All Pinked Out

Chemo Round #9 was a big deal to Senor Poodela and I. We approached the event like graduating from high school. #9 was to be the last of the long and really damaging doses of chemotherapy.That is not to say that there are still many more months of chemo ahead for me, just not as long , and without so many terrible side effects. We were certainly looking forward to grad, and then I failed the blood test the day before as my white blood cell count was too low. Wow, it is a good thing my father is no longer with us as he used to get really cheesed off when I failed a test. My treatment was rescheduled for one day and would proceed if my white cell count had gone up by the morning of the new date. Sort of like going to summer school which I will never admit to attending for physics. My neighbour baked chocolate chip cookies for grad and Senor Poodela went around the treatment room being the Cookie Ambassador. Never to be confused with the Cookie Monster as he is a different colour, but I am guessing that they are around the same height. Good vibes and many smiles were in the room and I was hearing Beach Boy music in my ears.It is truly amazing how much joy a chocolate chip cookie can bring to someone who is hooked up to an IV pole. Part of the graduation included saying goodbye to the home care nurses who gave me my injections for the last five months, and bringing my needle disposal container to the local pharmacy. I won’t miss the injections, but I will certainly miss those caregivers.

Now that the Taxol is behind me, I want to give you a severe and strong warning to never take/use it. I see the word in my nightmares. It is in block letters and it is graffiti style with the skull and crossbones doodled into the block letters. All done in black and white. What a vision! I see a piece of art in my future! That stuff was truly toxic. My nose still bleeds, my feet feel like someone is sticking pins in them on the bottom and setting fire to the toes on top. Come to think of it, the toes are not really on top, they are more like sticking out the front. Here is a tip, buy the nail polish colour “Top Hat Black” by Sally Hansen to put on your fingernails while they have those black streaks from the Taxol. It is fashionable and really effective for coverup.

So anyway, today we went off to the tat shop to get my markings for radiation. The first thing they do in the radiation area is take a mug shot of your face. Why does BC Cancer not do that in the beginning/first meeting when you still have hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes ? I did not even want to look at the proof. The process for marking for radiation was fast and I now have three blue dots on the the right boob. The kind young man who was there doing his practical from BCIT radiation technology was telling me that the marks are permanent and not to be too concerned about this disfigurement. Come on kids, this boob has obviously been through a war and would require the entire cast of Nip/Tuck to get it back to what it was before.

Time to go. My bowl is being rattled in the kitchen by Senor. Appetite has definitely returned, and Senor’s energetic mastering of the art of stir fry is much appreciated.

Three H’s of cancer are hats, hugs, and humour and I will accept all three.

Chemo next week and radiation starts on the 25th.