First day of Chemotherapy

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY - TODAY IS MY DAD'S 45TH BIRTHDAY!!! Happy Birthday to the most Amazing man I know; I love you so much Dad and really hope today is special for you... actually I want for every day to be special for you.
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Apparently I am scheduled to start chemotherapy today. This will be done on the ward, so I don't have to go anywhere, but I have been hooked up to a drip all day waiting for them to start putting something through the line which isn't saline. I am either going to be a very patient person by the time this is all finished, or slowly rocking in a corner somewhere having gone completely insane! I'm a little cross at myself for not having a camera here today - I must make sure I get a pic of myself with all these lines in at some point; it seems to be the kind of pic everyone has to have, right? lol... will ask someone to bring a camera in soon. I have also discovered a littl espot on this computer that allows me to insert an SD card direct into the computer so I can start uploading pics.
I won't type much today - the action is quite uncomfortable when you have a needle into the top of your hand, but I wanted to report that all my blood counts are up, which is a VERY GOOD THING, so I have been approved to start chemo.
Basic stats on the chemo for those who are interested; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacarbazine I do apologise for using wikipedia as a source of information for you, but I did say basic stats, and it saves me typing out what little I know.
Will report back tomorrow with a progress report, but for now I am really quite drowsy, so I might have a little nap while I wait.

Loving you all, and really looking forward to getting home and sharing some time with all of the people who are supporting me. Definitely missing all you beautiful SS girls, but you will be proud to know that I have been spending time today getting all finances in order for dh so that he can continue living the SS way while I am in hospital or even at home unwell. The next plan is to get started on making some Christmas presents, so I have had some stuff brought in from home so that I can get to work on a bit of that. Hard becuase of limited energy levels, but little by little I'll get there - and now I know how to share pics, I'll show you all what I am creating.

Happy 2nd Birthday Lydia!

Today our gorgeous Pickle turns 2! Can you believe it? We're off to the foreshore reserve for hopefully a not too ridiculously hot party with three of her friends, and some family.
I promise to post some pics when we get back... ooh now where have you heard that before? But right now I'm enjoying the last few moments of peace before the rest of the house wakes up (yep, nearly 8am and miraculously they're all still sleeping).

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Okay; here they are, as promised. Lydia actually work moments after I finished typing, so we got everyone else up for some serious present opening. And I mean serious. She took her task VERY seriously, and though she was clearly excited about the gifts she was getting, ooohing and aahing and wowing over each thing very nicely, she hardly smiled the whole time. She was very cute though, tearing each piece off and handing it to Andrew or myself before starting on the next piece.

Our lunch on the foreshore was ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! What a great spot! We set up our little marquee thing under the shade of a lovely tree, and with the breeze coming off the bay it was soo lovely and cool. Certainly no comparison to the 39+ degree days we've been having. The kids played nicely, there were no fights, they all enjoyed the fruit and healthy alternatives to party food that I put out. We've reduced Lydia's sugar intake to try to help her calm down a little (and it's really working nicely) so we wanted to keep the sugar to a minimum. The kids enjoyed choclate cake (shaped like Dorothy the Dinosaurs hat) but they were quite happy with the sandwiches and fruit and veg platter that we put out. It's important I think to remember that the party needn't be about the food, but just about the kids having fun together. And the grownups enjoying a chat in the shade is always great too! Okay; so pic share!

The first is of my Mum and Lydia. Lydia spent ages telling Mum some big old story; pointing out all these things and grunting. Mum spent ages being 'interested' lol. The second is Lydia and I. Thanks Rach for taking this great pic - I actually like this one. :) The third is the too cute Cake. I love easy cakes; and this was too easy; but looked super cute. And finally; I didn't give out gift bags this year. Instead I went down to Kmart and bought pencils for 99c a packet, then I created new liners for the packets to make them into little thank yous. Very happy with the final result.