Getting Ready For Surgery

I've gotten several emails in which patients awaiting cytoreduction surgery and HIPEC have asked me how to best prepare.  We are often told, as I was, to expect a 12 hours surgery, to be in ICU for a few days post-op and to be in the hospital for about 2 weeks.  We've all heard horror stories of those who have had many complications and who have been hospitalized for up to a month, and who have had very long recovery periods.  Much of the length of hospital stay and probability of complications is related to the extent of surgery needed, general health before surgery etc.  I had few abdominal tumors, so probably required less surgery than many others.  My surgery, expected to be 12 hours, but was instead 5-6.  I did not need to go to ICU post-op, and was discharged in 6 days, not two weeks.  My recovery was not extended, I was back to doing what I normally did (albeit with some pain) in 2-3 weeks.  I also have a very high pain threshold, which also served me well.

There are things we can do though, to speed our recovery and prevent complications.  As a nurse, I know that those who don't move post-op have more complications.  So I was insistent on getting out of the bed as soon as possible.  Within 36 hours of my surgery, I was walking the hospital halls almost all day, every day.  Walking helps bowel recover normal function, prevents blood clots, promotes wound healing and prevents pneumonia.  When I wasn't walking, I was sitting in a chair in my room, I only went to bed to sleep.  I had to walk bent over for awhile at first as standing up straight made my abdominal incision more painful.

I personally didn't like the morphine PCA they gave me at first...one of those things where you press a button to deliver morphine when you are in pain. Morphine made me feel drugged....and nauseated.  And nausea and vomiting is a painful thing to do when your abdomen has been cut open.  As I was a nurse, I knew of a drug that was not narcotic, Toradol.  It is, in essense, a powerful form of IV medication for pain.  I asked my morphine be stopped and replaced by periodic Toradol injections  Toradol was so much more effective for my pain, and I didn't feel "drugged" or nauseated.   I was very lucky I had a physician who catered to my needs and suggestions.  Toradol can only be used for a few days, so after Toradol, I took ibuprofen for pain.Narcotics can depress breathing and slow bowel function also,so I felt I was better off without them.

I also brought books and a CD player to the hospital.  I needed things to distract me from my status as a patient, to distract me from pain.  Some hospitals now have internet access....you can bring your laptop and keep in touch with people if cell phones aren't allowed.   Many also use the Caring Bridge site and have a person designated to keep the site up dated, so family and friends can get updates and you or your loved ones aren't inundated with telephone calls while you are in surgery and recovery.

I also brought soft elastic-waisted pants and shirts as I didn't want to wear a hospital gown, so I was in street cloths most of the time.  I also bought something called an abdominal binder...it is like a very wide elastic belt you can wear to splint your abdominal incision that was very helpful to me after I was discharged (about $20 at Walgreens).  They used to be commonly used for patients with abdominal surgery, not sure why they aren't commonly used now.  It may have been sold at Walgreens as an elastic back brace, but it worked well as a binder.

It is also important to take several deep breaths and to cough every couple of hours; if coughing is painful, you can hold a pillow against your abdomen when you do it.  If you are in bed, you can do ankle exercises to help blood circulate in your legs to prevent clots from forming.

When I got home, I had no bowel or stomach issues, just didn't have much of an appetite for awhile, so I ate frequent small amounts of high calorie food (egg nog, milk shakes, ice cream sundaes).  My appetite did return and I gained back all of the weight I lost with my surgery (about 20 lbs.).

If anyone else has other suggestions as to what helped them through this surgery, feel free to post in the comments here!

Using your Support System

Yesterday we had our fifth Woman’s Metastatic Cancer Support Group meeting and the discussion centered on support by family and friends. We talked about how you have to put some thought into asking for what you need. Also, unless we are open to accepting help, we may lose out on offers of help.

So G said her freezer is full of casseroles brought by friends and family. The problem is, her appetite is terrible and so the food just sits. Now she says, when someone offers to bring food over, she’ll ask what they are having for supper. If it’s not something that interests her right there and then, she’ll say thank you but not tonite. Of course everyone’s personal situation is different. I don’t think she has a spouse or children at home who might otherwise appreciate a home cooked meal.

At this point G was on a roll … She told the story of how an acquaintance called and said she was coming over with flowers. G said instead of flowers, what I really could use is a coupon for an inside and out car wash. There were a few chuckles and we all agreed that was a great idea … she then said, now, if I could only find someone to go with me and stand at the pump and fill my car with gas, I’d really be happy.

Now there is one woman who is using her support system very well.

I did it!!

I updated my blog every day in November!! Now I just have to sit back, relax, and wait for the prizes to roll in.

Don't worry. Be happy.

A few days ago, I saw a woman wearing a shirt that said, "Don't worry, be happy." I spent the next several minutes mentally correcting the punctuation. In my perfect punctuation world, the shirt would have said, "Don't worry. Be happy." I also would have accepted "Don't worry; be happy", but a semi-colon seemed just a little too formal in this situation. Then I pondered "Don't worry: Be happy", but I wasn't sure. I think it would be best to go with the period. "Don't worry! Be happy!" seemed a little hyper.

Then I realized I wasn't taking the shirt's advice, because I was worrying about it. Then I realized that worrying about punctuation makes me happy. What to do? What to do?

Really, I should have been worrying about something else entirely, such as how this woman managed to gain access to a time machine and transport herself back to 1988 to purchase the shirt in the first place.

What am I going to eat today?

Each day brings with it a slightly different challenge when it comes to my stomach. I wake up every morning and think what am I going to eat today and how much? And I’m still sticking to simple foods that lessen the cramps in my stomach.

For two weeks now I’m either trotting or stopped up for two or three days at a time. Last week, it was day two without a bm and I said to D should I take something for constipation? He thought no, you haven’t eaten enough to be constipated, wait one more day.

The next day I felt so good that I ate a very plain 6 inch sub sandwich. I guess I wasn’t that good because the trots came shortly afterwards. It was probably too much at one sitting but I was just so hungry for normal food that I didn’t want to stop.

The perfect Thanksgiving day

I think we have finally hit upon the perfect Thanksgiving celebration.

Before everyone comes over, watch the Macy's Parade from New York City, with special emphasis on the Broadway shows. (It's especially important to sigh over never growing tall enough to dance with the Radio City Rockettes.)

In the afternoon get together with closest family and friends. Everyone pitches in to make the meal. Our menu for fifteen, including six teenagers and four vegetarians:

Green salad 

Stuffing

Pickled green tomatoes 

Roast turkey 

Gravy (turkey & vegetarian) 

Rolls

Cranberry-sour cherry chutney

Brussel sprouts 

Salmon & mushroom-leek filo packets

Sparkling juices and wine

We asked everyone to suggest something to toast: good health, joy in friendship, delicious food, you name it.

Then go to see a movie together. This requires selecting a movie that everyone will enjoy (or at least tolerate) and choosing the theatre and screening time in advance so people can purchase tickets. We went to the newest Harry Potter film, which almost everyone was eager to see.

Come back to the house for snack and dessert. Because we keep kosher, and also because it had been several hours since we'd eaten meat, we could have a dairy snack: 

Four different cheeses with crackers and sliced apples

Apple and pumpkin pies

Apple cake

Vanilla ice cream

Coffee and tea

Last, play games. We played a rousing rendition of Celebrity and Apples to Apples.

It was a wonderful day that lasted well into the evening and perhaps one of the best Thanksgiving celebrations ever.

Cancer-versary

I was going to call this post "Happy Cancer-versary!" but "happy" doesn't seem like the right word. I mean, nobody sends you cards or bakes you a cake on your cancer-versary. I'm not really sure what the right word would be. I'm not one of those cancer patients who is all deep and profound and wise. All I can think of writing is, "Five years. Still alive. That's cool."

So: Five years. Still alive. That's cool.

For BC Survivors Traveling by Air

If you have any hidden medical devices like a breast prostheses or a port and are planning to fly, you may want to read this post. Canadian airports have full body scanners and pat-downs but not the issues found in the US. So when you’re traveling south of our border, beware of what’s happening and prepare yourself.

The buzz about the TSA passenger screening at U.S. airports all started after a woman declined to do the full-body scan because of radiation concerns. She was then given the option of a body search instead. Things got uncomfortable when the female agent discovered her breast prosthesis and asked her to pull it out. Another case was where an agent poked and prodded around lady’s port so aggressively, it made it sore and uncomfortable for days.

So to help make air travel just a bit easier, Susan G Komen for the Cure put together some steps you can take as you head to the airport.

We are thankful for ...

A few years ago, I started a Thanksgiving tradition. Every year around November 1, I draw an outline of a tree on a big piece of white poster board, and I write, "We are thankful for ..." in the middle of the tree. Then I cut a bunch of multi-colored leaves from construction paper. Every night before WCK's bedtime, the three of us sit down together, and each person writes what he/she is thankful for on a leaf, and we tape it to the tree. By Thanksgiving Day, the poster is completely covered. This year, WCK could write all of her words herself, with a little spelling help. She would never let us forget that it was time to "go do the leaves" every night. Here is our complete list. You'll have to guess who said what. (Hint: I didn't say "cup holders".)

Turkey
Our house
Our cat
Beer
Crayons
Mom
Nachos
Snow
WCK's school
Cousins
Aunts and Uncles
Friends
Grilling
Sunday School
Cup holders
Dolls
Running
Our church
Grandmas and Grandpas
WCK
Jimmy John (may he rest in peace)
Toys
Coffee
Reading books with WCK
Darth Vader
Food
Warm blankets
Medicine
Jay
Football
Book Club
Rainbows
Warm coats
Sunny days
Margarita's salsa
Drama Club
Our furnace
Mashed potatoes
Playing at the park
Frogs
Newts
Air Zone
Apples
Our cars
Planet Sub
Being healthy
Noodles
Grocery stores
Books
Plays
Exercise class
Batman
Men who cook the turkey on Thanksgiving
New Year's
Valentine's Day
Christmas
Easter
Fourth of July
Halloween
(someone in the family really enjoys holidays)

CT Scan Do-Over

I had a CT scan on Friday and all when well except that I forgot to fast in the morning. I called and the receptionist and she said to come in anyway. Mid afternoon, after it was all done, I was feeling like everything was going to end up ok.

But noper - I got an email late in the day from my trials nurse telling me I have to do-over my CT scan next week. Darn it; I sort of suspected that they’d want a perfect scan because of the clinical trial drug I’m on. They’re more particular about what they want and how they get it.

I’m quite annoyed with myself for screwing this up. Trying to think back on what I could have done different. All I can say is that it’s been a busy week for me and I truly thought I had nothing scheduled after Thursday … obviously I was wrong. 

So now I’m gonna put notes all over the house reminding me that I need to fast the morning of my scan. Hope that helps this silly brain of mine to remember. I sometimes think I could sure use a personal assistant to help me stay on track with appointments and meds and such.

Runnin' fool

Yesterday I finally ran the Thanksgiving 5k with Jay and my sister. I'd say the worst part of the race was having to stand around and wait for the race to start, because it was about 20 degrees outside. I hate cold temperatures and I'm very wimpy, so I wasn't entirely sure I'd survive. Right before the race, volunteers were setting cups of water on a table. I picked one up and discovered a solid ring of ice over the top. Not a good sign. Then my feet and hands started to go numb. The D.J. started playing, "Hot! Hot! Hot!" just to be mean. I didn't stretch, because the thought of sitting on the cold, cold ground made me want to cry, only I couldn't cry, because my tears would freeze to my face.

But once the race started, I got all warmed up, and I had a good time. I ran with my sister, and I had my iPod with all of my Bon Jovi/New Kids/Backstreet Boys/various other crappy music that I love. I hope I can do some more races and improve my time. Best of all, we could all consume an enormous Thanksgiving meal guilt-free. I'm thinking that the guilt-free eating should extend into several days of leftovers, too. Mmmm, guilt-free leftovers.

Healthy Spirits: The New Stuff

1. Jolly Pumpkin Noel De Calabaza
2. Jolly Pumpkin Oro De Calabaza
3. Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca



cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

the significance of threes

They say luck, whether good or bad, happens in three's--

I've had three heartbreaking things happen in a short span of a week- all sandwiched between one magical trip to the Big(ish) Apple.

These three things have uprooted me emotionally, monetarily, permanently.

All three have been the decision of other people, directly impacting my life.

No wonder I feel helpless.

My life has been rather desperately reaching for something to cling to, for some small root to grab and take hold and secure me to more stable ground. The ground I cling to is far more fragile than myself- often just a future hope, a sliver of opportunity, a speck of a man. Perhaps all only ideals. Easily crumbled.






[In NY; a crooked bowtie means good times]

So, this Thanksgiving, which I almost missed--


I am thankful for the friends and family that remain steadfast- offering a hand when my ground is giving way, pulling me up from the rubble, time and time again. I'm thankful for the people who stay with me, through all of my misgivings and flaws, because of love. I fucking love you too, honestly, absolutely.





ok. No more bad luck, on the count of three...


.

.

.

one

.

.

.

.


two

.

.

.

.

.

.



three.

Travel tips for breast cancer survivors

My online friend Chemobabe posted a notice on Facebook from the Komen Foundation, warning breast cancer survivors on how to travel by air during the holidays.

If you’re a breast cancer survivor traveling by air during the holidays…

…you may be concerned about what to expect from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening guidelines at U.S. airports beginning this week.

TSA is now using full-body scanners at 68 U.S. airports that can detect surgical clips, prostheses and implants. If these devices are detected, breast cancer survivors may be subjected to a more thorough and personal secondary screening by TSA agents.

The secondary screening has been controversial: One breast cancer survivor says she was told to remove her prosthesis; another told us that she was in pain for days from pressure to her chemo port, and others say they felt invaded and distressed.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has written to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to offer Komen for the Cure’s expertise into the special issues around the nation’s 2.5 million breast cancer survivors. We’re not national security experts, of course. But we can do our part to ensure that survivors are treated with respect and dignity.

As we do so, here are some steps you can take as you head to the airport this holiday season:

• Komen is recommending that breast cancer survivors arrive earlier than usual at the airport, with ample time to go through the new secondary screening if necessary

• If you are concerned about going through the body scanner for any reason, you may request a private pat-down screening

• If you choose, or are selected for, a pat-down screening, you may request a private screening away from public areas

• You should advise the TSA agents of any chemotherapy ports or other medical devices.

• You should not be asked to remove your prosthetic device

• Most airlines strongly recommend that customers use carry-ons, rather than checked luggage, to carry medicines or prosthetic devices

Here is more information from TSA’s website that may be helpful as you plan your travel: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1374.shtm#1 

We don’t at this point have reliable data on the potential impact of these new screening procedures on breast cancer survivors. We want to hear from our survivors about their experience at the airport – good or bad. Please send an e-mail to news@komen.org.

Please know that we are watching this situation as it develops, and are more than happy to work with TSA to ensure that the issues of breast cancer survivors are heard.

CT Scan this Morning

As D and I were sitting sipping on our morning coffees, he picked up my Droid phone and checked the calendar events for today. Hey he goes, aren’t you supposed to be having a CT scan today? Whaaaat? … I just finished my second piece of dry toast. I grabbed my folded up appointment list and yup, there it was, clear as day and I should have been fasting.

Anyways, in a panic, I called the clinic and they were really nice about it. She said that the small amount I ate is ok and will have moved along enough in time for my scan. She also said that I wasn’t the first one to forget … that made me feel less of a dumb bunny.

it gets better. and it can get better now, too.

Chances are very good that you've already heard of the It Gets Better Project, which was started in response to a series of suicides. Young people (some as young as 13 years old) are choosing to kill themselves rather than continue to deal with being bullied or shamed.

I love this powerful, touching and often funny series of videos aimed to give hope to young (and older) teens who are feeling depressed or alone because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.

This one from Pixar is the favourite in my house.




A day or two ago, The Maven shared this video on Facebook. These kids are saying that things need to get better now, not just in the future. It's brilliant and I am in awe.

Reteaching Gender and Sexuality from PUT THIS ON THE MAP on Vimeo.

but i have an excuse (actually i have a few)

I bailed on National Novel Writing Month on the first day, having written just under 700 words.

I felt like there were too many other interesting bits of writing that I wanted to do, including continuing to edit last year's novel.

And then my life became insane. I've been really hard on myself for all the things I'm not doing lately. This week, though, I've had two people who are very important to me (my coach/therapist and my friend DM) listen to me unload and then tell me that I would have every right to feel overwhelmed with a fraction of what I've got on my plate.

I tend to be hard on myself because I don't work outside the home right now. If I don't go to a job I feel like I should just sail through my other commitments. It felt really good to list everything going on in my life and have two women I respect offer support and sympathy. I've decided that I need to cut myself a lot more slack.

I can do NaNoWriMo next year. I'm OK with that. But I did feel a pang when my son sent me this video:



NaNoWriMo was a fun kind of crazy. I just couldn't let the rest of my life go to do it this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

TED Video ~ Dr. David Angus: A New Strategy in the War against Cancer

I first saw this video on fellow cancer blogger Duper’s blog at Ciao Cancer.

A bit about this 24 minute video …

Dr. David Angus, an oncologist, says the death rate of cancer has not changed significantly in 50 years. So a group of researchers are pushing forward with a new approach to treating cancer. They’re bringing in engineering principles and using cross collaboration with mathematicians and physicists to hammer out a cure for cancer.

What a jaw dropping video.

Still practically snowed in

Seattle continues to be snowed in today.

On Tuesday Rik was off and we enjoyed a walk with the dog in the bright sunshine, cuddled, took naps (well, I did the ironing), and generally just hung out. The schools announced a closure at 5 PM, so Rik is off again today.

Rik did go to the airport last night to pick up my mom, who will spend the weekend with us. The main roads were clear, but there was a wait to drive the one mile from the highway exit to the airport with heavy traffic.

Today we have heavy clouds, which means the temperature is a little milder and it's not as windy. We are going to attempt a trip to the grocery store to pick up the last few items for Thanksgiving dinner. I've been in touch with all our guests and everyone has been out at least once in the past few days, so it appears that we will have our feast with family and friends.

I foresee more cuddling, naps and just hanging out in our future -- with plenty of hot tea, coffee or cocoa and a warm dog butt snuggled up next to us.

First Lunch with a Cancer Buddy

In 2009 after quitting Taxotere I started feeling better. Both Xeloda and Vinorelbine were much easier to handle and I was feeling like doing something more. I decided to volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society’s - CancerConnection. C C is a one-on-one peer support for those going through cancer. After my initial training, I would be matched up with women who are having a similar cancer experience and once a week we’d discuss whatever was on their mind.

I did this for about eight months and talked to about six ladies across Western Canada. Unfortunately, I decided to leave earlier this month because my current chemo, Brivanib was giving me too many side effects. I just didn’t have the energy and especially the enthusiasm I felt I needed to continue doing a good job.

Anyways, yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting one of the gals I used talk to. We decided to meet in person once I left the CancerConnection. M lives about an hour out of town and came in to run some errands.

Finally we had faces to our voices … it felt so good meet her. We still chatted about our cancers and how we were coping with living with our cancer and how we both liked to quiz the Oncs, looking for more meaning in their words. I laughed and said; I used to watch the Oncs face when s/he’d say something and wonder why that eye brow went up just as they said that. Was this sugar coating or telling it like it is? Of course we both came to the conclusion that too much analysis is not good.

We enjoyed our nice lunch together and plan to do it again soon.

Hairspray fumes

I think today's teenagers get a bad rap. Compared to the young women of my generation, the young women of today are absolutely brilliant, practical people who will go on to achieve great things. What am I basing this on? When I was at WCK's school the other day, I noticed that 99.99 percent of the eighth-grade girls styled their hair like this:



It's just a ponytail with a headband around it. That's all it is. And all of them were doing it. It's like they all held a Secret Meeting of Eighth Grade Girls and said, "Look! We're not styling our hair ever again! Let's all make a pact to wear ponytails with headbands around them every single day!" How freaking brilliant is this? It would take about five seconds to do.

I think the reason I'm so impressed is that when I was in the eighth grade, every girl's hair looked like this:



Or this:




Or, if you were extra-fancy, this:



And if you ever did want to pull your hair back in a ponytail, it had to be something ridiculous:


Do you realize how much sleep we missed in the '80s because we had to get up hours before school started to construct our hairdos? Do you know how little attention we paid in class because we were constantly worried that our bangs were falling down? Do you know how many hairspray fumes we inhaled between 1986 and 1993? I never realized it at the time, but now I know we were all sleep-deprived, uneducated, and full of toxic fumes. I think we all have significant brain damage. I won't even get into the way our rolled jeans cut off circulation to our ankles.

But today's girls have it right, and I'm pretty jealous. They're all going to go far.

By the way, I have no idea who the girls in these photos are. I just Googled "80s Hair", and there they were. Poor souls.

and then my hair got did (final makeover post, i promise)

Of the four women being made over, two of us picked our clothes and shoes in the morning and then had our hair done after lunch. I was grateful to be in the afternoon group and have someone else do the work for a couple of hours.





Actually, I did have to do a bit of work. It took concentration to separate those little papers.





You can't really see all of them, but there are THREE little bowls of colout being applied to my head.





This is my favourite part.











And this is why my hair will never again look the way it did when Tony was finished with it. How does anyone do the back of their own head like that?







Thanks so much to Tony from L'Elégance Salon (they don't have a web site or I'd provide a link), the St. Laurent Centre and the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation for making all of this possible.



(All photos by S. Sioufi except the last which was provided by T. Vincent)

it gets worse.

Just got a letter in the mail--

I've also been denied disability/ssi assistance.

so

there's nothing left to hope for.

no money left.

I don't know what else to do.

besides sleep.

and then it got easier

It's not that I don't have anything else to talk about. It's just that life has been really, really busy lately and when I finally get the time to blog, my brain is no longer working.

I thought I'd continue sharing my makeover photo-story with you. Please feel free to move right along if you're bored with this stuff. Let me know in the comments if you've read anything interesting lately.

Meanwhile, the shoe store was more fun than the changing room:

First I had to pretend to be shopping for shoes, so that A Channel could get some footage.

Check out the heels on these babies.


I threw on this dress so that I could be filmed without ruining the surprise. It hadn't even been among the outfits that I considered but I loved it so much that I thought about changing my mind. Or going back a few days later and buying it. But seriously - where would I wear a second fancy outfit? To the dog park? Buying groceries? To parent-teacher interviews?


Can you tell which shoes I came in with?


It just occurred to me that the ones I chose (#53) look a bit like my old Blundstones mated with the those sexy pumps I looked at when I was still wearing the diva dress. Little boots but with a ridiculous heel.

See that crazy grin on my face? I love shopping for shoes.


Here's a better view of the whole ensemble. The St. Laurent Centre even paid to have my top altered. The outfit is hanging in my closet. I may just decide that I will wear it to the dog park.

24 hrs in Review

After several decent nites sleep, Sunday’s sleep was just plain lousy… intense dreams and waking up every few hours. Arrggg! And to top that all off, I had to wake up Monday a little early to take my weekly prescription of ‘bone harder’ … 70mgs of Alendronate. It’s only one pill and it must be taken on an empty stomach and then no food for an hour.

After taking all my other meds and breakfast, I was not feeling well. I auto-posted my blog for 11:30 and went back to bed. I slept for over an hour and woke up feeling sluggish and even more tired. Ok regardless, I had to get up and get going because my mets support group meeting was starting shortly.

The weather here has turned cold -18C 0F. Fortunately for me, D offered to drive because I tell ya, having a driver to chauffeur me around has been just the best. D picked me up a couple of hours later and I was back home snuggling in my blanket. 

Last night's sleep was better.

Dairy Duty

Yesterday, I had "Dairy Duty." What is Dairy Duty? It's a volunteer position at WCK's school. The volunteer stands in front of the milk cooler at lunch time and passes out milk to all of the kids as they pass by. It's very demanding work.


This was my first time on Dairy Duty, and WCK was pretty excited that I was going to be there. She kept explaining what I needed to do. "You stand there, and you say, 'White or chocolate? White or chocolate?'"


I told her, "I think I'll say, 'Hello, ma'am! Would you like white milk or chocolate milk today?'"


WCK looked stricken.


"No, no, no! Don't say that extra stuff! Just say, 'White or chocolate'!"


Wow, how embarrassing to have a mom who won't stick to the Dairy Duty script! WCK would never live it down. She'd be in eighth grade, and kids would still be saying, "Hey, WCK! Remember the time in kindergarten when your mom didn't say, 'White or chocolate?' Ha ha ha!"


So I didn't say the extra stuff, and WCK still let me give her a hug and a kiss in the middle of the cafeteria when I saw her. At least I haven't become that lame. Yet.

Snowy Seattle

I woke up this morning to two inches of snow on the ground -- most unusual for Seattle -- and a prediction for six more inches to come. 

Not trusting the other drivers (who mostly don't know how to drive in the snow), I stayed home and installed the new modem, made cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, did some chores and am about to read a book. That, plus hot coffee, makes for a perfect snow day.

 Thank goodness I went to the grocery store yesterday!

Show-tune torture

At long last, the fact that I've had show tunes stuck in my head most of my life has paid off. This morning when WCK refused to get out of bed for school, I decided to sing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma! until she complied. As you might recall, WCK hates my singing voice, so it went something like this:

ME: Oh, what a beautiful morning ...
WCK: STOP THAT!!!!
ME: Oh, what a beautiful day ..
WCK: STOP!! SINGING!!!
ME: I've got a beautiful feeeeee-liiing ...
WCK: YOU ARE BOTHERING ME!!!!

By the time I got to the part about the elephant's eye, she was up. Thank you, Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Smoothies Really Help

At the suggestion of Angela, a fellow blogger at finding a way who said, try making smoothies to ease indigestion and eat better. This sounded like such a great idea; I went out and bought one of those Magic Bullet blenders. I selected this one because it’s simple to clean, has extra cups, it’s smaller than most others, takes very little room on the counter and the price is right. I’ve wanted to start drinking juice for quite a while now but found out that people who buy juicers often quit soon after because they’re not easy to clean and then the novelty wears off.

I started making smoothies out of the few items I was able to tolerate like banana, apple sauce and carrots. After this style of eating worked for me, I started to make new ones out of yogurt and cottage cheese. These all seem to be really easy on my stomach because it’s in liquid form.

I plan on adding things like berry V8, spinach, protein power, oatmeal, milk, peanut butter and other fruits and vegetables. Between Angela’s suggestions and Google, there is endless list of smoothie recipes out there including high protein one’s which I need. And what I don’t want to drink right away can put in the fridge for later. So far this smoothie thing is working out very well for me.

chronological order

Arrived at the St. Laurent Centre with my friend SS, met the other women and realized that I was going to have an exciting day.


I was impressed with Tony from L'Elegance. He was consultative but had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted to do.


Trying on clothes was hard work. I don't have photos of some of the real duds or I would share (really I would). Finding items that fit and looked good was a real challenge and there were moments when I felt extremely frustrated. There were lots of great helpers, though.


I was determined to be open-minded but this was just too much sparkly for me. I felt like I was wearing a very shiny washboard.

Healthy Spirits: Beer of the Month Club December 2010

...now ready for pick-up!

cheers,

dave hauslein

beer manager

415-255-0610

American Music Awards

Oh, yeah! Watch until the very end ... and then run to set your TiVo/DVR. You're welcome.

Shout Out to ~ Variety’s Power of Comedy

Variety’s Power of Comedy event is taking place December 4, 2010 at Club Nokia at LA Live. Variety will bring together a talented group of Hollywood’s funniest comedians who, through their stand-up performances will raise funds for the Noreen Fraser Foundation. NFF is a charitable organization whose mission is to fund ground-breaking women’s cancer research.

Special guests include Russell Brand, Sarah Silverman, Bob Saget and many other comedians.

Humor not only serves to break the ice on a subject like woman’s cancer that can be uncomfortable but also reminds us all of the healing power of laughter.

For more information and to purchase tickets see their website at http://www2.variety.com/power-of-comedy/poc.html#buy

Types of Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is divided into three primary histological types:

    * Epithelioid mesothelioma - Epithelioid mesothelioma constitutes approximately 50% to 70% of all malignant mesothelioma making it the most common type of mesothelioma.
    * Sarcomatoid mesothelioma - Sarcomatoid mesothelioma is the least common type of mesothelioma accounting for about 10% to 15% of malignant mesothelioma.
    * Mixed or Biphasic mesothelioma - As its name implies, Mixed or Biphasic mesothelioma is combination of the sarcomatoid and epithelioid types. Approximately 20% to 40% of the mesothelioma cancer cases fall into the biphasic category.

Mesothelioma develops in three major areas of the body:

    * Pleura – the lining of the lung, resulting in pleural mesothelioma
    * Peritoneum – the abdominal cavity, resulting in peritoneal mesothelioma
    * Pericardium – the heart, resulting in pericardial mesothelioma

As malignant mesothelioma can be confused with other cancers, consider getting a second diagnostic evaluation from your physician or from a mesothelioma oncology specialist.

Source : mesothelioma.org

History of Asbestos

Asbestos has been used for more than 2,000 years. It was named by the Ancient Greeks, its name meaning "inextinguishable". The Greeks also noted its harmful biological effects. Even though the Greek geographer Strabo and the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder both observed the "sickness of the lungs" in the slaves that wove asbestos into cloth, they were in such awe of asbestos' seemingly magical properties that they ignored the symptoms.

The Greeks used asbestos for the wicks of the eternal flames of the vestal virgins, as the funeral dress for the cremation of kings, and as napkins. It is rumored that Romans would clean asbestos napkins by throwing them in the fire. The asbestos cloth would come out of the fire whiter than it went in, so the Romans named asbestos "amiantus", meaning "unpolluted".

Use of asbestos declined during the Middle Ages, yet some say that Charlemagne had asbestos tablecloths. Marco Polo was also shown items made from asbestos cloth on his travels.

Asbestos use was brought back in the 1700s, but did not become popular until the Industrial Revolution during the late 1800s. It then began to be used as insulation for steam pipes, turbines, boilers, kilns, ovens, and other high-temperature products. Ancient observations of the health risks of asbestos were either forgotten or ignored.

At the turn of the twentieth century, researchers began to notice a large number of deaths and lung problems in asbestos mining towns. In 1917 and 1918, it was observed by several studies in the United States that asbestos workers were dying unnaturally young.

The first diagnosis of asbestosis was made in 1924. A woman had been working with asbestos since she was thirteen. She died when she was thirty-three years old, and an English doctor determined that the cause of death was what he called "asbestosis". Because of this, a study was done on asbestos workers in England. Twenty-five percent of them showed evidence of asbestos-related lung disease. Laws were passed in 1931 to increase ventilation and to make asbestosis an excusable work-related disease. It would take the United States ten more years to make these steps.

Read More

Mesothelioma surgery treatment

Surgery is the type of traditional mesothelioma treatment.

Major surgery for people with mesothelioma has not always been thought a good idea by surgeons. This is because surgery cannot cure the disease. And because many people with mesothelioma are not fit enough to get through a very large operation. But the point of surgery in mesothelioma is to slow the cancer down, rather than cure it.

Before any surgery is considered for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma, your overall health has to be evaluated. Tests are done to make sure the cancer has not spread to distant sites and to evaluate how well your lungs and heart are functioning. Lung tests look for any signs of lung damage from tobacco or from other diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These tests determine how risky surgery would be, especially if a lung needs to be removed.

Aggressive surgery  A procedure called extrapleural pneumonectomy involves removal of the pleura, the lung, the diaphragm and the pericardium. The intent of this very aggressive, complicated surgery is to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Not all centers will do this procedure because it is so complex and because it carries a high risk of death within 30 days after surgery. This procedure typically is done only in younger patients who are in good overall health with stage I disease. Patients are evaluated carefully to determine their ability to tolerate the surgery.
Palliative procedures  When malignant mesothelioma is advanced, palliative procedures can be done to relieve or control symptoms such as breathlessness, which are caused by fluid or by the tumor pressing on the lung or other organs. These procedures do not cure the disease.

Read more

Coffee for D and Tea for Me

Yesterday after D and I ran a few errands, we drove past one of our favorite coffee shops; D asked if I wanted to stop. Never one to pass up an offer to stop for coffee, yes of course. Being that coffee acts as a diuretic, tea was the alternative for me. Also, we passed up on muffins ‘cause I’m really trying hard to eat proper.

Anyways, while D was picking up the drinks, I scoped out a couple of chairs right next to the fireplace … real fire, fake wood. Oh well it still felt warm and cozy. That thing kicked out so much heat that we both took our coats off. The outside temperature these days is around -15°C 5 °F … brrr brr. The funny part was that my tea was on the hot side, too hot for these lips. D put my cup next to the window and it cooled down in no time flat.

We talked and nursed our cups for a good 45 mins and then left for home.

Even my child makes fun of me

Heard from the back seat:

"Hey, Mommy, why don't they change their name to the OLD Kids on the Block? Heh heh heh."

(Pause)

"You know? Because they are all SO OLD! Heh heh heh."

Traitor.

Healthy Spirits: Telegraph Gypsy Ale/Firestone 14

1. We have a limited number of Firestone 14 bottles still available. Limit 2 per customer. BOTM members can reserve bottles.

2. Telegraph Gypsy Ale-Wild ale brewed with plums.

Shake it up, just like bad medicine

I once pointed out that the Bon Jovi song "Bad Medicine" is very useful for making important medical decisions. (You can read about how I chose my current cancer treatment based on Bon Jovi's advice here.) Well, I've discovered it's also a great song to have in your iPod while jogging, simply because of the line that goes, "Oh, I need a respirator 'cause I'm runnin' out of breath!"

I want to laugh every time, except I'm too out of breath.

Is there anything that song can't do?

Digestive Issues Continue

After being diarrheic for a few days, I realized we didn’t have the proper foods in the house to help minimize the effects. So D suggested looking on the net and making a list of foods to eat for constipation and diarrhea. I came up with three lists to manage things a bit better:

• foods to eat when diarrheic
• foods to avoid when diarrheic
• foods to eat when constipated

Who knew that if you are diarrheic you shouldn’t eat peas but eat carrots instead. So we went shopping and filled in the gaps in the pantry with things like white rice, soda crackers, white noodles and white bagels … all bland foods for managing the trots. We also picked up PowerAde to help replenish lost electrolytes and topped the list off with Imodium.

One thing I am doing right is to eat smaller portions and see how my stomach likes it and go from there. Something I am not doing right is shying away from fluids because I’m having trouble holding water.

The good news is that there were no cramps last night so something’s starting to work.

makeover day

We arrived at the studio very early.

The anticipation was far worse than the experience of being on camera, which went pretty smoothly. And I didn't fall down!

The Fab Four with Tony from L'Elégance Hair (Tony gave us hours of his time - all day Monday and early Wednesday morning - taking great care with our colour and cuts. This lovely man is an artist. You should all go to St. Laurent Centre and get him to do your hair).

My favourite interviewer.

Blogging on the fly today (more pics and words about all of this soon) but I didn't want to let another day go by without acknowledging those who made this possible.

My friends AB for nominating me, SS for coming on Monday and MR for getting up early and joining my family at the studio.

My man and my boys (all photos courtesy of SKW) for the nomination, for getting up early to come to the studio and cheering every step of the way (and for saying that I was beautiful BEFORE I had the makeover).

The staff at Laura, Town Shoes, and L'Elégance Hair Salon.

Tasha and Renée from the St. Laurent Centre for the styling and the support.

To the lovely and talented woman who did all of our makeup on Wednesday morning (her name is escaping me. If you know it, please let me know so I can credit her).

And most of all, to Bernice from the St. Laurent Centre and Beth from the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. These women are dynamos who combine talent and determination with an enormous amount of compassion and kindness.

And finally, I need to mention Paula, JL and Tanya - the women with whom I went through this experience. The love, support and joy that each felt for each other and for me is impossible to express in words. Thanks so much for being so beautiful. I really do love each one of you.

It must be mentioned that this was all in aid of the Courage Campaign of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. The Foundation is building a Wellspring Centre that will provide "emotional, psychological and educational support, free of charge, to individuals and families living with cancer." As a an ongoing cancer patient, I can tell you that this the kind of thing that Ottawa needs desperately, to go along with the cutting edge medical care from which we all benefit.

It's not too late to make a donation! (The St. Laurent Centre, in addition to funding the makeovers, donated an additional $10,000 to the campaign. I know where I'm doing my Xmas shopping this year).

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Ballast Point Sculpin

2. N'ice Chouffe

3. Stone Double Bastard

4. Stone Lukcy Basartd

5. Fantome Noel 2008 and 2010 vintages

cheers,

dave hauslein

beer manager

415-255-0610