Good News

I had an x-ray yesterday to determine whether there had been any additional fracturing of my pelvic bones, and the results were negative. The two fractures I have haven’t totally healed, but they are beginning to heal, and there’s been no further damage. This is very good news, as I’ve been in a lot more pain recently than I had been. The doctor is currently attributing this to damaged nerves beginning to heal and becoming more sensitive. I was just really afraid my pelvis was collapsing, and it’s good to know it’s still sturdy in spite of all the damage. I don’t get to see the x-rays myself until the 18th of June, but I’ll be eager to compare them to the mothy versions.

I don’t know what’s going on with the round of R-CHOP, but I am so nauseated. Even my anti-nausea meds aren’t helping. I’m so glad I won’t be doing this again anytime soon. Well I’m off to lie down. The monitor is giving me a headache today.

Peak Oil

Call me a scaremonger but PEAK OIL is real and it is happening. Skeptics and deniers can keep their heads in the sand. Even with a small decline of 2% per annum PEAK OIL is estimated to occur around 2018. THAT’S ONLY 10 YEARS AWAY!

Definition:
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum production is reached, after which the rate of production enters its terminal decline. If global consumption is not mitigated before the peak, an energy crisis may develop because the availability of conventional oil will drop and prices will rise, perhaps dramatically. Read more

Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli with Brown Sage Butter and Toasted Pecans

This is a really lovely dish; I generally serve it with a nice salad dressed with an Italian vinaigrette. If you don’t have pecans, hazelnuts are also very nice with this recipe. The measurements of ingredients can be a bit fluid, taste the filling and season to taste. The sage in the filling is optional as sometimes I prefer the delicacy of the pumpkin filling with no further accompaniment, and sometimes I prefer the tang of the sage to pump things up a bit. Read more

Kyoto Protocol Disappointment

Our Labor government signed the Kyoto Protocol last year in Bali. Part of that agreement is an aim to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and promote development of renewable energy and or eco-friendly and efficient fuel.

Why then has this Labor government: Read more

R-CHOP is OVER; yippee!

Today was my last round of R-CHOP, and I’m over the moon ecstatic. I was hoping I’d only have six rounds, and I only had six rounds Yeah! As for my next appointment, as I said yesterday they had an appointment for me, and She-Hulk didn’t have to rear her tomato red bald head . Whoo hoo! Power of positive thinking I guess.

I’m now trying to posively think my way out of the nausea that’s pervading my person. That’s not as easy, and I think I’m going to end up taking a Maxolon for that. I’ve been deep breathing and trying to relax my tummy for hours now, and I’ve tried my old stand-by, crystalized ginger, that’s not working either. I don’t think I’ve been this nauseated after a treatment before. Not even my first treatment. Odd because nothing untoward happened during treatment today. It actually went quite well. The port ran well, and there weren’t any issues with the nurses or anything really, so maybe my body is just as sick of being poisoned as the rest of me.

It’s raining today, for the first time in awhile now. I love the rain, but I have a leak in my roof that needs to be repaired soon, and it’s drip-drip-dripping a reminder my way that I need to call out the a roofing repairman, but that’s for sunnier times. For now, I think I need a bit of a lie down.

Round 6 Day 1

Today I started my last full round of chemo. My port actually bled enough today for them to get a blood sample; the only trouble I had with it was at the end when they do the heparin lock, for some reason, the port didn’t want to take the heparin. They had to fiddle around with it, pushing the needle in deeper, wiggling it around; great fun!

I did speak to the doctor today about the sheath that’s formed over the end of the port-a-cath’s line, he said he suspects if you looked at most of them you’d see the same thing as it’s the body’s natural reaction to attempt to encompass a foreign body. He figures as long as it runs ok tomorrow, we should be ok.

One thing that has me really terribly annoyed is the fact that the clinic has somehow forgotten to schedule my next appointment. When I was in two weeks ago they’d told me they would take care of it, when I went in today they weren’t even aware I’d be in tomorrow for Day 2 of my R-CHOP treatment; I’ve been going here for 12 weeks now; my treatment doesn’t vary itself it’s quite standardized. Today they told me they couldn’t schedule my next appointment within the doctor’s timeframe (two weeks from today) because they didn’t have any appointments and don’t have any even three weeks out. I don’t know what’s happened to the place. They’re seemingly falling apart. In my husband’s words “They couldn’t organize a root in a brothel” — root is Australian for…. well you know. I just don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve been nice, calm, rational Jackie up to this point. If I go in tomorrow and they haven’t sorted this out I’m going to become She-Hulk… Jackie Smash Schedule! Seriously though, I’ve been a patient with a standarized treatment going in every two to three weeks regularly. They didn’t anticipate the appointments I would need. I feel maybe I’m somehow a substandard cancer patient; I’m not dying and so don’t need palliative care. In fact I’m seemingly cured, I’ve never looked particularly sick, though I’m tragically bald, still for my treatment to work as it should I need to complete it within a particular time period, and I will just say here and now they will have an appointment for me in two weeks; even if loud, obnoxious, indignant cancer patient Jackie has to rear her tomato red, shiny bald head and raise the roof of that place. I sound angry, don’t I? I’m a bit at the end of my tether after being badly jerked around over last treatments’ blood transfusion. I don’t particularly care to be jerked around, and since my accounts with them are currently all up to date, I do feel I have a bit of a right to expect a certain level of care.

Anyway, I’m not really angry, just averse to being jerked around, well more than averse; I refuse to allow it. It’s my health at stake, and I’m not going to risk that so that I can appear polite. I am polite, but if you step all over me, you can expect to see the ugly side of me. I’ve said it before, you have to be your own advocate when it comes to your health, because no one else will be.

Crazy Sexy Cancer

Kris Carr, the subject, director & producer of the documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer and the author of the book Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips was on Oprah today. She’s a woman who was diagnosed with an incurable, indolent (slow growing) form of cancer; at the time she was diagnosed she was stage IV (end stage) and had a series of liver and lung tumors. She manages her cancer through diet, yoga and positivity, and her tumors seem to no longer be growing. I guess she will not necessarily be classified as being in remission, but she’s alive and enjoying living. She’s not holding up her life waiting for cancer to kill her. She realized that universally life is a terminal condition; everyone will die, and no one really knows when they may die.

It was interesting to hear her talk about her cancer. Like me she never felt sick; she still doesn’t; like me her treatments made her feel more ill than her disease. Also, I’ve described this cancer as a blessing in disguise before, and she said the same about hers. I guess like so many of us who’ve been touched by the disease, it makes you slow down and appreciate your life, the people who love you and who are loved by you, the things in your existence that give you pleasure like being around to pet your cat in the warmth of a sunbeam.

Dr. Mehmet Oz was on with her, and he and Oprah both said some things I found somewhat curious. He said if he got cancer he would be angry and looking for someone to blame. I really don’t understand that; I guess I don’t see someone as being in control of doling out cancer… if I did I would probably kick their ass . Oprah asked her, didn’t you ask yourself why me? Her answer to the last question was the same as mine, why not me? Not that there’s some hat somewhere and if you draw out cancer it saves someone else, but I guess I’ve always felt at least I’m someone who can deal with it.

Anyway it was interesting to see someone else’s viewpoint on the whole thing. Her situation isn’t the same as mine; I’m very lucky in that mine is a very curable cancer, but I guess it’s only natural to occasionally consider the possiblity of relapse, though honestly I feel cured already. Tomorrow is the first day of my last full treatment, and it’s been hard to think of having three treatments after I was already diagnosed as being cancer free, but now it’s about to be over, and that’s another thing for which I’m so grateful.

Blindsighted (print)

Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter (2001). Karin Slaughter’s writing style is fast paced and absolutely compelling; she tackles confronting subject matter while still managing to take the time to develop her characters; all qualities I enjoy in an author. Be warned in advance though, the book graphically depicts some extraordinarily violent events.

No sooner do you meet the town paediatrician and coroner, Dr. Sarah Linton, than she’s discovering a blind woman who’s been brutally raped and mutilated in a local diner. When the victim dies, her autopsy reveals even more horror, and the small town is rocked by the violence. Personal tensions mount as Sarah is forced to work with her charming ex, Police Chief Jeffrey Toliver and the twin sister of the deceased, detective Lena Adams. When a second victim lands literally on Sarah’s car, it becomes increasingly likely Sarah is key in finding the killer.

The pace of the book never falters, yet the characters are well drawn. If you’re at all interested in psychological thrillers, and not afraid of gory detail, you’ll enjoy this first offering of a talented author.

What Really Matters

I had a particularly trying day of work today, mainly due to the fact that Microsoft doesn’t provide particularly good documentation for creating multi-project project templates for Visual Studio, which probably means little to nothing to most of the people I know. In any case I need to create some very specific functionality in these templates, and I’m pretty much flying blind working the trail and error angle. It’s nice in a way because you really learn a LOT, but it’s a very frustrating and time consuming way to get anything done.

At some point the frustration overtook me, and I just decided I needed a break, so I wondered off to my kitty cat’s hide-a-way. Our front room has a sofa situated in front of a window that gets hours of gorgeous morning sun, and my cat likes to sleep in the cushions along the back of the sofa right in a sunbeam. Sitting next to him, petting his little head while he stretched up to push against my hand, I really had an opportunity to think about what a charmed life I have. I’ve always been a big believer in keeping the things for which you’re thankful front and center in your awareness; I think it helps keep you grounded and happy. Certainly having the freedom to stroll into my front room and spend time showing my kitty how much I love him is something for which I’m extremely thankful. I also consider it a blessing to be able to prepare lunch for my husband and myself almost every afternoon. Particularly, making something healthy and delicious that my husband can enjoy makes me feel like I’m taking care o fhim, and is a way for me to show him how important he is to me, and I really enjoy cooking. I know for some people cooking can be a chore, but I really love it. In a lot of ways it’s a form of expression for me, and I just really enjoy it.

I also consider myself really fortunate to have been able to spend time with my mom when she was here earlier this year, and I’m really grateful for how supportive and loving my family has been, and when I say my family I mean my family overseas and my family here too, because my in-laws have been so supportive. Anyway, I guess it’s just been one of those introspective days, and I’m really happy to have had the chance to be introspective. It makes life more fun.

Brisbane Day Trips: Mount Tamborine Wineries

Brisbane is a great location; it’s centered between the Gold and Sunshine Coasts with all the beautiful beaches that can be found on both; Dream World, Sea World, Wet-n-Wild, and Warner Brother’s Movie World are within a half hour drive of the city; there’s tons of parkland surrounding the city and a number of easily accessible Wildlife Parks including Australia Zoo. All this makes it easy to arrange really great day trips in and around Brisbane. Read more

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