Not a real post

Ok, so it's been like a month (almost) since I last posted, and even then it wasn't a "real" post. This one will be in between.

SCHOOL: I'm almost done. Survived a term of four courses, and provided I pass them all a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) is mine! ALL MINE!!!! {insert evil laugh}. I finished my last two assignments today, and have two 'take-home exams' to do by the end of this week. Then freedom is mine*!

*WEDDING: Obviously by "freedom" I mean "freedom to help madly plan a wedding in a few weeks". It's just a different kind of stress. Obviously Nicole (and to a lesser extent I) are stressing over the details. It will be grand and when it is all over we'll both be as pleased as we'll be relieved. Keep you posted on this one. Most importantly Nicole is still on track with marrying me!

MEDICAL: I'm doing ok. Not super super fantastic, but not sucky bad either. I'm doing 28 day rounds of meds, with the first 5 days being Chemo (Temozolomide) + Accutane (Isotretinoin) + Regular Meds**. Day 6 I no longer take the chemo (until the start of my next 28 day cycle). The Accutane I take until day 21. The accutane sucks because it dries my entire head/face out. This includes my nose, ears, eyes, and skin (I shed skin off my face from days 1-21. Pleasant eh? I'm going through a lot of Lubriderm. Oh, and it makes my lips totally dry. I have a lip chap for next to my bed, in the car, and in my pocket at all times. If I don't chap it up often enough and make the mistake of smiling I get to enjoy a cracked and bleeding lip! But it's supposed to help fight the cancer so I'll settle for the lesser of two evils. Days 22-28 I take no pills! By no pills I obviously mean the usual 4 or 5. Another great feature of the meds is that my pharmacy doesn't stock the measurements I need, so they add many smaller mg amounts to get my totals. So instead of one 370 mg pill of the Temo, I get to take 3 x 100 mg, 3 x 20 mg, and 2 x 10 mg! It is so much fun (I'm being mildly sarcastic but it is fun to brag about my hoard of meds).

**Regular meds being: Phenytoin (Dilantin), Dexamethasone (Decadron), Dalteparin (Fragmin), Ranitidine, Ondansetron, and Dapsone.

Last cycle I felt pretty crappy in the early part of the cycle but got better towards the end. This time (I'm on cycle #2) I'm feeling much better, but that may be due in part to the fact I've eliminated some stressors from my life (with the above two of school and wedding not included). Nicole's been amazing (as per usual) at helping me out with this. She now carries all of the heavy things (despite my many protests) herself. She'll have bigger muscles than I will on my steroids pretty soon! I'm also seeing a councillor (sort of a therapist but not quite) for some of my head problems not related to cancer. This process has been amazing for me and I won't discuss the details of my sessions other than to say I'd encourage anyone going through any situation (medical or otherwise) that they find hard DO GET HELP! I'm lucky enough to have the cost of mine covered, however I'd gladly pay for it.

So my lovely fiancé is cutting up some kiwi, plums, pineapple and other exotic fruits for us to enjoy while watching quality TV together. Yes, I'm talking about Judge Judy, South Park, and/or Auction Hunters! Thanks also to Shaw and your lovely PVR. What will I do when your promo credit runs out in July?

THANKS & CHEERS ALL!!!