My Little Window

So since about Wednesday I have felt pretty much my self again. So this is my little window of normalcy. Sort of. I did end up having a Doppler ultrasound and seeing my oncologist on Thursday as after several days of weird feelings in my left arm (the chemo side) I decided to mention it to my nurse on Wed and see what she thought...this turned into the ultrasound to check for blood clots...they don't take any chances. It's a hard feeling to describe...a sort of weakness and achy discomfort from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers. Definitely worst at night especially at 3am when it wakes you up and you wonder if you are having a heart attack! So they said I was right to mention it. So the conclusion is no apparent sign of blood clots (whew!) and no real explanation (a perplexed look from my oncologist). Possibly some vein irritation /inflammation from the Dacarbazine? If it is still there next week they will do a follow-up ultrasound that has already been scheduled for Thursday.

So these few days of feeling good before Tuesday when I have my next chemo, have been fairly relaxing...just trying to do some catch-up around the house...although my catch-up got sidetracked into cleaning out our closet in our bedroom....I told my mum it must be a sign of dealing with inner turmoil since I wanted to clean out a closet no one sees when the very visible living room toy area and dining room are a complete disaster!! Ah well. So part way through this late yesterday afternoon, Avery gets up from an unplanned nap (great for those nice early bedtimes!) and complains that her head is itchy. Well I probably would not have thought much of it except that morning I had been examining my thinning hair and pulled a small dark thing out with a piece of hair. I carefully examined it and decided it might be a dead hair follicle.....now I gave this a second thought!! So I sat her down under the bright lights in the bathroom and started sifting through her hair. Lo and behold I found nits!! AAAGGGGGHHHH! I would not have known what I was looking for as we have...very luckily...been spared from this so far (even though the "Lice has been found on a child in your child's class" info sheet has come home on a semi-regular basis since Wynne started JK). However, I had the extra special opportunity of watching someone else nit-pick through a little girl's hair at Wynne's Sparks camp last June. One unfortunate girl had been sent home after the mandatory lice inspection......came back later that night supposedly treated and left by her grandparents only for the nit experienced leader to find many more nits and even a live one in her hair. So lucky me....I now knew what to look for. I figured that was one piece of knowledge that may just come in handy some day! So Avery had headlice.....check the also semi-napping on the couch Wynne....found a LIVE one!!! Off to Shopper's....bought the more expensive non-pyrethrin based stuff the pharmacist recommended and tried VERY hard not to scratch my head while in the store and definitely not while at the cash where the checkout girl reached for her head as she looked at the box and then (really!) did a quick head scratch and promptly stopped. Lovely...I'm contaminated even more now! So the evening was spent stripping beds, bagging toys and other things, applying solution to ALL of our heads (the result of Avery and sometimes Wynne regularly sneaking into our bed at night)....none of us were spared. The girls didn't get to bed until almost 11pm...good thing they napped. Today (and every day for the next 2 weeks) we have to do more nit-picking and then repeat the treatment next Saturday. For you lice virgins out there, the treatment does not kill the eggs (only the live ones) and these are glued to the hair shaft.

So I actually considered cutting my hair all off right then and there but Steve wasn't up for it. He wasn't ready to give up on my hair quite yet...maybe by the end of the week it'll be gone anyways and I won't have to re-treat! Avery has wanted her hair cut up to her shoulders so I DID that before we treated which will make the nit-picking easier and meant not needing as much expensive solution. We will have to take her to First Choice to get it tidied up I'm afraid....it's not too bad but a little shaggy at the back. She loves it though!!

So my little window has now been filled with nit-picking! Some of you may be wondering what I have done work wise. Since I was already on part-time/flex I didn't really need to do much. I have been trying to wrap up a few of my projects but have been finding it tough with appts and everything else. Luckily it is for a relatively laid back and otherwise busy with other things client. I will still do a few hours here and there and then try and made a clean leave-of-absence break for the summer so I don't feel like I have to check my work e-mail as frequently. Actually I have found it really tough to keep focused on work. It just doesn't seem that important right now and I just don't want extra stress in my life. I may be able to collect 15 weeks of EI for sick leave but it won't be much with my part-time hours....at least it would be something. Things will be tighter but we'll be fine.

So that's my week...pretty good compared to how I felt last Sunday and.....my cold did go away by Monday morning! I was very pleased and kind of amazed! I went to a "Look Good Feel Better" workshop on Tuesday. I had fun but when I came home all made up (the focus is tips for keeping up your appearance during cancer treatment if you are not familiar with it) I had mixed reviews. The girls thought I looked pretty.....they are such girly-girls and just love make-up...not sure where they got this from....not me! Steve on the other hand felt I didn't look like myself and wasn't so impressed :( The best tip was for drawing in eyebrows...hopefully I won't need that but now I am armed and ready. I got some great makeup tips and came home with a box of comestics and extras to play with. I have never really learned how to put on make-up so I really did learn a few things and maybe I can keep up appearance a bit better now and draw attention away from my lack of hair (or scarf, hat or wig??) and make my my eyes POP! :)

So appointments with the oncologist and bloodwork on Monday and chemo (using the now healed port) at 9am Tuesday morning. My dad is coming on Monday and will stay until Wynne's gymnastic "Springfest" show on Saturday and help take care of all of us this week :) I basically have family booked to come for the next 4 treatments. This is what the summer is going to look like! We feel so supported by friends and family!! Thank-you...thank-you...thank-you. I'm going to be saying this a lot.