Distraction therapy

I have decided that I need some small projects to work on to stop me from worrying about the possible skin mets and what that might mean. As a result I made the decision to do two things; sign up for a course in jewellery making and join Blipfoto.

I have made various types of jewellery on and off over the years, particularly when I needed specific things for a dance theatre piece because I could tailor it to exactly what I needed and mostly it cost less too. I've done a lot of bead embroidery out of necessity either again for something that would have been hard to buy or to repair costumes I already own. I've never had any formal training in any of this though, so I thought a foundation course in jewellery making was a good place to start. I mainly worked with wire and that's what I want to focus on. The course starts in a couple of weeks at the local college.

Blipfoto is something altogether different.

This is a daily photo journal with a difference - you can only post one image per day. I've made a commitment (mainly to myself) to a 365 day-in-the-life-of project to record my recovery from last year. Some of it will be intensely personal and reflective but it will also feature an appreciation of the little things in life. It's an opportunity to share those moments that we usually take for granted, whether it be the first flowers of Spring, a pretty view or a piece cake bought as a treat. Although I'll have to be careful that there isn't too much cake buying! :)

You can follow my photographic adventures here - OndineBlue at Blipfoto

It's not funny (or easy) being a fashion victim!

What to wear and indeed, where to buy it, is a major problem for all women with breast cancer. Trying to find nice things to wear that also works with the restrictions of a post-surgery body has been something of a nightmare for me and thousands of women like me.

I have found the whole experience pretty horrible as it's been virtually impossible to find anything that works and is pretty. As a result I now live in t-shirts and jeans with all my pretty clothes either hidden in the back of the wardrobe or consigned to the charity shop. I can't tell you how many times I have walked around the high street desperate for something else to wear and then come home empty-handed and in tears.

Libby Page has made a very moving short film about this in the hopes of making the fashion industry more aware of this issue. In order to help make our voices heard please watch the video and share it. Thank you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yruRgvNDqsk&context=C306e559ADOEgsToPDskIcpVicJ0nuJQiQvWipcRZ9

It's been a while. . .

The truth is that having managed to jump off the merry-go-round once, I am now back on it again! The problems with my lung turned out to be radiation damage, not the best of news but not cancer either. However, now I am waiting to find out if I have skin mets! It's all go here isn't it???

I have been struggling with awful pain over the last few months due to a combination of things - soreness as a result of the original treatment, broken ribs and the icing the cake of course was contracting shingles on my treatment site. I've been taking  anti-inflammatory drugs but they just weren't helping so I am currently on an escalating dose of Gabapentin with Amitriptyline. During a trip to the doctor for a progress report I casually mentioned that I have a couple of patches of persistent eczema.  He took a good long look at them and pronounced that he's pretty sure that they are cancer! Now I am waiting for some tests to find out if it's common or garden skin cancer or skin mets.

Meanwhile I am planning some interesting things for 2012, regardless of the outcome of the tests! I have enrolled on a jewellery making course at the local college, something I've done on and off over the years but never actually taken lessons in it. I am looking forward to starting the classes next month.

Next on the list is to try and kick start my dancing by attempting a couple of hours of gentle practise each week. I'll never be able to return to how things were before diagnosis but it would be nice to be able to do something.

In May I'll be celebrating a milestone birthday and I've decided that just this once I am going to have a party to celebrate. It'll be a very modest affair - a meal out in a restaurant with my closest family. I've chosen to celebrate it for three reasons; it's a milestone, it coincides with the first anniversary of when I finished active treatment and lastly because I am grateful for the fact that I am actually here to do so!

2011 was a tough year and there were times when I never thought I get to the end of it all. Anything I do in 2012 is therefore going to be much easier by comparison!

So here's to a much better year!