chip put into the tumour (providing they could find it). After much hoo ha with the ultrasound, they found the tumour and eventually put the chip into the middle of it. Now when they do surgery, they will be able to find the area to remove.

I can’t run away now because they have a remote control to bring me back to base. Just kidding.

If you want to read about the tagging there is a short article here: http://www.auntminnie.com/index.aspx?sec=ser&sub=def&pag=dis&ItemID=101026

The radiographer also found two swollen lymph nodes under the arm and in the breast. I’ll find out more on Tuesday when I start the new chemo treatment and see the doctor. Hopefully I’ll discover the size of the tumour (which is too small to be ‘felt’) and what’s going on with the lymph nodes. Hopefully the nodes are just another weird thing to add to my list.

I’ve been feeling pretty good this last week. Running on the treadmill at the Rosebud resort and with running group today and not needing nanna naps for the past 5 days.  I created so much artwork in Rosebud I almost couldn’t find my way to the bed at night for the mess. Loving it!

Swinburne investigation

My lovely friend Elaine is pioneering an investigation into the number of women from Swinburne who have or who have had breast cancer… possibly any cancer at all. It isn’t a witch hunt, but an investigation to see if there are links. Elaine has medical background and has made contact with the right people, composed documents and permission forms etc. So if anyone out there would like information please let me know. Elaine is doing this out of the goodness of her heart and I just want to thank her on behalf of all of us who are too distracted to do it ourselves. Bless her cotton socks!

Just call me Dream Boat.

Screenshot 16:07:2014 5:06 pmLet’s begin with ‘how I am’ because my friends and relatives always check my blog for ‘medical details’ so here tis…

I’m grateful to be having a 3 week break between chemo drugs. I finished the 4 months of Paclitaxel and on July 29th I begin the AC chemo. The Paclitaxel drug has 2 pages of ‘possible side effects’ which mostly I’ve escaped unscathed. I’m  more tired than usual but my blood counts are all normal and I have no numbness or tingling in arms or legs which is common on this drug.

So goodbye to Paclitaxel and hello to AC.

The name AC comes from the initials of the drugs used:

In comparison, AC only has half a page of ‘possible side effects’ but they are more likely to bump the blood counts down. So it’s more likely to compromise my immunity and energy levels and give me nausea. I have my fingers in my ears saying ‘la la la’ to that. Praying for it to fly by effortlessly and to keep my energy and sharp wit going!

I’m still running 5km 3 times a week and trying to do ‘Body Balance’ twice weekly but I have had a very nasty stabbing pain in my upper abdomen for 4 days of this week (and a bit the previous weekend too). I’ve been off my food and not sleeping well because of it. I see my GP tomorrow about it as it’s most likely tied up with the drugs I take for my arthritis. Ho hum. Nanna naps are becoming a little common now but most of the time I don’t actually sleep. I just rest for 30 minutes or so.

10555161_10152298070909506_2005442233_nI saw the surgeon at the breast clinic today and she is booking me in to get the breast lump (if they can find it!!!!) ‘tagged’ next week. A bit annoying given that we have been asking them about it for 3 months now. The tumour can no longer be felt, so in a way I hope there is something found in the ultrasound so that when they do surgery that don’t have to guess where it was. If they find something they will ‘tag’ it so that they can remove the area during surgery. Surgey will be in October sometime.

You can read more about tumour tagging here.

Perhaps they are really microchipping me so I can’t run away from surgery. They know how fast I can run:) Anyhow… that is going to rudely interrupt my ‘Arty’ week away where I was going to eat apples and paint pictures in my pjs next week.  Luckily we can drive back for the surgery and return to Rosebud the same day and it won’t interfere too much!

Here’s a little story from todays visit to the doctors.  The MALE surgeon said to me ‘We need to pop up on the bed so we can look at your breast’. I almost got the giggles but stopped myself. WE???? Really. That would be kind of odd. So glad he didn’t pop up on the bed with me as it’s only 50cm wide.

Dream boat

Here is the truth about my sharp wit. My brain is so scarily foggy that I spend my time worrying I’ve forgotten things. I’ve always had a ridiculously good memory. This week I forgot a lunch date with a friend. ARGHH! If you have any dates with me please remind me the day before. It’s not that I don’t love you dearly, it’s just that I’m so lacking in grey matter right now. That’s why I can’t work. I don’t even remember what my job used to be let alone how to do it ha ha. Just call me Dream Boat.

Gratitude amongst the hard times

I’m grateful for many things.

  • The bonding of relationships with my husband, my family and my friends
  • My artistic gifting
  • The strengthening of my faith
  • My dog
  • Wigs
  • Eyebrow pencils
  • Bed
  • Humour
  • Bra stuffing (for the future)

Most of all I’m grateful for having the following story to share with you.

As you know, a friend named Josie died from Breast Cancer a week ago. Her husband, Kevin, popped in to pick up some artwork from me and stopped for a coffee. Kevin watched his wife struggle for 13 years with secondary breast cancer and shared with us many stories (mostly funny ones). This one really got me thinking though…

13 years ago, Kevin was seriously stressed about his job. He had both medical and emotional conditions which were stress related. He worried continually and had difficulty sleeping etc. When Josie was diagnosed with cancer the stress stopped instantly. He said that almost overnight it completely went away as he focused on what was important to him and prioritised his life. He spent the next 13 years enjoying his marriage and focussing on each other. They focussed on the things in life and what really mattered.

Imagine if we all lived our lives that way. If relationships were the most important things in life and not money. Why do we need these nasty reality checks to know what is important? Divorce rates, work related stress, estranged families and suicides would all decrease. People would take better care of their health. If we stopped prioritising the material things.

Simplistic I know, but it did get me thinking and thinking is pretty hard for me right now so that’s a miracle!

 

 

Caterpillar and worm eyebrow drawing adventure

It was a dark and gloomy morning and I was alone. The MOTH had flown off to work (the MOTH to the flame…or the firestation) and I was looking forward to a day of slobbing around the house with my arty farty self. However, the mild curry from the Indian restaurant the night before  confirmed the doctors wise words. Don’t eat spicy food. My stomach had given me grief all night with diarrhoea, nausea and severe burning pain along with a headache. Boo hiss… another chemo drawback.
I stumbled out of bed at 6am thinking some breakfast might help settle things but got distracted by the computer on the way. An hour later the power went out. I vaguely recollected the notice in the mail to say it would be off all day. In fact, it was off for 10 hours! So now it was cold, dark, gloomy and breakfast was not an option and neither was coffee since there was no milk in the fridge. No art for me in the dark house either as I couldn’t see! Waves of nausea and stomach pain were making me want to curl up in bed.
My pity party didn’t last long. I decided to go out and get a coffee and breakfast down at Croydon but glancing first in the mirror I was confronted by a scary sight. Erm. White face, bald head. No eyebrows or eye lashes, dark rings under the eyes and a kind if squirmish look on my face.  Oh… and blood shot eyes. So I went to work remedying it in the darkness of my ensuite mirror.

Self portrait

Self portrait

The day before I had forgotten to draw my eyebrows on twice. Once to go running and out to breakfast and once to go watch my son do a flying trapeze stunt.  Who leaves home without their eyebrows? So I did my best to draw them in the darkness and put on my other makeup and left home. At the traffic light I glanced in the mirror and discovered a horrible sight. One eyebrow was fat like a caterpillar with a surprised arch. The other one was pale and thin like a sick worm. My eyeliner was looping like it belonged on one of my art pieces. The rest was just as odd and disturbing.
I’m doing my best. Two nights previous, my daughter tried using eyebrow stencils (purchased on ebay) which resulted in much hysterics. Groucho Marx looked good in comparison.
Eyebrows. Who needs em?

Farewell to a fellow breast cancer sufferer

Josie passed away peacefully with her loving family surrounding her on Saturday. It was such a joy to know her and to watch her family fill her life with love and support.

My role in the flexible learning team at Swinburne gave me the opportunity to meet most staff across the Tafe at all campuses and Josies interest in elearning meant I got to know her quite well.  She was also one of my students in the Diploma of VET which I taught.

I wish her family all the best in the future and for this difficult week coming up. After 13 years of loving and supporting her through her battle I can’t imagine how they must feel.

Last week her husband asked me to draw a unicorn with her name on it. Knowing that she was in palliative care I went straight to work on it. I got it finished the night before she died but of course she didn’t get to see it (in the flesh). I created a little tag around his neck with her name on it.

Josie

Josie

Some of the art I’ve produced in the past 4 months have a huge emotional connection for me and this is one of them.

Those of us from Swinburne who have breast cancer right now can take the baton for Josie and run with it. Now go!

Progress photos of the unicorn drawing can be seen on my Facebook art page

Goodbye grumpy pants

Grumpy pants from the last post has left the building. Today is ‘feel good Thursday’ so I’m writing this before the chemo kicks in again tomorrow he he. Then you won’t have to listen to the whinging again.

Chemo, coffee and carousel horses

Chemo, coffee and carousel horses

I spent the last chemo session having a chat to my beautiful sister. She got to share my world with the lovely nurses and other BC patients in the ward and time sure went quickly having her to chat to.

Hooray! I still have normal blood!! My white blood cells were 5.2 and red 5 but my sister and I were both a bit vague about the exact number. The nurse said they were all within normal ranges though so that is a good thing after almost 4 months of having it attacked by the DRUG. Thanks so much for all your prayers… it’s working… of course!

I suspect I had a bug last week and that is why I felt so ghastly. Next week I will be half way through the chemo and will begin the ‘big bad AC drug’ in 2 weeks. From my calculations I have my last chemo ON MY BIRTHDAY. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not but what a way to celebrate! The surgery will be 2 or 3 weeks afterwards and then 6 weeks of radiotherapy. I suspect there will be a gap after surgery to heal the wound before radiotherapy so I think we will be up to Feb/March before finish time. Now I can start counting the days down to chemo finishes.

On a more sobering note…

It’s all very well for me to be upbeat and enthusiastic after 4 months of treatment but it’s very sobering when you discover your work colleague from Swinburne (one of 12 with BC) is now in palliative care. Josie has had breast cancer for 13 years now and that is a long time for her to keep that spring in her step and gorgeous twinkle in her eye. She is such a sweety and has blessed all who know her. Big hugs to her and her family xxxooo

 

 

 

My head says ‘who cares’?

10412182_10152212273964506_649321099_oI totally understand why people stare at unusual things. Our brains just wants to make sense of things that aren’t the ‘norm’. I manage to go under the radar and blend with the crowd in my wig and my creative eyebrow drawings but I find going to gym is sometimes quite uncomfortable. I usually wear a baseball cap and a little makeup to take the shock away. At any given session I am stared at by 30+ people for that 3 seconds longer than politeness allows. Even my friends stare until the flicker of recognition kicks in. I always respond with a big smile. So far NOBODY (apart from friends) has smiled back. I go to gym 3+ times a week so that’s pretty bad. It’s not the staring that bothers me it’s that NOBODY responds when I smile at them.  I know I look like an alien but aliens can be friendly too.

If I said I was going to shave my head to raise funds for cancer I imagine they would all be cheering and giving me a hearty pat on the back.

Perhaps I need to get over my bad self. Let me just say… if you see someone who looks ‘different’, give them a smile regardless. It may well make their day.

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Chemo news

If I had the choice I would not choose Tuesdays to have chemo. It takes 3-4 days for the side effects to kick in which means I am feeling yuk by the weekend. Monday to Friday I feel pretty great. Then the weekend I am tired and ‘weird’ feeling. It doesn’t stop me running 5k on the athletics track and socialising my little heart out but I have to force myself and take naps. This weekend I had ‘flu like symptoms’ that are common with Paclitaxol. Aching joints and tiredness.

Apparently it’s ‘have a whinge day’ at the Wood Hood. Ha ha

Two more sessions of Paclitaxel to go and then 4 cycles of AC. I’m almost half way through the chemo woo hoo!!