Thursday, December 28, 2006

another one down

Well, we survived (thanks to my bro-in-law, imw, for the photo of our Christmas dinner). There was lots of emotion, laughter, the usual family craziness, a few surprises and an orgy of presents.

In our family, we open our presents to each other on Christmas eve (a variation on the French-Canadian tradition). Santa comes during the night, so there are more presents (for the children) in the morning. We enjoy doing things this way but it makes for a late night for the children AND a very early morning.

We have now settled into the kids-are-home-what's-next phase of the holidays. After all the visitors and presents, this period of relative quiet (no daycare and no school. Sigh) feels a bit like a letdown to the kids and they are going a bit stir-crazy.

I had chemo yesterday, an event that was wonderfully uneventful. It was just the vinorelbine (no herceptin) and the whole process barely took ten minutes. Today, I'm a little green around the gills but nowhere near as sick as I was on the first go 'round. This and the fact that I am in less pain today than I have been in weeks have put me in a very good mood.

The break from pain is incredibly welcome (an understatement, I have newfound compassion for those who live for years with chronic pain) and I am choosing to take this change as a sign that the treatments are working and that my tumours are shrinking.

Thanks to all who wished me happy holidays in the comments and via email. It really meant a lot to me. Thanks especially to Flippy, for the image of me running down the grocery aisle, innoculating oranges. That really made me smile on a hard day.

5 comments:

amanda said...

I am so glad that you are doing well and had such a nice holiday. Keep on keeping on.

Anonymous said...

Laurie~ What a wonderfully cozy pic of you and your family at the table...I loved it! So glad you feel a bit better. You are as always in my regular prayers by name.
I wish you a most blessed New Year!
Comrade L
PS, I lived in "Winterpeg" for about a year and loved it. I witnessed the mass migration of Canada Geese which blew my mind, as it was so incredibly beautiful. I learned with Curling is and went regularly and yes, I quickly picked up using...ey...after each sentence.
Have a good one!

Anonymous said...

i'm glad the pain is down, and i'm glad your holidays were good.

"just keep swimming..."

happy new year :)

Anonymous said...

What a festive table!

I've never got how people survive Christmas when they are up that late. I went to a Christmas Eve service for the first time ever this year and slept in until 11am the next day (no kids).

I'm glad you are having a good day.

Sue Jones said...

What a wonderful family pic. Thanks for sharing. Sounds like Christmas was a hoot.
Glad to hear the pain is reduced. Hope to visit with you in the new year!
Thinking of you often.
S.J.