Friday, May 3, 2013

More holiday snaps.

G'day. On our recent getaway, we stopped at a little country town called Trentham. It's only a small town, but the tourists just love it. It does have a nice mix of different shops, hotels and bakeries, but I have never quite understood the popularity of this place. It could be that you go through Trentham to reach other larger towns, but who knows. I am sure the shop owners here aren't interested in my opinion anyway. Now in saying all of that, we did stop here.

My son had seen something about this store on the web and he wanted me to have a look at an Egyptian statue they have for sale. All the statues are made of fibreglass and some of them do look really good. Inside the store were life size figures of Elvis, the Blues Brothers, large dinosaurs and flying reptiles, just to name a few. The Egyptian statue that I had come to see was 8' tall and extremely expensive, needless to say my son has gone off the idea of owning it.

The only thing I liked was the two fat Wombats on the roof and a Gnome that stood about 4' high and was really quite lovely. He too was not cheap, but I did say to hubby that he would look just wonderful in our garden. Hubby was not overly impressed.

Not too sure about the large brown bear with a doll in between it's teeth. I think they could have done without that.

Next stop was to have a refreshing drink at a The Little Hard Hills Hotel. So named by the Chinese who lived and mined for gold in this area way back when. They walked into the nearest town about once a month for their groceries. This was a few hours walk and the hills were steep, but little, hence the name Little Hard Hills.

More photos next time.

Once again I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who leaves a comment and wishes me well on my chemotherapy journey. I really do appreciate it. Yesterday was the first time accessing the Infusaport that I had put in. I was a bit nervous about it, but it worked well. I had to have a blood test done before the chemo, just to check how the red and white cells are going and the good news was they have held up pretty good this time. That may change as the treatment progresses, but we will worry about that if and when it happens. Most likely by next Tuesday, the affects of this cycle will hit me and that will last a few days, not pleasant days, but hey, as I say "Suck it up Princess". All will be just peachy. It was a long day yesterday, almost 9 hours, but that included the blood test and waiting for the results of that before the drugs can be individually made up for me. I am on three different drugs that are given separately. It all takes time. Hubby goes through this journey with me. He watches them accessing the port and hooking up the drugs. It's important that he knows what is happening. We are on this journey together and I am ever so grateful for that. He had been a Godsend. He sits there patiently and reads, as do I. We bring our own lunch and snacks etc. The hospital also have a volunteer that comes around a few times and serves sandwiches, juice, tea and coffee. Yesterday they even has chicken noodle soup and it was yummy.

Take care. Liz...

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Hairs gone, but hey, all's just peachy...


G'day. Last Thursday my hair started falling out, we knew it was coming, but it is confronting nonetheless when it happens. I guess in some ways it brings home the reality of what's really happening, not that we didn't know this already!! That morning, hubby and I decided to go away for a few days, a short break for both of us. We headed down toward the Great Ocean Road, a six or so hour drive, a favourite spot we both love.

On our travels we saw a lot of cars parked on the side of the road and people looking up into the gum trees, of course, there were Koala's in the trees and that was what everyone was looking at. Mainly a lot of tourists from overseas, but even this good Aussie girl and guy love looking at our native animals. They are so cute and furry, but don't be fooled, they can bite and scratch and wouldn't hesitate to do so if needed.

After spending a night at Apollo Bay, we headed to Port Campbell. One of my very favourite towns. I have always loved it here. Can't stop here without having fish and chips for lunch, but sadly, the fish was the worst I have ever had. I asked for it to be grilled and it was like a bit of old leather, so disappointed. Maybe new owners from the last time we were here perhaps !!! Oh well, it wasn't the end of the world.

We had a great time, always nice to escape the house and garden for a while. I will show more pics of our adventures another time.

Next chemo cycle for me tomorrow. I have been reasonably well, only really had three or four super bad days. Had an appointment on Tuesday just gone at the hospital to ask how I was and they couldn't believe how good I looked. Almost made me feel bad for looking so well. Most people I have seen, including friends and family comment on how well I look. That's got to be good, doesn't it?

I am not bothered at all by the lack of hair, the head will be totally bald in a day or so, just a bit of stubble left. Hubby even shaved his head to join me, though I did notice last night that already he has a good growth happening again. I am amazed at the contours on my scalp, the dents and ridges that I never knew I had. I do have lots of fabulous hats to wear and that's a bonus as we are coming into our winter here in beautiful Australia and already a few of the days have been cool.
Time to go, I have a date cake cooking because a friend is coming for afternoon tea. I am going out for morning tea shortly with a good friend from work. I have turned into a real social butterfly... Good on me..


Until next time. Take care. Liz...