I got a great card from the OC - for those of you who don't know what that stands for, it's Ontario's version of Orange County - that's right Oxford County! I worked there for three years (I left five years ago to move to Ottawa). It is the place where I learned the fundamentals of my planning career and also where I learned that the majority of your job satisfaction comes from the people that you work with - not the actual job. Its great that after all of these years these folks are still thinking of me and wishing me well.
Heather Ann had a quilt made for me and it was delivered last week. Its beautiful and comes with a carrying bag so that I can take it to chemo appointments or anywhere else I think will come in handy.
I also got another cancer present from Uncle Rick and Sharon with pyjamas, a selection of socks and scarves too. With the warm weather, I have only worn the scarf one night but I know that the socks and scarves are going to come in handy over the next few months. I also got a cancer card from Uncle Rick - yep that's right a card about cancer - who knew that they made cancer cards? It is a great card with an inspiring message (I mean the one that Uncle Rick wrote).
I have been wearing the 'night caps' that Diana and Uncle James sent me about month ago. I don't need them yet to keep my head warm but I wear them because when I get up in the morning it means that my balding head is not the first thing that I see in the mirror. I keep telling Dom that if Ebenezer Scrooge had a wife, this is what she would look like at bedtime.
Oh and squirrels suck!! Why do you ask? Well my mom sent a care package that included a dark chocolate bar and look what a damn squirrel did to the package. Dom found it like this when he came home.
The entire chocolate bar was eaten as was part of the card and cheque that my mom had sent. Can you believe this?? I figure that the squirrel is mad that we have gotten rid of all of our bird feeders (the bird feeders were attracting mice) and this is their revenge. Interestingly enough I googled "what happens when squirrels eat chocolate" and discovered there are forums of squirrel-owners that chat with each other about their pet squirrel snacks. One poster said that she gives her pet squirrel "Roxy" chocolate and it makes Roxy act drunk. If you want to see a picture of Roxy after she has eaten chocolate, click on this link Drunk Roxy Needless to say, I think that whatever squirrel ate this chocolate must have had quite the hangover.
Luckily, the most precious thing that was in the package - a picture of my sister and I - was not damaged as it was bubble wrapped and in a frame. Here's the photo - it's my mom's favourite so she thought I'd like to have it:
In case you aren't sure, I'm the chubby baby in this photo with the shiny head.
Okay getting down to this past week - I have been feeling pretty good this week. A bit tired though, I seem to need a nap just after dinner but other than that it was good. The dogs have settled in to a routine with me - Fat May wakes up Dom at 6:00 am for breakfast and both Lola and Fat May return to the bedroom after breakfast to go back to bed until I get up around 9 or 10ish...this is what I wake up to every morning at the foot of my bed.
Yep, that's Fat May sound asleep. They say dogs that sleep on their backs really trust the people around them and I'd think that was true except Fat May slept like that the first night I had her when I was fostering her from the rescue - so I don't think that this dog has a lot street smarts. Fat May also got her teeth cleaned this week - so she was gone for the entire day on Tuesday and came home with pearly white teeth. In case you are wondering, yes, I tell this dog every day that she is a very lucky dog to live in our house.
On Tuesday my friends Ann and Mike came over to drop off some lasagna (pasta -free) for me. I answered the door very confused because I had come home after picking up May at the vets around 4:00 pm and decided to have a nap. Knowing that Dom drove to work (he dropped May off at the vets in the morning), I figured he'd be home around 4:30 or 5:00 and I'd wake up when he got home. Well, Dom wasn't home at 6:00 when Ann and Mike stopped by which was strange. So I texted him and asked him if he was almost home and he replied with yes, I'm on the 18. The 18 meant that he was on the bus - so I called him to tell him that he must have forgotten that he drove to work. Funny guy. I even texted him at 3:30 pm to tell him not to worry that I would go and pick up May at the vets and he still forgot that he drove - oh and he missed the first bus so that's why he was so late. So he stood at the bus station for 30 minutes waiting for the next bus (and still didn't remember that he drove to work). Lucky for us, Ann and Mike were heading back downtown to go home so once he got home, he hopped in the car with them to go downtown and drive home.
Oh and the lasagna that Ann made was phenomenal. They used some vegan cream cheese so it was creamy like a rose sauce and the veggies were great. I had two helpings Tuesday night and ate the rest the next day.
On Wednesday my two friends Erin and Mary brought over some lunch for me (Johnny Farina salad - yeah!) and the collection of baby legwarmers for my PICC arm so now I have a full collection at my disposal. I was feeling so good that I took May for a walk to the mailbox and then in the afternoon I took Lola to the off leash dog park. It was a hot day but Lola was in heaven and it was great to get some fresh air and see some of the fall colours.
Dom's band played on Wednesday night and I was feeling good enough to go - there weren't many people at the bar - just other bands but it was good practice for them because they have two shows next month, one at Maxwell's on October 16 and the other at Zaphod's on October 27. Take note Ottawa friends it would be great to see you there!
On Friday night my friend Kim came over and showed me her pictures from her honeymoon and Saturday night my friend Lesley came over and brought me muffins made with coconut flour and wild Newfoundland berries - because Lesley is a much better baker than I, these were much better than my attempt at making blueberry muffins with quinoa flour. During the day on Saturday we did a pile of landscaping work to put the yard and garden back together after our foundation was fixed. I admittedly did more supervising than actual work. Dom removed a bunch of extra dirt from our front yard, rebuilt the garden wall, planted some plants, added mulch and built a small retaining wall near the edge of the driveway - oh and added topsoil and grass seed to the front lawn. He also added some more rocks to our pathway in the backyard. That is a lot of work when I write it all down like that! That explains why he was sweating so much.
On Sunday, it was such a nice day and we had tickets to go to the Ottawa Fury game. I was a bit tired but we decided to go anyway. Unfortunately it was too hot for me and I left at the half time mark - but we did get free gift certificates to the Heart and Crown - they give them out every game and ours was the lucky row this week. However, I think overall I did a bit too much physically this weekend because I didn't feel well last night and today (Monday). I'm glad these cancer holidays are happening in the Fall and Winter because nothing would be worse than not feeling great through the Summer - at least this winter when its -20 I won't mind curling up on the couch under my new quilt and spend the day watching TV - oh I mean reading all of those books I've gotten so far! But my appetite was back just in time to eat some dinner that my friend Simon delivered last night - chicken skewers with quinoa and veggies - delicious. My other friend Doug sent along a lasagna just for Dom and my friend Sally is scheduled to bring food this week too. This food delivery thing is so great, its such a relief especially when I'm feeling well and have to make up for the times when I don't feel well - there's always something new to eat in our fridge.
Now getting to the hair loss - you know this is my favourite topic. I've determined that my leg hair has not stopped growing based on my test strips - too bad. My hair does continue to fall out but not as bad as before but that might be because there is less of it - actually we just confirmed this tonight - upon a detailed inspection I can say that the bottom third of my hair has definitely started to thin. With the warm weather I haven't been able to wear my fashion toques but lucky for me, Dom has an unusually small head for a grown man so I've been able to wear his Montreal Canadiens ball cap. I'm going to put in the wig order tomorrow so I should be suited up with new hair by next week - and we might have to consider shaving it next week too - I will report back. So I've passed looking like Neil Young and look more like Friar Tuck (that was my Dad's suggestion based on my explanation to him). So I sort of look like this:
Obviously I'm not a chubby mole and minus the sideburns (I actually don't have any, anymore which is really weird - not that I had big sideburns, its just that I don't have any now) and I don't have the bushy eyebrows - but I still have my eyebrows! Yippee!
Now to the best part - Team Knight who is running in the CIBC Run for the Cure has surpassed their goal!!! A huge thank you goes out to all of you who have donated. I put an email out asking for donations for Dom specifically and he has surpassed his goal too!!! Team Knight members has also expanded exponentially - I think the members have doubled which is so great to see how many people are willing to run 5K in my honour considering I've always subscribed to the philosophy that "I only run if someone is chasing me".
I am hoping to be able to be there this Sunday to greet people at the finish line - I figure the least I can do is sit in a lawn chair at the finish line to congratulate my team. Maybe next year I will run in this - I'll have to get Dom to dress up as a zombie to chase me through the race.
Also, as many of you know, the Terry Fox Run just happened and I had some fantastic kids also running my honour. This is Bradley (my cousin Keary's son) who ran just for me! (his bib says he's running for 'his dad's cousin') - what a great kid!
.jpg)
That's Trevor at the end of the video who apparently is still running - too funny! I'll end with this great video. This week is filled with appointments - oncology check up, massage, acupuncture, blood test and finally chemo. I'll write a new post on Sunday or Monday to let everyone know how I did with chemo #3 and more importantly, how the race goes on Sunday!
Thanks again to everyone's emails, visits, cancer presents, food and positive vibes, thoughts and prayers. They are all greatly appreciated.
