Days 85 & 86 - Uh oh... Falling behind!

Hello Everyone!


I am sorry for not keeping you up to speed! Things are getting out of control so quickly!! I've been home for 2 days now. Still not unpacked & I'm leaving again today! I'm off to visit Roxy & meet up with Janis & hopefully Robyn tomorrow for lunch. Then it's back home for Saturday night & off to see Madelaine (Mom2) on Sunday morning. Yikes!


Anyhow, I'm supposed to be long gone for Roxy's house, but I'm not even showered yet & I'm awaiting a call from Dr. Castillo. I figured I would take the time to try & catch up while I sit & wait. Did I mention the car has been running since 11 this morning??!! The battery was dead & Mom had the bright idea to boost it & then leave me at home alone. Never mind the fact I wasn't planning on going anywhere until later this afternoon!!! There goes my carbon footprint! :o)


So, back to those sea days, not too much exciting happened. The evening we left Costa Rica, things got rough. No, Jaco & I didn't have a massive fight & no, my health didn't take a turn for the worse. It was the ocean. She was angry about something! We crashed & bashed & floated around like twig on a river. It was next to impossible to walk anywhere. I would pick up my foot & it would end up somewhere other than where I thought it would land. I would shake back & forth, grabbing onto whatever I could to keep upright. We had to slow our speed to about 9 kts in order to withstand the storm. It was crazy! The worst bang was about 0030 - a massive wave struck the side of the ship & made a very loud BANG! We shook back & forth & the cabin rocked about. A few glasses fell off the table, but luckily they didn't break. It was difficult to sleep, as with every wave I would shift in bed. It was crazy! 


The next day was somewhat smoother, but not a whole lot. We managed to pick up our speed a little & then caught a ride on a current to make up for the lost time the night prior. It's very strange to be on a ship that moves about so much. I got out of the shower, put my lotion on & then proceeded to have a pee, if you will. We were rocking about so much, I thought I was going to slip right off the seat! :o)


Jaco was busy working long hours, trying to prepare for his handover to the next Doctor, taking care of everything happening onboard & also trying to pack. Luckily I managed to pack up most of my stuff well in advance. 


It was very sad to say goodbye. I was pretty much a mess. We didn't get to sleep until 0300, as Jaco was busy with work. We were up at 0630 & I was off the ship by 0800. I was ready to get off the ship, but not ready to say goodbye to Jaco. He has been absolutely wonderful these past 40 days & I am now finding it difficult to fill my days without him. 


The ship was great for my heart & poor for my health. As wonderful as they say the food is, if you take away the white flour, white sugar, vinegar, tomatoes, alcohol & pork, there isn't a lot on their menu to enjoy. And the few things there are, well, after 40 days, if I never see another baked potato again, it will be all too soon!!!


I was at the airport by 0900 & my flight didn't leave until 1500. Oh boy. I managed to meet a lovely couple from Calgary, who had also been on the ship. I hadn't seen them before, but we enjoyed wonderful conversation in Fort Lauderdale, Toronto, & Calgary. I am going to visit them one of these days & meet their cat, K.C.. 


Yes, my luggage was overweight. Instead of 50 lbs, they were 55 & 68 lbs. I somehow managed to escape overweight fees, as they told me I could only take one carry on bag & therefore I HAD to put some stuff into my suitcase. I picked the heaviest one & piled it in. When they said it was too heavy, I asked what I should do, as they just told me to eliminate a carry on bag! ;o)


Mom was at the airport to meet me with Valentina. She remembered me! I have never seen her so excited! Kisses & kisses & wet willies - it was perfect! I missed her a lot! We have a lot of training to do to get her up to par for a service dog!


Thankfully it's been above freezing every day so far. I'm loving the non-icy roads! Hence the little side trip today! Keep the warm weather here! 


Yesterday was my appointment at Tom Baker. Apparently they were going to drop me as a patient because I rescheduled 2 appointments. I'm not sure if this was just a scare tactic or what, but in any case, my Oncologist was at a meeting, but then, last minute, he walks in through the door. Hmm, something fishy is going on. 


The last time I saw him, he tried to scare me into chemo. Telling me I'm going to die if I don't take it & no shark tooth cartilage is going to work. (I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but teeth don't have cartilage!) Anyhow, I was excited to go & see him because when I left my neck was getting smaller. Now that it's big again, well, not so exciting. 


He wants me to do a core needle biopsy. Basically it is similar to a FNA - Fine Needle Aspiration - but they use a much (MUCH) bigger needle. Apparently it's the size of a pencil lead. Now, you know they aren't saying, yeah, it's the size of a mechanical pencil lead, it's the size of a giant souvenir, lasts forever kinda pencil lead. Great. Well, I did a quick search on the internet about 'biopsy seeding' & apparently when they poke into the tumor, cancerous cells escape from the entry point of the needle & spread elsewhere, rather than staying contained within the original tumor. Great, again. http://chetday.com/needlebiopsy.htm 


I will say, in the past, the 3 times I had FNA's, the tumors did increase in size much quicker than when they had been left alone. I am also having great pangs of panic in taking the chemo pills. Thus I am awaiting the call from Dr. Castillo. 


Oh yes, the needles... I'm back to doing my own shots again. Left thigh, no problem. Right thigh, well, I keep getting those little pockets. I just can't seem to get it into the muscle. Argh. And, I nearly broke my little toe again. I stubbed it on Jaco's bag - I broke my toe this past summer on my bed post. Yeow!


Moving along... I spoke with a lady last night who has been to Dr. Castillo's clinic for Lymphoma. We had an amazing chat. There were a lot of very serendipitous moments! It was the best thing I could have done, considering the current health situation. I'm very excited for what's to come!


Lastly, Mom bought a new treadmill!!! Yay! Her old one had a really narrow tread & a dial with which to control the speed. I'm a bit particular when I'm on a treadmill; I like to know exactly how fast I'm going, how many calories I've burned, etc, etc. The new one is awesome! I can't wait to get on it! Which brings me to my next point. I feel like Renee Zelwegger in Bridget's Jones Diary. You know, the part where she writes in her diary about her weight & pounds lost. I weighed myself at the clinic yesterday. 158 lbs. I'm a porkchop! Okay, so on the bright side, I've finally got boobs, but I'm in sweat pants, as the rest of my pants don't fit! Thank goodness for that treadmill! I've gained a whopping 35 pounds in 2 years! And 25 of them were in the last 6 weeks! On the bright side, I'm not one of those cancer patients who is experiencing 'rapid weight loss'! :o)


So there you have it... Back to Bragg & cuddling with the critters. I wish you all a warm winter & hope that life it treating you very, very well! 


All my love & hugs & sorry again for the delay between posts!!! 
xxxx
Maria

Lovely. Snow. But at least it's not the deep freeze! More like a refrigerator.

The new treadmill upon which I shall shed my ghetto booty.

Tweet Pea!

I wanted to photograph Valentina sitting sweetly in her little bed with her toys, but when I got the camera ready, I accidentally tipped my piece of toast with peanut butter & banana & 2 pieces of banana fell off. Valentina quickly jumped out of her bed & licked the peanut butter off. Oops! :o)