What I’ve Been Up To – Update

As many of you probably know, in September 2018, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer; Her2 positive cancer cells.  It’s a progressive cancer, but thankfully there are two immunology drugs for treatment.  As of March 1, 2021, I am now 2 years NED (No Evidence of Disease). 

Sadly, my heart hurts for those still on the journey, and those whose journey ended.

Some of you might know Michael Hulshof-Schmidt.  His blog is Social Justice For All.  Michael’s husband is leaving the blog up, and I am grateful for that.

I don’t quite remember when it was that Michael and I met. It may have been in 2013 or 2014, but we became blogging buddies.   Michael went through chemo for colon cancer, a massive heart attack, and then the cancer recurred in his liver.  He put up a courageous fight, but on January 30, 2021, he transitioned. 

Then there are other courageous people on the journey who find time to encourage others, such as Ilene of the Cancer Bus.

 Now, I’m on conservative follow-up of every 6 months.  My cancer marker tests have consistently scored 17 for over a year now.  Any score under 30 is good.  Meanwhile, I had surgery on my left foot in February and currently have sterile-strips on my big toe.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to wear a closed-in shoe in a week.

Other than that, the Homemaker program has given me the willies. In four months, I’ve gone through two homemakers. The last one is addicted to her cell phone.  I tried to cooperate by offering to give her breaks to check her cell phone, but she said “I’m good”.  About a week before, the cord on my vacuum cleaner was stripped down to the wires.  She was the only one to use the vacuum cleaner.  Now, I think I know how that happened.  About 2 weeks ago, I discovered her pushing the new vacuum cleaner with her left hand while checking her cell phone with her right hand.  I started having trust issues.  She could have been honest with me and said she needed a break to check her cell phone, but she choose to sneak instead. 

The Homemaker program leaves much to be desired and while I truly need the services, I do have a better piece of mind when not having a Homemaker. Covid is a concern.  One Homemaker gave me the run-down on how she dined-in and had out-of-town family to her house.  Among other things, through Homemakers stealing, (including my food), wanting to borrow money, talking about their financial problems, and flat-out refusing to do chores in my plan of care, I’m now damaged goods.  This week I’ll decide whether to suspend the services until Covid is under control, or that I only be sent a Homemaker who has been vaccinated.  In the alternative, I’ll need to look for my own Homemaker who I can interview first.

Covid-19 Vaccinations

Speaking of vaccination, I signed up through the county’s website for the Covid vaccination.  So did my son.  He was scheduled for his vaccination yesterday and received the Johnson & Johnson. 

Last week I spoke with my care manager from the hospital about getting the vaccination. It seems that county health departments would coordinate with local physicians to refer their high risk patients for vaccinations.  That might take some time on behalf of physicians, but it would eliminate trying to navigate the county’s website for appointment.  For example, I received an email about scheduling an appointment and clicked the link.  The page it took me to said no appointments were available and to check back on the site.  This was the same day that my son was sent an appointment.

This morning, I received a message from a physician referring me for an appointment.  I’m now scheduled to receive the vaccination on Thursday.  Not only that, but because I’m prone to allergies, (certain foods and medicines), I’ll receive the shot where Prompt Care is located. 

The mRNA technology that developed two of the cancer drugs in my treatment is the same technology used by Pfizer and Moderna to develop Covid-19 vaccinations.  For me, that takes the worry out of whether the vaccinations are safe.  Although I saw a mention of this on one of the cable television news programs, I really wish that they would discuss it more.  It might help to put some concerns at rest. 

The way I figure it, if I took a chance of being treated with mRNA drugs to prevent dying from cancer, I can take it to prevent dying from Covid-19. 

Still Looking Forward to Returning to Blogging Regularly

I don’t think it will happen.  After more than 8 years of blogging, I’m tired.  Things have changed.  It takes hours to research news sources to find the 5-W’s when reporting.  Some of the sources require subscription fees if you visit more than a few times in one month.  I’ve taken to tweeting out news sources on Twitter rather than writing blog posts about issues in the news. 

I miss being able to check up on blogs I follow on a regular basis.  After careful searching to understand my lack of energy and motivation, I realize that most of it is due to being zapped after having another stranger in my home who it seems I can’t leave alone for 2 minutes.  When evenings come, I usually end up using the little energy I have left by going on Twitter.

Volunteer Projects

I crochet caps that I donate to cancer centers.  One cancer center would send me a thank-you card about 3 days after I made a delivery.  Evidently, their staff must have changed because after donating more than 80 caps last year, I did not receive a thank you card.  In spite of that, I do it for the patients so will look beyond not receiving a thanks from the staff.

There’s a batch now ready for delivery, but I first have to get the okay from the podiatrist to walk more than several feet so I can deliver them.  Last week I thought there might not be an immediate need for chemo caps, then today we got a blizzard.

President Joe Biden Has Given Me A Sigh of Relief

Hallelujah that we now have a President who is presidential.  President Biden has lifted weights off my shoulders.  Mostly, I don’t have to worry about turning on cable news and hearing Donald Trump lie and make a fool out of himself. 

The following video was produced by Turnaround Arts and Playing For Change to share the message that the arts have the power to improve our schools and build more compassionate, connected communities.