Don't Worry, Be Happy

I've climbed off the phone and decided to hunker down and try to be comfortable while waiting for the blessed thing to ring. Hanging out there, balancing precariously on that hard plastic, wasn't conducive to getting my "To Do" lists done anyways.  NOPE ... no phone call yet!  Well, my cell did ring yesterday, and I recognized it as a Kelowna number.  I abruptly hung up my land line from answering my neighbour that, no, I had in fact not heard from Kelowna about a radiation start date. It was my radiation oncologist confirming my last chemo date. He had recorded June 5 in my file (I saw him on June 6), and four weeks need to transpire before they want radiation to start. After correcting him with the actual May 17th date, and assuring him that a lot more than four weeks had gone by, he went on to ask how I was doing.  Anxious! Frustrated! Agitated! How many other adjectives can I spit out on the spur of the moment??  He PROMISED me a phone call by Friday --- I'm holding my breath.  I refuse to exhale until the phone rings.

Side Effects: Forty-one days after my last chemo cycle, I am still experiencing side effects.  A pessimist would complain about the unsightly finger nail changes -- ridges, black streaks, and -- the latest -- a total of 3 nails separating from the nail bed.  Not pretty!

However, in my attempt to remain optimistic, I will visualize the chemo drugs continuing to fragment those cruel cancer cells into oblivion.  The Paxlitaxol must still be at work -- my nails are the evidence!

Other side effects are ending.  Hair is returning fast and furiously to my body.  All the weird little bumps that covered my head for the past two weeks have burst forth with peach fuzz! I've been watching, waiting, examining my scalp in the mirror every day, just like a farmer watches expectantly for the planted seed to spring into life. Now, however, my few "long" hairs (relatively speaking) that never fell out look rather ridiculous as they tower over the new growth.  Soon, I'll have the pleasure of shaving legs and armpits, as the stubble grows a fraction of a millimeter each day.  I am oh-so-curious to see what colour my hair will be (not gray, p-l-e-a-s-e!!), and if it will be curly, as so many people have predicted.  Time will tell!

Eating right and working hard: My quest for a fit, strong body continues by fueling it with healthy choices. I wanted to show you the pizza Kate made us for supper a few nights ago. I have been trying to not eat so much wheat, so she found a recipe for a crust using cauliflower. Yes -- you read that correctly -- cauliflower. Other ingredients included nutritional yeast, egg white, and a few spices. She topped the pizza with spinach, olives, artichoke hearts, and a generous supply of mushrooms (on my half only). Hope this makes you hungry! It was soooooo yummy!

In my effort to work out every day, here is some disgusting evidence that I do, in fact, work hard.  Jillian Michaels keeps telling me that I have to challenge my body if I want to make progress with my fitness level.  Is sweat evidence of that?  

A new day:  I had a horrific day yesterday.  Receiving upsetting news, I let it get the better of me.  I cried, screamed, worried, and vented to many people.  It upsets me when intelligent people make illogical decisions that affect me.  I can't really share more at this stage, but I'm praying I will remember to trust and not worry today. Easier said than done  :)