Hiatus over...

And I even have some creative endeavors to share!

It has been an interesting couple of months. More questions than answers. More symptoms from the meds but learning to deal with "the new normal." Frustration with physical stuff that affects my little joys in life (shaky hands make it hard to stamp, write, craft, sew, take non-blurry pics, etc.) But definitely appreciative, thankful, grateful for so much - family and friends who pray, think of me, bring dinner, entertain my children, send sweet notes; meds that will save my life despite their devilish side effects; a husband who has totally stepped up to the plate and has taken such good care of me; children who have taken this mostly in stride and (with a little prodding from Dad) step in to help out when I'm just too tired.

I'm still on 200mg of the cytoxin (chemo) and the prednisone, though we have reduced that by a 1/3 since Thursday. Labs two weeks ago finally showed the creatinine coming down, though white blood cell count was up a bit. Probably another four months to go at this level and then (hopefully!!) remission and maintenance level meds for a year or so.

Eyelashes are mostly gone. I definitely have the prednisone bloat...moon face and all. Hair is pretty thin, but not gone. Ears were pretty good for awhile, but seem to be clogged up again the last few days. Cough is gone, but nasal congestion just won't quit. Left foot feels like I'm walking on glass - doc says some of this may be permanent nerve damage. But most of the joint and muscle pain has decreased tremendously or is gone altogether - lower legs are the one exception, but some of that is due to the prednisone or so I've read. And the shakes - hands for sure, and sometimes legs. I *think* most of that is due to the prednisone - there are a lot of unknowns about this disease and everyone experiences such differences in symptoms, it is hard to know. I'm hopeful that that will decrease as I'm able to cut the dosage!!

And with that update, on to better things! I have finally got back to my scraproom - I've been very good at accumulating supplies (shopping!) but not so good at using them the past couple of months. I'm just going to chalk it up to retail therapy and move on. ;) But I scrapped three pages this weekend and absolutely loved the results, so I'm thinking the somewhat self-imposed hiatus is over.

Studio Calico Feb Kit, Baker's Dozen kit (sorry, sold out)

Studio Calico's May Kit (Granny's Cupboard, also sold out)