The Pitfalls of Retail Therapy

Chemo/Radiation Update 

I had my forth chemo treatment on Monday, 4/5/21.  Only two more to go, my last one will be Monday, 4/19. I have 10 radiation treatments left to go.  I will be done with those on 4/21.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel (I'm pretty sure it's not an oncoming train. Well, mostly sure.) 

After that I have an appointment with a specialist in Spokane to see what happens next.

My New Wheel

Well, it was spendy.  But I can't seem to find it in me to regret the purchase. If it helps me through this trial, then so be it.

It is so sweet to spin! Unfortunately, my stamina is so low I can't spend very long spinning.  I'll have to have hubby take a picture later.

So What Went Wrong

I'm originally from Southern California.  (Snow, what's that?).  Here in eastern Washington state we get snow.  Sometimes not much, sometimes a lot.  So we have two sets of tires for both vehicles.  By April 1st the studded winter tires have to be taken off  and the regular tires put on. 

My husband went to do that. And there was a problem. He tried to explain it to me.  Best I can say is one of the tires was broken.  So the day after I spent all this money on my new wheel, he had to buy two new tires for our car.

But wait there is more!  The following evening, we were all smelling something hot, almost burning.  Well, the fan for the power supply on my husband's computer stopped working.  Thus the power supply was overheating.  So off to Amazon for a new power supply.

And oh yeah, I ordered underthings from Hanes and sweats from Khols (I really do need these).

So lesson is: BE READY FOR EMERGENCY EXPENSES 

Medical Expenses 

Speaking of EMERGENCY EXPENSES!  Oh the panic in this household!  We are talking bills that would bankrupt us if not for our fabulous insurance.  We meet our yearly out of pocket expenditures, and everything is in network.  Which means the insurance covers it all! 

I am so grateful.  I mean prayed to the Lord grateful (as well as grateful for many other things).  And the stimulus checks couldn't have come at a better time. 

I need to slow the Spending

Just yesterday I bought some more Pigma Micron pens. (To help my sanity and my drawing)

Then today, I ordered two sewing patterns.  I sure do not have the stamina to cut out a dress and sew it up.  But I want to make some summer dresses.  I have a decent fabric stash.

But I need to stop spending now. 

Daffodils in My Garden

 

Zentangle®

   And just what is a Zentangle?

From the Zentangle® website:

The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns.  It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc.  Learn more at zentangle.com 

There is a fair amount of free information as well as items for sale.  The best place to start is here: Get Started  The explanation of the Zentangle steps has really helped me get more out of my time tangling. I have been focused on using the method for meditation.  And it does help me relax. A lot.

    Unlike the free form of doodling, there is a bit of a structure and a process.  I have see some amazing eye-candy doodling, but it is not the same thing. 

    One thing I need to note, is there is a program to become  a "Certified Zentangle Teacher", or CZT.  I     am not a CZT.  I am just someone who enjoys creating Zentangles.

    Next place to stop on Rick and Maria's website is Online Zentangle resources.  

    I had started tangling a few years ago, haven't done any until the last couple of weeks.  Here are a few blogs that really inspired me when I first started:

         http://shellybeauch.blogspot.com/

         https://enioken.com/blog

https://tanglelist.com 

    Some of the other blogs I originally found seem to no longer exist.  I'll look for some more later to     see what inspires me. 

    So here are a couple of my current tangles:

 

Zentangle, with pencil shading.

Zentangle, with colored pencil.

So this is one of the things to occupy my mind and to keep me sane now.  They are very enjoyable to create.

Retail Therapy

 Look what hubby bought me!  I know, I'm spoiled!

Look at all 72 of those yummy colors! No I haven't really used that much of the pencils already. I had a few Prismacolor pencils that I put in the tins and switched out the new ones. They are the ones rubber banded together.  

First thing I had to do was re-arrange all the pencils to my liking.  The way they were arranged made no sense to me.  Then I did a small color swatch.  Also, to the far right is an in-process colored Zentangle.

Top right is a small pad of hot press water color paper, 100% rag.  (Yes, I'm a paper snob.  100% rag or nothing.)  So I can Zentangle, lay down a little watercolor wash, then go at it with colored pencils!

Let the fun begin!

Next post will be about Zentangles. Well, as long as no more retail therapy gets in the way.  Or some other shinny catches my eye.

Monday was Chemo Day

Monday Morning's Events

Yesterday, I had my third Chemo treatment.  And it is a long day. It's not like half and hour, get chemo drugs put in your veins and go home.  Nope.  It's more like a 5 hour process.

My very supportive husband and I arrived about 7:15 am to check in.  Around 7:30 was blood draw.  They check a lot of things, including red blood cell count, white blood cell count, platelets, electrolytes, and the list goes on.

After that we zoomed down the corridors (okay husband sedately pushing me in a wheel chair) to the radiation lab for a 7:45 radiation appointment.  Radiation treatment takes about 10 minutes.  I get those 5 times a week.  

Next we zoomed back down the corridors to what is called oncology infusion.  Around 8:15 I was in the chair.  She started me on IV fluids.  Once the lab results from the lab draw were in, the RN started me on electrolyte fluids.  And an hour or so after that, some med, including anti-nausea drugs.  Then the main event, the chemo drug.  And that takes an hour.  After that more electrolyte fluids.  And I completely lost track of time.  So that was done sometime after one.  We arrived home at 1:30.  Okay that was more like a 6 hour process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I am kicking back in the chair with a crochet afghan I am currently working on.  Crochet as well as a variety of projects are helping to occupy my mind and keep me sane.  More about that in another blog post.

Cisplatin

This is the chemo drug that is being administered to me. And there is a large number of side affects, some of the frightening.  Nausea is the biggest side affect I've had to battle so far.  The anti-nausea work well, but they have side affect as well.  

I have to drink a lot of liquids.  This stuff is hard on kidneys, and I need to keep them flushed out. The effects on kidney function are generally reversible. Generally?!?

Hair loss, however is uncommon.  Given the choice I rather have less nausea and no hair.  But I have to play the hand I've been dealt.

They are about a bazillion other affects and warnings, but I won't bore you (or myself) with anymore of this.

Portacath Placement

Friday, March 12, a procedure was done to place a port to give me the chemo drug and all the other intravenous goodies. I was given conscious sedation.  Only pain I felt was the needle from the numbing meds.  Other than that I spent however long in a happy place.  Even after the drugs wore off there really wasn't much pain, just a little soreness.

This picture was taken this morning.  The went in around my collar bone down to just above my chest.  The bump you can barely see in the picture is where all the chemo business happens.

When I go for the blood draw, the RN inserts a needle, (I don't feel it because of the numbing cream I use) with tubes attached. She draws blood, flushes the tube, leaves it and then I head off to chemo.  When that process is done, the chem RN removes the needle, applies band aid, and I'm done!

Wrap Up

So that was a brief overview of my chemo process, and I don't intend to constantly be boring you with the details of every single chemo visit.  I have other things planned, like fibery goodness, Zentangles,  vegetable garden, etc, etc.  And maybe an interesting car ride or two (or maybe not interesting, who knows).

Let the adventure begin.

And remember if you are post-menopausal and experience any bleeding at all, CALL YOUR DOCTOR NOW! 

Retail Therapy

Today's blog post isn't what I had originally planned.  Retail therapy intervened! Serious retail therapy!

I've been wanting this beauty for a long time:

https://woolery.com/lendrum-original-double-treadle-spinning-wheel.html 

My husband said yes.  And I know I am so spoiled!

In going back to The Woolery's website, I see it is now out of stock.  I checked my account, and it says it's ready to ship.  So maybe I got the last one in stock?

I have been spinning for a few years. I have a single treadle Lendrum that I bought used.  Been wishing for a double treadle for a long time!  I'm so excited!

 My husband took this picture of some beautiful peach blossoms in our back yard. 

Last year we had some late frost and ended up with no peaches, apricots, plums or pluots.  Hope we have better luck this year.

This blog is very much a work in process.  I have several post ideas and hopefully I can get started with in the next day or two. Well, hopefully tomorrow. Monday is Chemo day and it's a long tiring day.

I need to work on the actual layout and graphics of the blog. The background is awful. And my little avatar picture is ancient and needs an update.

I am blaming all typos and grammar errors on "Chemo brain".

Last thing for now is a quote from the movie Galaxy Quest:

Never give up! Never surrender!

Time to get started on this blog!   For starters, here is a picture of some crocus from my garden.  They give me a happy. 😎

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay lets get to the serious stuff, and part of what this blog is about.

Short story, I have endometrial cancer.  And I am going to kick it's derriere.

There is some serious stupidity on my part.  I waited way to long to go to the doctor. My excuses? Blah, blah, blah, blah, covid, blah, blah, blah.   Not really going to dwell on it, can't change anything, water under the bridge and all that.  All I can do is move forward from where I am.

I am post-menopausal and had been having vaginal bleeding off and on for a while. I finally made a doctor's appointment, because it was obvious the bleeding was getting worse.  Ended up going to the ER, because the bleeding was that bad.

I spent a week in the hospital.  There were a multitude of tests and a couple of procedures. And a cornucopia of drugs who's names I can't remember.

First big concerns when they admitted me was hypertension and my blood loss.  I was and still am very anemic.

The test/procedure highlights:

    CT scan with contrast -  Mar 1

    Dilation and Curettage - Mar 1

    MRI with and without contrast - Mar 2

    Uterine embolization - Mar 4

So how bad was the bleeding? It couldn't be stopped with the D & C procedure.  I was given a drug (I don't remember the name) that helped stop the bleeding.  But that particular drug has side affects of causing leg clots.  But what could I do?  I was ordered complete bed rest.

So to stop the bleeding on March 4, a uterine embolization was performed.  It did the trick!  However, the pain was such that I was introduced to oxycodine.  Ugh, I never want to take that drug ever again. 

So at this point, I've been home for a couple of weeks.  No real pain at this point and no bleeding.

This week I finished my second week of Chemo and Radiation treatment.  (W00T the best of both worlds!)

So under the heading of "DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO":  If you are post-menopausal  and are experiencing bleeding. Drop what you are doing and call the doctor NOW!

Mmmm, Popsicle