I think this morning I’m going to make a kind of cinnamon roll using a nice mix of Cinnamon, Cardamom, Nutmeg and a bit of Vanilla. That sounds like it would be great with a cup of coffee (I seldom drink coffee, but this morning I might!)
When the bread’s had a second rise I’ll roll a Cinnamon-Spice mixture into the dough, then do some creative cutting and splitting and try to make something pretty. Once it’s baked up, I may add a bit of icing and there’s Sunday morning, done and dusted!
This is a bit of a rambly post, I think that has a lot to do with a week of very little sleep and a LOT of chemo drug therapy. In the coming week(s) I may need a transfusion to help with my strength. But what I DO want to convey in this post is my thanks to all of you who have traveled on this road, and have reached out to me, showing off signposts and short cuts along the way.
Thank you. You make me feel braver than I am, and I am grateful!
In 2016 we decided to downsize from our lovely home over in the Crocus Hill area of St. Paul to the East Side, by Lake Phalen. It’s a different neighborhood — slightly less ‘well off’ — but dynamic and beautiful. It’s an area where folks have lived for generations, and new folks are moving in…
Pain is such a game changer. It feels good to discuss it, but I also know how boring it must be to open my blog and read, “Pain, blah, blah, blah, PAIN!”
But that’s my reality today. Which is so weird after a few weeks of very good pain control. It also makes me wonder if the chemo pump drugs I’m on are having some kind of effect on my pain meds, perhaps undercutting them in some way..?
Tomorrow I’ll go back to the pump room to get more drugg-age to be pumped into my body and into my soul. All night long.
Tomorrow I’m ALSO going for some kind of special big-time Xray at St. Paul Radiology so they can get a very good look of how my Spine tumor has dealt with the death ray we like to call “Radiation Therapy”
We just keep looking for the exhaust port in this Tumor so my tiny little Luke Skywalker can send some radiation torpedoes down it. Tomorrow we see how successful those X-wings have been.
I don’t remember Gerry eating anything, but I had a bowl of Minnestrone soup and it was delicious. Then we went for a walk around the village, and ended up at the Prince Street Cafe. It seemed like a nice date, but nothing earth shaking. And then we noticed that all of the chairs were upside on the tables and the wait staff was eager for us to leave. We’d closed the place down, and I felt as though I’d been talking to one of my best friends for 3 hours.
Just a bit of hand sewing to go![/caption]
I want a Chemo Uniform.
I want something that’s easy to put on, take off, wash and just NOT THINK ABOUT.
Perfection would be a pretty linen dress that’s a big apron with lots of pockets. So I made it. I may make another (in a different fabric) because this is going to be going on for more than a few months, and I just don’t want to have to spend time deciding what to wear each day.
Yesterday Gerry, Andy and I went to “Chemo Class” and learned about things to watch out for during my chemo (which starts on Monday, Aug 20 – our 25th Wedding Anniversary…) and get details on the average Chemo day, tips on dealing with the nausea, etc. It was a good and helpful 40 minutes given…
I don’t know where the disconnect is, but I’m hoping that when I go back on Thursday for my “Chemo Class” I’ll get a better feeling about the place. After my meeting with my doc, when ALL I wanted to do was crawl home, write a bit, do some research and contemplate what I’d just been told, I had to spend an hour standing up, leaning on a high counter, while one of the receptionists scheduled appointments.
Making a woman with so much cancer pain stand at a reception desk for an hour scheduling simple appointments just seems cruel. At the least it seems they should have a dedicated scheduler on staff where a client can SIT DOWN with office staff and work through setting up appointments.
The diagnosis of my cancer was PDQ (pretty damn quick), coming immediately after they’d finished my MRI on July 23rd. At the time I was a bit nonplussed when the ER doc, after one test, made a pretty conclusive initial diagnosis; “Well, you DON’T have Fibromyalgia, you’ve got CANCER.” After a bit of discussion I…
