Day 511 - St. Lucia

Today was nothing short of interesting! We were in St. Lucia today & after the past few days of diving, I wasn't in the sight-seeing mode. I opted instead, to try & find some wifi in the terminal. 

I like the terminal in St. Lucia. I've found a few cheap bargains over the years & you never what you'll find. I wandered around the shops & found myself in Diamonds International. Now, just for the record, DI is NOT one of the shops I find cheap bargains in. In fact, I am a strictly window shopper when I'm in that shop! 

When I strolled into the shop today, I was immediately approached by some of the salespeople. They asked if they could help & I said I was just looking. They were all smiles. Then, one of them tells me he has the perfect watch to match my laptop bag. My laptop bag is purple. I smiled sweetly. Then he comes over with a Hublot watch. It has a purple band & plenty of diamonds on the face of the watch. He slips it on my wrist & everyone oooh's & aaah's over the stunning timepiece. I said it was nice, but I'd prefer the diamonds on a nice eternity band instead. To which he replied, 'Platinum or gold?' I said, 'Platinum, of course!'

So there I was with this fancy Hublot watch & a stunning eternity band on my left wrist & hand. Sigh. That's a lot of glitter & glam! They told me if I bought the watch, they'd throw in the ring for free. Ha! The watch was only $23,000. Cough.

After I had removed all of their precious gems & metals, I looked around the shop. The salesgirls chatted with me & complimented my haircut. Pretty soon a few of the salesmen joined in. Before I knew it, we were a group of 6 & I was showing them my wig photos from Christmas, as well as wedding photos & pre-chemo hairdo's. We had a good laugh about all of it. Nice bunch of people working there!

From there I ended up at a little picnic bench next to a few crew who were hacking into the rum shop's free wifi. I joined them & settled in to update the blog. I hadn't been there for very long when 2 couple from the UK sat down at the table with me. Turns out they were from Harrogate! I've been to Harrogate! To Betty's for cream tea! Forgive me if I get their names wrong - Bob, Mark, Mary & Grace. The didn't even know they were on the same cruise until they were onboard! Fantastic! I told them about the blog - although I'm so far behind I'm sure they've given up by now! (Sorry guys!)

Today was also our anniversary! Our 1st 2nd Anniversary! 2 years ago today, we married in the Namib desert at a little place called 'Deadvlei'. If you haven't seen the photos, go to this link & scroll down to March 18th. Mario is an AMAZING Photographer. 

Jaco surprised me today with a dozen beautiful red roses! I was so impressed when he told me he did it all on his own accord! I thought surely the girls in the clinic had put him up to it! But nope! We had a lovely dinner at the Pizzeria - funnily enough, so did the rest of the Medics! They were at a different table with Eddie, the Medical Steward, as a farewell/thank you dinner for all parties involved. Rafeeq is the Supervisor in the Pizzeria & he & Jaco hail from South Africa, so they were able to have some chitty-chatty in Afrikaans in between courses. Rafeeq is a real sweetheart. He knows that Jaco likes these little nut squares & always makes an effort to send a plate of them back with Jaco or myself. 

Tonight I also had an email from Dr. Daly regarding my PET scan results. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but not entirely dire, either. Basically they didn't get a great scan so they want me to redo it in 3 months time. They think there *might* be some residual disease, but they aren't sure. (Most likely because they lost the 4th cycle scan of my head & neck. Yeah.) In any case, I'm not panicking & neither should you. Just pray! I'll keep you posted on what's next!

And with that, the day is done. I'm going to spend some time with my husband. Did I mention that I am married to the most wonderful man on the planet? He is more than I could have ever asked for, dreamed for, hoped for, longed for, or wanted for. I love you Jaco. 

xxxxMaria

The crew in Diamonds International

 Beautiful Roses from my Baby!

 My handsome Husband.

 Hmm... What's new on the menu? (Inside joke!) (The menu NEVER changes!)

 Rafeeq & Jaco

 Nic, Nelis, Eddie, Leana & Bronwyn

The Photogs were dining beside us! Larisa, Nacho, Taufiq & Craig

 The work of the AMAZING Mario Sales

Mario's Artistic Talents on our Special Day!

Day 292 - Round 3 of AVD

Well today was certainly a mish-mash of positives & negatives. Mom2 came with me & was by my side the entire day. Right up until we dropped her off & she sent me home with a turkey bun. (+) We scooted over to HomeSense while we waited for my drugs & she found some pots & woks she had been on the hunt for. (+) She kept me preoccupied & laughing when the treatment got crazy. (+) And she got to meet her new Doctor - my Doctor - Dr. Daly. (+)


And there was the treatment. Blood work was quick & relatively painless. (+) There was no fishing in my arm for a vein. (+) When it came time for chemo, they found a good vein (+) or did they? (-) By the third drug, Dacarbazine, my veins had had enough. My arm was cold to the touch, but the sensation was that of fire. (-) They slowed the drip rate down 3x, but it still hurt. (-) To make matters worse, I had to have an anti-emetic after the chemo. (-) They are out of the pill form of the usual anti-emetic I take, but they have the syrup. I took the syrup the last time & it was brutal on my teeth. Needless to say, I was tired & grumpy by the end of the session. 


Thankfully the Nurses were AWESOME as usual. Mom2 & I had been talking about the hospital a few days before & she thought I was absolutely mental when I said I looked forward to visiting with the Nurses & how friendly & nice everyone was. Only now did she understand my thoughts! We enjoyed visiting with the girls & I even showed them Jaco & I's wedding photos from Namibia (which Mario just won another award with us in his portfolio!). It was priceless, as one of the Nurses was convinced that Jaco's profile looks exactly like Dr. Lategan & she found it her sole purpose that day to convince all the other Nurses to come & have a look at the profile. Her enthusiasm was infectious. (About the only infectious thing you'd want to pick up in a treatment room!) :o) We were all in stitches every time she would call another Nurse over to have a look.


I was excited to see that the Beautiful Sam was in the treatment room again. She makes my day. We enjoyed visiting about our dogs & I'm hoping she'll bring them out for a run on the ranch before the snow falls! 


Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined that I would meet so many wonderful people while taking chemo treatments. I was the girl who was strictly opposed to any sort of Western Medicine intervention. I thought it was all one big pharmaceutical push & the Doctors were pretty much robots who were trained to have textbook answers for all the questions. Who would have thought I would ever meet Doctors & Nurses with *GASP* personalities!? I feel like I have another family & I still have 9 more rounds to go! I realize they see a lot of people come & go, but they have made this part of my journey absolutely enjoyable & I can't say enough how much I appreciate that. Hmm, they did mention something about coffee & chocolate... :o)


Of course, Mom had to stop at Costco. I shouldn't have gone in, but I did. Just stay in the car, Jill! But no. I was hungry & enjoyed the Caesar salad sample, so at least that made it worthwhile! Mom2 found another wok & Mom picked up her fruit fix for the week. 


We drove to Mom2's where she made me a delish turkey bun & then it was home time. I crashed on the way home (as in sleep - Mom was driving) & did my best to sleep off the effects of the drugs. 


Tonight was Valentina's last night in the big bed. Tomorrow she graduates to the Big Girl Bed when Papa gets here... Not long to go now! Can't wait!


xxxxx
Maria & Valentina

Oh where oh where is my Mexican Hot Pack?

Heating my veins for the poison

Iny saying, 'There, there! You see! It's Dr. Lategan!'

'Don't you think so!? It's him!'

'Her husband looks just like Dr. Lategan!'

Mom2 & I

Mom & I

A Rose between 2 Tulips (Dr. Daly & his two 'Favourite' patients - I'm recruiting to make it a family affair!) :o)