After a wonderful weekend, I learned today that I have another friend down with cancer. Same stuff I have. Same late diagnosis. A person with a million things to do, a new grandchild, a new love, plans for travel...damn! She does not want contact with people now, but I will call her in a couple of weeks. As I was telling my sister, who informed me of this sad news, it feels initially like hitting a blank wall at full speed. She needs time to recover from the shock.
But it was lovely Saturday and Sunday. A get-together at our neighbors' took us from dusk to mysterious night.
And on Sunday we went up to cousins.' Robert barbecued a big piece of beef and I ate so much of it it was obscene. Followed that with home-made lime sherbet. Feeling only a little bilious, I came home and slept for hours and hours!
Sue and Robert's yard: They live up the mountain a ways, and they get even more rain than we do.
I am eating a lot of watermelon! And lasagna!
I'm experiencing the third day post-chemo slump but don't feel all that bad--just drowsy and unenergetic. What a long haul this is, sixth months for me now. Ronni Bennett is having a lot of trouble adjusting to Cancer World, as I did, but being out of the acute stage of diagnosis and life threatening symptoms and treatments has taught me to be patient. The initial chemo phase will be over in a month, and then we shall see what comes next. The various drugs are taking a toll on my vision (cataract) and hearing (getting worse and worse), but I need them in order to endure the cancer drugs. The hydrocodone, which I need to dry up mucus secretions, is not causing me to become an addict. I just take it as prescribed and at the time I am supposed to, and I never crave more.
A friend was visiting yesterday; she had a brain tumor and suffered quite an ordeal in treatment, a lot of which, from listening to her talk about it, was unnecessary. I really feel like I'm getting Cadillac care from Kaiser. Most of this I attribute to the interventions of Ann, the oncology nurse, and the fact that I'm in the category"palliative" rather than "curable." No go for broke measures at this point, anyway. I'm sure no one, including the oncologist, can believe how well I'm doing. This could lead to other treatments that could prolong my life. And I'm all for that!
Yesterday was gorgeous. The light was incredibly strong, and I got some nice shots of my orchids. We have the first hurricane of the season, Fernanda, coming at us. Looks like it will veer north.
This shot is a little fuzzy, and I can't seem to fix it. These are small (one inch) flowers with a vanilla-like fragrance, called Sherry Baby.
I had chemo yesterday, and I can't kid you: it knocked me over. I turned that interesting shade of grey, felt simply awful and full of gloom. I came home and pasta loaded and slept and slept. This A.M. I am on fire with energy and doing all kinds of stuff. This treatment just seems to exacerbate my mercurial nature and mood swings. Well, this is when to get things done! I can doze and grump this afternoon and hang out on Twitter, where the griping never stops!
We are devoting more time to domestic matters, which we have tended to slight in favor of work and travel. We do miss our Mainland excursions and trips and cruises, but it is very rewarding to just be at home, feathering our nest for a change. The house is clean. The fridge and freezer are full of good things to eat. The little cat is thriving. Orchids are looking good. The yard remains a task that we never can complete. It's always out of control. But lovely anyway.
A word about Melanie, my neighbor, supercleaner! She does not just clean the place: Yesterday, she spent a couple hours removing the mildew from the living room ceiling, which now looks great! She has an artistic eye and loves arranging the odds and ends I have around into pleasing displays. She has studied all the arts of home cleaning and decoration, and I am living a much improved version of home life. I am pretty slipshod myself, so having things this way seems very luxurious to me. Terry staunchly maintains his messy office, though. That is the grad school syndrome, which puts many people into a state of permanent disorderliness, similar to what parenthood does, which I made worse by going to grad school in my middle years.. You could kindly call it necessary mess to enhance one's thinking and creative powers, but unkind outsiders might be less forgiving in the appraisal of one's domestic arrangements.
Melanie also takes care of the Air B and B across the street from us and is just a really superior cleaning person! She comes once a week and stays usually for four hours and really enjoys what she is doing. We pay her well, of course, which is something people tend to overlook as an incentive to cleaners/house arrangers. Worth every penny and then some. And a great friend, too.
Little cat is not so little any more. He's so energetic! Here is doing the toilet inspection: Yes, very clean.
Trump said that?
Just: cute.
Sorry those have got to go. His to enjoy until Sept. when he becomes an indoor/outdoor cat with a chip. We need him for vermin control. Terry already goes outdoors with him and lets him roam around under supervision. We certainly are helicopter cat parents!
Friends coming over for lunch, so just a quick note.
In the previous post I wanted to show people what a person looks like who has just had a big jolt of chemo. I'm much better today, eating and sleeping well, friends coming over for lunch.
I posted a shot today, but took it down because Terry says it's not me. He will try to take a better one, then.
Here are a couple Terry took. A lot better, I confess, than the one I did. Isn't he sweet?
See? Now stop being afraid of that chemo! Without it I would be dead!
