The second chemo day was yesterday . . .
So here is one my my favorite quotes from Dr. Seuss. I always thought it was more targeted to the young when they were starting out in life. But I realized, at various time, we are all "starting out in life" so it seems to fit.
“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
1. The maker . . .
This was oatmeal making morning. I make about 3 or 4 days worth at once. I just chop up some apple and add craisins while the oats are cooking with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Yum! Then we eat our first day with great joy and I just load it into a bowl to put in the frig and take out some each morning for the next three mornings and reheat with a little more water. I usually add chopped walnuts but forgot this morning so will add them as I reheat some each day. It is so good when my tummy says, "I don't want to eat anything - hear me? - nothing!" But this will go down ok in a small dose.
I have made some new connections with my art. Small ones, but that has been good. Here is a "practice" piece in progress for a larger piece that a technique I need has me stumped. If this works, as I hope, I will be on my way. I hope to be able to stick one seam a day - ha! ha! - but last time I barely recognized my sewing machine until day 10. I hope it goes better this time.
This is a technique I found on a newsletter from Lisa Flowers Ross, an amazing fiber artist in Boise, ID. I have not taken a class from her so am trying to remember what she said when I visited her studio a couple years back. Look up her website and subscribe to her newsletter. It is a great read!
Here is another technique that I practiced after watching an older session from Rosalie Dace on The Quilt Show. It was a fun session and I will use this technique to insert small sections of color to break up some of the larger pieces as needed.
Holidays are times to remember good times from when my mom and my dad were alive. So I also enjoy remembering my mom and her sewing. She was an excellent seamstress and everyone loved her. She was invited to join into a retreat quilting group in the late 90's. They met twice a year and created a simple quilt during their week together and would then send it off to someone to quilt. She loved the group and they loved having her with them. She loved selecting the fabrics for the pattern. But she wasn't too excited about the idea of cutting the fabric into small pieces and then sewing them back together into the same block over and over to make a flat, larger piece of fabric. She preferred to sew beautiful fabrics into coats and suits and gorgeous clothes. She loved recycling items into wearables with embellishments and trims. And boy could she do all of that!
Here is the first quilt she made. She hung it in their home in Missoula. I now have it folded over a chair upstairs in my studio. . .
Yesterday was my second chemo day. I am still upright and it is late morning. So far so good. I did get more information about things I could/should be doing to not have the 10 days of extreme headache pain and sickness. So I have all the guns working to get through this session a bit better.
This is where the quote fits . . . brains in my head . . . feet in my shoes . . . I need to use both.
My good friend, Katy, made me this cute hat from some of her original fabric that she designs. Since going to chemo is my only outing, I "dressed up" and wore my new hat with earrings even. No lipstick - but I will save that story for another time. I love it and it is so comfortable.
You always have a smile to share—that is so reassuring! I hope this round goes better in terms of how you feel after. Lucky you to have visited Lisa’s studio. She is one of my favorite artists and such a good person! Your project is intriguing and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes. I hope you can get to it soon. Take care and be well!
ReplyDeleteI have so loved catching up with your blog. Hope this finds you doing well. I could identify with the headache and like you it took day 3 for it to hit. My chemo was weekly over a period of about 21-24 weeks. 2 treatments extended to two weeks when blood count went low. I was never nauseated, but had been given a pills in case. After the first treatment I learned when I got home to take Tylenol and nausea pill each day for the 3 days and never had such bad headache again. The fatigue near the end was the worst for me. Love your hats. You look beautiful. Praying for you always. Friend Joy
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear from you...and I keep you in my prayers for your chemo time and afterward -- that it works, and doesn't upset your body or brains too much (aside from doing its job!) It's good to have those memories of your mom to carry with you these days, too. P.S. that hat suits you down to the ground!
ReplyDeleteHi, Carol! It seems like yesterday when I saw your news that you are fighting breast cancer. I know that is not the case for you. I read through your blog and see that you have begun your second round of chemo and that doesn't seem possible. In my world, time is passing by quickly. While not exactly exciting, it isn't the day by day battle against cancer and the ravaging effects of chemo that you are handling with such grace.
ReplyDeleteI love when you write about your mom. Your love and admiration for her comes through. She was a hero to me, as my mom was a hero to you. We had a couple of awesome moms! I can see your mom's strength and resolve, her humor and caring heart in you, Carol. Your blog is a beautiful reflection of you in this moment.
Rupert had his left kidney remove this past summer. He had a tumor in it. It would never have been found if not for back pain that had nothing to do with his kidney. They did an MRI of his spine and found a bad disk, but saw the tumor. It was such a shock to him. The healing was so much less than what you are going through. They biopsied the lymph nodes, but found nothing there, so the removal of the kidney was all that was needed.
So glad you are writing so we can figuratively hold your hand in this journey.I am praying for you daily. Isn't it interesting what you find out you should not be using in deordorants, lipstick, etc due to the ingredients.
ReplyDeleteRest up, be kind to yourself, and know you are loved.