Sunday, April 23, 2023

I’m coming up on my third post-treatment week and I’m feeling good. I don’t think I felt as bad this time around, although I did have some bad days. I think having the trip to Vancouver interrupted my “usual” schedule and that may have made a difference. I had my last injection this morning.

This week I’ll be busy preparing for our three-week stay in Vancouver. I want to take some non-sewing projects with me so I’m figuring out what I might take and then doing a bit of work on each project to be sure I have everything I need. Pat suggested some knitting so I’ve started knitting a baby blanket; just a few more tweaks and it can go into my suitcase. I’ll take my next sashiko project; it takes very few supplies so I don’t think I’ll need to do a test. There are a couple of other projects I’m considering – both of them are crochet. One takes a bin-full of yarn and I still need to do some design work on the other one. There should be room in the truck if I can’t decide and end up taking both.

The weather has been absolutely miserable so we haven’t even been out for walks. I’m also waiting for some good weather to weed a patch of the garden bed so I can plant my sunflowers. Pat will take the weed whacker to the grass in the yard. Most of the weeding in the beds will have to wait until we get home.

We’ve been watching and enjoying some of the Stanley Cup playoff games. I think my new favourite team is Edmonton, although I’m hoping for all of the Canadian teams that are playing. Will’s favourite player is on the Edmonton team and one of the players that we used to see when we had season tickets to the Vancouver Giants now plays for Edmonton. There really are very few players whose names I recognize.

I had a good sewing day with Stacia and Deloise last week and I’m making progress on my monthly UFO. I hope to finish my Baubles Galore cross stitch before we leave but I’ll have to keep at it as there is still a lot to go.

I’m not looking forward to my next round of treatments but it will be good to move on and be that much closer to just recovering.

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

I had a good sleep last night. There was no street noise, no noise from other guests, and the bed was really comfortable. Breakfast was good – French Toast for me and poached eggs for Pat.

We wanted to drop a few things off at the truck before heading to my appointment. I knew it would take me longer than usual to walk the three blocks but we were still an hour early at the Clinic. And we waited and waited as the chance of catching an early ferry disappeared.

It was an hour beyond my appointment time before I saw the radiologist and we had already accepted that we’d be taking the four o’clock ferry out of town. There was no wait for the CT scan but it was more involved than any of the others I’ve had. Lots of setting up time, some breathing assessments, then the scan and finally the tattoo markers.

Pat picked up Subway sandwiches for lunch and we sat in Stanley Park and ate. We didn’t get out of the truck (and we didn’t pay for parking) but the view of the cherry blossoms was lovely.

We were at the ferry terminal in plenty of time for our sailing – so wait, wait, wait again. We made it to Earl’s Cove, the second ferry, with about 15 minutes to spare. It’s a good thing we didn’t stop for gas or a bathroom break.

We ended our trip much the way we started – with rain and me hopeful that my pills would stay down long enough to be effective.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

We arrived safely in Vancouver this afternoon just in time to check into our accommodation. The building is old but very nice and we have a lot of stained glass in the windows. The room is small but we won’t be spending a lot of time here.

The morning didn’t start out all that well. I had a bout of nausea but I was able to keep my pill down and before we got on the first ferry it had resolved the problem. I had some nausea with my last treatment so maybe this was related to that. Or maybe it was nerves. I also thought it might be dehydration. I carry around a big water bottle but at the end of the day I usually haven’t actually drank much.

So I was determined to do better today but that posed its own problem. There are not a lot of bathroom stops along the way and the weather – heavy rain, hail, showers – weren’t conducive to dashing into the bush at the side of the road. I was glad I took a variety of head coverings – my scarf, my toque and my rain hat – although I’ve worn my toque most of the day.

Our accommodation doesn’t have any parking but Pat was able to get us free parking at the Cancer Clinic which is about three blocks away. I managed almost that distance when we went out for supper tonight so I’ll be okay to walk it tomorrow. We’ll be set for a quick getaway after my appointment tomorrow.

Sunday, April 16, 2023

I’m following the same path this week as I have with the last few treatments. It seems to me the aches are a bit worse and lasting longer but then I have a short memory so maybe that isn’t the case. I spent almost two days in bed but I’m feeling a bit better this afternoon.

As much as I hate not feeling well, the worst is not being able to do anything to get my mind off it. I was waiting for the latest book in the Outlander series and my “in between book” wasn’t very interesting. I tried cutting some fabric but between numb fingers and toes I couldn’t stand for long and I didn’t want to slice my fingers. I wasn’t able to hand stitch either; for the most part if I wasn’t in bed I was playing games on my iPad.

Enough is enough though and today I’ve been forging ahead. I sorted and trimmed some scrap fabrics and cut out fabric for three new blocks. I shredded more paper and when that was done I got out the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed up the scraps, as well as a lot of threads from the floor. This afternoon I was able to do a bit of hand stitching.

I still ache and my fingers and toes are as numb as ever (if not more so) but at least I’m getting something accomplished.