As you can see, cancer isn’t the first tiger I’ve had to face! Cancer seems to have paws and teeth greater than the Tiger in Thailand but I intend to strangle it instead of holding it tentatively.

Good news: We found a 4 HOUR CAR PARK AT MAROONDAH HOSPITAL today for my chemo session. Whoot! Plus… we were only there for 3.5 hours so we had 30 minutes to spare. I hope we donated those 30 minutes to somebody who needed them. The MOTH sat semi patiently through the chemo session, even though he didn’t have the ‘move the car’ breaks every 2 hours. What a man:)

I should be finished by February 2015.

Whee! February 2015. That’s providing I don’t have any low blood cells and need a break from chemo. I was advised today that I’ve actually got 26 more weeks of chemo to go before I have surgery and radiotherapy as it’s a 7 month chemo program. From this angle that seems like a long haul and I have to admit that it often feels overwhelming. I am usually very active with art projects, work, uni etc but right now it seems I am just concentrating on getting well. It’s pretty boring and self centred but I can’t seem to think outside this little world I’m in. It’s not that I have nothing to do, it’s more that I can’t find any focus. I have a listlessness that is foreign to me. I don’t think the ‘chemo fog’ in my brain helps! Each week I am in a completely different state of mind so perhaps it’s a phase. Hooray for moving to the next phase!

A massive week of shenanigans

Last week was pretty huge. The chemo side effects weren’t too bad, just lots of small things and general tiredness. Of course if you look at what happened during the week it’s any wonder I wasn’t exhausted…

• I went to Daylesford on the weekend before chemo with my sister
• My son crawled out unscathed from a 4WD accident where the car had flipped onto it’s roof (see last post) and gave me a heart attack
• I started chemo!!
• I kept up my exercise routine as per usual
• I went to Ballarat overnight with Colin mid week
• My daughter is going through a tough time right now. Us mothers feel our daughters pain with them.

It’s all happening at the Wood hood. I managed to walk 10+km at Ballarat, run 3.5 km around the athletics track and another 3km on a treadmill plus 3 gym/pilates classes and I’ve been out galavanting, socialising and entertaining visitors as well.

The doctor said today that I am on the highest end of the scale for my ability to exercise during chemo and that it will help to overcome the effects and the efficiency of the drug. That and all my little prayer warriors have certainly done the trick.

They removed one of the 3 anti-nausea drugs I was on because it is playing havoc with my digestive system and it seems I’m not getting nausea. Hooray for that! I came out of chemo today with flying colours and after a little nap I’m ready to tackle the world from my chemo foggy brain. Woo hoo!