It’s 10:35 AM and I’m back in a comfy Chemo chair with a hot blanket on my legs and a pillow behind my back. There is a friendly familiarity about coming for treatment now and although I sometimes dread the outcome, I’ve come to enjoy my time at the Florida Cancer Center …strange that it may seem!

Hans and I met with Dr. Berry to discuss my  treatment. But first I remembered to ask him if being around Kittens and Kitty litter was dangerous for me. In his usual droll manner he replied, “no, except you should be a dog person, not a cat person,” and he laughed. Apparently Dr. Barry is not a big fan of the feline. In fact, he joked that he did his doctorate on feline leukemia and that instead of looking for a cure,  he was actually looking for a way to spread it throughout the population. Guess I’m not the only one with a dark sense of humor, huh?

So good news everyone… I could get some kittens in the house soon. I love the whole process of fostering kittens. Sometimes they are as young as three weeks old. The downstairs of my house is set up with two catios …one that Hans built and one that I bought. It’s a great environment for the kittens and as they grow I open the doors and they have a space to run around. I can spend hours sitting down with them, laughing as I watch them learn how to control their silly bodies. I teach them to come when called and spend a lot of time working on socialization. I must brag that I raise particularly cuddly kittens :-). 

 So back to Chemo … Dr. Barry is going to take the nasty drug (oxaliplatin) down another 10% this time. For my treatment  in two weeks, he will take it out completely. We will schedule the scans for early December.  Off we go! 

It has been a rough night and the gummy that I ate didn’t do much more then make me drowsy.  The gurgling brings sharp pains so there’s nothing to do but write some songs. 

Chemo Pain is Coming My Way. 

Sung to the tune of Santa Claus is coming to town. 🎅 

I’m gonna be strong

And try not to cry

I’ll try not to shout 

On the couch I will lie 

Chemo pain is coming my way. 

I’m taking it slow 

I’m taking my meds 

The indica I took 

will keep me in bed 

Chemo pain is coming my way. 

Pain stops while I am sleeping 

Begins when I’m awake 

I hope the pot begins to work

For me and Hans’ sake. 

I’m gonna be strong

And try not to cry

I’ll try not to shout 

On the couch I will lie 

Chemo pain is coming my way

Gurgling through the Pain 

Sung to jingle Bells 🔔 

Gurgling through the pain while sitting up in bed  

 here we go again The chemo that I dread 

Poison but a cure makes my body fight 

It’s not so fun but when I’m done I hope to be alright. 

Cancer sucks cancer sucks But I will find a way 

I’ll manage pain and medicate and live another day!l

The good news is that I wrote to Hailee who is the foster coordinator at Manatee County Animal welfare.  She has an orange male kitten for me to grow 🙂 looking forward to picking him up tomorrow at Bishop.

Here’s my Facebook post. 

Meet Chester.  He’s a 5 week old Orange tabby. I will foster him for several weeks until he is 2 lbs and can be neutered and put up for adoption by  Manatee County Animal Welfare. 

Do you know what percent of orange tabbies are male?

Answer :80 percent

Orange tabby cats are usually male.

In fact, up to 80 percent of orange tabbies are male, making orange female cats a bit of a rarity. According to the BBC’s Focus Magazine, the ginger gene in cats works a little differently compared to humans; it is on the X chromosomes

Chester is very sweet and purrs a lot and very loudly. Hans could hear him across the room. Baxter is obsessed with the Kitten and so far Chester does not seem to mind.

Pain is bad tonight. Tingling has been steady in my left foot as usual but vestiges appear in my fingertips too.  This is alarming and something Doctor Berry clearly hopes to avoid because neuropathy can be permanent.  Another good reason to stop with the nasty drug!