technical difficulties

So, I was trying to edit the post I wrote earlier today, and somehow it deleted the whole thing. I'm not going to sit here and re-write it all, so here is the jist in a bulleted list:

• finished chemo
• waiting to get scans (MRI friday, PET/CT monday)
• will meet with oncologist and liver surgeon after scans and discuss surgery/dates
• still get infusions with my targeted drugs, but I feel way better after those now since there isn't any chemo

and that is about it!

oh, and I finished with this painting I created last night of one of the best internet cats around, Grumpy Cat!

ok, i hope everyone is having a beautiful day

love,

Linds

Sorry for the delay...

Hi All,

I've been bad lately, not having posted a blog entry in a while. I've either been getting distracted by projects or not feeling so well, and neither of those scenarios really make me good about writing a blog. But, here I am now! Better late than never!

I'd like to cover what has been going on in the past few weeks, but as I think I've said chemo brain is no myth, so things fly in and out of my head as they please. Ohhhh, memorieeeeees.

The last round of chemo was hard for me, knocked me down pretty bad. I didn't really even have the energy to walk up steps, let alone go out and do anything. It was really nice having a week off last week. I tried to make the most of it. Went out for a few meals, enjoyed not being so tired, went for walks, etc. I started my third round of chemo this past friday. So far, *knock on wood*, I feel a bit better than I did during the last round. I am still very tired though. I was in the other room making some cat toys and trying to be productive, which is definitely better than I can say about the last round. So, at least I'm not laying on the couch. Pierre and I had some fun product testing a little bit ago.

I got the word from my doctor yesterday that my CA2729 is down again to 41 :) (normal range is up to 40) So i'm getting there! I was very stoked to have gotten that news. 

I started doing Reiki weekly with one of my doctors, Leah. I have found this to be such an amazing form of therapy. It is the one time in the week when I can really find myself in a calm place, I can let go of everything I may fear and have anxiety about, and I can just breathe and focus on healing. For me, its better than a massage. I'm so grateful for the chance to be able to that every sunday. (Hopefully it'll help offset some of the stress that sundays will bring now that football season is back on! ha ha)

Since I've been spending tons of time around the house, here are some cute kitty pictures

I've been getting some really great cards and emails from so many of you, I really appreciate them all! I'm sorry if i'm bad about calling back and such sometimes. My heart warms every time I read them and  they always brighten my day. 

There are a few other things I need to write about, but I've done about as much sitting in front of my computer as I can do for the moment. Its a really gorgeous day outside so I'm going to try to get myself out there for a walk. 

Love,

Linds

CA2729 is Down! :)

Hi all!

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog, but all last week my brother was here providing me with amazing distractions, and previous to that I was still grumpy from port surgery, and post Mike being here I had a cat show in Philly to deal with (although I only had the gusto to make it for one day).

Anyway, I woke up today to an email from my Oncologist, the awesome Dr. Gaffar! There is a cancer marker in your blood that they watch that elevates when you have cancer, the type they are watching in me is called CA2729, and they hope to see the number go down once you start treatment. My email this morning informed me that the marker was cut by more than half since before I started treatment! :) I love having this news because it helps me know that our course of action is doing some butt kicking :)

So, backtracking a bit, my brother was in town last week. That was super awesome because I haven't seen him since the wedding. I love him and he made my heart smile every moment that we were together. He flew off to a wedding in Florence for one of his best friends, but he will be stopping back through for Labor day, so I'll have one last chance to hug and kiss him until he's back off to Seattle.

Leigh also came for a visit, which was totally awesome! I didn't get enough time with her since it totally coincided with doctor's appointments and my brother's visit, but she'll be back soon and we will get to frolic more.

So the cat show this weekend was cool, but a decent 2 hour drive, and I was not so successful in the sales. But, I did get to see some really great friends and I met some new lovely people. There are so many people out there that are affected by cancer and I just never realized. Everyone was very supportive and giving me positive feedback and tips. I LOVE POSITIVITY. Oh, and here is Lynzkatz Possum, an American Shorthair who is whooping butt in the shows right now, top cat at the moment! He's gorgeous an a sweetheart and I got to pet him for the first time at this show. He is amazing :)

The cat show was also awesome cause there were tons of Burmese and Bombays! More than I've seen at a show lately, so that was really great :) I wish I had taken more photos, but this one of Possum was all that I took. I'll hopefully have Nic around at the show next month in Timonium to help make sure I take a proper amount of pictures.


Now back to my mention of POSITIVITY, and this is sort of a spin off, but while only rarely, on my Facebook, people leave things that aren't conducive to positivity. I'm not going to mention specifics, but please people, if you have some link to show me, or something to say that definitely goes against the plan that my doctors have put in place for me, please do not show me. The best thing I can do is believe in my course of action and trust my doctors and know that I am going to come through this and beat it. I love all of the food suggestions and exercise or alternative healing practices, but anything that puts down what my doctors have planned for me is not a helpful suggestion. I just wanted to put that out there.

I'm going to be embarking on something new as well. Reiki. But I'll write about this in my next blog :)

My acid reflux is kicking my throat right now, my hair is falling out, so I'm going to go hunt for my Pepcid and work on these Neff beanie hats that I am making with hair extensions sewn into them.

I'll leave you all with a couple of pictures of the furry cuties in the household:

A Little Bit Of Port (shucks, I don't mean the wine)

Hi Everyone!

First off, does everyone (at least in the Baltimore area) see how beautiful it is out today? Oh my gosh! Granted its still warm for my taste, its lovely to view out the window ;) Come on September! Nice weather will bring the return of lovely morning Stoneleigh walks with my dad. <3

OK, so what has happened since I last wrote? Well, a big piece of news is that I picked up my first wig!  Before the beautiful and amazing Jasmine and her sister embarked on the journey of donating their hair and having a wig created for me, I had already started one in the works. I am very excited that I will have two so I will not be stuck in a situation where I have nothing to put on my head! I have to give a HUGE shout out to my amazing in laws Joe and Mary Alger for purchasing this very generous gift for me. Wigs like this are not cheap, but having this will really help my self esteem and just my sense of normalcy through all of this. I am so grateful <3 My wig looks exactly like my hair. I mean, its insane. Sherri Romm at Versacchi is a wizard, a genius, an absolute artist. Seriously... If anyone reading this is in a similar situation of needing hair replacement, please check out this salon. Not only is she talented, but she is just unbelievably sweet and compassionate too.

So that was Wednesday, on to Thursday, and Thursday was PORT DAY don don don

So I went in for surgery to have a port placed. I'm going to cheat and just copy some wikipedia information on what a port is for anyone who might not know:

In medicine, a port (or portacath) is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein. Under the skin, the port has a septum through which drugs can be injected and blood samples can be drawn many times, usually with less discomfort for the patient than a more typical "needle stick".

The port is usually inserted in the upper chest, just below the clavicle or collar bone, leaving the patient's hands free.

I googled a picture of what the thing that they inserted in me looks like: 

So surgery wasn't so bad. They put me under, so I don't really remember too much. Recovery wasn't that bad, and I had great nurses as usual. It was pretty rough the rest of the night though with nausea, because I am so sensitive to the anesthesia and I had taken vicodin on a pretty much empty stomach. Silly me. Sleep was also hard to come by because I was left with some decent pain from the procedure. I'm feeling a lot better today, though there is definitely some residual nausea. I just finally took one of the pills that they prescribed for nausea that I've been avoiding because I did not want to deal with the side effects listed. The last thing you want is medicine that makes you drowsy when you've already been drowsy for an entire day post anesthesia. Anyway, I took it a few minutes ago, so we'll see how it goes. 

Today I got a really cute gift from the gang at my dentist's office. Thank you so much everyone @ The Smile Design Center for my super adorable Build-a-bear kitty, who happens to look JUST LIKE one of my favorite ambassador cats from the cat shows, who happens to be named Hope, so I have named the kitty you guys gave me Hope as well :) She'll definitely be coming with me to Chemo in her super comfy robe and slippers! Here is a photo of me w/ the stuffed kitty (and my kitty ice pack), and a photo of the real Hope ;)

Anyway, I shall sign off from this blog post with a morning time crazy haired family portrait (minus Biko cause she was off sleeping somewhere still) I hope everyone is having a great day, and LOVE TO ALL!! <3 <3

XOXO,

LINDS

A Proper Thank You

Hello there friends,

I felt it necessary today to just leave a quick shout out to everyone. I have been very blessed to have so many people sending me their love, rooting for me, sending me little notes and gifts, messages on Facebook, comments on here, etc.

It has been hard for me to acknowledge everything properly, but I Just want everyone to know that I have appreciated every thing. Every time I get a message from anyone it puts a huge smile on my face. It really helps me stay positive knowing that you guys are out there thinking of me and everything.

I've gotten some cute cards too as well, and I received a particularly awesome one today from my godmother: I think i'm mostly resembling sleeping beauty right now, but I'd like to get more along the lines of little red riding hood ;)

I also received a nice package from a friend of my beloved Jasmine which included some cancer books which I am excited to explore:

AND! I still don't know who the mystery person is who left the box of ice pops, a Rita's gift card and some cute Daisies on my doorstep, but it was much appreciated!!! :)

Anyway, I just want everyone to know I read every word I see written and smile at every message that is relayed to me. Thank you all for being here for me, and supporting me through this.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today... They said that you might have some flu like/cold symptoms at some point.. I think they might have come today. My face feels swollen and I feel tired. I am going to go do some massive hydrating right now I think. Oh, and who knew that Acne came with chemo? (or quitting birth control...) I've never had acne, so if anyone has any experience with chemo and acne, or just acne, please hook a sister up with some tips because this is lame!

haha..
Love to all,
Linds

Chemo and Cat Show Weekend!

Hey all,
how is everyone today? well I hope :)

Biko and I just sat down to write a blog together, although she is spending more time trying to knock little things off my desk rather than help me focus on typing.

So I had my second round of chemo on friday, and it went about the same as the last. There are such great doctors and nurses and all around awesome people at the hospital so it always makes it a much more pleasant experience. I had a pretty large posse with me for this go around, which was pretty nice. It was Mom, Dad, Nic, Laura, and Nic's parents Mary and Joe!

Hopefully this was my last chemo IV! I have a consultation on tuesday for getting surgery to put a port put into my chest.


















We all went out to dinner afterwards at Gertrude's, which of course we all know is my favorite restaurant. (and where Nic and I got married). I had the Sea Bass... amaaaaaaaazing!!!


So then this weekend was CAT SHOW TIME!!! I was so happy to be able to go! Nic was a huge help with me all weekend. I got to hang out with awesome people this weekend too, like Deborah Curtis who is one of the awesomest and strongest and most beautiful people I know. Somehow I came away from this weekend without a photo of us, but I'll get one at the next show (in Philly in about two weeks.. its after a chemo day so we'll see if I am up for it, but i hope so!)

This is Hope, she is an Ambassador cat at the cat shows. She's an exotic shorthair and very plush an amazing :)

I made some decent sales at the show, had a good time, and saw lots of great cats. It was definitely a good experience for my morale :) Though after each day I was pretty much completely bushwhacked and couldn't get off the couch. Luckily I had a friend named Apollo who was more than happy to enjoy the "fatigue symptoms" with me:

I made a list of things I would like to get done today... I think there are over 30. I'm not really sure how that happened, but I think I'll choose 5 good ones to tackle, cause I just don't know about the energy levels. I hope everyone has a glorious day today :)

XOXO,
Linds

Ain't No Party Like A Liver Biopsy Party

Actually there is no party about it. Don't do it. Ever.

There is no ifs ands or butts, a liver biopsy is going to hurt like heck.

Before I get into anything, I must say, a friend sent me a photo the morning of the biopsy that was probably the only thing that could have put a smile on my face knowing what I had to go in for...and it is his most perfectly adorable pug Lydia!!

Its nice to have that day over and past though. I actually don't really want to even go back into describing it, but needless to say, the procedure was a really unpleasant one and the rest of the day was sort of a lost day because I was sick from the sedatives and in a lot of pain from needles mussing with my liver.

I tried to put on a smile before I went in for the procedure but I know this one looks a bit fake:

Today is a new day! Today was Brain MRI  Day. Wheeee. Much easier to deal with. I just had to sit inside of a MRI machine for like a half hour that vibrated like a bad massage chair. I might have lost a few brain cells in the process, but it was pain free (even the injection was no big deal). I will hopefully have results from that test  tomorrow when I meet with my oncologist after chemo.

Nic's parents are coming into town today! So that will be really awesome to see Mary and Joe :) They'll be here for a little while and get to get in on the super awesome shindig that is chemo fridays.

super important piece of info: CAT SHOW THIS WEEKEND!
hahaha... yess! As long as my bloodwork comes back with happy white blood cell counts, I'm allowed to go :) My goal is to vend, so hopefully chemo doesn't wipe me out too much. If I am tired from it, I will at least go and try to hang out all day both days, probably to the annoyance of my friends :) We all know that cat shows are one of my favorite activities in the world so I hope everything works out well. So anyone who is around and loves cats, the show is this weekend at the TIMONIUM FAIR GROUNDS! There will be lots of awesome people and awesome kitties and it'll just be an all around good time. Come support me, my friends, whatever :)

I've also been working on cleaning my room. I'm going to try to make things a little more zen around here. If you know me and my bedroom, you know that i'm slightly borderline hoarder status (mostly because of my fabrics). Nic has been helping me tremendously on an organizational system, and my mom is giving us her office for my new sewing room! Beyond generous!

Anyway, today is a good day, and I'm hyper, probably because I'm back on the dexamethasone for four days. I'm going to take advantage of the energy cause i'm sure I'll lose a step after chemo again.

Anyway, i'm going to go play with Pierre and Biko for a bit. I love all you guys and I'm sure I'll have some more to write post chemo.

LOVE YOU,
LINDS

here is a photo of Pierre, Zeus, and Apollo to brighten your day. They know how to relax and be zen.