It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.......

Sickness and tiredness...... that about sums it up for the past couple of days....
I had a fabulous Wednesday evening. Caught up with an 'old' friend from Geelong (not old in the age sense, old as in we've been friends for 20 years !!) who I haven't seen for six years !! and it was great We had a good chat, nice tea and a couple of wines.... nothing silly, just relaxed. Dirk said he could see why we were friends..... (what did he mean by that !!?)
I took my pills and was in bed before midnight. But by 9am Thursday morning, I was sick ! I felt like a truck had slammed into me. I got up and checked my emails etc. But within an hour I was back in bed, body aching and feeling queasy. By midday I had diarrhoea and felt worse. I managed to drive my friend back to her place, and then straight back home to bed & more sleep. I eventually woke up around 5ish. I still had a runny bottom (euww) and felt pretty crap all round really.
Footy was back and Carlton were playing so I did manage to watch the game and see the mighty Blue boys romp it home with a win - which was nice - but that was about it for the day. Back to bed with an extra blanket......

I woke up throughout the night with continued tummy ache and dashing to the toilet.... very unpleasant !! But by 9am Friday morning ..... I was ok again ! What's that about? As quickly as it came, it was gone again.... Weird !!
So back to normal Friday.... work and pizza night !! I'm still trying to enjoy food.... but at the moment, most things have a slight bitter after taste....

I've managed to keep up to date with mum. She had to go back into hospital last week, but after a few pints of blood and a sleepover, was released back home again. It looks like she'll be starting her chemo sooner than planned too. So we'll be able to share our gripes with each other now !! Perfect !! Mum is going to be going in every week for an infusion, starting with a lower dose to see how she copes. I think she'll be fine :-) We're made of pretty tough stuff us Austin's !! Dad is still being amazing too, watching over mum and running around for her. Love you both xxx
And so to Saturday...... NO CRICKET !!! OMG ...... Dirk has a list as long as his .... <insert something really long here>  and I have to start Cycle 4 today..... other than that we'll just see where the weekend takes us. I'm looking forward to dinner tonight with some good friends. Should be a good evening. Today we have to wash our dogs... Maverick keeps jumping in the pool (well the overflow pond part of the pool) and is getting smelly... Dirk wants to make Hot Cross Buns, so we'll do that too..... pretty mundane sort of stuff.... and then Sunday..... footy, a few chores around the house and some TV no doubt......

“Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grub.”

Yawn !!..... wowsers... talk about falling into a heap at the end of the weekend. I haven't been able to do much more than sleep since Sunday, but I think I'm finally beginning to understand the cycle of my drugs a bit more now. The Thalidomide gives me the shakes.... the Dexa's make me moody and irritable and a bit jittery and the Cyclo makes me tired beyond tired, with that sludgy feeling and a little neuropathy. Now if I could just plan my days and meetings around the drugs I'd be better equipped !! The biggest problem is that just as one drug works it's way out of your system, you pump the other one in. And the Thalidomide is daily, so there's no escape from that one at all. Oh well..... cycle 4 next week already.... that's 9 weeks of chemo gone already.
"Time flies when you're having fun..." or so they say !!

The weekend was great, due to the fact that the cricket club had wins and walked away with two flags. But the nicest part for me was sitting in the sun with the girls, chatting and drinking champers. Really quite pleasant. It was a bit tense for a while (the cricket), but all good in the end. Sunday evening Dirk & I went to my bosses house for tea and had a great meal with some great company. Good wines, good food and a good laugh too. We didn't leave until late so by the end of the weekend, I was absolutely exhausted. We had to stop off on the way home to see the boys celebrating at the club..... I have to say.... it was no place for girls..... drunk, naked, sweaty, Emu Bitter drinking males all hugging one another constantly. Lots of male love in the room....  They had already done nude runs down to the freeway and back, greased up the covers and done naked sliding and one of them was covered in a MacDonald's chocolate sundae !! .......need I say more? !!!! and they think girls are bad !!

But the after effects of a feel good week and a good weekend come at a cost.... and the cost was Monday !! I woke exhausted, got up checked my emails and collapsed back into bed and slept again. It was a very difficult day. The neuropathy is weird. It's like you know you should be feeling things but the feelings are numbed. When I'm in the shower, I know that the water is hitting my body, but you can't quite feel it on your body.... and when I stretch my arms out to reach for something, my fingers all tingle. And the jaw and face feelings are just as bad...... when I'm drinking water, it takes a while before my mind associates the drinking action with the feeling. I'm sitting here now trying to remember yesterday and I can hardly do it. I was like a zombie all day. I don't think I functioned very well. I also got a message from my sis to say that mum had gone back into hospital so on top of everything I was also worried about her. It's so bloody shit sometimes, being so far away.... I know they all worry about me, and here I am worrying right back about them. I'll feel better when mum starts to get stronger and is eating (hear that mum !!) We all love being skinny, but mum is just taking it to the extreme !! Time to settle down now Gezza !! We spoke tonight, mum is back home again having had a blood transfusion and some tests. She sounded a lot better and we had a good chat, so at the moment, I'm feeling ok again.
I've slept more today too. I went in to work this morning - sat on a conf call for 1/2 hour that no-one else dialled into !! TFC !! - got through some work until about 1pm then went to lunch with my besty.We had chance to really catch up and talk and I loved it. We spoke weddings, holidays, family, houses, men, women, friends old and new..... all the stuff besties talk about. I got a call from the new GM at a competitor company while I was at lunch to see if I wanted to go and work for them !! haha ... I said thanks but not right now. Then I came home and slept..... again. And I actually feel ok at the moment. I still don't think I'll have any problems sleeping again tonight either. I guess I just have to go with the flow and do what my body is telling me to.
Dirk & I have to organise our engagement party and get the invites out. We have to book caterers and other stuff associated with a party. Not sure Dirk is quite as enthusiastic as me, but I'll whip him into shape and get him excited about it all ..... who doesn't like a party?