WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR APRIL 2024

Did Joyce Vidral’s Complete Workout DVD then went for a walk around the neighborhood then to Aldi

Rori – Lexi had kidney issues which is why we used to Royal Canin. The worst part was that you needed a prescription.

KJ – I’m so sorry to hear about all the illnesses in your family

Spread the rest of the topsoil. Boy, am I glad that’s over with! I did NOT relish the possibility of having to cut down weeds in 90 degree weather like I had to before.

After dinner went to Lowe’s Hardware to get grass seed and more straw to put down where we put the topsoil. Will probably do that Tues since we have bowling tomorrow. Plus it’s supposed to be a nice day. Supposedly there should be showers in the afternoon so we won’t even have to water! Of course, that really depends. We all know how very accurate the weatherman is!

Sharing sorrow: heard from my friend in Switzerland, the one who has cancer. I wasn’t at liberty to say anything before. She now has a Urostoma (a bag attached to her leg that you pee in). It’s not reversable. She was VERY down, questioning assisted suicide (which is legal in Switzerland). She can’t live independently, her other kidney is working so she also uses the bathroom, was questioning if she should live, what kind of life would she have. She has no appetite and her bowels only work with medication, sometimes needing an enima which her husband has to give her. BUT she has decided to forgo the chemo and be on palliative care until the end. I’m very very sad. She’s my age (older then me by one day). I hate to say this, but I can’t help wondering if this socialized medical care had something to do with it. Had they not waited so long, perhaps this could have been avoided. Perhaps I’m just feeling really down because she’s one of my best friends and it’s so hard to think of something like this happening to someone I care so much about. Maybe I’m wanting someone to blame.

Have a box of assorted teas and some knick-knacks to send to her. Boy, is postage to Switzerland expensive! But in the end, I think it’s worth it – just to let her know that she’s in my heart.

Jess should be here Thurs. She said she has a vet appt and a few other appts. I'm going to borrow a dog crate from a neighbor so she can bring her dog tomorrow. I'm thinking that she'll have to sedate him for the trip. But I also want her to feel that he's welcome. Unfortunately, they recently lost their dog to cancer so I know that they aren't using the crate right now.

Michele NC

What a busy day today. I don't know where I found the energy, but I have been housecleaning, planting, sorting through pictures, more cleaning, plus, I got caught up on the church services I've missed (3!), so I'm caught up on the sermon series (I don't go in person because of my immune status), made a gf lasagna, (which was amazing) and made a fresh strawberry pie. Seriously. Some days I can barely walk (I have been using a walking stick at work when I'm feeling unstable), and today I was a dynamo!

I've been having fun going through pictures again. One of my best friends' father died, and his memorial service was Friday afternoon. Watching the slide show reminded me that I don't want my family to do my slide show for me, so I'm going through all of my pictures, and I've started a shoe box called "Flea's memorial service slide show pictures." My husband will freak out when he finds out what I'm doing, but he is used to me puttering around, so he hasn't bothered to ask why I keep sliding photos into a shoe box under my jewelry table. Even funnier! Hopefully this is still a long time out, but I figure once I am on hospice, we will need to get serious. The playlist for my slide show are what I call "my chemo songs." The songs I listened two after getting done with each infusion. I would listen to them in my kitchen and dance around in my socks. I'll make a separate post with links, if you're curious what gets me going.

For those of you who are new and don't know, I was diagnosed with oligometastatic breast cancer in June 2021. We threw everything at it (chemo, surgery, radiation, more surgery), and I currently have no progression of disease, but I am on some pretty nasty medications. Anyway, for those of you who have been following along, my latest CA-15 test was completely stable. I forgot if I told you that the last time I saw the PA, in March, I think, she told me that I am a very boring patient. Saw my oncologist last week, and we talked more about the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon than we did about my health, so maybe I am really that boring. We can only hope.

I've been reading along -- finals week coming up, then I switch to a lower gear for May and June, and then I will be idling in July -- that's when we are going to Ashland to watch plays: MacBeth, Jane Eyre, and Born with Teeth. Then we are heading up to Crater Lake for a couple days then heading out to Utah to see my husband's children and grandchildren. Our youngest will be in Germany beginning at the end of June and for most of July, so we are taking advantage.

Weather here is cold and rainy. I am so much ready for some 80 degrees day, but we probably won't see those for another month.

So good to get your update Rori.

Allie -- I'm sorry for the sad news in your family.

Love to all.

Flea
Willamette Valley, OR