Life.... One Day at A Time!

Spring has been a busy one for me despite not working at my usual occupation. Instead I have been doing some photography for a friend’s company and sorting through my pictures in an effort to remove them from my computer before my hard drive explodes.  Staying inside to do all of this has been easy as the weather here in the lower mainland has been the pits! I can’t remember a spring on the coast that was as lousy as this one. Rainy and cold with very little let up. It is officially summer, but you would never know it as not much has changed and I still haven`t worn my new sandals.

A lot of the spring was used up with cancer treatments and ways of coping. Never in my life would I have understood what cancer patients go through had I not had the misfortune to be diagnosed with this illness myself. It is an emotional roller-coaster that seems at times to take over your life. There are so many appointments – at times I had seven medical/treatment appointments in one week! God bless my wonderful supportive patient partner who never misses an appointment. I am finished with radiation and grateful that my cancer does not require chemotherapy. However I will need medication for the next 5 years. The medication has been terribly difficult to deal with because of the side effects. Despite being on only half the recommended dose the side effects were so bad that I had to go off them for four weeks. I have resumed the medication poison with fewer side effects although most days I feel like crap.   I know I should be grateful, but I can ‘t help but  wonder what happens to the billions of dollars raised for breast cancer research when this is the best they have to treat it.

The beginning of April we drove to Nelson to deal with tenants and get the contractors working on repairs that need doing.  We were lucky while we were there as the weather was quite good and allowed us to travel around to various areas that I had never seen before. One  place was Nakusp that I had always heard was lovely. As you can see by this  picture of Arrow Lake right in the middle of town it did not disappoint me. 

At the end of May I flew to Syracuse NY for one night to pick up a beautiful sable American Cocker puppy for a friend of mine who was unable to fly. It was quite the trip. I managed to hit Syracuse while the last of the big storms were going through the US. I flew in from Toronto on some puddle jumper plane that only held thirteen passengers and the pilot was moving people around based on weight!! I got seat number two and could literally watch the pilot fly while lightning was flashing all around us. What happened to doors on all the cockpits? The trip home was relatively quiet and peaceful and my hats off to Jet BlueAirlines without their  policy to allow pets in cabin my friend would not be able to have this puppy. Neither she nor I think it is humane to put a 5 lb puppy in cargo. 

Upon my return our thoughtless neighbors left a tap running with the sink plug in creating a flood in our storage room causing us no end of work and damage. 

 

In the midst of this Miss Lucy developed an infected anal gland and it ruptured requiring her to have surgery. I am not sure who was more traumatized – my partner or Miss Lucy.  Doesn't she look happy in this picture?

This is not the quiet life I had expected this spring, but hey summer is here and I am looking forward to some lazy days at the beach!

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