The good and bad...

This time I'm going to do the good first. The party is THIS SATURDAY! Ahhhhh! Lots of planning to do....but it will be a ton of fun!! Some details.... there will be a donations table (with recommended donation of $10 per person) and a silent auction (which has some really great items...including donations from Inn at Essex, Burton, Magic Hat, VT Massage, VT Teddy Bear, Child Travel, Flynn Theater, and area restaurants. Also donations of and Ipod, earrings, chocolates, chesters (yum!), magazine subscriptions, and much more!) All of the proceeds from these donations will go to the Cancer Patient Support Program at Fletcher Allen. I will also be selling tee-shirts for another cancer fund in the area (SD Ireland Cancer Research Fund http://www.sdirelandcancerresearch.org/). These are great, fun shirts! (I was wearing one in a previous blog post that said 'Beat It').
So...I hope to see you all at Nectars on Saturday at 5ish! oh....and wear your dancin' shoes, as there will be a DJ!

Now...I'm going to ask that you send warm thoughts to one of my support group friends. (need to ask her if I can share her name...) She found out last week that her cancer had returned and has spread to her bones. Her primary cancer was breast, and she had a mastectomy last year and was presumed to be cancer-free. Since December, she has had back pain. She assumed it was from bending over a machine, making her wooden bowl (one of our group events), however the pain persisted. She had it checked out, and it turned out to be cancer metastisis. She's only in her 30's. It's really a reminder to me how terrible, ruthless, and unfair this disease is...and it angers me beyond belief. She is a great person, who was such a wonderful support to me as I was going through treatment...and my thoughts and prayers have been with her a lot in the past week, as I wish her strength in coping with her new diagnosis and reality. Please include her in your prayers as well...

Status Update

So, thought I'd just give you a quick update on my health...as I realized I haven't done that in while. To start with...I've gained 18 pounds since I finished chemo (yup...that's a lot..considering I only lost 7!). The thing is...food is so good now!! After having no appetite for so long....I'm enjoying everything I can get my hands on! I'm realizing I need to start expending more energy to balance this out (because changing my diet is not an option right now!)... so I'm currently sitting on the couch unable to move due to sore muscles from 2 days at the gym. Granted my workouts are pretty lame...and embarrasing at times...but I'm trying really hard to not get frustrated with myself and my abilities.. and realize that I have to start somewhere.

Another frustration...but improvement is my hair. I now have the energy to be annoyed and embarrased with how much hair I've lost. I know this isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of wellness...but I'd really like to have enough hair to cover my bald spots. I did get a haircut last week, and my hairdresser informed me that it was coming back in (brown and curly)...so that was very promising...because I was starting to get worried!

Finally...the most debilitating and annoying side effect that has lasted is the peripheral neuropathy. Its a sensation that is very hard to describe. I really have limited fine motor skills because I can't feel things. For example...I can't put earrings in that have a backing because I can't feel the backing in my fingers. Sometimes I even have problems putting in earrings without backings because I also can't feel the earring! I also have difficulty opening things, texting, typing, writing, etc. Taking this sensation into consideration, my fingertips and toes are also very sensitive to texture. It hurts to wash my hair, pet my dog, touch a towel, walk barefooted on tile or carpet, etc. It's wierd that I can't feel some things, but others are painful...but its just the way it is. I've been getting vitamin B12 shots weekly for the past 3 weeks to try to help with the neuropathy, but it doesn't seem to be helping. I also just started taking a new medication called neurontin...so hopefully that will help...we'll see!

I think thats all I have to share now. I have a CT scan this week...so we'll see how that goes. Also...party planning is in full force....and going to be a great time! (reminder- nectars..March 1st..5-8pm) Hope to see you there!

Enjoy your week!

a GREAT weekend!

I spent the past four days in Baltimore visiting with friends! It was so great to get away and I had a ton of fun!!! Thanks friends!! You gave me a much needed vacation!!

Yummy Beer Charlie!!!

Cheers Shelber...(you were missed!)Duck pin bowling and 40's...good ol' Bmore fun!

So long port!

Now you see it....
(no..my hair is not greasy dirty...just balding...lovely!)
Now you don't...

My port was removed a couple of weeks ago!!! I was very excited to see it go as it caused me lots of distress related to nausea and vomiting. With this being said... it was a must have for me to get chemo, as it made my treatment much easier. It saved my veins and me the trouble of being poked every five minutes for labs to be drawn or IVs to be started. So, overall, it was very helpful....as hard as that is for me to admit!

Oh...and you might notice that I now have 2 scars from this darn thing. When they took it out, they made a new incision!! This ticked me off a bit! Prior to the procedure (which entailed lidocaine injections, and ativan to chill my nerves a little) I asked the nurse if they could use the same incision, so I would only have one scar. She said that this is what usually happened. Then the doc came in and removed it. As he was finishing, the nurse told me that he made a new incision to get it out easier. I was a little annoyed because I wish the doc would have asked me or even told me what he was doing with an explanation...I would have been okay with the 2 incisions if this were the case. Rather, there was no consideration for me, or a thought that I'm young and sometimes wear shirts or bathing suits that show that part of my body...so it might matter to me that there is an extra scar. Its the first time during this whole experience where I was made to feel like I was just a 'number' as opposed to a whole person. Granted...I realize its not that big of a deal, and I'm not loosing any sleep over it....its just an observation on my part. One of my friends recommended that I get a tatoo to compliment it, as it looks like an equal sign on my chest....so I'm open for any creative ideas! :)