See, I knew moving back home would begin to provide me with some interesting stories. Please, allow me to start from the beginning.

I have almost always had incredibly long hair. I think for the last almost decade my hair has been below my shoulders and almost down to my waist at times. However, with the impending threat of possibly loosing my hair due to Chemo, I decided to have it cut so if I did lose it, it wouldn't be too much of a shock. It now sits just above my shoulders and I have swoop bangs. (never had bangs in my life!).

Due to the cancer I have also been having constant fevers that last all day so my parents invested in some beanie hats for me to wear to help keep me worm. Apparently the change in hair and dress style was far too much for the dog to take in at one time.

The dog in question? This one. Lizzie.

 

She is the mild-mannered sweetheart who I have dubbed Little-shit Lizzie or Chicken-shit Lizzie in the past. Why? Because she is a chicken. I was harassing the dogs one day in the past and she nearly peed all the way down the hallway when she thought I was going to break into the house. Our other dog was just standing there wagging her tail at me.

Anyway. Yesterday I am standing in the living room as my mother cooks Thanksgiving dinner and I am pulling on my layers, jacket zipped up and beanie firmly in place. When I hear Lizzie's prancing walk coming down the hall. Suddenly there is the sound of nails scrapping on the hardwood floors as the dog is trying to double back, barking viciously.

Kahlua, our 100+ pound chocolate lab comes barreling down the hall, fully prepared to get whatever cat is walking through the yard, but Lizzie isn't after a cat. Empowered by Kahlua's presence, Lizzie eyes her target and goes psycho. I'm talking the hair all the way down her back was standing on end and and the fangs were out. It was only as she charged at me did I realize she didn't recognize me.

Thankfully I was able to pull the beanie off before she got to me. She also didn't come near me for a few hours after that. Kahlua on the other hand... kept walking around to all the windows looking for the damn cat that didn't exist.

2nd Cancer Post

Just to start off, I will be posting on things besides my cancer updates. I mean, I am living back home with my parents so I am beyond positive my mother will provide me with numerous stories to tell you about and some poetry will follow as well. But on to the update.

I went to the oncologist Tuesday and got the run down of everything. One of the key things that I liked about the whole appointment was that Chemotherapy has come a long way and nausea/vomiting/fatigue is not as common as it use to me. It is still a factor in the treatment but my doctor believes that I wont be physically restricted by it much if at all. I am very happy about that.

There are different stages of the cancer and two different grades as well. I am doing several blood tests, chest x-rays, three CT scans, and a bone marrow biopsy all before next Tuesday to find out the exact stage of the cancer (how far it has progressed). The doctor determined just from my symptoms that I am at at least stage 2 of 5 and that I have several "B" symptoms which means this is the aggressive grade of the disease. But still, looking at good odds.

The treatment actually happens in six cycles, each lasting 21 days. As to how many of those days I will actually be having my treatments, we don't know yet. We have to wait for all the other testing to get in and a port or PICC line to be done. It is basically an IV catheter inserted into the artery in my upper arm, or in my chest by my heart. I am personally leaning towards the arm.

But to be honest, the biggest adjustment of this all has been moving back home. It is by far the biggest mental battle these last few days at least. It's a challenge to go from living your life the way you had envisioned it in a town that had everything you could want, to being back in a small country town and relatively dependent on your parents. HOWEVER, I thought this would be a good time to look at the positive things this move has brought with it. Here are three of them.

1) A tank of gas will last me nearly a full month. Nothing to do, no where to go, saves gas. Always a plus.

2) Access to a full size washer/dryer/dishwasher. If you have ever lived in an apartment, you know what I am talking about. Those things are tiny.

3) Mama's cooking. Nothing beats a home cooked meal, and no home cooked meal is better than my mother's cooking. Especially with my birthday being... tomorrow... huh, I thought I had a few days still. Anyway. She is going to spoil me with my favorite meal and my favorite cake. So big pluses there.


I am currently still getting settled in but hopefully the whole process will be done by next weekend so I can get to my writing, even if it is just rambles to get my thoughts out. Thank you again to everyone for all the messages and emails. They have kept me smiling and moving forward. Thank you. Thank you.

1st Cancer Post

Firstly, I want to thank absolutely everyone for their kind words, well wishes, thoughts and prayers. It is overwhelming to receive so many yet I am so unbelievable grateful for each and every one. Thank you.

I know there is a rough road ahead of me but I guess it hasn't really sunk in yet. I figure when I go to the first Oncologist appointment it will. That comes soon enough. As for right now, I am in high spirits. I mean, I'm a pretty relaxed individual to begin with. I take things as they come and don't get worked up about much. So until something comes at me with this, I'm not really feeling any nerves. Though I'm sure that will change in the next few days. lol

So I thought I would start this journey off with the decision that changed and probably in the long run will save my life, my surgery. I had actually been tempted to put it off when it was first suggested due to limited finances, but thankfully (and an odd thankfully it is) the pain was so bad that it interfered too much with my daily life to be ignored. So I did what I needed to and scheduled the surgery for as soon as I could.

For my first post, I want to remember the first real step in the right direction. And I mean... chicks dig scars, right???

It's about two inches long and the stitches just came out Monday when I found out the news. My mother joked that I waited too long because Halloween was the day BEFORE my surgery. I could have gone as Frankenstein.

Wish I could find the picture after my needle biopsies... Looked like a vampire had gotten a hold of me. (Side note, it is so red and the extra lines on my neck are from the layers of tape we had just removed. No worries.)

And now just over a week later. (And yes I purposefully wore the same shirt. I am that much of a dork.):

I will be posting another update once I get settled back home and see my new doctor on Tuesday. Thank you all again. You are making this a good start to a long journey.