A brief photo catch-up

I don't want this blog to become all about breast cancer, so I thought I'd do a quick post of some of my favourite photographs taken during my long absence. Okay, even I can't deny that I've had a distinct lack of....not so much enthusiasm but rather....the right creative headspace these past few months (with trying to wrap my head around the whole cancer thing) but I'm back, Baby. I've sorely missed that feeling of wanting to get out there with my camera and I desperately want (and need) to get back into it.

Anyway, here are a few shots - not least because I know my Mum's been hoping to see some more of my pictures (and Vicky's so good at regularly posting great photos on her blog). I've been a bit more diligent lately about posting pics to Facebook than I have on this blog or on my Flickr account - need to change that.

CUBA (January 2012)
Having previously been twice to the same part of Cuba, it was great to explore a different part of the country this last time which included an excellent 2-day trip across country to the city of Trinidad. Wonderful for photographic opportunities but especially to really get a feel for the country and its incredible people as a whole. I'm never quite comfortable with seeming like a wealthy, fancy-pants tourist, which is surely how we must be perceived by the locals since they live such a basic, antiquated and impoverished third world lifestyle, but I love their strong sense of community. They live an incredibly tough life with so little of the everyday foods, services and 'stuff' that we take for granted. I (personally) enjoyed the break from everything hi-tech, rushed and consumerist - but of course, that's easy for me to say since I have a choice about that. They don't.



City of Trinidad, Cuba



Where sleeping dogs lie - Trinidad, Cuba

English homework - Trinidad, Cuba

Trinidad, Cuba

SPRING FLOWERS (around Vancouver April/May 2012)

The cherry blossoms around Vancouver were stunning this Spring - though it always means allergy-hell for poor Lorne :-(

Beautiful cherry blossoms line many streets across Vancouver.

Magenta magnolia.

Bronwyn with a dog that looked like he could eat her whole.
Luckily he's a gentle giant, apparently, called Caesar.

ENGLAND (June 2012)

There are still LOTS more pictures I need to add from our trip this summer, especially from our travels around Scotland too - but here are a couple of England pics for starters:

 

These beautiful, vivid red poppies were in a field across opposite
my brother's house in High Ackworth, Pontefract (UK).



More poppies from the same field in
High Ackworth, Pontefract (UK).



Donkey rides at Cleethorpes Beach, England (my home town).
Still going strong after all these years.

The Furry Free-Loaders (aka. Mishka, Mel and Louis)

When we first adopted Mel and Louis in Oct. 2011 through VOKRA (Vancouver's Orphan Kitten Rescue Association) they were just 5 months old, their names were Aldo and Stirling respectively and it was hard to tell them apart. Naturally we changed their names and have finally learnt to identify one from the other. It's fun to watch their personalities evolve while they remain so incredibly close and affectionate with each other - and they're great with Mishka. In all her 15 years and the 4 previous cats that have passed through her life, Mishka is really quite content with these bafoons and they are constantly seeking her affection. Having these past few months off and spending so much time with these guys has been an absolute gift, especially to be able to look after Mishka's every need now that she's elderly, needs careful dietary support and is on a regular regime of medicines. I swear the energy of being around the boys has even slowed down her aging.

A couple of these pics aren't great because they're taken with my Iphone (more for expediency before the cats changed position) but I've managed to catch a few with my Nikon too. I would love to do more pet photography so these guys are giving me lots of practise.

Louis curled around a sleeping Mel.

Mirror Image. (Mel left, Louis right)

Bond...Mel Bond. Handsome devil.

Louis & Mel - when they could both still fit in the kitty condo.

It's tough being this good-looking but even a super model
like Mishka still finds time to relax, especially in the sun.

Mishka's favourite spot all summer, basking in the shaft of
sunlight at the back door. Alas the change in seasons has
seriously eaten into her sun-worshipping schedule.

The 3 amigos

Look who stowed away in Lorne's luggage!

Dear Tamoxifen

As previously discussed, you are hereby contracted for a term not expected to exceed 5 years, wherein your principal focus is to be devoted to one task and one task only:

• To unreservedly kick the absolute CRAP out of this cancer malarky and ensure its toxic and insidious ass is kept the hell away from me!

And in so doing, you are respectfully commanded to honour your host, thus committing your equal and undivided care and attention in avoiding (or, at the very least, limiting to a bare and tolerable minimum) all of the following:

• Mood swings
• Hot flashes
• Weight gain
• Nausea
• Tiredness
• Memory loss
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Swelling of hands/feet
• Other menopause-type 'joys' not listed above
• Muscle/joint pain
• Endometrial cancer
• Risk of stroke
• Risk of blood clots
• Cataracts

In other words, make sure you do your job.....do it well!....and please be kind to me in the process.

And so, without further ado, let us seal both obligatory and honourary terms of this agreement, for the period of one thousand eight hundred and twenty six days (inclusive of the 2016 leap year and taking into account any additional/exclusive time-period as deemed appropriate by qualified oncologists).

I hereby raise this glass of water and.....3....2....1......

Dose #1 is down the hatch!!!

Radiation Routine

Hard to believe that 22 daily sessions of radiation could go by so fast. That 4.5 weeks could sprint right on past in the blink of an eye. But they have and I'm all done.

On Nov. 2nd Bag #2673 was proudly retired to the paper recycling bin, the navy hospital gown dropped into the changing room laundry hamper and my cute candy-cane hanger - disarmed and relieved of its current duties - left to hang once more on the Unit #6 coat rail. While I certainly felt a sense of freedom, an acute pang of empathy quickly followed, since I strongly suspect that little hanger won't be unemployed for too long.

Having been given the choice between morning or afternoon appointments for my radiation sessions, I'd opted for mornings figuring it would be good to get it out of the way first thing. Besides it got me up, dressed and out of the house. For the most part my appointments started somewhere between 8:15 and 9:00am and the brisk morning walk was a refreshing start to my day, especially since I love breathing in the smells and damp morning mists of Autumn.

When Vicky was going through her own radiation (early 2010) I remember being surprised that she seemed to be so at ease with it, simply taking it in her stride, no whining, no complaining, just getting on with it as if it were as routine as brushing her teeth. Going through it myself, I now understand first-hand how quickly it becomes something you just do every day, rain or shine. It's quick, painless (mostly) and it ain't chemo, for which I am eternally grateful.

(Ironically enough, BC Cancer Agency is just a half block down the street from where I worked at the Canadian Cancer Society, so my daily jaunt would take me right past the windows of my ex-boss and colleagues - twice. Without even looking across at that building, I simply walked right on by, head held high.)

The first 16 sessions saw me in and out of BCCA within 15 minutes (including getting undressed/dressed), however the 6 booster treatments took a little while longer in set-up, though still no more than 25mins in all - lots more measuring, extra marking and repeatedly moving the bed up, down, left and right, while fitting an extra piece of equipment to the machine to further narrow down its field of radiation.

Almost all of the 12 or so radiation technicians I've met in these past few weeks have been cheerful and quite entertaining by all accounts. Admittedly, when I'm in a strange situation or feeling awkward, I sometimes switch into comedian mode - an old class-clown defence mechanism from my self-conscious school days. Similarly I'm energized by people who have a dry sense of humour so some of the sessions quickly turned into 10-minute stand-up routines (well, horizontal for me obviously). We often found ourselves laughing so much that all the giggling created havoc while trying to mark out the correct lines and dots for the more serious task at hand.

Part way through my treatments I noticed a small Vancouver Canucks sticker on the machine, where it hovered just above my face at the start of each session. And on my 3rd-last treatment I discovered spiderman's face had appeared alongside it. 'Was that Spidey-sticker always there?', I wondered. 'From the beginning? I swear I didn't notice it before. And who stuck it there anyway? A patient? Technician? The cleaner?' Regardless who put it there, I liked it and found it oddly amusing.

In an effort to keep my energies up and hopefully fight off any of the fatigue that they warn you can be a side-effect of the treatments, I made a point, every other day, to head straight from the Cancer Agency down to the gym. It's been quite some time since I worked out this regularly and so efficiently at the gym. I certainly feel better for it - mentally as much as physically. I'm sure it's contributed to my general sense of well-being and has apparently counteracted the accumulative fatigue that, for some people, can begin as early as two weeks into treatment or as late as two weeks after it's finished. Other than 3 days or so during the final week of my radiation, I've hardly noticed any overwhelming tiredness. Mind you, maybe I should have milked that chronic fatigue thing all the same, as an excuse to lay around on the couch and have Lorne cook dinner, feed me grapes and generally wait on me hand and foot.  :-)

I have to say the radiation treatments were actually pretty straight forward - neither bothersome nor inconvenient - but even I can't deny that's probably because a) I live just a 10 minute walk away from the Cancer Agency, b) unemployment has spared me both the inconvenience and awkwardness of trying to discreetly squeeze in the sessions around a busy work schedule and c) I haven't had to juggle them amid the morning mayhem of herding kids to the breakfast table, throwing clothes on them and hurtling them off to school. (Luckily cats are self-sufficient in that regard.)

I count myself lucky that any adverse side-effects have really been pretty minimal, with only the swelling, tenderness and blotchy redness of my pink-blancmange-boob being the most noticeable. It's certainly no fun when you can't tolerate wearing a bra or t-shirt because it sets your nipple off itching like crazy but your skin's too tender to even have a good scratch (ideally in private, hehe.) But even that was largely kept under control by regularly applying betamethasone cream, a prescription steroid cream to combat the itching and soreness.

And so another stage of this journey is done and out of the way. The staff wished me well as I left Unit #6 for the last time. "Thanks for everything," I replied, cheerily. "And please don't take it personally if I hope never to see you again." ;-)

Now that we've zapped the sh*t out of any remaining cancer cells, all I'm left with is a bizarre-shaped tan across my right boob and into my armpit. The skin's still sensitive and has started to peel slightly where the redness and blotching was previously more prominent so I'll continue applying the cream for a couple more weeks, but overall I have to say I've been feeling pretty good.

Moreover, I am profoundly thankful for an early diagnosis and the amazing medical care and hi-tech equipment that are readily available to me - suddenly my bitching about paying through the nose to live in Vancouver seems unreasonably skewed.