Chapter 19
All Good Things.
I can’t believe how fast that last five weeks have passed. My radiation treatment is over and done with… but more than that, it’s all done with! What a relief to have it all behind me now. All in all It wasn’t too bad given the horror stories others tell, in fact I can say now the whole experience wasn’t that bad at all. I didn’t feel too tired with the radiation, just a bit stiff and hot, well, very hot actually! My skin is still very red and the softer spots are blistered and bleeding but that will now stop and heal. In the big scheme of things, that’s nothing really… I feel I have come out on the other side a better person, a more appreciative person. After my last blast of radiation we came home to celebrate in style… Fresh tomato sandwiches cut into little triangles lightly salted with Himalayan pink salt. To wash it all down was a bottle of blue pyranese, bubbly of course. After all, how can anything of importance come to an end (or start for that matter) without a bottle of bubbles???. Later that night Greg took me to my favourite restaurant, Little Tokyo… I just love this place. The food is so fresh and prepared to perfection. I just love the atmosphere with staff buzzing around in their kimonos. It make you feel your back in Kyoto with only one difference, their English is far better than what we had experienced in Japan. We had another bottle of bubbles and the mandatory sashimi. The tuna and scallops just melted in your mouth. We polished that course off quickly and then came the Tokyo Oysters… Mmmmm, yummy, plump oysters wrapped in bacon and lightly breaded then deep fried, served with the most amazing sauce… Next please… Prawns, more scallops, and salmon all cooked on the teppan, and each with it’s own unique flavours added. We always eat a lot when we go there, you just cant help it, its just too hard to choose just a few dishes… and who can resist a large bottle of warm Sake to finish off? Oh we are so weak… To top off my celebration Greg found our long awaited holiday! A 10 day south pacific cruise to Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and a few other islands in an upper deck cabin with a view. We sail out of Sydney on the 19th January. I recall that as a small child visiting the Rocks area at Circular Quay with Mum and Dad I would always look at the cruise terminal in awe, knowing that someday I would go inside that big building hopefully to board (and not just look around in there) a big cruise ship and sail out through Sydney Heads. Little did I know it would take fourty somthin’ years to realize that dream. Hey that’s another bucket list item that will be crossed off! Funny, the list is just not getting any shorter… if anything, its growing!!! Oh, not only are we cruising but we are flying business class to Sydney! Who’s a spoilt girl then… huh… huh? Now I have the agonizing wait. Oh no!!!... WAIT… I still don’t have a cozy!... what am I going to wear? What clothes do I take? Do I even have any to take? Shoes, shoes, what shoes? Oh shit!!! Dinners, dancing, shows… bingo, oh I love bingo… On cruise ships you don’t have to be a granny to go to bingo you know. I have to stop, I am now just far too excited for words. Poor Greg! I’m not sure if he will survive my excitement…
The bandasnatch is back.
Just when I though the bandasnatch was gone for good, my appointment with my lymphadema specialist, Dr. Robyn proved otherwise. Whilst it has improved out of this world, it still wasn’t enough for a permanent result. So a new bandasnatch was produced. This time there are no fingers attached. So Im guessing that’s progress. At least with this new garment I can now wear all my rings again most of the time. This time she also used a relatively new treatment on my forearm… Laser would you believe! We’ll see how that works out shall we? We have also sent away my old garment for alteration. My arm had lost a lot of the fluid that it was storing and that combined with the 5kg I have shed meant my arm was flapping around in its sock. No benefit in that... I guess its back to the old comments… “Have you been burned my dear?” to which I often reply… “no, I just have cancer”. The poor loves don’t know what to say or do, or even where to look for that matter. It’s hilarious to watch them squirm… I know, I’m bad, But I cant help it sometimes… It’s the devil in me.
Swim boob!
I managed to get an appointment with my prostectic fitter. She had gotten together a selection of mastectomy swimwear for me to view and try on along with a few swim boobs for me to try… My shopping trip was successful! I not only got a specialized swim boob and new swimsuit, but I Got two! A one piece sexy black number and a black and white tankini. I couldn’t choose between them so Greg told me to get both! Armed with these and a new black sarong, I’m ready for my cruise! Theres that excitement again!!!
Bring on a festive Christmas.
I can’t believe how organized we are this year. It’s not even the end of November and all our Christmas presents have been purchased, wrapped and placed under the tree at Ash’s house. Just like last year the Christmas festivities will be at Ashleigh’s house… Unlike last year, there will be no nasty secrets this time… Last Christmas was festy rather than festive for both Greg and I. We chose not to tell anyone about my diagnosis till after the holidays. I can’t believe it’s almost been a year... and what a year it’s been!
I had my yearly mammogram the other day. We have to look after the remaining girl now don’t we! All was good… My breast surgeon, Chris, was pleased and commented that my remaining boob was premenopausal. Whats with that I ask? Geoff had already confirmed that my ovaries no longer do their job, they couldn’t possibly be functioning with the amount of drugs that I have taken over the last year, however, I still need to take one Femara tablet a day for five years. Apparently this drug stops the production of estrogen that your body makes regardless whether or not you have ovaries. My type of cancer feed of this, so its kind of important that I don’t produce it just in case there’s some microscopic bit left somewhere. As if! Did you know that it’s cheaper now for me to have mammograms? I get a discount because I only have one boob… how funny... This information amused me no end, I still have a chuckle when I think of it.
The week before Christmas has seen us staying in a unit right on the beach at the Gold Coast. We are greeted by gorgeous ocean views every morning, there’s plenty of great restaurants and watering holes within easy reach, and an evil chocolate bar just a 2 minute walk away! Max Brenner…..oh “lick”. Lick is a small pot of molten chocolate that you just eat with a flat spoon…pure decadence. We may have had a few too many of those. My hair is coming back and I have even had a haircut and dyed in a strawberry blonde colour. At least its not grey around the edges with a dark crown. So finally, for the first time in nearly a year I’ve made a trip without a scarf!... I even had to get my legs waxed! Whooohooo… Damn that hurt!... Let the pain and expense begin again… It was a busy week with Lynne and Roger and the boys, my extended other family, coming down for Christmas dinner on the Monday before Christmas. I wanted to do the traditional baked dinner. So after all day in the kitchen, the turkey was stuffed and the ham was baked. You know, these celebrity chefs really need to stay out of “traditional fare”. Allday stuffing and basting not to mention the $60 some of ingredience just for the stuffing. And it wasn’t any better than a normally stuffed turkey. We went to Dracular’s for a dinner show with Gabby, (courtesy of my old school friend Brett who had some half price tickets), visited Movie world’s white Christmas, Seaworld, and a show at the Jupiters casino with Ash and Chris, (a live magic extravaganza, Genisis). Even picked up our brand new custom made mattress! We had to shove it into Astrid… Of cause the top had to come down for us to stuff it in and slowly bring the lid up, bit by bit. What a week! No wonder I’m exhausted!
Finally Christmas day is here. We’ve all converged on Ash’s house. Let the festivities begin! Everyone seems pleased with all their gifts, the food is amazing, and the drinks flowing freely. Nothing could spoil this Christmas, not even the persistent rain.
Bring on 2011!!!
We will be farewelling this old crappy year and celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary whilst seeing in the new. This year, 2011, is going to be a year of firsts… We are going to make a special effort to do things we haven’t done before. Starting with our cruise. It’s a first for Greg and a first pacific cruise for me. I’m going to make a conscious effort to do all the exciting things I keep meaning to do!... The past year has proven to both Greg and I (as well as all those around us) that if you want it, you just need to make it happen!
So as I sit here on my band new custom made bed with a red wine in hand and stuffing my face with marshmellow jelly filled snowmen… I wish everyone a Very merry Christmas and a joyous new year. May 2011 bring all your expectations, wildest dreams and wishes into reality. It’s been a pleasure to share the last twelve months of my life with you all. With 19 chapters and a preface under my belt, I hope I’ve been able to keep you all entertained and laughing. I feel my future chapters may be few and far between in the coming year as I hope for a less dramatic life from now on. Stay tuned for the reconstruction though, that should provide some interesting tit-bits…hahaha..ya get it…”tit”-bits!!! until then, stay safe, and stay positive…
Lou.