liveSTRONG day

Check out this post on winosandfoodies - enter if you can. Me, I'm useless at cooking / baking things…but even if you don't fancy cooking yellow food [or LiveSTRONG day], it's a cool site.

This is a direct copy / paste of part of the winosandfoodies post. Go there to see the zillions of yellow things from 2009. I never knew there was so much yellow food in the world! And go here to see what Janell is up to too…

Here's the winosandfoodies post:

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"More than 12 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer and eight million will die from the disease each year. Worldwide, cancer will be the leading cause of death by 2010.

I don't know if I'll ever be free of cancer. Thanks to modern drugs I live with cancer. Drugs that weren't available when my father died of cancer in 2003. Once a fortnight I receive a 30 minute infusion of Avastin. It blocks the blood supply to the tumours, inhibiting their growth. It works differently to chemotherapy and has some side effects, but is easier on the body than chemo.  I consider myself  fortunate to live in a country where the drug is available. Not everyone is so lucky.

Which is why it is  important to raise awareness of cancer issues  globally. This year the Lance Armstrong Foundation went global. To date organisations, corporations, advocates and world leaders from 51 countries have made a commitment to fight cancer. 

For those of us living with cancer we live with hope. Hope....that someday there will be a cure....the chemotherapy will destroy the cancer cells and leave our good  cells alone......we won't need more surgery. Most of all we live with  hope in our hearts...... hope we will grow old with our partners, hope we will see our children grow up,  hope we will enjoy a lifetime of family celebrations and holidays, hope will be around to celebrate birthdays and weddings and new babies and friendships.

The challenge is on for 2010. Let's see if we can get entries from all 51 countries."

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it's only Tuesday…

Busy week this week - today I was chalet bashing - tomorrow I am on Dr Debt's manual with a vengeance; and doing the Feelgoodecobeds postcard addressing…aaargh, using Excel and Word to make a mail merge…painful. To say the least.

Wednesday and Thursday I am gardening - dependant on the weather of course. The Ide garden appears to have a lot of bagged topsoil that needs moving, plus loads of Winter Pansies to be potted up.

http://bit.ly/cold_climate_gardening

The other garden needs everything doing still! Hello frozen fingers…and Fagin gloves!

Credit: Chris McNamara

Chalet Bashing Friday morning, then waiting tables in the afternoon - I love doing that. It's fun - you meet the sweetest people. They are 'out for dinner'. They want to have a good time - the majority of them do. And if the people you are waiting on are enjoying themselves, well, so do you. No brainer. Saturday, chalet bashing again - then WEEKEND!! Woohoo! Probably I shall sleep until 10.00 on Sunday - that might get rid of the beastly cold which is hanging about still. Grr. Snot city here…ugh. Plus revolting coughing. I'm a delight, really…

And quite some fun this week blogging on Ovacome, and Facebook phoned me to see if I'd like to be a candidate for some TV thing called Daybreak. All about the 'Facebook for Good' thing. Well, yes, why not? Actually all the girls want to go on Oprah, but Daybreak could be ok? heh heh. And the Sky TV thing, Real Lives was repeated today [and I forgot about it until too late to tell anyone - I am useless]. Lots of opportunities for getting ovarian cancer awareness out there - Bring It On!!

Plus it appears that my cool friend in Oz has posted me £40.00 AUD for the Women v Cancer fund!! Woop! Now THAT'S cool! Will just wait to receive it, then add it to the justgiving page total.

A good week so far! Still have insomnia, but what the hell - you can't have everything right?

Black Tie Charity Christmas Ball

Fingle Glen Golf Hotel, Tedburn St Mary, Devon

Includes a scrumptious two-course dinner, a welcome drink on arrival, a fun festive quiz, a raffle, a 'silent auction' and disco until 01.00am.

Tickets are ONLY £22.00 each! The proceeds will be divided between CLIC Sargent, Tedburn St Mary School and Cheriton Bishop Playgroup.

Last year's event raised a massive £3516.50 and tickets sold out well in advance. Contact Lisa on lisa.p.singleton@btinternet [dot] com or call her 01647 61580 or 07970 792060.

Quick! ....only 9 tickets left now!!!!

health [mine!]

I was thinking today - whilst stripping beds…[as you do!] some of you may be wondering as to the state of my health. As averse to the state of my life. Some of you have asked. Thank you. No, I'm not dead - just a lazy blogger ;)

And especially all you girls in the midst of chemo - all the girls I know OUT of chemo [and they're a lot!]. The people who follow this blog.

Well, I FEEL great. Like Wonder Woman - I'm not, but I feel like that, having survived [touch wood!] ovarian cancer for now. I am running about like a Blue Arsed Fly…fund raising and looking for work. And working! Doing mainly manual labour right now, gardening, cleaning, waiting on. And actually, I love it - it's helped me lose all the steroid weight, and I've met lots of people through it too. Yay - bring on networking!

The reason I feel like Wonder Woman is because I never thought I'd be able to do any of this. I was so weak and frail after chemo that I just felt that was it. I'd be 2 stone overweight and a weed for ever. Well, not so. Hoorah!

Plus I have a couple of graphic design jobs which keep me in touch and up to date with what I consider my 'real' work. Not that cleaning and gardening aren't - it's just that I suppose I am so used to being a graphic designer that it's hard to think of myself as anything else.

Regarding cancery stuff - I can honestly say that at the moment, I don't think about it an awful lot. I still do think about it - no brainer there. Hence this post. But not every second of every day. Mainly if something goes wrong - like today.

I have a horrible cold. It moved to my chest this morning so I was coughing like a grampus all day, which wrenched my stomach. Oops! Scarring doesn't like that and all afternoon I was nauseous. And there was pain on my left side where the adhesions were. Maybe there's still adhesion there - who knows? It's gone now, so who cares? But it's silly things like that that make you think stupid thoughts.

But the cough is going - and so are the thoughts…4 more months till I start going seriously bonkers ;)

insomnia

INSOMNIA WALLPAPER

fogo - last night was frightful! the absolute WORST night's sleep [or, rather, NON sleep] that I've had since chemo. I woke up literally every 30 to 40 minutes. Can't say there wasn't variety mind you - it was one of the following: hot flash. freezing cold sweat. coughing my guts up or drowning in snot. jumping legs. dying of thirst. you name it - it woke me. and in the interim - mad and vivid dreams so that when I DID wake up, I was in The Land of Confusion….bah.

At 4.15 this morning, I gave up. After doing the 'Whirling Dervish' impression in my duvet, I had had enough and got up and sneaked downstairs. Had a ciggie in the kitchen [warm feet as we have underfloor heating - cold head as I had the back door open...perfect!] then scoped out Facebook. Imagine…totally miserable through lack of sleep…all bleary eyed [I'm sure!]. Arrive at my Facebook wall to find a kind chap [Phil Daysh ] had given the final £35 that allows me to qualify for the Woman v Cancer cycle!!  Whoa!! Thanks that man!!

The fellow doesn't even know me! I asked him a few weeks ago to lend me some trestle tables for the car boot, after being introduced by my friend Claire Hooper. He agreed, then I didn't need them. Now he does this. Amazing how generous people are and have been.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED SO FAR!!

You are the best. All of you.

The last week or so have been brilliant as far as funds go, as my brother Pete started a run on my Justgiving page; he is doing a 10k run on the 3rd October and all the donations go to me. His friends have been fab! Bring on the West Ham peeps. So he has been a great help to get me to the total. Thanks Pete's Friends - and especially Pete! :)

In the meantime, I caught the 'Airplane Germs' Cold. Grr. Snot for Africa. And today, just when I needed to sleep for 10 hours, I had to chalet bash for 6. Oh well - surely last nights spinning class plus today's bed making extravaganza [14 beds plus 4 x 2 bed houses?]will help sweat out the germs?? Hope so! As it is I am sniffing, coughing and generally being grotesque. Hmm - do I care? Well, no, not a jot. Actually. It'll go. I shall survive. Oh, and that would be without having 'time off work'.

As it is, I am trying to get as TIRED as possible before going to bed this evening.  Lets see if it helps. Would rather like a nights sleep!!

this week

last weekend I went to see my besties. And it was brilliant - spent time just talking, eating wonderful food, drinking excellent wine and generally chilling out.

It was a very relaxing 3 days. And thanks to them, I came home feeling much more 'together'. The reason I went to visit was to see my darling friends - one of which has had a hideous and hurtful experience. It was for ME to go and be supportive. But as usual, I was the one who was looked after like a princess. But I did try!

The only bad things were being delayed [as usual!] and that the FH couldn't come. Too expensive - but he merrily booked MY ticket for me anyway - not caring at all. Darling man.

This is a wonderful place…a beach hut - sitting on top of a sand dune. We had marvellous weather and were able to sit outside in those chairs from lunchtime until after midnight - it was so warm! I have a suntanned face!

And this is the view at breakfast time…fabulous, calming, empty beach. Had sardines for lunch. Super. The simple things are always the best. A 5 star hotel would not have been nicer than this!

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In the meantime, I have had slight problems with the Botox palaver - the left side of my face is immobile. NOT great for smiling! In fact rather grotesque, as the left side of my mouth pulls downward. Ugh. But it'll wear off. Wouldn't it be nice if everything horrid eventually wore off?

Plus it's tipping down here- - no gardening today!

Oh, and all ovarian cancer types - go here and fill in this survey please…

shouting

As we know, in the States it's ovarian cancer awareness month. Here in the UK, it's in March. Odd. But it gives us a chance to shout about 'being AWARE' twice as much and from both sides of the pond ;)

And this morning I noticed this site. I haven't quite worked out how one uses it yet, but they gave me such a nice shout I thought I'd reciprocate. Oh and also to nick the Kelly Ripa video - we love her, she is constantly raising money with Electrolux for the OCRF.

Go here and try this virtual steaming thing - every time you do, Electrolux donates $1 to the OCRF fund. Or visit the site - you could win a washer dryer!

Oh, and while you're bouncing about the internet on all these links, please go here too - I'm not Kelly Ripa, but I am trying my best to raise K4 for research into women's cancers…ovarian, breast and cervical. If you can, please help me reach my target?  You won't win a washer dryer mind you…

Thanks!

a post at last!

I know I haven't really posted for an age [awareness posts don't really count as 'posts' do they?] - and I'm not apologising, because mostly I blog when I am stressed out. It's a brilliant venting place for me. Much to Some People's disgust. But there you go - each to his own eh?

Happily this isn't a 'venting' post at all - I just thought I'd catch everyone up with my little life before someone decided I'd dropped dead! And it's difficult, as SO much has been going on. So, I will try to précis.

First I did the event at the Port Royal [yep - fund raising still!]. Then I did the posters for the Cystic Fibrosis event at the Port Royal too. And we went - it was such fun. Little yellow ducks all over the place! And of course, the usual fab bbq. Oh, and some random swans wondering WHAT was going on?!

Next event was the Boot Sale. Oh ghastly - up at 4.30 and off to freeze our butts off in the queue until 7.15!! Er - what? Anyway, the torture was worth it, as I made £85.00 and Vicky made £60.00. Better than a poke in the eye with a plastic daffodil…

Then I've been having these 'days'…one of them was a particular cracker - first, at about 7.30 in the morning I was asked to quote on [and got] a freelance design job from my friend John. On the same day, Feelgoodecobeds sold a bed and two bedside tables through a friend of mine, Jo - of which I earn a percentage. Then it turned out that my fellow blogger and friend, another Jo won the Port Royal lottery prize!! And [and this was getting a bit mad] I was in the local  paper - the Express and Echo, AGAIN - they seem to be trying to help me [they published my justgiving address etc]. How cool is that?? And, near the end of the day, we sold a duckboard through Amazon!

And last, but certainly not least [on that day], I reached 62% of my fundraising target through my friend Lins -  way to go. It was amazing and exhausting having so many good things happen in one day. Not normal right? But very nice and I had a great day!

In the interim I have been battering away at the chalets and gardens, but doing bits and pieces of graphic design for sundry peeps. All good. Must converse with the accountant before I sink into total chaos…I've missed my spinning class for 4 weeks!! Shriek! The next class is going to be torture.

We had the G'daughter here for a week. There was no WAY I was going to spinning while she was here. Such wasted time.

                      I had events. I had appointments. Of which one was The Face. My synkinesis, the result of Bells Palsy, has always driven me a bit mad.Well, a week ago Thursday I had a visit to the Botulinum clinic. NOT an easy decision after conversations regarding the likely collapse of my face once more, plus the ghastly idea of an injection into my eyeball to cure the Crocodile Tears. But, so far so good - no improvement really, and only a bit of facial drop so far. And not too much pain yet. Maybe next time he can be more accurate.It only lasts 3 months after all.

And I broke my toe on Saturday night  [that made the boot sale SUCH fun…er. NOT!]. My toe has turned black and blue. Hmm…message to self - be MORE CAREFUL!

And my brother Pete is doing a run for me!! All the funds from his run go to my Women v Cancer fund! Yay - thanks Pete!!

So. Life is good. Hard work, lots of friends - hardly thinking about recurrence unless something stupid happens [which it does, but it seems easier to deal with now?]

And tomorrow I am off to visit my BFF's!!  Woohoo!

3rd fundraiser: BOOT SALE!

I am doing a boot sale on the 12th September 2010 at Matford Park, Matford Park Road, Marsh Barton Trading Estate, Exeter, EX2 8FD.

All the proceeds will be going to my Cycle Kenya fund.

Please come along and buy some stuff? and if you have any old bits and pieces you'd like to get rid of, please let me know - I will collect!

don't forget…

the symptoms are here - read and remember…it could save your life.

beware of your ovaries!

Not that I have that problem any more - had the beastly things removed. I just have the aftershocks to deal  with. Not too bad! But in the US it is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, and here's why you need to be aware:

Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynaecological cancer in the UK and affects over 6,800 women a year.

Cervical screening tests [smear tests] - DO NOT detect ovarian cancer, only cervical cancer.

Awareness of ovarian cancer is very low. Only 16% of women surveyed in 2007 were aware of ovarian cancer. Two-thirds were not able to cite any symptoms of ovarian cancer or said they did not know or were not able to mention any risks associated with ovarian cancer.

See below for the signs of ovarian cancer - or here for more detailed information

Bear in mind that it is the frequency, persistency, severity and new onset of these symptoms that may help to differentiate between those who are experiencing symptoms related to ovarian cancer and those who are not. Listen to your body, and ASK your GP if you are at all concerned.

And spread the word girls. If ovarian cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the outcome is good!