A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Brunei...

The sad part is over...but it's a new beginning!!! via GIPHY  Well, guys, it's all over. Sort of. My PET scan came back clear...but I do have to do surveillance scans every few months for the next few years. This type of cancer has a very high recurrence rate, and a heartbreakingly low 5-year survival rate (about 18% for the stage I was at). So I will have to keep checking up on it for the rest of my life. But no matter what... I still have hope. I still have joy. I still have few, if any, regrets in my life. And I'm STILL GOING TO BRUNEI!!!!! via GIPHY Yes, the doc has given me the full ok to go! I have my ticket, leaving on April 2nd, and I'm in the process of going through my things to decide what to take, what to store, what to give away and what to throw away. Basically, the same thing I do every time I move to a new country. I am absolutely THRILLED! I can't even tell you how happy I am. I probably won't continue this blog, but there's a decent chance...

Nary a thing... Hey! It's me. Nothing much happening over here. Just chemo still going on - this week was supposed to be my last infusion, but my doctor wants to add two more "just to be on the safe side". Annoying, but whatever. So I should be finishing up mid-February. The hand-foot thing came back, yay. So I'm hobbling around with peeling feet again. So fun. I have some good news, and I'm afraid of getting my hopes up too much, but... if everything continues to go well, and ... if my doctor gives his okay... I'll be teaching in Brunei as of April 1, 2025! I got my contract a few days ago, and I have an appointment with my doctor next week to discuss chemo and other things, so if he gives the okay...I'll be sending back a signed contract! I'm so scared to get my hopes up, but... It looks like I'll be going to Brunei after all!

but my feet 😝  via GIPHY So this is an interesting development! I'm still doing well on my chemo, aside from some loss of appetite and my mouth being a little tender (maybe mouth sores developing? We'll see.).  I also dyed my hair blue. Like REALLY blue. MUCH bluer than I thought it would be. IT's SO BLUE!!! But the weirdness...the skin on the soles of my feet and the palms of my hands has started peeling. I'm assuming it's from the hand-foot syndrome I developed during an earlier cycle of chemo - I'm pretty sure the drugs killed the top layer of skin, and now it's coming off. It doesn't hurt, just a little uncomfortable at the edges where the peeling skin meets the not-peeling skin. And there is new skin underneath, so there's that. But there's HUGE PIECES OF SKIN COMING OFF MY FEET! Like I'm cutting it off with small scissors so it's not bunching up in my socks! It's so gross!!!! This cancer shit is out of control!

  via GIPHY I took an extra week off my oral chemo meds, and my hands and feet are a LOT better! I'm actually able to go for walks again, which is helping my mental health so much! (Just for some background, my oral meds were three weeks on, one week off, and my infusion was two weeks on, one week off. Because of my reaction to the oral meds, my doctor is reducing the dosage and reducing the number of weeks I'm on them. So now, beginning next week, I'm on chemo meds, both oral and infusion, for two weeks, then off for one week. Simple, right?) The discoloration is still present, but apparently that can take weeks or months to go away, so my hands still look like I've been dipping into the self-tanner way too much. Seriously, my palms are the same color as my regular skin. And they're so sensitive! I was cutting up some vegetables the other day and got a freaking blister . Dafuq? So weird. I also had an appointment with my oncologist yesterday, and he's still ver...

  not an actual image of my hands and feet So chemo started a few weeks ago, and things had been going fine...until about a week and a half ago. My feet started tingling, and the soles started turning really dark. Very strange. I did a bit of research, and apparently one of the side effects of one of the chemo drugs I'm taking is something called Hand-Foot Syndrome, or palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia . I mentioned it to the nurse practitioner during my next appointment, and she said it was too soon for that to develop. Bitch. Within days, the tingling grew to actual pain, to the point I couldn't put shoes on. Then the palms of my hands started getting dark and hurting. I told my oncologist during my next appointment, and he is reducing my oral chemo dosage and prescribed Percocet for the pain. He also said he wants to reduce the number of weeks I do the oral chemo, to 2 weeks with a one-week break, instead of three weeks with a one-week break. This week is my break, and with...

via GIPHY Had my first chemo infusion yesterday and...it wasn't bad! No real nausea (I felt a little flutter in my stomach yesterday evening and this morning, so I took my meds to be on the safe side), energy levels are fine (probably due to steroids), appetite as normal as it has been recently (light and I get full quickly). I'm also on an oral chemo regimen, and that has been going well too. Let's hope the trend continues!

  Not much, what's going on with you? via GIPHY Hello chickadees! (I don't know where that came from, it sounded funny in my head.) Anyway... Hey ya'll! (Slightly better.) I am recovering quite well from surgery, eating almost normally (still small portions and lowish on vegetables, nuts, and seeds, but I'm gradually adding them back in), little to no pain, and... (drum roll, please) I'm having my last drain removed tomorrow!!! ...I think. They're going to see if it's ready to be removed, and if so they'll remove it. I really hope it's finished doing its job - walking around with a rubber bulb and plastic tubing dangling from your side is really annoying. And... I start chemo soon! Okay, that's not exactly amazing news, but it's fine. It's actually a really good thing. I'll have my port placed next week, get my oral meds soon, and start the chemo infusions shortly thereafter. And they expect that I'll be done in February 2025....w...