Recovering from Stage 4 cancer

I am still here. Here is a photo of me last week. Took me forever to figure out my password when Blogger changed to Google sign ins and at the time I did not have a Google email. Cancelled phone numbers, forgotten passwords, a new device. I mean, we are talking almost 2 years here. It was just impossible to get back into the system. But I was finally successful tonight. Yay! Because I have missed you all. Big hugs.

It is ok. I had other things on my mind. Stage 3 cancer that went to Stage 4. I was not supposed to loose my hair on that 2nd round of chemo, but I did.

I got the "chemo cut" when my long hair started coming out in gobs.

Which went to this. 2nd round of chemo, which was Folfox in a lovely little port that never let me down from September 2017 to April 2018. Not so great in the winter because it makes you extremely sensitive to the cold. I mean, so bad you can not even bare eating ice cream. So it has been 1 year since chemo.

All selfies.

The radiation, chemo operation thing. Another emergency surgery. Infection. Liver failure due to strong antibiotics. 53 days in the hospital for round 1, no kidding.  Pretty much off internet/tv because the screens hurt my eyes. Besides, I do not want to read sympathy, or "how are you?" because I was sick. And I certainly did not to hear for me to go to India, stand on my head and drink yaks' milk for a sure cure.  Definitely off social media, which is how I forgot to get into everything at this time. Rectal cancer which is getting more and more common in younger ages. I have no more rectum, I am missing parts of my colon and a slice out of my lungs, but serious digestive issues, which makes me weak. I tire easily and it is hard to gain weight.

Less than a year later I have a Met to my lung. VAT surgery at Mass General, which was HARD to recover from. Fortunately, my son and I are now living with my sister and she has a stair master because she is an amputee. My niece flew in that summer to help with the taking care of, taxi driving and feeding of my son, so I can rest. I have lots of family support.

Seriously, I wish I would have known I would be so sick. I went to University full time for that semester and worked part time. And continued to loose weight at an alarming rate so by Thankgiving I was under 100 pounds and could not hold my head up at night. Who knew we had such heavy heads? But, I am finally coming back. Figuring out how to log into this account only proves it. I am so excited.

But, I am really here. I am coming back with the ups, the downs, precious moments in life. I have recorded so much and need to figure out YouTube. I have fun places I have gone, fun things I have made. Plans. I have so much to share!

But for now, I just wanted to say hi. I am leaving you with a fun picture of Irene and me walking the dogs,  Tootsie and Lola in October on an unusually nice day! Irene and her husband have been instrumental in my care while also helping me with my teenaged son. Send them some love! Xo  I am holding Toots and Irene has Lola.

Hand knit socks!

Hand knit boot socks (far left). Hand knit hiking socks (middle pair). Kroy yarn socks (4th pair in...purple stripes).

I am pretty sure all these socks were knit from sock yarn I buy at the grocery store in Austria. It is a bit thinner than Kroy and Regis.

Hand knit socks using 2 yarns to create stripes (far right pair). Left pair is Regis,  matching stripping yarn. I think the gray/red pair was Kroy yarn.

Can you believe I still do not have a computer? Blogging on my phone, typing with 1 finger just does not interest me. Sorry! But I am still here!

 A few weeks ago I was sorting through my hand knit socks and took the above photos. And now my phone is too fill of photos to let me edit, to rotate the photos. Oh well, turn your head sideways!  There are a few pairs not in the photos.  The pair with cream colored cuffs, my friend Ava knit for me. Yarns range from 4, 6 and 8 ply...mostly regular sock yarn. That 6 ply is great for hiking socks.

So, just a quick post to say hi to everyone! Stick with me...I hope to have a computer within a few months!

I hope you are all well and happy!

Secret Sock Knitting

On Monday I was at the hospital for blood work, etc. and the receptionist was apologetic that the wait would be long. First, you must stick around in the waiting room until your name is called for bloodwork. After your blood is drawn you can leave for an hour while the lab does their work. And then you need to come back and wait to see the DR.  I just plan for 3 hours and if I get out earlier it is a bonus.

The receptionist smiled when I smiled, said I did not mind...I had some new sock yarn with me and would knit! A little smile can go a long way. Certainly not her fault the wait was longer than usual. Who knows...maybe someone was sick who works in the lab. So...I cast on and knit away. After the blood draw, I moved out to the lobby, which is quite pleasant and got a cappuccino from the coffee machine. I also wandered around the little garden a bit and took in the fall landscape.

Lots of knitting this week because DR orders for lots of rest. My blood is still not all that great. I am good, energy wise for about 4 hours and then I need a big rest before my 2nd wind comes around. I really can NOT get sick and admitted to the hospital these next 2 weeks because my husband had his knee replaced on Thursday and will be in the hospital for about 10 days total.  Only 1 adult at a time can be down for the count around here! I have to go back on Monday and hopefully things will be a bit improved.

Anyway, I almost always cast on 60 because I have a narrow leg. Size 2.75mm needles...I can not find my favorite 2.25mm needles. Will have to order a pair, or 2 or 3! The mm sizes are a bit more finely tuned than US sizes because a US 2 seems to span 2.25mm-2.75mm. This is Regia Pair perfect yarn and as you can see...you get plenty of yarn! I knit an 8" cuff and knit 7.5" before starting a rounded toe. The "starter" yarn is yellow...you pull that until the color starts. Knit until the 2 narrow stripes and divide for heel.  Normally I knit a 6" cuff, but waiting for the color stripe it worked up to 8". When your sock is finished - keep pulling the yarn until you get to the next yellow starter. Then you get 2 socks that match perfectly.

Why do I say secret sock knitting? Because my son was appalled when I was sitting on the couch knitting away on a new sock, when I have my Drachenfels scarf coming along so nicely! So, I was "secretly " working on this sock when he was at school this week! 

Looking like this last time I took a photo. I did need both balls of all colors, but just a small bit of gray and not all that much of black. I know I will have blue left over too. All probably destined to become baby booties.

Podcast news! My son and I have been very silly playing around with the new tripod and video camera on my phone. We make ourselves laugh! I love taking photos, but I have never really been a video person. I always think videos take up too much space, I guess.  Last Sunday I did manage to get the ball rolling, out on my lovely, albeit  small balcony.

Except there is a bit of traffic noise that drowns me out. I thought maybe I did not need a little microphone, but maybe I do. There are good parts though, so either today or tomorrow or maybe even Tuesday since I need to be at the hospital on Monday and then I will be too tired to do anything else - I will re-record some of it, delete the poor sound quality bits and join it all together.  I may well be the only Podcaster who takes over 2 weeks to put together a simple video, but as my Mom used to say, " slow and steady wins the race".

On a final note...my Dad turned 89 this week. Here is a photo of us together when I was 16. I am a bit homesick because I never made it home this summer so it has been over a year. Although my sister Irene was here in February, which was nice.  My sister Sarah was planning on coming over these weeks, but she is sick and had to cancel her flights. Then there was talk if I should try making the trip these September days before my school starts, but I am still not well enough for international travel and it was a small window of time because of my husband's surgery. Maybe after Christmas day when my son and I both have vacation and he can come with me to help. So, we will see.

OK!  So, that all was a bit more than just my "secret" socks, but now that if is all typed...with 1 finger on my phone, I am NOT deleting it!

To see what everyone else has been knitting this week, click on THIS LINK    to go to Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.