Chemo

Tomorrow is my last chemo treatment for a while. Thank God! I start radiation in a couple of weeks. This means I’ll be on the second part of my treatment plan. I’ll go every day for 6 weeks and then back to chemo for 3 more treatments and then I’m done. I’m kind of excited about starting radiation because my sister will be coming down to stay with us to drive me to treatment (in another city). We haven’t seen each other for a while, and you know, every time we get together it’s an adventure.
The relative we have staying at our farm has been ill. His kidneys decided to throw in the towel, and then just as we were set to have him start dialysis, they decided to work again. I’ll chalk that one up to prayers and a miracle. Right now I’ve dropped him off for his scheduled visit to the kidney doctor and he’s going to call me when he’s ready to be picked up. Due to my weakened immune system, it’s not a good idea for me to be hanging around in there.
I’ve been very stressed out lately, and fighting feeling depressed. Between me being sick, other people being sick and things breaking (first the coffee maker, then the dishwasher, the popcorn maker, my windshield mysteriously got a crack in it, one of the upstairs showers is leaking and a leak under the kitchen sink) and financial drain, I’ve just about had it. But I’m fighting very hard to stay upbeat.
ANYWAY, so I’m just sitting here sipping on my coffee laced with Glutamine (sp?) and contemplating playing some Diablo II until he calls.

Walking Dead 2/19

WOW…I loved it! Although there are a few parts that seemed a bit unrealistic. For one, if someone who was trying to shoot me, ended up impaled on a fence AND zombies were closing in. I’m sorry, but I would have shot him to put him out of his misery and moved on. To me it was beyond ridiculous that they risked their own lives to try and save that guy. Another one was Glenn pushing Maggie away because he loved her??? To me, that was just creating drama where none existed, and a stupid reason for him to shun her. But having said that, I loved this episode and it had some good zombie action in it. A few other observations…
I love the new Dirty Harry Herschel! From protecting Glenn to putting Shane in his place, I’m beginning to like his character more and more.
Shane was a jerk, as usual, although he IS right about a lot of things. And what the heck is up with Laurie?? What with all of the manipulation, maybe she should be paired off with Shane.
Andrea is annoying. Although she did seem to have a genuinely good moment with Maggie, who is also annoying. And poor Glenn is being dummied down/sacrificed to further the other characters. This is sad, Glenn used to be one of my favorite characters.
Speaking of sacrificing characters at the expense of others, what happened to T-dog?? Will he ever get to have more than a few lines? Or are they keeping him around for future zombie food??
Darryl is clearly hurting over the Sophia situation and attempting to push everyone away to keep from being hurt again. It was so sad watching the scene between him and Carol, where he keeps insulting her but she continued to stay there with him.
Dale was his normal, annoying self and Karl is beginning to get weirder and weirder.

Zombie Chronicles meets The Walking Dead (fanfiction)

This is what happens when a mother and daughter get together and endlessly discuss zombie apocalypses and their favorite TV show and, “The Diary of Sarah McClure” (my zombie book)….a Fanfiction is birthed. And who knows how long it’ll last, we’re just writing for fun. Written between Dragonlady and Spaulding.
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(THIS TAKES PLACE AFTER THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE WALKING DEAD. CONTAINS SPOILERS. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN SEASON 2 EPISODE 8 of THE WALKING DEAD.)

CHAPTER 1.

Glenn and Hershel remained frozen in shock at what they had just witnessed. Rick lowered his weapon, his eyes staring hard down at the corpse of the man whose life he had just taken. He turned his head to meet the stares of the others and held their gaze for a moment before reholstering his pistol. He averted his eyes from them and moved towards the bar, his hand reaching for the drink that the dead man had just poured seconds before.

The asian’s mouth remained open as he watched the ex-cop do this, seemingly with no remorse for what he had done. “…You killed them.” Is all the kid could manage to utter out, unable to swallow his shock still.

Rick leaned on the bar and finished off the shot before he looked over at Glenn. “I had to.” He stated simply. Glenn’s eyes wandered onto the corpse of the fat man and pressed his lips together. “If I hadn’t, they would have followed us…Or shot us instead.” Rick added, hoping that this would bring the asian boy to an understanding.

At that time the door to the bar was pushed open, drawing their attention to what had caused it. A petite brunette stood within the frame of the door with a disgruntled expression on her face. Her eyes traveled from Rick and the others, onto the still figures on the ground. “Dammit!” She blurted out, ignoring the guns that had been aimed at her. A gun was held within her own hands and strapped to her back was a katana. The female quickly holstered her weapon and took a few steps towards the obese corpse. “I really wanted to do that one in myself…” Disappointment ringed in her voice as a sigh slipped past her lips. Rick seemed surprised at how confident she appeared for being so young.

A look of confusion spread upon the faces of the others but they realized that she was no threat. They lowered their weapons and just when the Sheriff was about to question her, a voice interupted. “SKYE!” The small girl turned on her heels and faced the open door, and the others followed her gaze.

“In here!” She called back.

Two more females emerged from the outside, the brunette obviously being the girl’s mother. The other woman resembled the mother, but had bright blue eyes instead of brown. Rick rightly guessed that these two women were siblings. When the eyes of the women fell upon the other survivors they froze. When Skye turned to face them completely they looked at her and then noticed the body behind her. The blue eyed woman quickly slammed the door closed behind them. “Where are the others?” She demanded.

Rick quirked a brow at her. “Others?”

Her eyes moved onto the Sheriff. “The friggin’ scavengers and rapists traveled with a group!”

“They tried something on my daughter.” The other woman stated, pointing a finger at the girl they called Skye.

“They were unsuccessful.” Skye added with attitude, folding her arms across her chest. “We weren’t going to let the bastards get away regardless.”

“Skye!” Her mother scolded. Skye rolled her eyes in response.

Glenn looked upon Rick, a sign of relief upon his features as he realized that the Sheriff had made the right call. The men had been no good after all.

“Well they ain’t gonna do much of anything now.” Rick stated.

A sarcastic frown formed upon the blue eyed woman’s face. “It’s so sad…I was looking forward to blowing their balls off.”

The mother waved her hand at her sister’s remark, a little irritated. “Yeah, yeah. We have a decision to make, can we get to that?” She asked, as she lowered her arm back to her side. It was then that Rick noticed the patch upon the sleeve of the long coat she wore.

“You’re a Sergeant?” He questioned curiously.

“I am now.” She responded with sarcasm. “Before all this happened I was just a house wife.”

“Yeah, and sometimes we wish you still were.” Skye teased with a smirk, in which her mother shook her head.

“Before all this I was a delivery boy…” Glenn threw in this remark quietly. His comment caused all theirs heads to turn towards him.

“Well Delivery Boy, my name is Sarah.” The Sergeant woman smiled at him. Her eyes traveled onto Rick as she pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “That woman there is my sister Michelle. She’s a badass.” Sarah held out a hand, “And before you ask…even before all this, she was still a badass.”

“Damn straight.” Michelle said as she moved over to look out the window.

Rick placed his hand upon his chest. “My name’s Rick.” He then motioned towards the old man on the barstool next to him. “This here is Hershel, and that’s Glenn.”

“Nice to meet you all.” Sarah continued to smile and then turned towards her sister and daughter. “But back to what I was saying. We have a decision to make. Eventually the rest of their group is going to come looking for them. Do we hold up here for a while or do we make a break for it?”

Skye unfolded her arms and spoke. “That sun is gonna be setting in a little bit. I don’t think it’s a good idea to travel back on foot in the dark.”

Michelle turned to face them from her spot at the window. “I agree.”

“So we hold up here?” Sarah questioned.

“Or you could go back with us.” Rick offered, ignoring the glare he received from Hershel.

The old man scowled as he looked upon the Sheriff. “You and your people have already done enough on my property. I’m not housing any more.”

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “So be it. We’ll just go back to our camp later.”

Rick turned to face her. “It isn’t safe to stay out here. Especially if those group of people come by that you were talking about.” He furrowed his brows as he took a step closer. “You guys should come back with us for the night.” He glanced over his shoulder at Hershel as he said this. “It ain’t gonna hurt anything to shelter these guys for one night.” Rick returned his attention to the three women.

“We’re only talking about one night here.” Michelle said, sounding irritable. “We have our own lives and people to go back to. If the tables were turned, we’d take you guys in.”

Skye nodded her head at this statement. “No questions asked. In fact, we scout for survivors.” She held out her hand as she began to count on her fingers. “We grow our own food, we have fresh water, electricity, and our own housing units.” She continued her rant, throwing up her hands. “We’ve got everything we need.” The small girl placed her hands upon her hips. “All we need is one night of shelter.”

Michelle added, “And we also have our own soldiers that stand guard that Sarah’s in charge of.” She said this with a warning, in case they got any funny ideas.

“Then what about those guys?” Glenn questioned with a raised brow as he pointed at the dead men. “If you have soldiers why didn’t they take them out sooner?”

Skye turned her head towards the asian, her brows pulling together slightly. “What’s it matter what happened? We tracked them down, didn’t we?” She said, matter-of-factly. “You just beat us to the punch.”

“And not by much.” Michelle added, thoughtfully.

Rick placed his own hands upon his hips. “So, what’s it gonna be? You guys going to come with us?”

Sarah glanced over her shoulder at her daughter and sister. They nodded at her. She returned her attention to Rick and began digging into her inner-coat pocket. “Alright. Let me just radio back to camp and tell them the plan.” She pulled out a walkie-talkie and held it close to her mouth. “Lance. Lance, are you there?”

“Yeah, where the hell are ya’ll?” A distinct southern accent, in which the three women lacked, called back.

“We’re nearly an hour south from camp. We found three survivors, but there are more at their camp. We’re staying with them for the night until daylight.” Sarah explained.

“And what happened to the dickheads?” Lance inquired, but then chuckled as he added, “Did Michelle blow their balls off?” Michelle smirked upon hearing this.

“No. The other survivors beat us to it.” She replied.

“Do ya’ll need me ta swing by n’ git ya in the mornin’?” Lance asked curiously.

Sarah sighed. “No, don’t waste the gas. We’ll be fine. Just expect us tomorrow. If anything happens, we’ll radio back. Tell Ian I love him.”

“Ya, ya.” Lance said, in a dismissive tone. “Lance out.”

IRON MAIDEN

Iron Maiden has announced the dates for their upcoming Maiden England, North American tour. And guess what? This time they’re coming to Atlanta…woohoo…that’s only 3 hours away from us! Last year we trekked all of the way to Chicago to see them. But wait! It gets better! The opening act for that leg of the tour is none other than Alice Cooper! I could not believe my eyes. Needless to say, Mr. Dragon and I are going. It will take place about a month after all of my treatments are over with, so my immune system should be fine, and my hair will hopefully be growing back by then so that I can head bang properly. If not, I just might have to lose a wig. UP THE IRONS!!!

Walking Dead Meme

This is a Walking Dead meme that my daughter did. I think it’s hysterical! (click to enlarge)

Ughhh…it’s a cold!

I know that I haven’t been around much lately, but it seems that I’ve picked up a cold on one of my trips out of the house. Since Sunday was the day that my immune system would be weakest after my last chemo (for this round anyway), I’ve been tired and achy. Hopefully this will run it’s course before next Monday, when I have to get my blood drawn to see if I’m able to take chemo. If my white blood cells, platelets or magnesium are out of whack then they will have to postpone it. Which postpones my radiation, which postpones my last round of chemo after that. I just want to get it over with. SO, this cold had better do a disappearing act right quick.

A moment of silence please…

My dear friend at Thypolar’s Life has bestowed upon me the honor of receiving a blogging award (thank you TPL). Did I get a trophy? NO! What I got was better than that! I get to answer some questions about myself AND I get full use of this nifty signage…

EH??? EHHHH??? (nudge, nudge) I mean, it’s not everyday that you can spread a little sunshine and learn sign language at the same time. And, dear friends, Little Miss Sunshine is telling me that today, I’m #1.
Now, on to the questions…
Favorite Color:

My favorite color is cobalt blue. It used t be black, but that was back when I was all depressing and into that dark stuff. heh

Favorite Animal:
Hands down, it’s the horse. The most beautiful creature God ever made. But, to be even more specific, my favorite all-time horse is the one that Rutger Hauer rode in Lady Hawke.

My favorite Number:
Isssss…the lucky number 13. While others dread Friday the 13th, I see it as a very lucky day.

Favorite Non-alcoholic Drink:
Everyone say it with me…COFFEE! Black, strong coffee.

Facebook or Twitter?
Between the two, definitely Facebook. I don’t have a Twitter account. heh

My Passion:
I love learning. I think I’ve written about this before, about how when I was little I learned what a sage was, and thought, That’s what I want to be! Knowledge is power.

Getting or Giving Presents:
I guess uhhh, that would depend on who the giver and who the receiver was.

Favorite Pattern:
I like the Ess/Serpentine pattern best. It’s especially effective when crouching.

Favorite Day of the Week:
When I was working, hands down, it was Friday. Now that all of the days are blending together, it doesn’t matter.

Favorite Flower:

My favorite flower of all-time is the Peony. Not only are they beautiful, but they smell soooo goood.

The Walking Dead/The Talking Dead

WOW, what a great way to start off where the mid season finale left off. I loved it! I loved how Rick stepped up to the plate and FINALLY became the leader that he needs to be. I told John they just needed to shoot those guys, because they would inevitably have to do it anyway, and it was best that they do it before they lost anybody else. I loved it when Darryl went off on Laurie and told her how it was, and gave her a new nickname (Olive Oyl). Laurie, of course, went off like a complete dumbass and got herself into trouble. I guess they only have one brain in that family and she must have loaned to Rick that morning. Did it ever occur to these guys that life could be fairly good for them if they just stopped running off and doing stupid shit???
Shane, was a psychopath, as usual. Dale was irritating, and I was puzzled by Carol’s reaction to Sophia’s funeral. Glenn and Maggie are in love, surprise, surprise, and Hershchel has cashed his reality check.
On the Talking Dead, the guests were Dave Navarro (Jane’s Addiction) and one of the producers of The Walking Dead. I spent the whole time alternating between saying “YES!” and laughing my butt off at what Dave Navarro was saying. He was SPOT ON with his observations, which at times made the producer squirm. He addressed things such as the need for more zombies, and them getting their butts off of Herschel’s farm. It was like he was channeling all of us zombie fans that watch the series. The one thing I didn’t agree with him on was his assessment of Darryl’s character, and how he wouldn’t be a good leader because he’s been inconsistent. I don’t think Darry’s been inconsistent, I think he’s just growing into a leader, coming to terms with that. I also think that when Laurie asked for his help, he was mourning the loss of Sophia. It was a setback for him, in terms of development, and of course the stupidity of the situation wasn’t lost on him.
SO, what an eventful evening for zombie fans. I can’t wait until next week.

My second chemo treatment

So now I have my second round of chemo under my belt and I have to say that I feel even better than I did after my first one. My muscles started to ache a bit, so I took some motrin before it even got it’s claws in me. The fuzzy feeling is there, like last time, but I don’t know how much it has to do with chemo, or lack of sleep (I didn’t sleep well before my last treatment either). This time I’m also on Glutamine to help build my muscles, so that should help some. OH, and I went to the Cancer Society and they not only gave me a bunch of knitted caps and such, but they gave me a free wig (of my choice). So now I have a long wig, and a short wig. After chemo, we went to Montgomery to my hair stylist and she trimmed them up for me and gave me advice on their care. Then it was off to Mimi’s Cafe, one of my favorite places to eat, where I dined on pot roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli and carrots. For an appetizer I got French Onion Soup that was out of this world, not to mention the rolls and homemade breads they provide for your table. I could really get used to this. lol
Signed, one feeling good, happy and extremely full cancer patient/dragon.
I NEED TO STYLE IT YET, BUT HERE”S THE SHORT WIG>

Dysfunctional Diary Entry

Dear Dysfunctional Diary,
I know it’s been a while, but I’ve been busy doing some spring cleaning…losing unnecessary body parts, losing weight, a new hairdo and drinking volatile concoctions. And soon, I will have the killer tan I never wanted. NO I didn’t check into club med, I got cancer!
A few thoughts about this…
I feel better! -You know you felt bad before when you feel like dancing after surgery.
I can DANCE!!-Feeling better means I can finally get back into shape. YAY!
I can wear my old clothes!! -And what comes after getting into shape, but getting into your old favorite clothes…eh…eh?
OH SH*T I’m bald! -Well, not exactly bald. It just looks like a really bad comb over-all over. Nothing beats having the wind blow through the 6 or 7 hairs I have left on my head. So refreshing. I told my husband that the hairs that are left are the hold outs, the strong ones. And if he was real quiet he could hear the other ones screaming as they jumped off and committed suicide. The other day when I woke up it looked like someone had set off a fireworks display on my head. (Ohhh, there’s the spider one, and the spray one, and I especially like the ones that pop at the end.) I have never seen hair at quite those angles before. I laughed all through my morning pot of coffee thinking about it.
So I’m signing off for now, dear diary, I hope to write more later, maybe tomorrow during my next round of chemo…cheers!