Back in the Cancer Centre for my tri-weekly visit

The IV is in. After today I have had 12 Herceptin doses with only 6 more to go. No blood today, just the IV poke… a little painful but no big deal. The piano player in the lounge area was playing depressing music again; there’s nothing like a little Danny Boy with your cancer treatment!

I have so much to write about both here and in my other blog, but I got really sick last week with a devil of a cold/ flu thing which is still hanging around. I was eyeing that souvenir bottle of Neupagen (the white blood cell booster) I kept after my last chemo, hoping for something to boost this immune system. Instead I downed tons of my Monavie, lots of extra VitC and some elderberry juice.

I started on a new daily thing of drinking an apple cider vinegar cocktail which has helped with the illness too. Two teaspoons of Organic ACV, 1teaspoon of local honey (local is best to combat pollen allergies) and lot of water in a glass. Yesterday I added some fresh lemon juice which made it extra tart. Sucking honey through a straw is not easy; I have to juggle the recipe a bit. It is supposed to help with the potassium loss from drinking coffee, so I drink one or two a day.

This week I am going to get my first pedicure since last fall when a lot of my toenails fell out from chemo. I just realized the other day that my fingers are no longer numb either. Not sure when that stopped. This past Wednesday or Thursday was the one year anniversary of my first chemo, and the one year mark of the beginning of the group of women that I hang out with over at breastcancer.org. It’s funny you know, all these anniversaries. The further away I get from active treatment the better I feel, but somehow it seems almost scarier. Now I get to walk amongst the “normals” as if nothing is different about me. I try to go into social things and not talk about cancer all the time but it’s hard. Last week I was at a party, but only a few of us there knew about my cancer. Until one of the people in the know talked about my hair coming back, which took a few minutes for me to realize how it must have seemed like an odd comment to someone listening in. Imagine hearing.. oh your hair is coming back in so nicely..... and wondering what the heck to say or do if you don't know the story.

Then there is the issue of me being a magnet for cancer patients coming into the store to talk about cancer. I am happy to do it, but man 3 cancer talks in a day certainly messes with a work schedule. I am trying to learn how to get more done in a day with a schedule and goal setting and such. I am not good at being organized, and I don’t really like it either. Since the store is so slow I have no choice but to maximize the staff hours and my time and that takes planning. The store is so slow I am beginning to wonder how much longer I will be able to keep the doors open. My fear of rejection and lack of organization makes it even harder to push people to buy. There are only so many ways you can present a sale. Let me know if you have any brilliant marketing ideas! I am open to anything!

My herceptin is done, I am off!