Snow Day

Yes, I know I haven't posted for almost three months. Do good intentions count? I think about posting while I'm doing some other task and then when I'm finished, I've forgotten about the blog. This is a new year so maybe I'll be better able to keep up.

Anyway, I'm calling this a snow day even though as a retiree I don't have to go anywhere unless I want to. We got three to four inches of snow last night. The roads seem to be clear enough, but the temperature is horrible! At around noontime, the temperature was only 10 degrees. Baby, that's cold!

What better way to spend a snow day than updating my blog. So here goes. My last post in October talked about the SWAN Halloween Party. That was a wonderful evening. Teresa always does an outstanding job as hostess. The ornament exchange was fun as always. The ornament that I made (on the left below) was drawn by Jackie and the ornament that I drew (made by Darlene) is on the right.

Ornament I made; drawn by Jackie

Ornament Darlene made that I drew

 

 

So now it's time for Christmas. The SWANs party was held in early December. Denise and I were hostesses and for the first time we held the dinner at the church where we normally stitch. I think everything went well. I know I had lots of fun. Lots of good food and fellowship made for a wonderful evening. As always, we had an ornament exchange. Well, I couldn't come up with an ornament that I liked so I made a mug rug. Apparently the fad has been around for a while, but I just found them last summer. It's a small quilted item that is big enough to serve as a coaster for a cup or glass and have room to put a snack to munch on while sipping the beverage of choice. Anyway, I made this mug rug from some free clip art I found on the Internet and I think it turned out really cute. Jackie once again drew my entry and it is on the left. I was fortunate to get the ornament that Robin made (on the right). I say "fortunate" because angels and snowmen are the two Christmas figures that I really like.

Jackie drew my mug rug contribution

I drew the angel ornament Robin stitched

I was surprised just before Christmas to receive a package in the mail from my niece. It may sound silly, but I waited until Christmas morning to open it. What a wonderful gift! Venetia gave me a book called "Jesus Calling" written by Sarah Young. It is a book of devotionals, one a day for a year. I've been reading the daily devotion now for a week and really enjoy it. And in just this short time, it's amazing how spot-on some of the readings have been. Spending 15 or so minutes first thing in the morning reading and reflecting on that days devotion has started my days off on a very positive note.

As a corollary to my devotional, the same niece shared a post on Facebook last night that she and I are going to do. Below is the photo that she posted:

I started last night and am realizing today that there will probably be days like today throughout the year when I will add a couple of notes to the jar. And I plan to keep the jar out in plain sight, too, so I will always be reminded. It's a wonderful idea and I sure hope we both can keep up with it. The plan is to then share at the end of the year all the good things we experienced throughout the year.

Whew! All these things have kept me busy, but I always have time to stitch! I'm working on a couch-throw quilt for my niece. And I found out just a couple of months ago that we're having a new baby in July (my great-niece and her hubby are expecting their 3rd) so I'm starting on a baby quilt, too. And I really want to make a quilt for the new baby we got last December (my great-nephew and his wife had their first). And there are Halloween and Christmas ornaments to make for SWAN exchanges. And I thought I would have lots of time to leisurely work on quilting when I retired! Wonder where I got that silly idea???

Now you're up to date. I'm going to TRY to do better about blogging this year although I did not make that as a resolution. Here's to a Happy and Healthy 2014!

Thanks for reading my rambling
Amy

Where has the year gone?

I can't believe that a whole year as passed by since my last post. I wish I could say that it was an eventful year and I suppose in some ways, it was. Unfortunately, I can't put my finger on anything in particular that happened. Last year at this time, I had just finished chemo and was ready to start radiation. That went well and by early November last year all treatment was finished and I was in the follow-up stage. So far, all of the follow ups have gone well and I anticipate that to be the same for many years to come.

For a long while after finishing treatment, I really didn't feel well. I was tired all the time, most likely due to a combination of the chemo and the low blood counts. I certainly never expected to be as tired as I was for as long as I was. About a month ago, I realized one day that I feel good again. And for the most part, that feeling has continued. I still have a day once in a while when am fatigued. For the most part, though, the only remaining side effect of treatment is numbness in both feet and some in my left hand. Fortunately, my right hand is OK so I can still work on my needlework! Heaven help us if the day arrives when I can't do some kind of needlework!

This year, I did finish the Dresden Plate quilt that I started in 2002. I had hoped to finish it in 2012, but there were a lot of months when I just couldn't bring myself to do anything other than read or watch TV. I offered the quilt to my niece and her daughter. The daughter, my grand-niece, said she would like to have it so that's where it went. Here's what it looks like finished up.

I have also done a lot of pattern testing for The Quilt Pattern Magazine. So much so that I have told them that I need to step back for a while and work on my own things. After the first of the year, I'll do more testing, I'm sure. In the meantime, I am working on a couch throw for my niece using left over blocks from a quilt I made for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary. I hope to have that finished by spring. Better get busy, Amy!

My stitch group has an ornament exchange each year at Halloween and Christmas. I didn't participate in the Halloween swap last year, but I did for Christmas. The ornament I made is on the left. Sarah drew the short straw and was the recipient of my ornament. Teresa made the one on the right and I was fortunate enough to draw hers. Isn't it lovely?

 

I've made an ornament for this year's Halloween swap, but I can't post a photo of it just yet. The party is next week and that's when we'll exchange ornaments. After that happens, I will post photos of the one I made and the one I draw.

I suppose this is enough for this time. I am going to try to be more faithful about writing my blog if for no other reason than to help me remember what I have accomplished!

Until the next time we meet, thanks for reading my ramblings.
--Amy

The Next Phase

A week ago, on October 5, I completed my 17th chemotherapy dose and my doctor decided that was enough. I'm glad he decided that because I had just about reached the end of my stamina. Now, a week later, I'm feeling pretty good...all things considered.

With chemo finished, it's time for the next phase of treatment. I met this past Wednesday with a radiation therapy doctor at Missouri Cancer Associates. He felt that because my cancer is an aggressive strain that we should treat it aggressively so I'll have to have radiation therapy. My first treatment will be October 24, then October 31 and finally November 7. It's only three treatments and I was told that there would be little or no side effects. Certainly not the nausea and tiredness that I experienced with chemo. I figure I lived through four months of chemo and now can do just about anything. The down side is now I will have another doctor to add into the mix. Three of my doctors will follow me every three months for the next couple of years. Guess I'll be spending a lot of time at the doctor's office for a while.

I had four blood transfusions throughout chemo. Without them, I can't imagine how I would feel! My blood counts are still kind of low which means I am susceptible to infection so I've been staying home as much as I can. And I'm dealing with peripheral neuropathy which means that I have numbness in my fingers and my feet. The doctor tells me that the neuropathy will go away with time. Sure hope he's right!

To make this crafty, I finished the last installment of pattern testing that I had been doing for The Quilt Pattern Magazine. I still need to layer and quilt the project for the final installment and hope to get that done this coming week. And I finally feel like knitting again. I count stitches when I knit and during chemo I couldn't concentrate well enough to count. (I called the problem "chemo brain.") But that has changed. I finished a pair of socks that I started back in the early spring and have started another pair. I don't know what it is about socks, but I really enjoy knitting them. I'm feeling confident enough with sock knitting that I'm going to try some of the patterned directions. As always happens, I can hardly wait to finish this pair so I can start on a new pattern. I guess that's what all creative people go through.

Sorry no photos this time. I'll try to take some photos and post them in the next few days. Now that the directions for a couple of the projects I tested for the quilt magazine have been published, I can show photos of what I did. I think you'll like them.

So now you're  up to date. I'm feeling very positive about the future and am excited to get on to the next needlework project. And of course I'll tell you all about them.

Thanks for reading. Until next time...
Amy

Friday the 13th

Oh, I know that by the calendar, today was not Friday the 13th. However, for me it really was Friday the 13th...in the best possible way. Today was my 13th chemotherapy treatment with only five more to go. Certainly nothing to be superstitious about.

One of the things I have found over the past 13 weeks is that  lot of people are there at the same time I am on Friday morning and are pretty much doing the same thing as I am doing. Today was no exception. For several weeks now I have had conversations with a woman who lives north of Columbia. I would say we have visited probably 6-8 times and today we finally got around to introducing ourselves. See, when you are sitting in a recliner having poison infused into your system, names just aren't important. Anyway this lady and I have a lot of fun with our conversation. She is a typical farm woman. A real sweetheart! We talk about anything and everything and spent over an hour doing that exact thing. She was only getting one drug today and it would take about an hour and a half. She was just getting hooked up to the IV when I got there. This was a two-drug day for me and that takes three and a half to four hours so I was going to be there for quite a while after Peggy was finished.

As I think I've mentioned before, I always take my Kindle along so I can read while being infused. Today I think I managed to read a total of two pages! Yes, Peggy and I talked non-stop while she was being infused. She was finished before my first drug was gone so I expected to return to my Kindle and spend the next hour or so reading. Wrong! There was a gentleman sitting across from me who struck up a conversation. Usually one of the first questions asked when meeting someone new is how many treatments do you have left. I told him that I have five and he told me he has four. The conversation went on from there. Once again, like the early weeks with Peggy, I have no idea what his name is, but even though his wife was there with him, we talked non-stop for the next hour or so until I was finished for the day. And another woman who was catty-corner from me started talking to me for the first time. I've seen her several times, but she always seemed so withdrawn that I didn't want to disturb her by talking to her. And another woman and her friend/driver were catty-corner the other direction and entered into the conversation, too. The gentleman is an engineer here in town who owns his own company. When he found out that I had served as advisor, he talked on and on about how he hires interns for the summer and then when they graduate most likely will hire them full time. Of course, that was only one of the subjects we talked about.

When I got home shortly after noon, I had lunch and then sat back and reviewed what had taken place that morning. I was really surprised at how fast I fell back into the advisor role when I was talking to the engineer and even the reserved woman. I've always know that I like to talk, but really what I was doing was what I did on the job...ask a question or make a comment and then sit back and let the other person talk. I don't know if there any big plan for how today unfolded, but I can't help but believe that there was. Even the staff commented on how we were all talking among ourselves. And they didn't tell us to hold it down because we were making too much noise. ha!

Even if there was no bigger plan for today, I must say I enjoyed this treatment more than I have any other. It reaffirmed for me that no matter who we are, we are all there for the same purpose and that common thread makes us friends. Am I looking forward to the end of this ordeal? Well, of course I am. I can think of a lot of things I would enjoy doing on Friday morning more than having a needle stuck into my chest so that I can have poison infused into my system. But it's not my choice...and the end is almost here. I can make it now because I've realized I have a lot of friends who I haven't met yet or if we've met, I don't know their name.

I am extremely blessed to have so many family and friends praying for me and sending me words of encouragement. They all mean so much to me. But I have other friends who I haven't met who mean just as much to me. How lucky can you get???

Once again, thanks for reading.
Amy

It's a learning experience

Cancer and the related treatment is teaching me more than I would ever have expected. Things I have learned so far:

1) A cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence. When the doctor called me in for the results of my latest D&C in early April, I suspected that the diagnosis would be cancer. She told me the kind of cancer and the particular strain of that cancer that I have. I told all about it in my last post so I won't go through that again. At home after that appointment I did a lot of Internet searching and found as much as I could about my cancer. With what the doctor told me and what I found online, I realized that I had almost a 100% chance of beating this. Pretty good odds, I'd say.

2) The cancer center folks and their literature will tell you a lot about what to expect with chemotherapy, but they don't tell everything. I suspect the reason they don't go into a lot of detail is that everybody reacts differently. In my case, I tried to prepare myself for a significant amount of nausea and even some vomiting. So far, I have been very fortunate to have had almost no nausea or vomiting. Another thing they tell you is that you will probably experience "tummy trouble" from the drugs. What they don't tell you is that you most likely will need to take stool softeners or even laxatives to keep things moving. OK, I know.... TMI!

3) Chemotherapy will make you lose your hair, but it won't come out all at once. My hair started coming out over the past weekend after the third chemo treatment. At first, it was just a lot of hair in my brush. Then when I washed it, there was hair stuck all over my hands. And that was all in the first day or two! It's now been four days since I noticed the extra hair loss and how all I have to do is run my hands over my head to come away with a handful of hair. Well, maybe not a handFUL, but lots of hair. My driver's license expires in August and I was concerned about my new photo be of me wearing a scarf. Fortunately, I got notice in the mail last Friday that I needed to renew my license. Guess where I'm going tomorrow morning! I asked my hairdresser to shave my head once I started losing my hair so I have an appointment next Tuesday to get it all cut off. Wonder if there will be any left for her to shave?

4) Chemotherapy not only makes you susceptible to sunburn, it also makes you sick to get into a hot car that has been sitting in the sun for a couple of hours. Ask me how I know! I thought I never would get home from lunch on Monday. This has been a really hot week so once I got home on Monday, I have stayed inside and will do so on any hot day that I can. It's supposed to be a bit cooler tomorrow so I'll run errands early and then get back inside as quickly as I can. Fortunately, I think it's supposed to be a bit cooler on Friday, too, so when my treatment is finished around noontime, it shouldn't be quite as blistering in my car. Unfortunately, the cancer center does not have shade trees or I would park under one.

5) Listening to good music and reading a book helps the treatment time go by fast. I am on a three-week cycle. The first Friday of the cycle, I get two drugs and on the other two Fridays of the cycle I get only one drug. The two drug Friday takes approximately four and a half hours from start to finish. The one drug Fridays take only about two and a half hours. No matter how many hours it takes, good music and a good book help pass the time.

6) "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." (Friedrich Nietzsche) I have determined that this cancer is not going to kill me, but it definitely is making me stronger. I have always looked on others who had dramatic illnesses with admiration, thinking to myself that I could never do what they're doing. Well, turns out I CAN do what they're doing! I never expected to have major surgery, but I did and came through it just fine. And honestly I never would have expected to need chemotherapy. But here I am and I'm finding it's really easy to keep a positive outlook. I am determined to always smile, laugh or whatever it takes to keep my positivity going. I have found that it's much easier to laugh with family and friends than it would be to hang my head and ask "why me." My family and friends make it so easy to laugh...that's why I love them so much. And my SWAN stitch group friends have already come to my service by providing food. Sure was nice to have home-cooked food that I didn't fix.

7) And last, I have found that I heal quickly and have a high tolerance to pain. All of my surgeries have healed much quicker than the doctors expected. That pleases me. And of all the surgeries and treatments I have had this year, I have only taken one dose of the strong stuff (narcotics) and that was in the hospital. In hindsight, ibuprofen would have done just as well because the pain really wasn't all that bad. I hope I don't have to put either of these to the test, but it is good to know that I most likely will have similar experiences in the future.

So there you have it. I've learned a lot in the last couple of months and I'm sure there will be lots more to learn in the future. Maybe I'm weird (OK, no comments from you guys!), but I like learning new things even if it comes from less than desirable circumstances. I find out more things about myself and my character with each new experience and that's a good thing.

Sorry no photos this time, but I promise there will be at least one photo with the next post.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Amy