Special moments

I'm officially blaming things on chemo brain now... my brain is click click clicking but it is often clunk clunk clunking... I'm mixing up days, appointments, and not remembering names of stores, etc.
Thank goodness my fingers can type quickly on my laptop to look up names and back my brain up... and when I make mistakes with appointments, people are so forgiving and flexible.
I mixed up days for the appointment to get my wig trimmed by the generous, wonderful people at Hippfish and they quickly rescheduled me for the next day. In the past I'd be mortified, especially the way I realized that I had an appointment 10 minutes before I was supposed to be there but I was still in my pajamas, whoops... but instead, I forgave myself, took a deep breath and called up Hippfish and admitted I got all mixed up. Phew. They're so kind. Plus ridiculously talented! The experts took a wig that I didn't think was really working for me and trimmed it up at the front and back making it softer on my face so that I actually like the front of the wig and then trimmed the back so that it doesn't look straggly... I now have a special place for my wig to chill out when I'm not wearing it so that it doesn't get squished, etc... Knew I loved going to Hippfish before for regular hair needs but wig needs was a different story, so happy I connected with them last Friday at the CancerLink "Look Good Feel Good" workshop... saying "Yes, thank you" is a good thing.

Love Holly Brown - yummy drinks and gelato -
great to take a break there to regain energy.

So over the past week my sister and I have relaxed, got pedicures on my crappy day, wandered around many places and did some touristy activity. I've shown Rachel many areas of Central, Admiralty, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Stanley Market, Peak... yet it feels like we've barely scratched the surface of Hong Kong. We're pacing ourselves so that I don't faint or crash... taking breaks and sitting down in some areas...  I'm so grateful she's here, I wouldn't get out barely at all if I didn't have such a positive, supportive person with me...  Feeling quite blessed to have the back to back visits first with my best friend Sheli and second with my wonderful sister Rachel...

A few more days with Rachel and then she's returning to Oregon. I'm loving this time we have together... Don't get me wrong, I'm dealing with many chemo side effects (besides some brain glitches) that are just no fun... the scalp is yelling at me, the nose is still bleeding- not excessively or anything, energy isn't strong, especially a few days after the treatment, the stomach is totally annoyed with me- drinking brown rice water to calm it down, and my cuts aren't healing... but honestly I'm feeling like I'm having many "normal" moments which is just a beautiful thing. *Can't blame spilling water and other liquids FOUR times on my iPhone in one day on chemo, right? My husband and sister both told me I'm just a klutz and laughed along with me... AND I just spilled again, sigh... takes talent. Really enjoying introducing Rachel to my wonderful friends here in Hong Kong... so grateful for my families at home in Oregon and here in Hong Kong. Feeling surrounded by love and support.

I was surprised when we got home from our adventures today to find a box waiting for me from a librarian friend in Oregon. Opened it and found a really cool book with vintage stories, blank pages, and a cool cover but what was special about it was the wonderful messages from my library friends from Oregon Association of School Libraries- they passed it around at a conference and also a board meeting- I miss those friends so much, loved my time throughout the year with them... the book is filled with journaled notes of love and encouragement and appreciation from friends in Oregon. Just a beautiful surprise, so grateful.

Thanks to my OASL family for the special notes!

Thanks for journeying with me... so grateful...

Companionship and collapsed vein

Chemo Week 7. This isn't something I'm getting used to. Sure there is the routine that I'm familiar with but feeling the liquid push into me sucks, every week. Most weeks I shiver and feel quite cold as the drip begins. Two drugs this time. Meh. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
I talked with the nurse about my veins today, no fun to do so but found out that one vein isn't viable anymore for chemo drip, it has collapsed. I knew it would be coming but I find it sad at the same time. Two weeks ago I could tell my veins were not happy and I had quite a bruise/quite a bit of pain.
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So, this past week included saying goodbye after almost two weeks to my best friend Sheli who was such a godsend and wonderful companion... so grateful for the time we had together. (Thank you Sheli, love you BF, so lucky to have such a beautiful friend for over 28 years....)

Goodbye at the airport the good way, with fun photos and hugs...

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Now we welcomed my sister Rachel for a 9 day visit. It is fabulous to have time together with her. She arrived just in time for Halloween and brought along some fun wigs. I loved walking around with a wig, quite amusing and fun. I know we look a little similar... we love to surprise people who know only one or the other of us and come into a place together. Was amusing at the oncologists office today when the nurses chuckled over our similarities... So we are exploring Hong Kong slowly together. I won't push it. In fact, after chemo today, we went to lunch at a great place SimplyLife, enjoyed a yummy salad there. We also wandered through the gardens but when we got to stairs for special areas I realized it was enough... so we headed home. See? I stopped. That's what Sheli taught me to do this past week. Can enjoy what we do without pushing too much.

Already brought Rachel to a bookstore, love our wigs... fun time...

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My sister and I had a conversation today with my oncologist about December. He wants to do the PET scan to see how successful this chemo has been the second week in December and then wants to immediately continue with a fourth round, ARGH ARGH. This means a few more chemo sessions. But then he said he thought that I might be able to go on the family holiday trip that we'd planned. Not promising anything since much hinges on results from the PET scan... so far blood tests that do have cancer markers after the lung/lymph node surgery the cancer markers were really high but they've progressively lowered over the past month... so it's another wait and see situation. ARGH to more chemo. I knew it was probably coming, just not thrilled. Maintained weight this week, considering that a success...
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Attended a Look Good, Feel Good workshop with my sister at CancerLink and appreciated the fashion, wig chat, and makeup demonstration. I really like the Hippfish Salon, talented people there- went before diagnosis, and know how generous it is that they volunteeer and donate their time to present to a group of interested people... so personable, friendly, knowledgeable, and friendly as well. I personally enjoyed many tips, especially the reminder that as a cancer patient (or just regular person) we should try to find non-scent/sensitive skin laundry detergent and quit using fabric softener... Wear bright colors vs black and white so that you compliment and accentuate yourself... Moisturize... Eyebrow tutorial was quite interesting, shall see if I need to do it, so far I haven't lost mine! But Rachel brought a transparency sheet with her so that I can trace my eyebrows so that I have a guide to draw them in if needed. Wigs... wigs... wigs... I've mentioned that I'm more comfortable popping fabric on my head vs. a wig. Wigs are expensive. I did buy a curly wig that is nice enough but I learned what makes me uncomfortable about the front of the wig. So I've made an appointment at Hippfish to get my wig trimmed a little bit by an expert and am curious to see how that works out. I want to just feel a little confident and comfortable.
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Healing the past...
A friend shared this article, it really relates to what I've heard over the past few months:
http://wakeup-world.com/2014/10/27/healing-past-trauma/
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Thanks for traveling through this journey, day by day... Have been distracted, in a good way, by life this past week so will say that when there's just one chemo drug pushed into me, I gain energy through the week and am honestly a little frustrated to have Saturday's treatment looming over me for that limit coming up... Part of life. Appreciating every day I wake up and can have a little fun.
Really missing work but enjoying books, books, and magazines.

Here's some of the recommended stuff from the Look Good Feel Good workshop: