This was a very busy week - the furnace conversion (from gas to oil) started bright and early on Wednesday morning. We also had our window sills repaired and window wells installed at the same time so we had a lot going on at the house this week, I felt like we were on one of those HGTV shows.
On Thursday my friend John Wu came over and delivered me ginseng. Tran wants me to start to drink ginseng in tea to help with my energy level so I asked John if he could buy me some because you have to get it at an Asian grocery store and its supposed to thinly sliced etc etc - it was just easier for John to get it for me. So, he took time out of his lunch hour to go buy it for me and deliver it to me at home - how nice is that? Dom was disappointed that he missed John Wu again - because John and I used to work together, I used to tell Dom a lot of stories about John and so John is sort of like Polkaroo - missed him again.
On Thursday night I met my friend Trena for dinner. I've known Trena for almost 15 years - I met Trena working at the River Run Centre when I was in university. We figured out that we hadn't seen each other in five years so needless to say we had a lot of catching up to do. Its great seeing old friends (friends that you've had for a long time, not old as in age - you know what I mean) because you hang out and chat just like you saw each other yesterday. We ate at one of my favourite restaurants in Ottawa - The Buzz. I had steak and sweet potato fries (yes, a bit of a cheat on my diet) and veggies.
My Mom left for home on Saturday and three of my friends came up on Saturday afternoon for the night - Erika, Elaine and Leanna. Alison and Tina were also supposed to come up but unfortunately Alison came down with a bad cold and Tina had sprained her ankle so she couldn't drive - they missed out on the best cancer party ever! We had a great time - what did you do we ask? - well pretty much nothing. We hung out, chatted, ate some food and then ordered Chinese food (did I mention that Thai and Chinese food is the easiest thing for me to eat? minus the rice of course). Here we are the next day before the girls left:
Its great to have visits like I did this week because it makes me completely forget about the whole cancer thing for at least a little bit. We figured out that we've been friends for 18 years (this also includes Alison, Tina, Amy, Heather, Carmen) which is crazy to think that first year university was 18 years ago because we all seem to act the same!
Oh and we found out that Elaine knows the founder of the Lug company. For those of you that don't know its a great company that makes really good bags, purses, travel gear and everything that you might need - and its all very smartly made - gym bags with separate compartments to put your stinky gym shoes in etc. I broke out my Lug collection to show the girls:
On Sunday after the girls left, I didn't do much - just hung out and had a nap. My co-worker Natalie dropped off dinner - some butternut squash sauce, zucchini pasta and some freshly squeezed juices. Very healthy and very good.
On Monday morning I was at the OICC at 10:30 am for acupuncture and a check up with Dr. Craig. Acupuncture was good as usual - after which I met with Dr. Craig. I told him how good the Taxol is compared to the A/C and that I have very few side effects (although I give that credit to massage, acupuncture and my diet and supplements that Dr. Craig has given me). As usual, Dr. Craig was impressed and happy with my progress. He did tell me that my ferritin (iron) levels were high (from a blood test that he ordered) but since my red blood cells were low it probably means that the high iron is due to the chemo damaging my liver and my liver cells bursting releasing their iron stores - doesn't that sound crazy! My poor liver - but don't worry this is apparently very normal. I also told him that over the past few weeks I've relaxed a bit on the carb thing and have been having a piece of toast in the morning and sometimes using a tortilla shell or wrap to eat veggies at lunch because I am hungry all of the time ever since my chemo meds switched. Dr. Craig didn't think it was too bad and instead said that I should continue with it to help me put on more weight (I've lost about 15 lbs since the whole cancer holidays started). Interestingly he also said that most people have the opposite problem when they are going through breast cancer treatment - that they gain weight - because their activity level goes down, their calories don't change or increase because they don't get nutrition counselling and sometimes drugs that people take make them gain weight. So all in all, having to gain weight is good problem to have at this stage in my treatment.
I also asked Dr. Craig about dairy because when I first went to see him months ago, I had declared I wasn't eating dairy anymore (because of some of the books I had read when I first was diagnosed - and don't forget Joan Lunden, she also stopped eating dairy when she was diagnosed). Anyway, in Dr. Craig's opinion a little bit of dairy is okay - scientifically speaking no one needs to drink to milk other than kids - and so he didn't encourage me to start back on milk but assured me that a bit of cheese and greek yogourt would be okay. Yeah that's right - a bit of cheese! The first thing I did when I got home was ate a piece of Brie but you know what? It was good but not great but it was good - I think my taste buds are changing which isn't surprising. Its probably like onions - Dom is allergic to onions so we don't eat any and when I do eat onions now I don't like them nearly as much...this seems sad to me when I think about this and cheese...
So all in all, Monday was a good day. Oh and if you aren't on Facebook or haven't seen it yet, here's a photo of Tran and Dr. Craig:
In case you haven't figured it out - Tran is in the middle and Dr. Craig is on the right. Awesome guys. Rabia is on the left, she's a care coordinator at OICC - she always gets answers for me from Dr. Craig when I've questions about my diet. Great people.
My co-worker Wendy dropped off food on Monday afternoon - stir fry and brussel sprouts - it was really good! Wendy is a good cook FYI in case anyone from work is wondering.
Oh and I was feeling so good that I went curling for the first time this season! I only planned on staying until 10:00 pm (because of Tran required bedtime) and I would have stayed longer but I was so hungry I had to go home just after 10:00 pm. Every week since the league started, Jordan has done a game recap for us which is great because then I don't miss a beat of how the team is doing. Here's Monday night's recap if you're interested:
Game 5 Recap:
Game 5 had all the makings of a Hollywood film. Not
only was team Strategic Incompetence playing a team equally as low in
the standings (House Rockers and SI had both had accumulated
0 wins) but the team captain had returned: the Leonardo to our Ninja
Turtles. Mel made an immediate impact nailing the “heads” call at the
opening coin toss.
End 1:
With Kate filling in for the vacationing Hieu and Mel activated off IR,
the team realized they had five players – or, 1 too many. By slowly
using math, a new structure was designed by which two players would
combine into a single player by splitting throws
and alternating sweeping each end. Jordan missed the start of the game
because he was giggling, imagining two people sharing one broom and
sweeping at the same time or two people gliding out of the hack, hands
intertwined, releasing a single rock simultaneously:
Think synchronized curling. In spite of (because of?) his
non-involvement in the end, SI carried the early coin toss momentum into
a 1-0 lead.
Score: 1-0
End 2:
Sometimes curling is a gritty sport and sometimes it’s a sport of poetry
and finesse. This was a gritty end. Anne and Kate provided some serious
sweeping. Both teams struggled to read the ice and either powered rocks
through the house or had their sweepers
pouring sweat as they dragged them across the hogline. The house was
there for the taking. Whether it was Dave providing an audience of 1,
the lucky ghost of Suzie Duford, Mel’s leadership, or the team staying fresh through
the “5 people 4 positions” strategy; SI actually increased their lead.
Score: 3-0
End 3:
The team actually began to worry at this point that they would, for the
first time, have to buy their opponents beer after the game. No need to
worry… At its core, curling is a sport of physics: In classical
mechanics, linear momentum is the product of the
mass (the weight of the stone) and velocity (the weight of the throw)
of an object. Once the forces of resistance (the ice) become greater
than those of momentum, the object stops. End 3 was an “End of
Resistance”: perhaps not physical resistance but certainly
a moral resistance. Jordan and Anne continued their competition to see
who could put more rocks short of the hogline. Kate lost her glider and,
in the spirit of continuing the team-sharing, used Jordan’s; which was
large enough for her to sit inside and use
like a luge. Kim and Dave designed a solid strategy; which the team
lacked the skills to implement. Mel was able to draw SI close but team
HR used the hammer to secure their first point of the match.
Score: 3-1
End 4:
Before the first stone of End 4 was thrown, Jordan had finished his
beer. That would be the highlight of this End. Team SI continued to play
as if Sheet 4 was tilted against them. Kim and Kate threw some
respectable stones – Kate once again found chemistry
with “Groovy” Stu Cranberry. Anne admitted she kept getting curling
confused with crokinole; game of differing rules, scale and equipment.
When it came Mel’s turn to play hero, team SI was in a tough spot. With
Jordan incorrectly directing her throw, Mel placed
a spinning arching stone that tumbled into the house, perfectly glided
between the two of the three sitting blue stones, connected with
neither, and continued out the backdoor of the house. To make matters
worse, the team lost Mel to bedtime.
Score: 3-4
End 5:
End 5 started with Kim explaining to Jordan that the skip sets the
sights for the thrower, using their broom; Jordan had been (all year I
might add) aiming for the skip’s body. This helped explain but not
excuse his season-long inaccuracy. Silently, Anne
was collectively blamed for bringing him. Kate opened the end by
sending Stu and his co-rock Jackie Cranberry into the shallow blue ring.
Anne followed with some hot rocks. Unfortunately, Team HR began playing
less like the computer programmers they looked
like and more like seasoned curlers, picking off SI’s red rocks one by
one. Kim kept hope alive with her final stone, tying the game.
Score: 4-4
End 6:
By the time End 6 rolled around, the clacking sound of players
falling on the ice and sending their broom bouncing away had become
commonplace; no one is sure why so many spills occurred all around us.
While most teams had retired to the lounge to watch
the handsome Cam Newton’s Carolina Panthers lose another
Monday
Night Football game, teams SI and HR continued their death match.
Kate’s guards were followed by Anne’s hard hitting take outs which were
followed by Jordan’s misses. This set up a difficult shot
for Kim yet she zigzagged a shot through the mayhem into the house and
sat just barely outside the closest blue stone. Team HR, for some
reason, threw their final stone through the house, nearly costing
themselves the game, but when the dust and stones settled,
Team SI had lost. Again.
Final score: 5-4
Pretty impressive since Jordan doesn't take any notes or photos while we are playing - I couldn't remember half of this stuff...
On Tuesday my friend Krista came over for a visit - good times, we were due for a good sit down and chat. I also had a massage on Tuesday which was great. On Tuesday night we had two visitors. One was my friend Kersten who I haven't seen in quite awhile and she brought me a gift from New York City - which is the best cancer gift yet! Not that there is a competition, but if there were one and I was the judge of the cancer gifts then so far, Kersten wins!
That's right, in case you are wondering, its a onesie! And super comfortable, I'm going to wear it all winter - hopefully I don't get too comfortable and start to wear it out in public - although Kersten and I did discuss how good it would look with a pair of UGGs, just saying.
Our friend Marc also came over to pick up the keys because he dogsat for us on Wednesday night because Dom and I went to Montreal - but I will leave that for the next blog entry - this one is sort of long because of the awesome curling recap and I have chemo #6 tomorrow that I have to get ready for - also I go in tomorrow for the results of my genetic test (to find out if I have the breast cancer genes) so its going to be a big day but I promise, my next entry will be soon - probably on Sunday.
Until then, if you've got a onesie - rock it! May the cancer gift competition continue...
