Radiation mapping photo

This photo is from when I was initially mapped for radiation, just before Thanksgiving. (See the post from a few weeks ago.) The big donut-star-portal thingie I am about to go into is the CAT scan machine they used to determine how best to deliver the radiation to my chest and axilla.

Looking at this photo brings to mind a modern-day mummy - all bundled up in linen. And get a load of that short hair! *cough* Yes, it really is that short.

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Infusion today

I writing this from the chemo center where I am waiting to receive TDM1 dose #6. After this, I have just seven more to go, which will be administered every three weeks for the next 23 weeks or so. (Meaning I have about 5-6 more months of this to go.)

This morning I also received radiation treatment #16 out of 25 (or 33) at a different medical center. (Lots of driving today!) So far, I have only a bit of pinkness and a few tiny, itchy sores on my skin to show for all the rads -- fortunately no blisters or ...

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Apology to friends, family, and supporters

ATTN: TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE ME (AND WHOM I LOVE)

If you did not get a Christmas card or a gift from me, please forgive me. And more importantly, please do not take it personally!

I have been struggling so much to get through these recent days that even my own mother and my best friend did not get a gift - or even a Christmas card. (*cry*)

I had good intentions, but they got lost somewhere along the journey. Love and peace to all. I'll be back "with bells on" as my mom would say, just as ...

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Merry Christmas (and goodbye 2011)

Merry Christmas!
(And please come quickly, New Year!)

Please forgive me. I haven't forgotten about this blog or my dear friends and family. It's just been tough going through all of these changes and experiencing so much physical and emotional trauma these past months. I don't like to be so self-centered (a nasty side effect of the suffering that goes with cancer treatment) and that makes its hard to blog here without lapsing into a litany of complaints. I definitely won't be sorry to see 2011 go.

My oncologist informed me last week that I have ...

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Ahh the Smell of Brussels Sprouts at Christmas!

For us Americans, Thanksgiving is the big traditional meal of the year. To qualify as Thanksgiving, there must be turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Yum!

But did you know that the lowly (and much maligned) brussels sprout is an indispensable part of a traditional British Christmas Dinner? I kid you not. Apparently, no proper Brit would consider it Christmas without some sprouts on the plate.

Here is a photo of the mandatory items on an English dinner plate:

Along with brussels sprouts, (which most Americans hate but me), you will see ...

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