Feeling better....

..the last time I posted, I was pretty depressed and I'm happy to say that things are much better now.  No, I'm not cancer-free, (I wish), but I am feeling more upbeat and have my positive attitude back which is so much better.    I'm still having my "Opdivo" treatments, which are going very well, thank goodness.  I have not had any of the nasty or scary side effects and have now complete four with my firth treatment coming up next week.

    Our weather has been much better too, which for me with Fibro and Disc Disease, is another blessing.  We did get much snow from the huge snowstorm that headed up the east coast last weekend, and for that I am so grateful.  We're also having some really nice and mild weather and today it's up on the high 40's and may even hit 60 next week,  Yahoo!!

   I had my cataract surgery yesterday and it went perfectly.  The sight in my left eye is now 20/20 and the difference from one day ago, is huge.  Everything I see is so much brighter and the colors are so pretty and vivid.  I had a follow up with my eye surgeon this morning and he said, everything was perfect and the slight bit of blurry vision I have today, will improve.  My eye is still dilated, but it feels wonderful.  I'll continue to use the eye drops I have four times each day and next Friday he'll call me and give me the update on the change.  I'll then go down to using only two of the three and will continue that until I see him again at the end of February.
  
   The most exciting thing is the my trip to San Diego is coming fast.  In only 10 days, I'll be on my way and by this time, I will landed.  I added two additional days to my trip and will not be in California on Sunday the 7th, which is Superbowl Sunday!  I had hoped my team (the Patriot's) would be playing, buy sadly we lost to Denver.  I'm now routing for the Panthers, and hope they win!!   I've never been a fan of Denver or the Manning brothers....we've been rivals for far too long!  NO offense to anyone who admires them, they are great players, just not my favorites!  LOL!

  I'll now have 19 fabulous days to relax, rest and visit with my son, Brian.  I'm also very excite that one of my dear craft friends, Pat Crank, is coming out to SD too and she'll be staying with me form the 10-17th!  See too has a son that lives there and will be spending time with him, but we also plan to do lots of fun things together.  I love Seaport Village and also love the "Old Town Trolley Tour", which starts there.  We plan to take that trip and get off over in Coronado and spend some time shopping there and maybe have lunch.   When I have taken the trip (twice now), I've never got off on any of the stops, so that'll be a fun change for me!   I'm also going to be meeting another craft friend, LesLee, who I know from the wonderful Card Swap that Deb Nolan hosts on her blog.  LesLee is going to come meet us for a shopping day and lunch.   We all love Dick Blick and since neither Pat or I have one in our home areas, we plan shop at the one in "Little Italy", which is also where we're be staying.  I rented a lovely space through Airbnb and think it'll be perfect.  It's not far from the airport and in walking distance to most of my favorite places.

  Once I come home, I'll be right back to treatments, starting the very next day and I then have my one month follow up to the eye surgery....which means I'll be tired for sure, that first few days home.  But, to me it's worth this winter escape and this will be the first time I've ever had such a long vacation in SD.  I know I'm going to miss my Hubby and Skye, my Chiweenie, but happily I am able to take her sister (Zeva) with me, since she is my Service Dog.  I'll also be talking to hubby often and he'll be here with Skye, working and also doing some projects in the house!  

   Before I go I am proud to share some pics of my babies,  (the pups), Skye and Zeva, for those of you who do not know them from my Facebook and Instagram posts!! 

 Skye

Zeva

  

  Chiweenies are  part Dachshund and part Chihuahua.  Both of mine are Rescue pups and I am love them both so much.  As you can see, Skye very much has the "ears" of a Chihuahua and looks very much like her Mom, who was actually rescued when before she had this litter.  There were six pups on the little, four males and two females and they were all named after the NCIS show.  Skye's original name was Abby and I adopted her at 14 weeks, and renamed her.   Later that Summer, I became very interested in becoming more involved in Rescue and that was when I learned that "Ziva" had never been adopted.  (At the time I applied to adopt Skye, she also had an app pending, but it fell through, thank goodness for me)!  The day I learned that I contacted her Foster-mom, Arleen and told her I wanted to adopt her too and the rest was history!  "Auntie" Arleen and I know now wonderful friends and she now has her own Dachshund Rescue, called Paw-Affection Dachshund Rescue, which was eatablish in the Summer of 2015.  I am honored and very proud to be on the PADR Board of Directors and I also the Fundraising Coordinator and help out with applications, references and love to attend local dog events.  If I was healthier, I would happily be a Foster for PADR, but rigth now, two is enough for me.    It's a JOY and I LOVE everything about rescue.  If you know of anyone who would love ot adopt a Rescue dog (we take all breeds), please let me know.  You can visit our website here and please LIKE our Facebook page.  We also are always looks for "Fosters" and anyone who wants to help out in any way!   

   Needless to say, I love my girls with all my heart and are wonderful companions, who provide me unconditional love and support.   We kept Zeva's name (just changed the spelling), and she joined our family the very day she and Skye turned 9 months old.  They celebrated their third birthday in December!    The boys were also adopted in pairs and they also live in Massachusetts.  Some day we hope to have a reunion for them all to meet again.   The litter was known as the NCIS litter and the boys were named -- Gibbs, DiNozzo, McGee and Eddie, plus my girls then known as Abby and Ziva.

   Here is a picture of Cookie. who is their Mom.  She was with Arleen for over a year and now has a wonderful new home and life in Connecticut, where she has two dachshund brothers!  Skye is "clearly" her Mom's daughter.

   If you would like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me at this link and my Instagram name is -- "ThePurplePlace", named after my craft blog.

   Special thanks to all of you to do follow me on this blog or my craft blog.  I love your comments and truly am so grateful for all your support.  I am determined to win my Cancer Battle and your kinds words really do help!!   Big hugs.....

Today sucks.............

     I am so DOWN today, one of the most depressing days since I first learned I had Cancer. ..I think it's WINTER and the cold too, but living with "Cancer" and knowing right now there is NO cure for me...really hit me today -- it just really sucks!!

      I try so hard to be upbeat and positive and try and live whatever time I have left here very happily! Today I'm a bear and can't seem to feel good no matter what I do ! I am going to have my nails done soon, which is always nice and relaxing...but I almost dread having to go out!  Tomorrow and Friday I'm off to more doctor appointments (Pre-Ops) for my Cataract surgery and then on Monday it's back to the hospital for labs and Tuesday I have my next Opdivo treatment! This SUCKS!! 

     I need something GOOD, FUN and HAPPY in my life! Thank God I'm going go see Brian soon......I need that escape MORE than ever, plus I miss him so much!

Happy updates...

   How are you all doing?  I am very happy to tell you that I am doing well.  I've been feeling a lot better again and I hope that this continues.   I had my third "Opdivo" treatment this week, as far, so good.  I did have a bit of a scare after earlier last week with some really bad "belly" pain...they lasted all day and that one night, they were so bad, I thought I might have to have Hubby bring me the the ER.  Thankfully, after I was able to "go to the bathroom"..sorry if that is TMI, the pains slowly subsided and by morning, I was feeling much better, but still a belly ache and nausea.  That day I was seeing my local oncologist, for a routine visit and when I told her about that, she decided to order me some updated CT Scans.  Those were done that next day and I learned last Friday, that my lung tumor size had decreased, (I so wanted it to be gone), and that the rest of my abdomen and chest looked fine...Phew!

   On Monday, of this week, I was back for my routine lab work, (always done the day before a treatment) and that when Dr. Sunkara showed me the pics of my CT Scan where I could see a significant change in the tumor size!  Seeing it, made me feel so much better and that's when she said, we should continue the "Opdivo", which I had on Tuesday.   My potassium is down again, so I am now doubling up the dose and will have that re-checked, as always a week from Monday.  The infusion went well and so far, I'm still not having any issues.   NOTE:  We all think now that I had "bug" that had been going around, but at that time I had it, I had not heard of anyone being sick, with the same symptoms.  Since then, I know of several people who had a 24 stomach bug, all withe the same pain I had..so that is a relief and I'm glad it's over.

    Next week, I have my pre-op with my PCP and then with my Eye Surgeon for my Cataract surgery which is schedule for the last week in February.  If you have not heard, I had a significant change in the vision in my left eye and it came on rather quickly.  Just about three weeks, after I had my annual eye exam and had been re-fitted for new contacts.  I saw my eye doc right way and she suspected it may be an "early" cataract.  I then was referred to a Retina specialist and by the time I saw her, it had developed into a "full blown" cataract and the next step is to have it removed.  I've now met with the surgeon and am ready to go, I'm actually happy it will be done soon, so that I can see better again.  For now, I'm using a new strength contact lens "trials" in that eye, until if's taken care of.  If all goes well, I may end up with 20/20 vision in that eye and not longer need a to wear a contact on the left side.  I'll need a new RX after I heal and will also have to have my glasses adjusted..but again, I'm happy it was not anything worse and can't wait to have this behind me.

     I'm also delighted to be creating more and more every week, you can see all my latest cards on my craft blog "ThePurplePlace"...and I also have now joined the Design Team, at The Outlawz challenges, which you can read about here.   It sure is nice to be creating again....I missed it so much!

    So that's it for now!  I feel the best I have felt in ages, almost like my "old" self again, it's been a very LONG time, since I have felt that way and I sure hope it lasts a long long time.  I'm really excited about my next trip out to San Diego and know it'll one of the best, as long as I feel this good.  Yippee!

My wishes for 2016!!

 Popping in to wish you all a Very Happy and Healthy New Year!  I pray that 2016 will be the year that they find a cure for my type of Cancer and all the other illnesses that take away so many lives.   I also hope that there will be Peace in  our world and that our children  can live long and happy lives!   I love you ALL and want to thank everyone for all the support you have given to me this year. March 27, 2015--was the worst day of my life!  It was the day I learned I had a brain tumor and that lead me to also learn that I have Stage IV Lung Cancer, which sadly is incurable.   As my doctor says, it is "treatable", but at this time, there is no known cure.    Even so, I'm still fighting and HOPE and PRAY that I can beat this damn cancer...!!   Thank you all for being so kind and caring...it means more to me than I can truly express. Please keep the good thoughts and prayers coming and please continue to be there for my family and my children, in time!     I HOPE with all my heart that my life will be better this year and that I can continue to find treatments that will help me feel better and live longer!   I am not at all ready to say Goodbye.......!  I can't bear the thought of leaving,  my Husband, My Mom, My family, all my wonderful friends, especially my childhood friends, who I've know forever, my two cherished Pups, Skye and Zeva and mostly my two loving sons, Brian and Alex who have always been the greatest Loves and Joys of my life.     I hope with all my heart that a miracle will come for me and so many others who are battling terminal illness!     Hugs and Love too all!