Today my muscle aches came on full force, which seems to be the norm now a couple of days after chemo. So I decided to take it easy and was snuggling with my pup on the sofa. As you can see, he was very concerned about me. I’m thankful today for his sweet attention.
I was busy today. After work, I took a walk, made some cookies, and spent time chatting with my daughter about wedding details, which was fun. She’s decided to make her wedding dress because she can’t find exactly what she wants within her budget. I fully believe in her talent for doing so, but I can’t believe she wants to do it within her compressed timeframe. It makes me wish I was better at sewing so I could help her. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want her wedding dress to look homemade. But it was fun helping her figure out some material to use.
By 7:00 pm, I kind of hit a wall. I got tired and my legs started aching. Typical day after chemo stuff, just like my bright face rash. However, I’m thankful I got stuff done and I’m not feeling too bad.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’d sure love to be sitting at my favorite pub having a beer. Sigh. Hopefully next year.
Even though I woke up at 4 am with a headache that made it nearly impossible to get back to sleep, I wanted to look lively for chemo today. I didn’t have a green wig, but I think my pink one worked with the fun scarf a friend gave me.
The upside to getting a major dose of Benadryl along with a steroid prior to the chemo drip is that it cured my headache. However, I was so tired afterwards that I fell asleep for a couple hours once we got home. But at least I’m still having no adverse reactions, so I’m grateful.
Patrick’s parents offered to get us dinner today. I’m thankful for their generosity and that I felt well enough to get a delicious chicken crepe from a favorite restaurant. Mmm. And Patrick picked up a fancy chocolate cake for a special treat. It’s not typical fare for this holiday, but it sure was good.
Today I met with a new plastic surgeon. My old surgeon is leaving the area. I was pretty disappointed since I liked him and I thought we already had a plan. But the new doctor seems equally as competent and nice. She has some slight differences in what she’s suggesting for me and gave me some things to think about. However, it was a better meeting than I was expecting, so I’m thankful for that. I’m also thankful that she was given all the notes and pictures from my meeting with the previous surgeon, so I didn’t have to endure another photo shoot or body markings.
I also saw my oncologist this morning and after a discussion about side effects and low blood counts, I asked him how careful I need to continue being with quarantining. While he says I should continue working from home for now, I’m ok to go into a store when I want as long as I double mask. Obviously, I’ll still need to be careful to avoid peak times and crowded stores, but I’ll be so happy to get out periodically. Freedom!
Boo! We got several inches of snow again today. It shouldn’t have been a surprise since we live in an area that every year has what we call fake spring. It’s a brief warm up that gives us hope, gets us outside and dreaming of summer, and then we get hit with winter again. It makes us sad, and yet we fall for it. Every. Single. Time.
So I was sad today thanks to the weather. I want some dang sunshine and warm breezes. I want to sit outside. I want to see some green grass. While I know this snow and cold weather won’t last, I’m sick of it.
What do you do when you’re sad and frustrated? I turn on the Hallmark channel. The movies are usually very similar and predictable, but they always end on a happy note. So I watched a couple sappy movies. Then I video chatted with a friend whom I haven’t talked with in several weeks.
I’m no longer sad. It was great catching up with my friend (and long overdue!). It was also good to be distracted by happy endings instead of focusing on my frustration. And I’m thankful for that.
I’m grateful for another relaxing Sunday. It’s been a pretty good day even with the colder weather. We got a walk in and a drive to a neighboring town just to look around. I worked more on my shirts and started some little wool Easter bunnies.
I also hung this up today. I like the affirmations on it and the fact that it’s magnetic. I can hang cards from family and friends and artwork from nieces and nephews.
And since it’s Pi day, we got a variety of pie slices from a restaurant in town. A sweet ending to the day!
Much like last weekend, I’ve had some body aches and slight nausea again. It must be how my body is getting used to the chemo. It’s not terrible, and I hope it gets a bit better as I go on.
Even so, I did it. I spent most of my day in my craft room and got 2 new up-cycled shirts…almost done. I ended up having to tear one apart and resew it because I didn’t realize I had folded it on itself. Grrr. Next I’ll add some paint. Even though I didn’t finish, it felt good to get them going since I’ve had them planned for a while now.
I’m thankful for being productive. I’m grateful we’ve had another day of sunshine. I’m happy that tomorrow I can work on them again.
I’ve been so bored this week. It’s terrible. I usually have ideas for doing a craft or something after work, but when it gets dark, my enthusiasm for it wanes. This week has been extra bad because I haven’t really felt like watching tv or reading either. I think it’s cabin fever. And feeling a bit isolated again.
Tonight I started looking for something in a cabinet drawer of forgotten papers and ran across these right away.
Then I found these gems.
The first items reminded me that I can’t let my boredom stall me from moving forward in getting my crafting side hustle going if that’s really a goal. I’m the only one who can do it. And I can do it even when it gets dark.
The second items reminded me of how connected I always am to my kids, even though I don’t get to see them much. I ended up talking to both of them today. Reading the cards again also showed me how much they think of me.
Finding these items like I did also showed me that a little boredom can be cured by going through junk drawers. Heaven knows I should never get bored again. I’m thankful for these little reminders that pop up when I need them.
I’m thankful for a long walk, funny pups, and feeling ok today.
Only 10 more chemo treatments left! Today’s treatment went along with no issues. Yay! I’m now just tired again, but I’m very thankful that I’ve had no major reactions.
I’m also thankful for chats with old friends, flower deliveries, and chocolate mint candy.
melissagratitude 