Donations with Dave!

Each week when I go to chemo my biggest concern (other then the fact that I have to have chemo) when I get there is that someone may have stolen my seat! It’s funny that each and every one of us that has chemo has a particular seat which we are quite fond of. Mine is down the very end of the room directly opposite the kitchen. Close to the food and easy access for my chemo buddies to fetch me bottles of water and make me cups of tea! Lately my seat has been taken (I do have a second favourite) and a few weeks ago even my backup seat was occupied. I had to sit at the opposite end of the room and I was not impressed! It just didn’t have the same vibe and definitely not as social.

The great news is that hopefully I should never have to sit in any of these chairs again. On Monday, I met with my Oncologist and due to my neuropathy symptoms I have now finished chemotherapy which I celebrated late night by having two glasses of champagne, yay! I still had five more treatments of Taxol to go but my Oncologist believes that my body just won’t cope. I will meet with her at the start of May and I fear she might try and sneak at least one more treatment in.

My team “The Roaring Twenties” has raised a massive amount of over $18,000 for the Mother’s Day Classic. My original goal was to try and raise $1000 and now thanks to all my wonderful family, friends and even some strangers I have raised over $6000. I like to make a special mention to my cousin Dave for coming up with a great idea to get me a bit of extra funds! On the first weekend of March he posted a status update on Facebook that if any of his mates sponsored me under the amount of $100 Dave would match the donation. If they donated over $100 he would mow their lawn in drag like Homer Simpson did for Ned Flanders. A big thank you to Daniel and Paul for sponsoring me that weekend; Paul donated $100.01 which meant David had to dress in drag. Lucky for me Paul lives in Townsville so my lawn was mowed instead. Thanks Dave for a good laugh and drumming up some extra sponsors for me.

Also, a huge thank you to my friend Dave for his big efforts in collecting donations from the Cabin Crew at work.

With just two weeks to go I’m hoping the rain will let up so I can get a bit more training in before the day.

Happy Easter Everyone!

A month full of surprises! (Good and bad).

It’s been a while since my last blog and a lot has happened since then. It’s all been happening in our family at the moment! March was one busy month with some fantastic news and some not so great news. My brother Josh and his partner Cassie became parents to beautiful Zanna Mary-Marie and I became an Aunty for the first time. My brother Blake and his partner Melissa our now engaged; and are also expecting a baby in September.What we didn’t expect to hear is that my beautiful Mum Gabrielle was diagnosed with Lymphoma. I never thought that the two of us would get cancer within five months of one another. It came as a huge shock! Mum has been so supportive having to deal with the fact that I have cancer and caring for me and now she has to also go through it herself.

Mum has been diagnosed with a type of Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma called Mantle Cell. Mantle Cell Lymphoma is relatively uncommon and accounts for approximately 5% to 10% of all NHL cases and is currently considered as an incurable cancer. At this stage Mum’s Lymphoma looks like it’s slow moving  and at the end of this month we will find out if she will be treated with Chemotherapy or if the doctor’s will take the watchful waiting approach. The watchful waiting approach involves regular monitoring from doctors to look for signs of disease progression.

 

Yesterday was meant to be my 8th treatment of Taxol, given at a reduced rate by 25%. Taxol causes permanent nerve damage and as I have been getting tingling in my fingers, toes and lips since week five, the nurses were very concerned about all the symptoms I’m having. After speaking with my oncologist I was sent home with a week off chemo in hope that the symptoms will diminish.

 People that know me well know I love to wear my heels and now I’m struggling to walk in them as my feet are too sore from the Taxol!I am currently studying Millinery and have noticed that my fingertips are quite painful to touch when I’m working. I have lost one toenail and it looks like I could lose another and possibly one of my fingernails, yuck! My nose bleeds constantly, my back aches and I’m getting lots of headaches. These are just a few of my symptoms but if I compare having the Taxol to the AC I’d take the Taxol any day (minus the nerve damage) as I feel relatively normal.

Mum and I had been in full swing training for the Mother’s Day Classic everyday. Since her diagnosis not much walking has taken place. I have been pretty tired lately but plan to walk each day now up until the event. Only one day have we walked the full 8kms! It took us an hour and half and we were absolutely shattered afterwards. I am confident I’ll be able to walk the 8kms on the day and with less then four weeks to go I’m looking forward to the event.