A mixed bag

Yes, this is going to be a mixture of everything and it will be a l-o-n-g blog to make up for my lack of blogging lately.

I am feeling better than I was but still only running at about 50% which is affecting my energy for cardmaking, not to mention everything else!  Anyway I will update you on my current situation later in this blog.

This Christmas I received some beautiful handmade cards from my cardmaking friends so wanted to share these with you:

Pauline McArdle:

Debbie Lamb: Jacque Pedersen:
Carol Hallett (UK) 
Joan Hallett: 
Sally Williams: 
Karen Rogers:
Thanks so much for these lovely inspiring cards.

Now for some photos from my very low-key (was still in a lot of pain) but enjoyable Christmas Day.

Think that’s all the news apart from the current situation with my cancer(s).  Went to my hospital Oncology appointment this Wednesday.  The rib they removed contained a tumour in the marrow and the biopsy report identified it as a plasmacytoma.  Plasmacytoma is a solitary cancer but if it comes back or has already spread is then known as Multiple Myeloma.  I am now going to be referred to the Haematology Department for assessment which may or may not also include having radiation treatment on the rib and having a bone marrow biopsy.  I pray they don’t find it necessary to do either of these things.  Also my CA125 levels (for the fallopian/ovarian cancer) which were up to nearly 200 before my operation are now up to 500 but scans still cannot locate where it may have spread to.  Normal CA125 levels should be 20 or under!  They are hoping that this level will come down after my body settles down from the op as apparently they had to deflate the lung to do the operation and this could have caused my levels to go up so dramatically.  They will know in another couple of months whether that is the case.

Anyway now I am fighting two different cancers and they still haven’t definitely ruled out whether I also have thyroid cancer.

I am healing from the op and not getting the bad pain I was – just a little bit uncomfortable and sore now so that’s great.  The downside is that I have no energy – feel like I am running at only 50% capacity.

Well that’s my life for now – more hospital visits, more doctors.  My oncologist laughingly asked me if there was any other department in the hospital I would like to visit as I have just about been to them all now.  I replied that I wish I could be like a student and just take a gap year – it would be so lovely to not have to think about all of this for a while!