Gratitude party!

 It seems like the earth is spiraling off its axis. I decided this was a good time to thank my lucky stars for all the good things in my life, instead of railing about all the bad.  Railing becomes exhausting. 

1. I am so thankful for my hubby. He takes such good care of me and we're so simpatico in many ways, I feel like we're related.  (other than the married thing). Something-something-once removed or whatever. Actually, we ARE likely remotely related but I haven't figured it all out yet. 

2. My family and relatives are the best. They all live hundreds and thousands of miles away but I always feel them hovering over me. A good, loving hover. 

3. I love our yard bunny who comes and goes and amuses us with his Zen-like stillness and concentration.  What is yard bunny thinking about? Probably something along the lines of "Who is going to try to eat me next?" Well, not us, yard bunny--you're safe here (I think he knows)

4. I'm thankful that I'm not dead. Truly. I'm doing well on my medications and currently my cancer is not progressing. Xeloda has been good to me so far. Brain drain is becoming comfortable. Corroded feet and hands are becoming comfortable. As long as the crap is keeping me alive, I'll take the body and mind blows. Ascites is still my nemesis, but it seems to be subsiding somewhat. 

5. I have the most wonderful friends! They check in with me regularly and help keep me positive and in good humor.  

6. My neighbors are great! Although we don't always see eye-to-eye on everything, they continue to be friendly, kind, and compassionate. Awesome! 

7.  I am thankful for Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  'Nuff said. 

That's it for now. Long posts, especially lists, can quickly lose their luster. 

But I'll add more later. 

So, what are you all grateful for? 😍

"Just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in......"*

How is everyone doing? I wish I could bundle you all up and bring you to a big party at our house. I would love to catch up with everyone and share smooches. Coronavirus-free smooches, natch. (Although I’m a Tecate gal myself 😂. If we must drink Mexican beer….)

OK, enough about you—here’s what’s going on with me. Healthwise, I’m doing pretty well. I had a CT scan earlier this month that showed my condition is basically stable. Yay!! I still have the annoying ascites (Fluid in my abdomen) that I have removed every so often (paracentesis). Sometimes it’s a week, sometimes a month between removals. Lately, it’s been 10 days. They’ve been draining anywhere from 3 liters to 5-1/2 liters. My next appointment for that is Monday. Luckily, they’ve been supplementing me with albumen infusions after each paracentesis. Albumen actually comes from plasma donations, so if any of you are able and so inclined, that’s an example of where your donation goes. Eat a nice juicy ribeye before you donate, so there’s lots of yummy protein in your plasma donation. Just a suggestion. 😉

The biggest plus about my condition is that I’m FINISHED WITH IV CHEMO for the time-being. That is so exciting to me. Nearly 2 years of that brain-and-body-depleting stuff. While I’m glad n all that it kept me alive, I was getting disheartened and even a bit bored with the tick-tock sameness of every day. 

I didn’t even put up a tree this Christmas, too tiring. And I usually love to place all my nutty ornaments. 

If we didn’t have medical appointments, we’d never go anywhere!

No, it’s not that bad. I love that we live within an hour or two of lots of interesting places so we can do quickie day trips to see the ocean, mountains, lakes or endless bland & ugly tree farms. I told you about the tree farms, haven’t I?

While I am no longer doing the IV chemo, I’m still using oral chemo, this time a drug called Xeloda. Sounds like a love interest in Star Trek. “Oh, Xeloda, we must link our inter spacial antennae at once!" I hope it kicks butt. It’s 4 pills twice a day. I’m on the 10th day of my first cycle, 14 days on, 7 off. I feel my lovely brain and energy returning. I might even be able to ride my bike soon…

Which brings me to……

MY BACK IS KILLING ME!!!!!

I had a brief hurty incident earlier this month but recovered quickly from that. But as I breathed a sigh of relief, I felt another sharp snap in my back. (Well, it was actually from something a little more strenuous, uh, washing my face. I can’t even have amazing stories to tell about my injuries. Like, I ran into the street to save a litter of kitties from an oncoming steamroller! Nah, just washing my face, regular soap, regular water).

After a visit and x-rays at Urgent Care, I found I have a compression fracture at L1 and possible mets sprinkled along my spine. This past week I had a bone scan and a MRI. Bone scan confirmed fracture but was unclear about the mets. MRI seemed to be pushing for mets. 😟

Darned MRI. Have you ever had one? It’s the highly-stressful test in the tiny tube that bangs out a series of clangs and bongs and boops that does everything to make you insane. 

BUT…

I have figured out a way to make it tolerable. Set the beeps and boops to music!! 🎶 
Here’s what I came up with:

1st series: Badda bump, bah bah bah bah (Stayin’ Alive)

2nd series: Doodoo doodoo doodoo (Beat It)

3rd series: Bamabamabamabamabama (Helter Skelter)

4th series: Ding da ding da ding da DIIIIIIINNNNG (Funeral for a Friend)

5th series: Ba bom bomp. ba bom bomp. ba bom bomp (I can’t dance)

6th series: darnt darnt darnt darnt bam a lam (Black Betty [Ram Jam])

Now that you’re totally convinced that I went insane anyway, I guess I need a brain MRI. 

Meanwhile, my oncologist is setting me up for a PET scan and an appointment with a neuro-surgeon to get a possible kyphoplasty for my spinal fracture. Look it up, it's an interesting procedure and relatively un-invasive. If it’s mets, I’ll probably have what they call palliative radiation treatment. Which is an oxymoron if I ever heard one.

Wish me the best!!!

Love you all!

* Thanks to Kenny Rogers and First Edition