Well, about all I can say about this "new" chemo treatment is that it may be to my benefit in the long run but the short run SUCKS!!!!.  Monday and Tuesday I could barely walk because of the sore ankles.  Wednesday night my throat was so sore that Marco took me to Emerg at 3am where after 3 hours they told me I had thrush, gave me some medicine and sent me home.  Friday after work my temp was up to almost 40 celcius and my throat was no better so I went back to the hospital, where they did bloodwork this time, found that my once high white blood cell count was down to 1 and admitted me for round the clock antibiotics and shots to make my bones create more white blood cells.  So yeah, between the antibiotics, the liquid tylenol and the rinse to numb all the canker sores in my mouth and throat, I figure that must be what a chemical dumping ground must taste like.  I have yet to regain my taste buds (since last Friday) and have lost 10 pounds cause it's not hard to stop eating when nothing tastes like it's supposed to.  Not the way I wanted to lose weight.  I'm willing to work at it, honest.  I would just like KFC to taste like something other than paste.  I hope now that they know that they have to give me the shots after the next treatment, that the next treatment is much easier.  Oh well, I guess it could always be worse.  I could have more than 2 treatments left.

 

Annelieke, are you going to be in the vicinity in the near future?  I would love to get together before the school year starts and you're too busy.  I would like to do a bowling night or something sometime between the end of September and the end of October if anyone is up for it.  That's my brief albeit welcome break between chemo and radiation.  Thanksgiving weekend is in there and my birthday is the 16th of October so we could do something one of those weekends if you want (and if you're able).

 

KP, talk to Marco about the books.  He knows you emailed me.  Kristine and KP, your nieces are adorable!  Amanda is going to be a year old in 2 days - I can't believe how the time has gone by.

 

Anyway, that's about it for this neck of the woods.  Thought I would leave you with a pic of my new hair!  I figured this would be the only time I could go blonde without worrying about the roots lol.  Turns out it looks more like Barbie...  hahahah  "I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world..."  Hey, where's my pink corvette?

 

And yes Tim..... even you....

 

 In 2006, an estimated 22,200  women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 5,300 will die of it.

 An estimated 160 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 45 will die of it.

 On average, 429  Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every week.

 On average, 102  Canadian women will die of breast cancer every week.

 One in 9 women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime. One in 27 will die of it.

My last chemo is on September 29th.  On October 1, Marco and I are participating in the CIBC Run/Walk for the Cure.  If you want to sponsor us, you can either see Marco at work or I have set up my name on the CIBC Walk for the Cure website

 

 

Hey there, sorry I haven't posted for some time...  So this is for KP who sent me an email to see how I was.

 

Lets see.. what's new.  Chemo number #3 wasn't great - more nausea, more mouth sores, food tasted great until I swallowed it and then it tasted like sawdust.  And I added heat stroke to the combo.  My first missed day of work.  Rachel is staying with Joanna for the month so we're kitty sitting.  Not Marco's favourite thing to do, and it might not be so bad if the great orange monster knew how to behave.  lol  That's okay, Rachel moves into her own apartment on Elmwood Ave on September 1st so Leroy will be going home and I can get some sleep.  Rachel starts Fanshawe soon and OSAP has been approved so she can go down to part time at Tim Hortons.

 

Amanda is growing like a weed and eating like a goldfish.  If you don't cut off the food supply, she would eat until she exploded.   Joanna and Ryan are fine and now that Amanda's daycare has been subsidized, that will be a lot off their minds.  I can't believe how expensive daycare is.  I'm glad I had family that was at home anyway when Jo and Rach were little.

 

Marco is finishing his last exams for Fanshawe and soon can take his CHRP designation.   KP, I'm glad you're finally getting back to school.  You're far too young to have a call centre career.  But if you're going to be there, you may as well take advantage of the tuition reimbursement.  That's how Marco got to where he is now.

 

I ran into one Mr. Michael Kuiack a couple of weeks ago.  We look like twins with the bald thing going.   He told me that he still keeps his beanie thing on his desk to remind him of days gone by.  I keep checking your blog, Micheal, to see how the New York trip with your son went.  I hope you had fun.  Ever notice how you know you miss talking to someone, but you don't realize how much until you see them again.  That was how it was when I ran into Micheal.  Then it makes me realize how much I miss everyone that I used to see.

 

So anyway, after a not so great Chemo 3, I went to have my bloodwork done one Thursday (and it was better than ever) my oncologist told me that he wanted to change my treatment...  My response - why?  It turns out that the treatment that they are changing me to is even easier on the heart and it will reduce the chance of recurrance by another 23% at 5 years.   So anything that reduces the chance of me ever going through this again and I'm in!  So I took the new drugs on Friday, and no nausea, no sore throat, still have the heartburn and my taste buds make everything taste yucky.  I can't taste salt much so I'm staying away from the salt shaker all together so I don't put too much on my food.  The worst part is that I continue to gain weight, even though I'm not eating more than I always have.  That part sucks.  But I figure when this is all done, I will be able to lose it.  Any tips from you guys that have lost so much will be greatly appreciated!   The best part is only 2 more treatments and I'm done this part.

 

Anyway, that's about it...  I put a new picture of Amanda on here so you guys can see what a cutie she is.  Joanna has a new picture of herself with her new haircut on her Flickr site.  It looks great!