Reality Check

A few weeks have past since my last update so I thought it was time to touch base once again. Wow, April has been busy and not on the medical front.

I spent a week in Mexico with two other couples and each are dear friends. Funny thing was we also ended up at the same resort with another friend and her family from Stittsville, what a small world! It was a great week and lots of fun memories to cherish.

Shortly after my personal trip to Mexico I returned once again to Guadalajara on business. This trip was not as lengthy as previous business trips but was extended to include a weekend with friends, a round of golf and of course a trip to the tequila distillery. This past Monday was my travel day home and reality set in quickly.

Yesterday was my first medical appointment in several weeks. I was scheduled for my port to be installed at 7am followed by a chemo information session in the afternoon. Very quickly I was informed that my appointment for the port had been pushed to April 27th at 7am which is also the first day of my chemotherapy. Somehow the booking was moved but they missed the important step of informing me. Rising at 5am after a long travel day was not pleasant and then finding out the day had changed was a little frustrating. Oh well, carry on, can't do anything about it.

Now with free time on my hands before my next appointment I decided to take the advise of the Cancer Clinic and shop early for a wig and/or head wear. What an experience that turned out to be. My Mom and Aunt joined me on this shopping trip and I believe they enjoyed themselves as much as I did in the end. I know I mentioned my wig of choice would be long and blonde but that didn't work out so well. The store immediately started looking for options that matched by existing hair style and colour but I explained that I did not want what I already have. They doubted I would be happy with a long blonde wig but placed one on my head to humour me. Humorous it was, this style, colour and length was not for me. I ended up choosing a medium length wig which is slightly lighter than my current colour but it does exclude grey hair! The reason I wanted the long hair was simply for braids or a pony tail when I felt like it but it turns out that you cannot style a synthetic wig and the real hair wigs are high maintenance with a large price tag. For this reason I may just have to buy a second one that will always have braids under a ball cap but time will tell. As for a head scarf, we found a nice style that I liked so we proceeded to shop for different fabrics to start the Mom, Nana Barb and Aunt Clan production line for a fraction of the price when you purchase a pre-made scarf. These ladies will also make a few for Scott's Mom as she has now completed her second chemotherapy treatment and most of her hair has fallen out.

The afternoon was the one hour information session followed by a tour of the chemotherapy treatment area. This part of day turned out to be very overwhelming which I did not expect. Part way through the tour I could not hold back my tears, reality set in. A very sweet man on our tour looked at me and said "it is ok dear, I had my tears today that came out of nowhere and nothing can stop them". I quickly tried to pull it together and we continued with the tour. The treatment area is very bright with lots of natural light and I am positive the environment is as comforting as possible.

Tomorrow is my CT scan, Monday is a quick visit with the oncologist and Tuesday will be the port install and first treatment. I'm calling this week my "back to reality" and the journey truly begins now.

Lastly, Miss Tracey A. sent a good read my way today. The book is called "Crazy sexy CANCER SURVIVOR" and I am already addicted to it. The first section sums it up nicely, "Anyone who has been diagnosed with the pesky big C knows that it's a crisis of the mind as well as the body. We immediately imagine the worst and bust our knees praying for a kind yet authoritative soul to tell us that this nightmare is all a heinous mistake. But no one ever does. Instead we are abruptly introduced to our mortality. Greetings, I'm Karen and I'm not ready for you yet so BACK OFF! This sounds like the my standard attitude and I am sure many of you are laughing as you know me well enough.

That is all of my updates for now and I will touch base again after my first treatment. Before then I am planning a nail polish refresh and it will be by OPI and called "Oh To Be 25 Again".

Thank you everyone for your support and kind words.
Karen