Spent a good chunk of yesterday at the Fortress of Healing, otherwise known as Saint John Regional Hospital. Had the usual wait before seeing my oncologist, who advises that we'll do 6 rounds of chemo and then she'll order scans again to check the response.
This was followed by chemo #4, which takes several hours while I sit in a comfy chair reading a book. Yesterday's was The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey, which I recommend (also recommend her Banishing Verona, which led me to this one.)
Part of this treatment is a steroid taken by pill on a cycle the day before and several days after chemo. The after is 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours, which means setting the alarm to wake up at some odd hour for 2 nights, and having a snack because the medication has to be taken with food. Fortunately I don't think 2 days is long enough to make this into a habit!
These treatments seem to have gone quickly with #4 already. It helps that the symptoms haven't been as severe as the first round - just have to remind myself that doesn't necessarily mean it's not working as well.
Wendy
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Three Days of Sunshine
Although it's raining today, we just experienced three consecutive days of sunshine!Anna and her Girl Guides were back in town as their final stop before heading home to Alberta. While the GGs shopped Uptown, we had a great visit with Anna, including lunch of salad with 6 kinds of organic greens, courtesy of our first week's supply from the farm, with strawberry shortcake.
I spent some time reading trashy novels on the deck. And yesterday Jack and Suzanne joined us for a mystery excursion - no one other than the tour guide moi knew where we were going. Our itinerary included a shopping stop at The Barn economusee in Bloomfield, lunch at the Bavarian restaurant in Knightsville, stopping to smell the roses at Corn Hill Nursery, ice cream cones in Sussex and a visit to the soap shop. It was a gorgeous day and the scenery was bucolic.
Wendy
Sunday, July 5, 2009
A Day at the Lake
Our reading group spent a relaxing afternoon at the cottage on Washamedoak Lake, thanks to by one of our members. Continuing our focus on Canadian novels, our theme was novels of rural Canada. Deborah provided a definition of rural Canada, from a book of essays edited by Wayne Grady, former editor of Harrowsmith.
Books presented and reviewed were:
Since Daisy Creek W. O. Mitchell
The Rhinestone Button Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Relative Happiness Leslie Crewe
The Birth House Ami McKay
Red Dog, Red Dog Patrick Lane
Not completed but also discussed were Thomas H. Raddall's The Nymph and the Lamp, and River of the Brokenhearted by David Adams Richards. Made available for loan were Luna and Gates of the Sun by Sharon Butala, as well as Broken Ground by Jack Hodgins.
Several poems from the vegetable series in Lorna Crozier's The Garden Going On Without Us were shared.
Radishes
Radishes flip their skirts in the wind
like a line of chorus girls
throw them over their heads.
If they were singers
they'd be the Andrews sisters.
If they had jobs
they'd be nurses who drive
red sports cars after work.
Every spring you put up with
their flirtations
for the crunch between your teeth
the quick surprise
of rain and fire
they've saved all season
just for you.
A delicious lunch was shared and an eagle spotted overhead. (There were no further bird sightings once I remembered that I'd brought binoculars.) Comet greatly enjoyed the outing, which included almost sufficient stick throwing.
Next month's theme - Canadian novels related to bodies of water. Reading suggestions welcome.
Wendy
Books presented and reviewed were:
Since Daisy Creek W. O. Mitchell
The Rhinestone Button Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Relative Happiness Leslie Crewe
The Birth House Ami McKay
Red Dog, Red Dog Patrick Lane
Not completed but also discussed were Thomas H. Raddall's The Nymph and the Lamp, and River of the Brokenhearted by David Adams Richards. Made available for loan were Luna and Gates of the Sun by Sharon Butala, as well as Broken Ground by Jack Hodgins.
Several poems from the vegetable series in Lorna Crozier's The Garden Going On Without Us were shared.
Radishes
Radishes flip their skirts in the wind
like a line of chorus girls
throw them over their heads.
If they were singers
they'd be the Andrews sisters.
If they had jobs
they'd be nurses who drive
red sports cars after work.
Every spring you put up with
their flirtations
for the crunch between your teeth
the quick surprise
of rain and fire
they've saved all season
just for you.
A delicious lunch was shared and an eagle spotted overhead. (There were no further bird sightings once I remembered that I'd brought binoculars.) Comet greatly enjoyed the outing, which included almost sufficient stick throwing.
Next month's theme - Canadian novels related to bodies of water. Reading suggestions welcome.
Wendy
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Happy Canada Day
Hope you enjoyed Canada Day, as we did. The rain held off, a relatively rare occurrence here lately, except for a brief shower in the late afternoon - and then the sun came out!
I spent some time lounging on the deck - my very Canadian reading material was a recent Maclean's and new biography of Champlain.
In the evening we entertained with strawberry shortcake followed by fireworks viewed from the deck. We can't see the low ones from here, but enjoy the sounds and any that go up into the sky. After his years on the pyrotechnic crew, I think Harvey appreciates the view from this distance - although there was some talk that next year we might watch from the roof (or remove trees on neighbouring properties).
Three month old baby Eve enjoyed her first fireworks display, although I think she was actually more interested in our cats, who certainly found her fascinating!
Wendy
I spent some time lounging on the deck - my very Canadian reading material was a recent Maclean's and new biography of Champlain.
In the evening we entertained with strawberry shortcake followed by fireworks viewed from the deck. We can't see the low ones from here, but enjoy the sounds and any that go up into the sky. After his years on the pyrotechnic crew, I think Harvey appreciates the view from this distance - although there was some talk that next year we might watch from the roof (or remove trees on neighbouring properties).
Three month old baby Eve enjoyed her first fireworks display, although I think she was actually more interested in our cats, who certainly found her fascinating!
Wendy
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