It's getting longer between blogs. I feel like I don't have as much to talk about now I'm in remission. Until today... but before I get to today I'll step back in time, and fill you in on what's been happening. We had our mini break to Margaret River last week and it was amaze balls !! LOVED it. I love Marg's and can't get enough of those wineries either !! It was good for Dirk & I to get away, just the two of us. The past 12 months have taken their toll on us. Nothing can prepare you for the stress of coping with cancer in the family. Especially with everything that happened with mum and then me. We were all prepared for me recovering from bariatric sleeve surgery and getting a new lease on life. loosing the weight of a backstreet boy. We were expecting mum to get better, beat her cancer and then come out to visit us in our new house. (My first ever mortgage at the age of 41 !! - so grown up !!) Put the Gerry seal of approval all over it (and sort out every cupboard at the same time) I also had a new job, I loved it. I could continue travel to places I'd never been to and actually enjoy it too. At the same time, gaining more and more from my work, and hopefully getting better at the job too. But I guess life throws these curve balls at you and it doesn't always turn out quite as you expect. Nothing quite happened as we had planned..... But I digress..... what I was getting at was that Margaret River was a 'get-away-from-life' opportunity. When we arrived at the "retreat" there was no television, no radio, no phones and no wifi !! OMFG how were we going to cope??? BUT.... there was a secluded cabin in bushland. Overlooking a lake. Birds and wildlife. A log fire. Petals on the bedspread. A bath made for two (ok too much information) It was idyllic. And just what we needed. Another three weeks in the retreat and we may have started to feel back to normal !!! 
We stopped at Bunbury on the way home to watch the Grand Final with some good friends (thanks Shopper & Bill) It was the perfect end to our break. No stress and a good laughs. Not to mention party pies, sausage rolls, dim sum & prawn toast.... mmm. The perfect accompaniment to footy. And as soon as we got home and picked up the pups from their first ever "kennel" experience, we settled back into home life,
Does anyone watch the show 'The Big C' ? Laura Linney and Oliver Pratt? I've been watching it for the past few weeks. It's about a woman who finds out she has Melanoma - stage 4 - and the affects it has on her (and her family) It's a bit of a black comedy...... I like it. A little addicted at the moment. And It's scary how much you can connect/relate to some of the scenario's.
Another digression !!! .... so we had the "mini-break" and then the long weekend. Sunday, we decided to paint our bedroom. For years I have wanted a "duck-egg blue" room. So we went to Bunnings and picked out the paint (or rather Dirk allowed me to select the colour I wanted) And Sunday, we got up and started painting....... But instead of "duck-egg blue" the colour appears to be "Tiffany & Co blue" !!! Still nice.... but not exactly what I had planned.......
And then back to reality. Last week I had been for blood tests as I was having the most tremendous aches and pains in my joints. So much so, that they were waking me up in the middle of the night. I happened to mention it to my nurse so they sent me for blood tests to rule out Ross River Virus, Lupus, Osteo-related issues, Rheumatism, whinging etc etc.... Turns out it was just whinging !!! Nothing else. Which I guess is a good thing. So panadol and nurofen were prescribed. It seems to be a little better..... but not much !! It may be the extra painting etc that I have been doing..... but I'm not sure.
Today was BMA day !! (Bone Marrow Aspiration) This one was supposed to be a good one though as Dr Brad said he was going to perform the biopsy to ensure a good result. Apparently the last sample they got wasn't the best so he wanted to make sure this time it was a good one. We arrived on time and he was ready for us. After asking if I wanted to be sedated and then telling me I didn't (!!) we got straight into it. Anaesthetic into the area then hammering into the bone to be able to take a core sample out. Not the most pleasant of experiences to ever go through. But Dr Brad had obviously done this a thousand times as he got it over and done with pretty quickly and tried to talk his way out of any pain I may have been experiencing. I have to wait two weeks for the results. We are hoping for zero cancer cells in the bone marrow which will confirm successful stem cell replacement and remission. After that I'll continue with Zometa infusions and probably 3 monthly blood tests indefinitely with Dr Ben.
We left the hospital with a small bandage covering the spot that he hacked into my spine. Dirk went back to work and I decided to walk off the pain with some retail therapy. Earlier, I had decided not to wear my hat to the hospital. I was feeling a little braver as my hair has very slightly started to sprout a little. And besides.... wearing a hat can be warm and just a little bit boring !! So when I got into the shopping centre, after the 5th store, I decided to take my hat off and walk around with my newly sprouting hairstyle !! It was the first time I had done this - especially without Dirk on my arm. I've taken my hat off at cafe's and restaurants. But not alone, and not walking around. I was feeling a little intimidated (it was also school holidays) But I figured "fuck it" I can do this. It wasn't until I got into the supermarket and some kid started shouting "MUM...... WHY HASN'T THAT WOMAN GOT ANY HAIR" that I started to feel paranoid. Why is it that an innocent child can make you feel like a freak !!!? His mum did the fastest supermarket sweep I have ever seen. There were skid marks next to the milk aisle !!! By this time, I was too mortified to get more shopping, but too proud to put my hat back on, so I grabbed the last few things I needed and headed out of there. I got back to the safety of home, my pups and a glass of vino. And tomorrow I might try going out in public without a hat again. Especially if it's warm.........
