“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?

(I say) I don't like cricket-a ...... oh no I love it-a yeah ........ I don't like cricket-a ............ no no I love it-a yeah .......

South Perth Cricket Club WACA Grand Final - Day 1
Richardson Park, South Perth.

2nd Grade - 5 for 91 chasing 105
3rd Grade - 3 for 67 chasing 131

OK so that's the cricket out of the way.... had a fab day with the wags... some nice champers, a few nibbles and lots of chat relaxing under the trees in the sun watching both games between to two pitches. Quite a lovely relaxing day.

My week this week has been a much better one (yay me) and so I've been able to throw myself into work and play catch up. Long days, early starts and late finishes earlier in the week slowing down slightly later in the week. The trip to the doc's on Wednesday was still positive. A slow down in the reduced blood test results, but they are still going down, and that's all that matters at the moment. I was also happy when Dr Ben said I could cut my Dexa's by half the amount. So now I've just been taking 5 pills instead of 10 !

Today was Cyclo day.... had a great morning catching up with some very special friends for morning tea. It was gorgeous just to sit on the deck chatting and laughing over a cup of 'rosie lee' The besty also came over with her gorgeous girls who were just beautiful this morning. Relaxed, funny and happy - I just love them when they're like that. My aunty skills improve no end !!! And I got pessies too :-) Not that that matters at all...... but we all like presses don't we ?? !! hee hee!!

The gorgeous Callie & Lil Miller

At around 4 ish the Cyclo effects started to kick in.... groan.... I'd kind of forgotten how they affect me after such a good week. But the memories soon came flooding back !! The first sign is the shakes..... they came on with a vengeance. Then the internal feeling of a silent jackhammer inside me started. There's no headaches (so not like a hangover) just the constant feeling that your blood all around your body is being shaken .... not stirred...... and then, after that the surging through my upper jaw. Like there's a bit of a vice like squeeze happening..... slowly and not painfully.... just a slight pull - it even stretches to the back of my eyes.



But one of the nicest things at the moment, is the compliments I keep getting. Everyone is telling me how healthy and well I look. It's hard taking compliments sometimes, but it really is very nice to hear. I feel OK most of the time. And I'm very happy with my weight progress (40kg's now !!) I wore my first pair of size 12 jeans to work yesterday !! wahoo !! It really is a fantastic feeling. If I could just get the last 3kg's off, I'd be at my goal weight. But at the moment, I'm not focussing on my weight loss so much as my health. So it's not a priority. If it happens, it will.


Tomorrow is back to the cricket to watch the final day.... and fingers crossed a couple of flags to bring home too. Then next week we're just not going to know what to do with ourselves. No cricket for 6 months !! sheeeeettttt !!! WTF !!! hahaha. I know there's a few girls that are going to be happy to see the end of this season. I won't lie that I'm not one of them. But at the same time, I know how important all these boys are to Dirk. I know how much they mean to each other and that their friendships and the club mean more to each other than us girls will ever understand. So what do you do.... let them play I suppose..... we have 6 months to get over it. We'll probably feel differently by October and be happy to see the back of them on weekends again !! lol !! At least we get to shop and they don't have a leg to stand on !!...... bwhahaha !!!

Tonight's sunset.....

Quick chinky take-away for tea.... some TV on the box and I'm ready for bed..... I have some champers in the fridge, chilling for us tomorrow, so will need a good night's sleep before I embark on another day... hopefully will be another good day .....

The sunset tonight was amazing.....