Life is good!

Hello out there!

I hope you all have been enjoying your summer and getting lots and lots of fresh air and fresh fruit and veggies.  Summers in the PNW are just about the best you can get really.  So many things to do and everyone is smiling.  I haven't really been able to get out to do too much but the things that I have done were all super fun.  I am hoping to get up in the mountains for a hike soon while this weather is still so beautiful and maybe even take a lil' dip in an alpine lake somewhere and watch the wind in the trees.

I have been getting accessed in my port four times each week (that's a lot) and it is getting a little sore there.  A little Arnica oil before bed and first thing in the morning (not to mention a LOT of Arnica gel on the weekends) has really been helping it to not be quite as sore and tender and I am thankful for that.  Sometimes just a simple hug can cause a lot of discomfort and as a result I have learned to hug accordingly. I have been doing chemotherapy again, I have two weeks on and one week off.  I am getting the same chemo (gemzar and cisplatin) and in the same dose as where I left off back in November of 2011.  So far it hasn't been too bad.  I definitely have no complaints.  I believe the Vitamin C IV's have been helping tremendously!  I have only driven the porcelain bus once and my hair actually has grown an inch in the last month (DANG!).  However, my blood counts are waaay low.  I pretty much don't even have platelets anymore and at last check a week ago my WBC and RBC (along with some other things) are nearly non-existant BUT I didn't have to get chemo this last week and I have been eating well so I am hoping that on next check this coming Thursday things will be looking better.  I have felt tremendously tired lately though.  Not that I feel bad or anything mostly just like I want to lay down and take a nap, and I usually do :)  There have only been one or two really bad days and only one or two nights that I have not been able to sleep one wink.  I have not had an abundance of energy either, just enough to get done what needs to get done and sometimes not quite even that much, but with the help of my friends, family and neighbors I have been getting by just fine.

I went to my dad's house to harvest garden bounty yesterday and wow!  I came home with two huge paper bags stuffed full of lacinato kale, a giant bag full of carrots and yellow squash, a huge bunch of basil, cucumbers, an onion, and green beans.  In another week or two we will be up to our eyeballs in all kinds of tomatoes, more beans, onions, leeks, peppers and squash.  It wont be a problem at all making dinner this week with all these awesome homegrown veggies!



Things have been pretty mellow.  I got to see a bestie that I haven't seen in a couple of years and we had a beautiful time and got to catch up too.  The sun has been shining, the birds have been singing, the flowers have been blooming and the stars twinkling in the night.  Life has been good and I have absolutely no complaints at all.

Never A Dull Moment

So I recently have been taking a little time off and really relaxing.  It has been really nice to unplug and get some time away from phones, email, social media, doctors, appointments, good news, bad news, no news, decisions, scans, daily life, etc... I got to spend some quality time relaxing with my best friend (my mom) and it was simply divine and oh so very needed by both of us after the crazy 6 months that have been 2013.
Now it is back to the grind, the assassination, the kicking of some cancer booty, time to roll up the sleeves and put my game face back on.

From the last CT scan back May,  it appeared that I had some cancer going rogue and building condos outside of Livertown, collectively they appeared to be about the size of an almond (we thought there were only two of them at this point).  Then my radiologist recommended that I get a PET scan to make sure of exactly what we were looking at and that way I could make a more informed decision about my choice of therapy.

So I recently got results back from the PET scan and the first sentence says "Significant progression of disease since July 2012..."  Not good.  My oncologist shows me the pictures and there are now a bunch (too many to count) of places outside of my liver mostly in nearby lymphs (one in a lung and one in my pelvis) where there showed PET avid activity (it took up the sugar rich contrast like cancer does) so this now leaves me feeling once again a bit more anxious about my path forward.

I have spoken at length with my oncologist and natural doctor and we have come up with a kick ass cancer assassinating plan!

Vitamin C Love

I am already taking such things as DCA and many other natural cancer fighting treatments and supplements and I will continue to get high dose vitamin C IV therapy.  I am going to sandwich my chemo treatments right in between two vitamin C IV's.  So still vitamin C three times a week  and chemo at least once a week (maybe more frequent to start I dunno yet).
I start round two of chemotherapy tomorrow at 9:30am.  The chemo will be the same as last time.  Mega dose to start with then as my body weakens the dose weakens.  They like to hit it hard at first.  My gramma is coming down to go with me, ya know, cause grandmothers are awesome like that!  The vitamin C is supposed to make the cancer more susceptible to chemotherapy and it is said to make the side effects up to 50% less severe! HELLS YES!! This is what I am going to manifest! Less side effects  NO side effects! Plus they will no doubt pump me full of steroids and other anti nausea drugs as well as cytotoxins and they seem to make it much more tolerable.  Sometimes drugs aren't so bad after all :)

Not exactly what I was envisioning, especially after such a tumultuous start to the year anyway, but hey...never a dull moment in the life of The Cancer Assassin!
Bring it on! I've done it once I can do it again, hell, I'm a pro and I am already ahead of the game now.
My goal right now is just to appreciate each and every single day, drink it all in and share the love!