Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 21: Calmly through the day

[MissConductUS]

I've started a new one. Please join us and share the boring and mundane things happening in your world. It will be calming for all.

Here is the link to the prior thread:

Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 20: Calmly through the day

Champagne if you feel that relieved, it’s definitely the right decision. Sorry it didn’t work out. I do believe that ‘what’s for you, won’t go by you’ so it clearly wasn’t meant to be this time around. Am sure you’ll find somewhere super soon!

Sorry the house purchase did not work out Champagne though always best to be sure before you buy as it takes a while to sell and is expensive.

Nydj Sorry to hear about the clematis hope it comes back bigger and stronger. If you go on MN relationships board I am certain you will be told you don't have a clematis problem but a DH problem.

Went to hospital today to sign the chemo forms, though they were trying to talk me out of it saying although prosigna said high risk its borderline at 44. I have bloods taken for chemo and adrenals and weight and height taken. Some blood results are coming back in and one says stage 2 CKD or AKI and a couple of others are out of range but not by much. They showed me the unit and the emergency section for if you get sepsis etc.

I cleaned the downstairs bathroom. Had call with bupa via Macmillan and counselling is being set up. Also called LA to try and get things moving for DS.

Was worried when we left as rabbit was shaking a bit but DD said he does that when asleep and was back to normal this evening trying to steal DSs chocolate dessert. Silkiecat ate some of my salmon and the silkie has some for her when she wakes up. We had salmon, veg and potatoes for dinner then lemon cheesecake as they are on offer so DH bought them.

I too feel the pain over the clematis. It just might send up shoots quickly if you are lucky.

I had DH come back from our very small allotment patch to tell me he had a terrible time digging up a huge stubborn root. It was my rhubarb plant that I had been nurturing. He had thrown the stubborn root away!

LoveFall Your poor rhubarb!

One day in spring a few months after we had moved into our house I sat looking out the kitchen window and idly thinking what a waste of space a certain overgrown bush was and how nice a lilac would be in that exact spot, where the scent would waft into the kitchen... I went out with the clippers, having decided that it would be too difficult to dig it out and I might as well trim it. The following year oodles of lilac blossoms appeared.

Silkies - hats off to you for your decision, and wishing you successful treatment.

Champagne 'the climbing plant' - [ouch]
Sorry to hear your house purchase is not to be this time.

Miss I hope your DS will have a safe trip.
We have snow again tonight, possibly two inches. I put up my wipers just in case.

@Mathanxiety
That's why it's always best not to do anything to a garden for at least one and preferably two years after you move in. You never know what's going to pop up.

Lovefall - noooooo!

Silkie Best of luck with everything 👍👍 Rooting for you!

Champagne What a bugger, but on the other hand if you’re relieved that does tell its own story… onward and upward with the house hunt!

I have a day off today after a not great week in terms of earning - more than half of my clients either came down with covid themselves or someone in the household did, so I couldn’t see them 🙈 However I did get to see one regular client and one new one who I hope might become a regular. And I got some posters printed and distributed, and have ordered myself a branded jacket as I’m doing an event later in the month and I want to be a good walking advert for the business (will also be wearing it for the school run ). And I did a CPD course so will have a new treatment to offer once I’ve practiced it a couple of times! So hoping for better weeks to come.

Thanks for the good wishes all, we are able to stay put here indefinitely so will likely be here for the next year at least (DS goes to uni in September)

Everyone seems rather buoyant with the news, especially DS who can now plan for 18th birthdays, end of exam parties etc

I’m glad you are able to see the positive side of it, Champagne. I hope you find something that is perfect when the time is right.

Silkies the DH problem made me laugh, thank you. I hope your treatment goes well and you are able to give us regular updates.

Love I feel your and your rhubarb’s pain too!

Math how wonderful to have a lilac in view from your kitchen. I know they only flower for a short while but the scent when they do is so wonderful!

Bright and sunny but cold day here. I am off work today and have already cleaned the kitchen. I usually do this on Saturdays, but DH is away with work tomorrow (first time in 2 years) and I do not want to waste that day on chores .

Green-fingered DH just told me that 2 of his tomatoes have started.

Just sorted out changing names on the last of the utilities (DH died recently). All I have to do now is wait for the solicitors to sort out financial bits.

sue

prok, I adore a day in the house completely alone, enjoy tomorrow

The weather has celebrated our decision to stay put here by pouring consistently and without let up for the past 8 hours. We cannot see anything through the fog and the mud is at least an inch deep again

That's a hard and emotional job sue - well done for getting through it.

Support to Silkie for the next bit of the process

I’m wincing at the garden butchery stories. We have some of our bird feeders set up amongst patches of spring bulbs, crocuses etc and I’m constantly having to remind DH not to annihilate tread on the fragile emerging blooms when he goes out to top up the seeds....he doesn’t seem to remember from the last time I reminded him, even if it’s only hours/days earlier. Luckily though he at least knows better than to hack away at something.

Silkie, I think you're wise to proceed with the chemotherapy. The cynic in me wonders if they tried to talk you out of it because it's hugely expensive and a lot of work for them.

Sue, that must be so hard.

Math, I have some lilac bushes in my front garden. I have to remember to give them some fertilizer this spring.

Champagne, I'm sorry to hear about the house falling through, but you've done the right thing to pull out. If you're not 99% sure it's the right house at the right price it's too big a risk.

We had a call with DS last night. He's going to get on the road tomorrow no later than 6:00 AM so that he'll get home before the rain changes to snow. It's shaping up to be a proper noreaster. He also got the official job offer from his new employer's New York office and the salary was more than the Boston office had offered him, so that seems to have sealed the deal. It was probably a cost of living adjustment, which he won't need since he'll be living at home.

Our HR department as initiated a succession planning project, so I got a form to fill out yesterday. I felt rather cheeky saying that my career goal was to retire in two to three years and when asked what additional training or resources I needed to achieve it I answered "None".

Miss You could request a "transition into retirement" course

The engineers and CAD-constructors who retired from my place of work all came back after 6 months at wastly reduced hours just for the fun of it.

I wonder that too MissC as when the oncologist was trying to tell me it was very borderline on the chemo (showing me a report which said I was high risk and would likely benefit from chemo but saying I should not worry about the phrasing) she was saying how much work it was for them and how annoying weekly appointments would be for me. It was hard to tell if she genuinely thinks there will be no benefit or she is under huge pressure to cut back on chemo to save money and time or both. Ideally would prefer not to do chemo due to the risks but the model shows that 6 more women are alive in 10 years like me though she did say the other 94 have no benefit just the risks. I also got the impression they will give up easily which is quite annoying as I don't want to start, lose all my hair, have them stop it and no benefit and no hair unless of course it becomes too dangerous but it seemed far more flippant than that like if you find it stressful we will stop it. Though normally once you are in the system you are OK. And she wrote me a letter saying 30% chance hair loss will be permanent. Its hard though as normally if someone said to be 94% of people won't benefit and you will be one of those I would not bother. Wish I had a time machine. She did say people don't normally get offered weekly Pax and maybe she has had some flack for offering me that one.

Just been sleeping today. Now having a tomato soup.

Silkie, I am obviously not in your shoes but your decision to go with chemo sounds like what I would do. I would want every chance to have the cancer go bye bye forever. I had a friend with colorectal cancer who agonized over having chemo. I spent hours on the phone with her. She decided to go ahead. That was over 10 years ago.

The same with my sister who feared tamoxifen and the menopause symptoms. She decided finally to go for it. I am glad she did.

We can never know exactly the right thing to do but you sound very strong.

It is damp and foggy here in Vancouver. The dog is asleep on my lap after our short walk.

I have my monthly infusion of Entyvio (vedolimumab) today. I get it for ulcerative colitis and it has me in remission which is great. It hasn't helped my joint pain but my intestinal symptoms are gone. I am thankful for our Canadian health care system that pays for it.

DH and I usually make an afternoon of it and he gets takeaway from a food court in a mall nearby while I sit with the IV infusing my miracle med.

I photographed these daffodils in our garden yesterday.

Silkie I, too, opted for chemo and told them to forget about minimally invasive procedures. I had to bring up 2 DV under 2 and opted for the maximal version. Luckily my surgeon took me seriously and got it approved. Today it would never be agreed to.

Love No sign of daffodils (= Osterglocken) here, but at least my hydrangea has started to show.

Silkie I think you know your mind and glad you’ve been able to vocalise it. When will it start? Have they given you a time scale?

Prok the literal translation from German is Easter bells which I think seems very appropriate and lovely 😊

Love they are very pretty daffs, hope your treatment went ok

Miss hope DS beats the snow and makes it home safely.

Silkie, in an ideal world the thing to do would be to have another oncologist review your chart and get a second opinion. I don't know if that's an option for you or not.

Love, I also have UC and have been on Entyvio for a few years. It has also put me in remission. Standard dosing is 300mg six times a year (roughly every 8 weeks). Did they start you at once a month? It's not meant to treat joint pain. It blocks the entry of white blood cells into your gut. My insurance covers the cost.

Your daffodils look lovely. Nothing is flowering here yet, which is good, as we're getting 3-5 inches of snow tomorrow.

Thanks, shoes. I'm watching the forecast like a hawk. He's coming home in our old Subaru, so he'll have all-wheel drive and the snow will melt on the road for a while after it starts, so I think he'll be okay. He shouldn't see much traffic that early on a Saturday morning.

@MissConductUS

Another UC'er! My sympathies for having to put up with it.

I was started on the standard dosing every 8 weeks after induction but I was flaring after 6-7 weeks. My GI upped it to every 4weeks. It works beautifully at that interval.

My GI is great and an acknowledged expert in IBD here. It took me a long time to find him. He told me that the Entyvio trial actually used a four week dosing.

I know it doesn't treat joint pain but hope springs eternal. I have had some really bad pain recently in my hands and over my sacrum. I have crap kidneys so NSAIDS are a big no no. I use acetominophen which is not much help. I have cheated and taken an Advil in the past week when I really need to function out and about. It works so well it is very hard to resist when the pain gets bad.

www.ibdcentrebc.ca

My specialist is Dr Bressler. I need another colonoscopy but have been dragging my heels mostly because of covid.

I am very glad you are doing well. Entyvio was a complete life changer for me after 35 years of UC.

My infusion center is very good and it feels like home now!

My best friend’s husband has colitis. She told me recently that he cries from the stress/pain of it frequently. It’s relatively recently diagnosed and not at all under control yet. He is a muscly 100mile bike riding man, I can’t imagine him crying.

I’ve got through the week, that’s the best that can be said for work this week. And I have to work tomorrow as we have contractors on site and I’m the only available mug key-holder.

@HelenaJustina

My best friend’s husband has colitis. She told me recently that he cries from the stress/pain of it frequently. It’s relatively recently diagnosed and not at all under control yet. He is a muscly 100mile bike riding man, I can’t imagine him crying.

I’ve got through the week, that’s the best that can be said for work this week. And I have to work tomorrow as we have contractors on site and I’m the only available mug key-holder.

So sorry about your friend's husband. Hopefully it will get under control soon.

I have pain with a flare but nothing I can't usually cope with. Crohn's causes more pain.

But the stress of constant bathroom visits (when the pain is the worst) can be awful.

People ask if UC is caused by stress. I tell them no, actually UC causes stress.

Sorry to read about your various health issues but glad to know that modern medicine is helping.

Hope that your DS has a good trip home MissConductUS. My DS and I had a funny conversation last night as we settled to watch the 6 Nations Rugby match. There was an advert for brouges on the screen and I asked him if he needed a pair. He asked me what they were. Somewhat surprised I replied that they were shoes. Confusion on his face. So I say, the type you would wear to work. At this point he laughs and said he thought that I had been talking about cabbages (choux).

Still cold here but sunny.
The picture of the park is from the Ruhr area. We here are, as usual, still miles away from this.

Love, UC is unfortunately fairly common. I came down with it in 2003 and the treatments back then were almost useless, at least for me. The etiology was very poorly understood back then. I still keep some prednisone in the house just in case but I hate to take it. Entyvio has been life-changing for me. When you've had it for as long as I have there's also a much higher risk of colon cancer.

DS texted me at 4:48 this morning to tell me that he was leaving Boston, According to google maps it's a three and a half hour drive this morning with no construction or accident delays, so he should easily beat the snow.

I am greatly relieved.