What We've Been Up To ...

As a reward for working so hard and getting so much accomplished at home last week and after Kevin got home from his fishing trip on Friday night, we jumped in the car Saturday morning and drove to Edmonton to watch Luke and the SWAT play lacrosse. They lost their game by 1 point on Saturday afternoon and won by one point in double overtime on Sunday morning meaning they had to play a third game later on Sunday. Unfortunately, Kevin needed to be in Nipawin Sunday night so we had to come home after the morning game, though Sharon very kindly gave us regular updates via texting to keep us up to speed with the game, which they won. This means they play a Calgary team to determine the league championship.

It was nice to get out of town for the weekend. We didn't do much except watch lacrosse and have dinner with the Naylors and some of the players. We had half an hour to spend at IKEA and that was it. Home again. I like road tripping, so it was all good.

Yesterday I got the results from my recent bloodwork, which came back negative for arthritis. Whatever markers they look for, I don't know, but I was just told it didn't show up in my bloodwork. My doctor is getting me in the queue to see an arthritis specialist. Meanwhile we're trying a new medication ... Tylenol II's with Codeine (less powerful than the morphine that seemed to make a difference earlier, but in the same opiate family). I started them tonight. No difference yet. I take a 2nd dose soon. I hope they don't make me too sleepy during the day. I had a lot of trouble getting through the day yesterday and had to sleep for a couple of hours after work. I was pretty much useless yesterday at work just because I was so tired. I really should have come home earlier but I was manning the office on my own so felt I should stay. I did a little better today but was still very sleepy. I can't afford to be even sleepier during the day.

I got my other bloodwork report from when I saw an oncologist early in May. I requested my bloodwork results after I broke out in shingles again last week. The breakout suggests my immune system is still compromised. Things might well be different now (2 months later) but the report says my MPV (blood platelets) and lymphocytes were below normal. If that's still the case, it would explain my vulnerability to infection and delayed blood clotting, which I noticed recently when the surface of a teeny scab on my leg came off last week and bled ... and bled ... and bled. It struck me as ridiculous at the time. The report also indicated that my liver enzymes were higher than normal. Maybe that's to be expected by being on Tamoxifen? Just guessing. Nobody talked to me about my bloodwork so I guess I can assume that the highs and lows are no big deal or are, at least, to be expected. Still, I'm curious about them and will ask when I get the chance just so I can better understand what it all means.

Our garden isn't terribly interesting this summer. While the pansies and lilies seem very happy in this cooler, rainy weather, a lot of other blooms seem to be going nowhere fast. We haven't fertilized because we haven't needed to water. It's been a very different summer than we're used to, though I must say I haven't really minded. It's nice that our house hasn't been too hot in the evenings. I don't tolerate the heat as well as I used to before all of this breast cancer business. I used to say "bring it on" when it came to summer heat. Now I'm a little less enthusiastic. Shucks!

Luke leaves for Sonoma, California bright and early tomorrow morning. This year he goes as part of the coaching staff instead of a player.