Gearing up for cocktail hour

Sorry it has been a while since I posted, but I've been busy. On Sunday we worked in the garden some more. DH finished planting the vegetable garden, and I snipped of some more stuff that needed to be snipped. In the afternoon, we did some more plant shopping (can there ever be enough flowers in flower boxes???), and enjoyed the new Star Trek movie on an IMAX screen. It was quite nice, but I need to remember next time that my superovulating ovaries do not appreciate the non-reclining chairs at that particular IMAX...

Most of Monday, was occupied by medical stuff. In the morning there was the introduction to chemo class, and in the afternoon I went for my MUGA scan. The nurse took two tries and a catheter they normally only use on babies (or apparently also on crybabies such as myself) to gain access to a vein on the back of my hand. Hurray -- only two tries! I'm becoming a bit more modest in what I hope for...

The scan itself wouldn't have been so bad, if it weren't still so difficult for me to bring my left arm up high. Due to the mastectomy and the sentinel node biopsy I still do not have full range of motion. Partially, I blame the butcher for this, as he was the one who was supposed to make sure I get exercises and possibly physical therapy to help with that. But I guess by comparison with full lymph node dissections my case didn't look that bad to him. Go figure. So once again I'm on my own. At least I wasn't alone for the procedure, as DH managed to make it to both the morning chemo 101 class (which wasn't that informative) and the MUGA scan!!! That was quite nice, as he is not only the official purse holder, but also the official hand holder when I get poked...

On a different note, time waits for noone, so the countdown for my biweekly "cocktail hours" is on now. Tomorrow, I have my presurgical appointment for my mediport implantation on Tuesday. Then chemo starts on Thursday May 28. I've been gearing up for that, getting hats and scarves etc. to prepare for the hair loss. I actually also got a script for a "cranial prosthesis" aka a wig, but as it turns out, my friendly insurance agent tells me that my plan will not cover any such thing. Bummer. 

So instead, I surfed for free chemo headwrap patterns. I found a few and cannibalized two old t-shirts, then my mom sewed the cap. The outcome was pretty nice. It reverses, and since it is made from well-worn t-shirt material, it is incredibly soft. Tomorrow my mom and I want to incorporate some more improvements and discuss how we might want to alter the cut in the future. It's such fun to play with this kind of stuff together with her. Make for some really nice mother-daughter moments that I cherish very much...

My friends have also been helping me get ready for my chemo. Today, the delivery person brought me a mysterious box. At first, I had no idea why I was receiving it. After all, it was a menorah -- and I'm not Jewish. Turns out, however, I gradually remembered a conversation I had with no-l a while back about how I'll be having eight rounds of chemo. This had reminded her of the eight candles for Hannukah (and she isn't Jewish either!), and so she decided to get me my very own CHEMENORAH! No-l even managed to find a menorah (technically one for Hanukkah, as temple menorahs have seven arms) on a website that donates parts of their proceeds to breast cancer causes. Way to go girl -- you guys are amazing!!!

For each completed round of chemo, I will light a candle after the poisons have killed more of the remaining cancer cells, making my life flame burn temporarily more weakly, but more strongly in the long term. This is a really nice idea and a very sweet gift. Now I just have to find thin pink candles somehow and I'll be all set. Thanks, guys, you keep surprising me time and again! 

Last but not least, I wanted to let you know that even though I hadn't posted in a few days, I did manage to add a new feature to the blog. Some of you had asked what some of the strange terms and/or abbreviations mean that I use throughout this blog. It turn s out that I am mixing terms from the infertility community and the cancer community, with a dash of my own inventions. Apparently that was a bit too cryptic -- sorry about that. In any case, in order to help minimize confusion, I added a list in the left sidebar that spells out and explains what some of the most obscure terms stand for. I hope you will find it useful.