Something Evil This Way Comes

It seems that I have wee traces of hair coming back in. And that’s pretty exciting.
Oh sure, it may not be exciting for you, but let me tell you, it’s exciting for me.

And I have to say that through this whole process, my “Scottish eyebrow hair” has shown amazing stamina and just wouldn’t quit or fall out.
Now, back in the days of regular hair growth, I would, on occasion, have these wild eye brow hairs that grew with a mind of their own. My g-f refers to these hairs as Scottish eyebrow hairs and she would always rip them out by the follicle, with a huge amount of glee.
But it’s strange how even some mutant hair can end up on your own personal endangered species list. And so this little hair has remained while all the others have fallen to their death.

And now, as you can see, the other eyebrow hair is starting to grow back.
Now, the hair is probably in for a rude surprise when I go for the last chemo treatment next week, but I am hopeful that the chemo won’t do a total clearcut of my little hair sprouts and I can start rebuilding with a bit of a, dare I say, headstart.
That’s my hope.

On other fronts, I went for bloodwork yesterday.
That was sort of interesting and sort of funny.
See, I used to be on a 3 week cycle, so I would do a batch of bloodwork, and then the next week they would do bloodwork again, and the day after that I would get a chemo treatment.
At least that was how I was doing the calculations.
And then last time, they switched me to a 4 week cycle so that shifted things a bit. So, imagine my surprise yesterday morning when I looked at my day planner and saw that I was supposed to have done my first batch of bloodwork on Oct.29th and here it was November 2nd.
Oops.
So, off we went to do that.
Seems they want the blood 2 weeks after the last treatment rather than one week before the next treatment.
Who knew?
Certainly not I.

I also had an interview with a lovely woman from the Hereditary Cancer Research program. We had a really good talk about genetics and her research and the politics of cancer versus the politics of AIDS and her work and my work.
I liked her. She was great.
And, now I have to go get a bunch more blood drawn because they have to test me to see if I have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.
Those 2 genes have been shown to “be responsible for some hereditary breast cancer and some hereditary ovarian cancer”
Anyway, I am going to have 4 more vials of blood taken at some point in the future and it will take them about 6 months to figure out if I am a carrier for the BRCA genes. And then I will need to figure out what I do next, because that would be a whole new ball game, and frankly, I am not completely ready to go there just yet.
But it *is* important to do this so my sister and my nieces can make the decisions they need to make.
I’d like to think that I got in this situation from standing too close to the microwave or from the nasty chemicals I was exposed to when I was treeplanting 20 years ago.
The idea that my sister and my nieces may have to deal with this, that’s just a totally depressing concept.

But it is going to take a while before I even let them take the blood, and then a half year to get the results, so if you want to know how that one turns out, you’ll have to stick around for the long haul.

I had a really, really good day today, and since I spend so much time belly-aching about the hard parts, I thought it was important to take some time to say, I had a really really good day today.

It started with a visit to the endocrinologist.
I made my way to the appointment in the West End, and went to the doctor’s office and the staff there were all really great and the doctor was great and it was over pretty quickly and she didn’t poke me or put me in a stupid blue gown or give me any new drugs. Basically she said that I should keep doing what I am doing and if, after I finish my chemo, I want to tweak things a bit I can go back and see her.
Whew!
That’s working for me!

Since I was already in the West End, and since it was such a beautiful day, I decided to take myself for a drive around Stanley Park.
It was incredible.
We don’t have a lot of trees that give good colour here in Vancouver, not like back east. But this year I have been noticing a whole lot of really brilliant reds in the trees as they get ready to drop their leaves. Stanley Park was so lovely.
I drove around the park listening to the CBC, looking at the trees, and the perfect blue sky, and the calm, smooth ocean. It was all really good.

Then I made my way home and ran a few errands on the way.
That was great because I hadn’t been sure I could do them myself and I was concerned I was going to end up fobbing them off to my gf and I wasn’t really enthusiastic about that.
But I am feeling really good for this point in the cycle.
I think it’s because I finally broke down and saw an acupuncturist.
Elaine thinks it’s got a bunch to do with the fact that I am now on a 4 week cycle between treatments instead of 3 and I have been much more fussy about what meds I take and for how long.
Whatever it is, I am feeling way better than I have been in the past, and for that, I am truly grateful.
The last couple of cycles I have felt like garbage wrapped in skin for about 17 of the 21 days in the cycle. That really sucks and I am delighted to be feeling pretty human after only about 8 days.

After running my errands, I came home and screwed around and then did some yard work, which is something I haven’t had enough steam to do since about July, so that was incredible. Now, don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t going crazy out there, just raking up some leaves, but even that is a huge thing for me.
I even managed a short walk to a friend’s place.

Then I went out for dinner and chat with an old, dear friend and we talked and watched the eclipse, which was pretty amazing.

All in all, it was a really, really good day.
And now, to cap it off, I think I will take my book and crawl under the covers.

Here’s a funny little story that has taken a few months to unfold.

Back when I was newly diagnosed, I got an e-mail from a dyke I don’t really know. I mean, we have been on a bunch of e-mail lists together over the years and we certainly know folks who have seen each of us in the flesh, but we have never met.
Anyway, said dyke e-mailed me and she said she felt awful that I was sick and she offered to buy me a t-shirt.
Now, having never met, there was no way for her to know how much I like a good t-shirt or what a push-over I am when it comes to certain marketing.
It was the perfect thing to offer. I was delighted and more than a bit touched, particularly since we didn’t really know each other.
I spent a chunk of time amusing myself at some of my favorite websites, looking at what I might like, narrowing my selection… it was great.
Ultimately, I picked a t-shirt that I had seen a friend of mine wear. It is a black t-shirt that says “Cowboy Up”, just like that logo at the top of this entry.
The term “cowboy up” means to suck it up in times of adversity.
After all my long hours of figuring and searching, it seemed like the perfect choice for the current situation. So, I e-mailed my friend and told her and she put the wheels in motion.
Or she tried, but when she went to order the shirt, it turns out that the distributor that I had connected her up with didn’t have a secure site for their credit card orders so she had to arrange to order the t-shirt over the phone.
It’s bizarre to me that they wouldn’t have a secure site, but it’s true.
So, the order was placed and then it was just a matter of time and I would be all stylishly dressed for my next chemo treatment.

Oh… an important detail in the story telling here… I had arranged to have the package shipped to Seattle, to my friend H’s place, because the last time I had something shipped from America, there was an extra $40 brokerage fee on top of the regular fee and the shipping and the duty, so the package I received, a t-shirt as a matter of fact, was extremely expensive by the time I got it on my body. Hoping to avoid that situation, I arranged to have the t-shirt shipped to H’s place and then another old friend who is travelling back and forth to Seattle a whole bunch said she would bring it up for me.
It should all have been extremely easy.

A bunch of time passed and no t-shirt, no t-shirt, no t-shirt, and then I hear that there is a package on the way, and I am pretty happy about that.
L drops by my place on her way home from work, she is looking a bit concerned and a bit amused and says she hopes I am not disappointed.
Off she tears and when I open the package there is no t-shirt, but there are 2 cowboy hats, from the Coor’s Rodeo, and 2 Coor’s belt buckles.
Oh… that’s odd.
I have no idea why I have these cowboy hats and belt buckles, but they do seem to fit the g-f and I and that part is okay.
I send an e-mail to V and let her know that a strange thing has happened, and I have no idea whether it is related to the t-shirt shipment or not, but…. well, I just don’t know. I wasn’t expecting any other packages, so I think perhaps there may have been a mistake somewhere along the way.
V gets on the phone and it turns out that, yes, the cowboy hats and belt buckles have been sent in error. It seems that they got the packing labels mixed up on my package. Someone hoping for a couple of cowboy hats got my t-shirt and vice versa.
V gives them a good blast and tells them they have to correct the problem and no, we will not be shipping the hats back because it is a total hassle with borders and duty and all that so they can just fix it and take the loss.
I was impressed.
And settled back to waiting.
So, a week or so ago I got the word that a package had arrived in Seattle for me.
I was doing some mental calculations about when I might take possesion of my long anticipated shirt.
L went down to Seattle and did the weekend thing and came home.
I got some e-mail from all the key players in the drama asking ‘well, was it worth the wait?’ but I hadn’t yet received the t-shirt.
And then I got an e-mail from L.
The e-mail said her car had been broken into the night before and, along with a bunch of her stuff, my t-shirt had been stolen.

So, that’s the story of the t-shirt so far.

I am thinking of getting a new shirt to celebrate the end of chemo.

I think it should look like this:

I may just do the old fashioned retail approach to getting that shirt.
That may be how I do it.

That said, I do want to thank everyone who has tried so hard to get me that damn t-shirt.
Could it get more complicated?
Damn.
Thanks for trying, everyone.

And for folks following this saga from the beginning, you may recall that in one of our early episodes, the door of my truck suffered a compound fracture because of an unfortunate impact from Elaine’s (then) van.
This would be auto trouble #1 of 04, followed shortly by the pinching of the van (auto trouble #2 of 04).
Anyway, I am delighted to say that my truck door has been fixed up by my mechanic and former co-worker, Brain and I no longer have to squeeze past my gear shift like a Dukes of Hazzard loser.

Hooray!

Just a reminder to those of you who like to play the odds and collect the fancy prizes, the time is coming to a close to get in on the B.C. Lifestyle Lottery.
The tickets are expensive. On the other hand, it’s probably the only way anyone I know will ever live in the British Properties, so that alone makes it worthwhile.
More info can be found here.

More local goings-on…
If you live in Vancouver and you like to read, you have to go to this.

We went to the library book sale yesterday. It wasn’t a planned thing, but before you knew it, the E’s and I were heading downtown to the booksale.
It’s a great, great sale. I didn’t really expect to be able to go this year, what with being sick and all, but it worked out and the big E and I were much more moderate than normal.
See, the library fills a whole room with books they have taken out of circulation and the most they charge for any book is 2 bucks.
And historically, the g-f and I show up with rolling luggage and load up.
We were really quite conservative for us.
But you should go and check it yourself.

Other news around town, well, I decided after how hard the last round of chemo was that I would try accupuncture this time.
The guy I am seeing comes highly recommended and I already knew he was a nice guy because we used to live in the same co-op together.
At this point, I can say that *something* seems different, though it is still a little early to tell.
The accupuncture may be a big chunk of it.
I am also getting way more fussy about the meds I am willing to take and how long I am willing to take them for after each round.
And the other thing is, I am resting more this time than I did last round.
I think last time I just became aware of how easily I get worn out and now that it’s 4 weeks later and the weather is crappier, I am less tempted to go for a walk. Maybe in December, but right now, I don’t want to get stuck in the rain without enough steam in the engine to get myself home.

On other fronts, my waist continues to blossom.
I know there are some folks who think it’s kind of funny that my formerly svelte self is now squishing myself into sweatpants and whatever else I can find that fits today.
Me, I am kind of hating it.
Basically, I look like a shoe box on top of two spindley little legs.
Oh, and don’t forget the great bald head on top of the shoe box.
That’s a pretty hot image, no?
Anyway, I know my body is taking on water, just like a little row boat, and I know that in a couple of months I will have my life back and I will be able to go to the gym again and get myself feeling like myself again, but right now, it’s kind of annoying.
Any locals with old 34″ waist jeans that they can lend out for a month or two, do give me a shout.

The other thing that has been going on lately is I am having some strange feelings about the chemo actually ending.
Okay, I don’t actually mean I am apprehensive about the chemo ending.
I am nervous that I have to make the decisions now about how I live my life and how to make sure I don’t have a recurrence.

See, I guess you have to start with a basic willingness to believe that the doctors and their poison have actually done the job and wiped the bad cancer shite away.
Then the question becomes, “What do I need to do to keep it away?”, because I am here to tell you, if I can avoid the encore in this performance, I would be more happy than you could know.
And, clearly if I have been doing all these organic modifications to my diet, then I believe that diet matters.
So… what kind of diet is going to do the trick here?
On one hand, I could be macrobiotic.
Okay, I probably couldn’t, but one could make a good argument for a macrobiotic diet being a good idea to rebound after this treatment.
On the other hand, I could make a significant reduction in the fat I have in my diet.
I am kind of keen on that.
Not like I eat a lot of greasy foods, but I eat a lot of cheese and other dairy foods, and I could cut down on the meat as well.
My acupunturist says I should stay away from spicy foods because they make my body run ‘too hot’.
Oh, okay…

Then someone told me I need to figure out how I want to eat in a way that makes sense to me and in a way I will enjoy and then just forget the rest of it, because otherwise I will be miserable and I will make myself nuts.
So, I can’t see having any Hastings Steak for the remainder of this lifetime, but I don’t have to exist on wild yams and kombu.
Whew!

Aside from that, I have been spending the day teaching myself how to make carrot bisque.
It’s quite nice, actually. I am on my 3rd pot.
It was sort of an accident how I came to make so much soup, but it will keep really well and soup is a nice comfort on a rainy day like today.

I am sure I have lots more to tell you. In fact, I probably owe you an e-mail, that seems to be the current trend.
If I am behind on answering you, please be patient. I will probably answer soon, and if I don’t, feel free to nudge me.

I want to say thanks to everyone again.
This has been awfully weird and hard and awful, but I know some spectacular people who have made it so much better.
There are also those spectacular people who I don’t know who have made it way better too. To all those kind strangers from Alberta, thanks so much.

All right, it’s late, it’s cold, and it’s time for a fire in the fireplace and some Buffy reruns.

Keep the faith.

okay… so there have been some really generous people who have come out of the woodwork since I got diagnosed a few months ago, and I want to say that that has been a huge help for me and for us on a lot of levels.

Late last week, we got some ‘spike-aid’ help from some folks in Alberta, most of whom we don’t know.
That is just so over-the-top sweet and kind, I don’t know what to say, except thank you, virtual strangers.
That is so amazingly kind.
Thanks.
You all made this weird trip a whole lot easier.

Well, I went for my bloodwork and my regularly scheduled visit with the oncologist and it seems one of the counts on my blood cells is off and they want me to wait an extra week before I do my next chemo.
So, no chemo this week, instead we will do it some time next week.
And apparently they will have me wait 4 weeks between round 7 and round 8.
I didn’t actually hear that part but my g-f did, so I reckon it’s true.

And while it’s sort of a relief to have that extra chunk of time to bounce back, I confess I was really looking forward to being done at the beginning of November. Now that will be the last treatment in the middle of November and a few weeks to recover after that.

Other news…
there are a couple of events dealing with ovarian cancer coming up.

For the local folks, there is a workshop on Oct 27, details below:

“Listen to the Whispers, An Evening of video, Q&A and discussion on Ovarian
Cancer for Lesbian & Bisexual Women. October 27th, 7 – 9pm at North Health
Unit, A&D Lounge , 2nd Floor, 1561 Commercial Drive (First & Commercial) A
free event. Registration requested. To Register call 604-684-5307.
Presented by Pride Health Services, a partnership of 3 Bridges Community
Health Centre, The Centre, AIDS Vancouver”

also, there is a one day symposium in Victoria in late November.
Here are the details for that.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that I can make it to Victoria that day but it does look interesting.

*****

British Columbia Ovarian Cancer Symposium

An educational program for healthcare professionals, survivors, friends
and family members

Please join us in Victoria on November 20th for an informative and
inspiring day. The purpose of the symposium is to learn more about
ovarian cancer and also to address some of the issues relating to coping
with a diagnosis of cancer, including genetics, palliative care and
communication. One of the highlights of the day will be an inspiring
presentation by Dr Annie Smith, an art historian, author as well as
breast and ovarian cancer survivor.

Other speakers Dr Elissa McMurtrie, Gynecological Oncologist, Shelley
Gordon, a counselor on finding “Balance and Hope” and Dr Brad Nelson, an
internationally renowned expert in cancer research.

*****

That’s all for now.

well, yesterday, I did the first of the two bloodwork episodes for round 7 of my chemo.
This chemo next week is 7 of 8.

And, I know we are all in agreement that this round of chemo will be the beginning and the end of my cancer treatment, the alpha and the omega… the ‘let’s not wear out our welcome here at the BCCA’.
Anyway, the folks at the BCCA send me the paperwork that I have to take to the lab for the bloodwork. In the envelope I found the paperwork for yesterday’s appt and also for one for the 8th round.
It was such a relief to look at that and realize that it stands as the last of its kind in the series.
And with any luck, I will have smashed all the cancer to bits and it will be too scared to come back.
That’s my hope.

On other fronts, I am really worn down.
I think the chemo is really starting to take its toll on my body and not just the weight gain and the lack of hair.
The gal at the lab had a hard time finding my vein, I could tell.
Now, if you know me fairly well, you’ll know I am a bit of a sissy when it comes to blood being extracted from my arm, or any big ass needle going in my arm.
I look away and I get really tense.
So, there I am, looking away and being really tense, and my g-f is holding my hand on the non-pokey side… and it’s taking quite awhile.
And the scene in the waiting room had been completely overwhelming, with babies screaching and people spitting up their lungs and such, so I was already a little tense.
And, I could tell she was having some trouble finding the vein.
And that’s new.
I have never had that problem before, and I do have 2 more rounds of chemo to do, plus all the accompanying bloodwork.
So, I don’t know what will happen next.

I have a feeling I will end up getting some sort of shot or new pill to supplement my blood counts, because I have been so run down this time.

I am finding it hard to keep up with people when I go out for a walk lately. And that’s pretty strange. I just do my little walking thing and I chat with whoever I am walking with, and all of a sudden I wonder why they are going so very very fast. And then I realize it’s me who is going slow. That’s pretty weird because I really like walking and all of a sudden I am having trouble holding my own on a walk.
It’s weird.
And, I suspect it will continue to get bad for a couple more months and then it will start to improve around December 1.
And then hopefully I can start going to the gym again and get things back on track.

The other thing that happened yesterday is, a package arrived that contained 2 cowboy hats.
I am not really sure where it came from, or who it came from.
That may be because it’s a secret or it may be because someone had a conversation with me and I forgot about it because of the chemo drugs (yeah, they really do wipe whole conversations from my memory).
Anyway, I have a new cowboy hat and Elaine, who was very enthusiastic about the package, also has a new cowboy hat.
From the Coor’s rodeo, no less.
And 2 Coor’s belt buckles.
Holy screaming homosexual!
Good one, that’s all I can say.

Anyway, that’s me.

It’s another beautiful day here in Vancouver and I think I will try to wash the scuzz off my truck, because I can.