Hittin' the road again

I hit the road again for another week of treatment. I am not whining mind you. I know there are some who would gladly make the drive everyday if they could only find a job. So no whining here.
How about complaining? Is complaining allowed? Ok, I guess not....even if it was allowed I would really have no reason to complain. I will be spending the morning and/or afternoon with a good friend and who can complain about that? Not me.

So, as there is no further information other than I am on the road again, I will go and have my 2nd cup of coffee and be thankful even if we do have to drive 3+ hours for a 5 minute treatment. Dang! I'm sorry, it just slipped out.

Hello Patches Pals

As a little girl I loved watching JP Patches on TV. He had an ICU2 tv set and every day he would mention names of kids who were watching. He never called my name but I still waited every day to hear it. I loved his silly jokes, and alter egos. JP's name was Julius Pierpont Patches...along with JP was Boris S. Wort, The Swami of Pastrami, LeRoy Frump, Superclown, PJ Scratches and more.

The show ran from 1958 to 1981. This was my entire childhood.
As I sat and laughed with JP I never thought that in the future I would be sitting and laughing with him as we both waited for radiation treatment.
That is the experience I had yesterday and will have in the upcoming week.
It may sound silly but I loved sitting with JP, both of us in our attractive treatment attire...discussing life and laughing. The best thing about yesterday was that I was a Patches Pal and not a cancer patient. Thank you JP.

The shin bone's connected to the ......

So yesterday I learned something new. I learned that your shin bone is also called your TIBIA. I knew I had a tibia but I wasn't sure where exactly it was located. Now I am sure and I am taking my tibia bone every day to radiation treatment.

But wait... there's more I also learned that my tibia will be at it's weakest point after the radiation is done. Huh? So I asked my Dr. that same question..."huh?"

You see, the cancer does not grow on the outside of the bone like a barnacle. It grows in the porous section of the bone....the little teeny tiny holes in your bones. As it expands and grows the bones begin to break....it ain't pretty.

So to prevent your bone from breaking...which would seriously hurt and which outcome I am doing my best to avoid, the cancer must die by radiation. All of a sudden I feel like Jack Bauer with a big gun that shoots radiation!

But wait there's more...You would think that killing the cancer cells in your tibia is a good thing...and you would be right....buuuuttttt..it is at that time that the tibia is most likely to break. Huh?
So I asked my Dr. that same question..."huh?"

When the cancer dies, the area where the cancer cells were becomes hollow until the bone can regenerate new bone. It works the same as if you had actually broken the bone. The process of regeneration takes about 6-8 weeks. And the word on the street is that the bone becomes stronger by virtue of the breaking.
Now that, in my opinion, is a metaphor for life.

Thank you all

I just want to say thank you to everyone of you. Some of you I have met, some I have known for years and years and years and years, some are family, some are friends of family, and some just ended up here somehow. I am grateful for you no matter what category you fall in.

Today, due to my current situation, I want to give a Super Friends shout out to the two girls that are putting in the miles for me this week. Thanks beyond measure goes to you both.

And thank you as well to my new friends that are coming here, in exactly 32 minutes to drive me to Seattle again for radiation and Dr. Radiation, otherwise known as Dr. Landis.

And the fun never stops....well, actually it does...pretty much every day...but I just keep reminding myself that the fun never stops.....it's complicated....we will talk about it later. : )

A BLITTS update

The situation, as it stands now, it still a bit fluid. WOW! I just thought about what that sentence looks like to a person with Asperger's.
First off, situations don't stand...and fluid is liquid. So to rephrase...The circumstances I am in now, are still changing. I was informed yesterday that my radiation treatment will continue for another week.
So all of the things I took off the calendar for this week and moved to next week, now have to be taken off the calendar for next week and moved to the following week...if that is even possible.

I still don't really know what chemotherapy medicine I will be taking. There are many many choices, all poisonous, all with side effects, some with horrible side effects, some with very few,some that are taken weekly and some every 3 weeks.

I know some of you have been through this before. And if you have, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from you.

The chemo also requires a "port" which is a little dealybop they sick in your chest to administer the poison.

I have no idea yet how long I will be taking this medicine. I have heard it could be up to a year. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

So.........onward and upward as they say. I don't think they are necessarily happy when they say it, but they still say it because it is the right thing to do.

Here we go again

My new round of radiation treatment starts today. Yippee (she said through gritted teeth). Supposedly, I will be through this round by Friday. Next step will be Cyber Knife...possibly...then chemo. Yahoo (jaw still clenched).

Well, I gotta go now....my happy place is calling.

When life gives you lemons

After the results of my last scan, I have been wondering. I realize that "it is what it is" as they say, but......is it possible that....naahh, probably not so much.

Phew! I feel better now that that issue is resolved. Next issue please.

When life gives you lemons what should you do? Ok, altogether now, "MAKE LEMONADE". And when life gives you ginger, put the lemon and the ginger in a small teapot, wait 3 minutes and drink.

Great advice I believe as lemon and ginger have both been noted for slowing the spread of cancer. Who is not going to be all over that I ask myself!! And "HELLO", at this time of year isn't it time to start thinking of all things ginger? For the ginger impaired let me just say GINGERBREAD. Enough said.

So, when life gives you lemons don't whine, just add a little ginger and let your imagination run wild...you know....within reason...don't go too crazy....maybe just make tea...or some gingerbread...that's all I"m saying.