Former boyfriends birthday

Today is the Former Boyfriend’s birthday.  So I’m sending love to the most special person in my life.  We got lucky and the weather held out so it’s dinner at the Black Creek Bistro.  I’m so incredibly grateful for all of his support.

 

Dinner was excellent

Moving on

So now what?  I’ve finally kicked my cold, I’m starting to feel better and I’m getting a little energy back.  Currently I’m classified as NED (no evidence of disease) and the doctor appointments are slowing down a bit.

It’s time for a new chapter in my life.  Friday I did something I never, never ever believed I would do.  I went to a laser tattoo removal doctor to have my radiation tattoos removed.  It seems silly, but it was a big emotional lift to start the process of removing the markings I never wanted in the first place.  Also, I found out that in June I will have outpatient surgery to have my chemotherapy port removed.  That is really big for me in moving forward and putting this nightmare behind me…it’s all the start of the next chapter in my life.

For the past year the Former Boyfriend and I have been afraid to commit to plans, friends or pretty much anything.  We were conserving our energy for everything we were going through, but it stopped us from living a life outside of cancer.  Now it’s time to start having some fun and making plans for the future.

This weekend is full of yard work and friends.  The gardens will be finished and on Monday  Johnny is firing up the smoker.  We’re looking forward to a great Memorial Weekend and a fantastic summer.

Ready for the weekend

I’m really ready for the weekend.  I had a good first week back at work but this cold has taken its toll and my body feels depleted and beaten up.  I’ve had a series of doctor appointments since I’ve been home and today was yet another one.

My appointment today was with an Integrative Medicine Specialist.  He has me on mega doses of vitamins and minerals to boost my immune system and has done some unique hormone testing to get to the bottom of my cancer (and ordered more testing while I was there).  One of the interesting things that came out of the testing is that coffee and tea are both very bad for me – but the good news is that an occasional glass of red wine is ok!

Happy Weekend Everyone – Love ya

Jeannie & The Former Boyfriend

Having a glass of red with Tillie

I'm baaack

I had a great first day back at work yesterday.  I was nervous because I’ve been away for three months. But it was pretty much a normal work day.  The folks in my office are so great, they had balloons and flowers waiting for me in my massage room when I walked in.

I’m still fighting this horrendous cold, but I was able to complete all of my massages without any problems and I wasn’t tired after I finished so all is good.

First week home

The first week home was certainly one of ups and downs for me. The Former Boyfriend and I went to dinner at Roma my first night back. Very nice, although it was admittedly a binge off some of my dietary restrictions. Sunday we spent some time at the Stratford Ecological Center.  We took a walk in the woods with several other folks that support the Center, a tour guided by a pair of incredibly knowledgeable naturalists.  It was a beautiful day and the walk through the woods was like a walk in the park.

I go back to work on Monday so while I'd expected to do some resting this week I had also hoped to get caught up on a lot of the things I couldn't get to while in Chicago. Chief among this was the gardening. But Tuesday I started to sniffle. Those sniffles turned into one of the nastiest colds I've had in a long time. All through chemo, surgery and proton radiation therapy I stay healthy. Just when I thought all of this was over, my immune system takes a wallop. Thursday I had two doctors appointments with a blood draw included in the second one, meaning no cold medicine.  I’ve spent the greater portion of the past three days in bed with a sore throat and shivers. 

The good news is the doctors are happy with my progress, and I start work again on Monday.  And now that the weekend is here, I'm finally feeling like I'm getting the upper hand on this cold. Or at least that's my hope.

Former boyfriend on the trail