Pressing On

Today I wore mascara - about 4 molecules of it : )

I have to repost this here, because I just can't believe it and I have to do something but I don't know what to do. There must be something that can be done. Something? Something!!! This is a blog post by a very talented and God-fearing woman named Ann Voskamp.  She wrote the book "1000 Gifts", and has a wonderful blog that I subscribe to, but some of what she writes is just so hard. She is currently in Iraq posting what she is learning. This involves the ISIS situation in the Middle East and **** I suggest you not click the link if you feel you will be disturbed by reading about the suffering there*** However if you are feeling strong today, go ahead and read and you might need to hit your knees like I did, begging for the mercy of God to rain down, especially if you have a 9 year old, know a 9 year old or have ever been a 9 year old. Or a parent. Or a human being.  Good grief, we must pray and look for opportunities to help. "Iraq: What the news isn...

No, not the car. As if I would have one to spare. Unless I lost my license in it.   Venom as in, from the snake: The other day I discovered that in addition to the health giving benefits <insert sarcasm> of radiation,  I'm being treated with... cobra venom!  Yes, you read it rightly. As far as I can ascertain the "naja naja" on my heart tincture refers to... cobra venom.  Despite the fact that I've had all manner of poisons pumped into me, I must admit that this took me by surprise.  After assuring myself that I was not experiencing paralysis, dizziness or vomiting I found a number of reputable places that detailed the vascular benefits of small amounts of venom as well as it's use as a pain reliever.  It may even become more mainstream, so watch out! So, well, hard to follow up "cobra venom". Let's just say that if this doesn't get my heart pumping, I don't know what will.  It seemed to pumping pretty well as I was reading u...

No offense to bag ladies, but I never thought I'd be one!   A radiation bag lady that is. If you look to the right at the very bottom you will see my "bag" with my name and a sunshine with a cross inside it on it. My bag looks nice and new.  Some of those bags look pretty worn... They have a very slick system at the radiation department.  When you walk in for your first appointment they hand you a paper bag, a sharpie and 2 blue hospital gowns. Those are your 2 gowns (one to wear backwards and one to wear frontwards, thank you very much) for the duration of your treatment to save on laundry, and the bag is where you keep them and also where you store your clothes whilst you are wearing said blue gowns. The other nifty thing is that you don't have to check in each time, you just chuck your appointment card in the tray when you come for your appointment, grab your bag, get changed and they come and get you when it's your turn.  Very efficient.  ...

We were away on a little vacation, no time to post : )  I'd like to post about that vacation if I get the chance, it was so crazy.  But in the mean time I'll just do a little update of the facts lately. After I got set up for my radiation treatments, my next appointment a week later was with my main oncologist whom I see every 3 months for the next year, as they monitor my heart and other things. That was the plan anyway, but plans change I guess. With the new medication I'm on I need a MUGA  (multi gated acquisition) scan every 3 months which measures the pumping capability of the left heart ventricle, because Herceptin can be hard on the heart. So I had my MUGA scan the day before I saw the radiologist and never thought a thing of it as I had been more or less assured that due to my age and condition, it should be fine. That being the case I was shocked to hear that my heart function was down below the acceptable treatment level. Meaning we have to postpone treatment ...