Dolly's Dreamings

Two down three to go

Well I have done 2 of my three radiotherapy sessions. I am so pleased. It's not nice, my poor booby is already red and hot and a bit painful but it's my shoulders suffering. It's not an easy position to assume for that amount of time. BUT 2 down. That's great news and now I have the weekend off.

I have painting to share today ... I think I am doing more painting than scrapping at the moment. I thought I'd post a selection of bird paintings today

 

 

This was a Matthew Palmer tutorial that I really enjoyed and like the finished picture. It's larger than A4 size

 

 

This was my own for a challenge at paul Clark - I liked the colours and the salted background

 

This was for my art class - we had to paint a bird. I spoilt this one with the background . Both the Parrota nd the woodpecker are large - over A4 size

 

and these two are small - just 4 x 6 poctures

 

 

The good news is we have made a decision on or bedroom. We had several companies come and quote and draw up designs and have gone with Hammonds. We plan everything - furniture, wall,s carpet, curtains, all being really neutral and bland so we can add our colour with the bedding and accessories and that way I can have lots of different colours. For the last 13 years my bedroom has been cream with all of my bedding being teal blue shades. I'm ready for cream and pink and navy and green and grey . It's not being done until the summer but despite the upheaval, I think it will be lovely.

Today I am thankful for

• 2 sessions down
• the kindness of staff
• painting fun

 

 

The day before the day

Tomorrow I finally start my radiotherapy. I am a little apprehensive. Like much of medical science these days it seems extreme (and I do sometimes wonder if it is a one size fits all approach which is not always the best) but I have to put my trust int he medical professionals and my faith in God that this is the path I am meant to walk int he long run.

They give you all the worst-case scenarios when you do your consent because, sadly, they have to as we live in such a litigious society these days. They assure you that some of the effects are very very rare (well I was told it was very rare for anyone called back for a mammogram to have anything wrong, then I was told it was very rare for the calcification to become DCIS and then very very rare for the DCIS to become invasive ... you get my point ... I checked all of those rare boxes)

Anyway - come tomorrow they are going to attack my poor booby, healthy tissue and all, with high-dose radiation which my body then has to fight to recover from and at the very least I am likely to be sore, red, blister, peel and generally be fed up again. I only have to have 5 sessions but they are higher dose. I am guessing I can add dry and peelings kin to my still blue and tender poor nipple. Apparently, it can take well over a year for the discolouration to fade away and sometimes it never does. But, if this stops me getting a re-occurence, or at least lessens the chances, that is good. I still haven't decided what I am going to do about the hormone therapy drugs when I am reviewed in a few weeks time.

Anyway - today I feel well - no damage yet - and I have been scrapping

Firstly two digital pages to share

Credits

April 23 Artsy layered template #4

 

 

 and I have my other class pages for ATDML to share too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• our NHS
• science
• free will
• faith

 

Back in the saddle

I have missed out on a fair bit of design team work over the past few months as I haven't been up to it, but I am back on my horse again now and I have a class over at A Trip Down memory Lane this weekend.

You can buy a kit or use your own stash and there are three pages with full instructions on their website.

This is one of the class pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been drier today (though just starting to spit and spot now - and so we went out for a little drive and then called in and bought some new shrubs and compost and had an almost pleasant time in the garden. We are NOT gardeners and Nigel has to be dragged out kicking and screaming really. But the three plants are in (they replace ones we lost last year and I expect these will die too but heck!) the pots are redressed with gravel and the patio furniture is back out. Slowly slowly.

I start Radiotherapy this week and confess to being a bit nervous. I know they have to give you worst case scenario all the time but goodness me it is horrible what can happen, but hopefully won't.

I will be glad when this is all done and then I only have the medication to worry about. I still don't know what I will do when my 6 week break is up.

I have done two bird painting this week and there will be more as it is a challenge at a facebook group I play along with this week.

These were last week's efforts - I prefer the woodpecker without the background. I ruined it with the background

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a lovely Sunday
• Spring in the air

 

Scrap a Sketch this week

I love being a  part of the scrap a sketch team. Lisa Sikorski designs awesome sketches each and every week so if you don't already belong to her facebook group - scrap a sketch - do join.

As part of the creative team I get to showcase the sketches too and this week's sketch is awesome

 

 

and this is my page

I absolutely loved this sketch and wanted to do something soft and gentle with it. The photo is of the happiest little cat we have ever have - I never thought a cat could show true happiness but Indy does. He was tucked up in our bed when I took this photo. I used several different ranges of 49 and market papers and love that they coordinate together. I split the 12 x 12 sheet into two pieces and trimmed them so you could see the charcoal grey background. I added coordinating strips of card and paper and fussy cut flowers out of one of the papers. The title is made using rub ons from the same manufacturer as are the word strips and I used a coordinating flair and punched circles. You can see the close up details on my Instagram @scrapdolly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• being on creative teams - I love that it pushes me
• catching up with good friends
• my boys - all three of them!

 

New Bundled releases at Pickleberrypop

There are gorgeous new Berry Big Deal bundles available today in store. The colours were wonderful and here are three I worked with last week

 

Credits

Here comes the sun by Tiramisu designs

 

 

 

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Young at heart bundle by Chunlin Designs

 

 

 

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Life’s Little Joys Bundle by Fayette Designs

 

 

Pencil drawings

I love watercolour - I really do - but I love the precise nature of pencil drawing. I love the slow pace, the time, the detail you can get.

The pictures take much much longer than watercolours, but these two have been a labour of love.

I have done drawings of the two boys and today we went out and bought frames for them.

 

Here are the two boys (I have to say they look nicer in real life) They are by no means perfect but we like them and they do capture the two of them, the differences in colour etc.

 

 

 

 

 

In other news we had a lovely day out for Mother's Day yesterday and the boys (all three of them) bought me chocolate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• the pleasure that art brings me. I may not always like or keep the finished products but I love the process.

 

 

The last step has started

It's been a busy week of appointments from DEXA scans to dentistry and then my radiotherapy planning appointment.

And what was I most nervous about - the dentist of course. I have had big pieces chopped out of my boobs and not paniced and a dentist trip still freaks me out. She had found some decay on my recent x ray and so it needed filling and even she said 'goodness that was a lot deeper than I thought!' Thankfully it didn't hurt and hasn't hurt since. Better filled than not I guess.

Yesterday I had my CT planning appointment. Another new department of the hospital to explore. The radiotherapy girls were, like all of the staff, just lovely. They were very calming and patient, went through lots of info first and even discussed anastrazole with me. They didn't seem to think it was a problem if I came off it. And I was reassured that it was on my records that I was considering stopping it - so the oncologist WAS listening after all.

You then do the radiotherapy planning which involves lying in a fixed position under the scanner where every single bit is measured and marked up and logged and computerised and then you are scanned and then you have three little dots tattooed on you for ever. Another reminder of the cancer journey. They made it as easy as possible but 15 minutes lying down with your arms above and behind your head holding onto a bar was quite challenging. I am glad I did all the breast and arm exercises - this is why they tell you you have to do them.

Our reward was very naughty - a Macdonalds breakfast! Something we almost never do and a wicked but enjoyable treat however - whilst I totally get the need for cardboard cutlery as it is helping save the planet. What I DON'T get is how can they possibly produce forks that won't hold whilst you try to cut soft pancakes

Other than hospitals we have had a few trips out and generally a nice few days. My radiotherapy starts later this month and once that is done I can start to put the last 5 months behind me. It's been quite the roller coaster.

This is a new digital page made for a challenge listing the many things I am thankful for through that whole journey

 

 

 

I have never painted a portrait before - this was for a challenge and kind of worked. It was very quick to do

and this was another digital page - a new release from Palvinka at Pickleberrypop

 

 

and this was for another challenge

 

Today I am thankful for

• nearly all of the medical appointments done
• kindness of NHS staff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another day another hospital

We have three hospitals in our trust - Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch. Thus far I have had surgeries and appointments at both Bournemouth and Poole, today I had my only appointment at Christchurch (and thank goodness as it took us over an hour to get there with traffic!) It was a simple DEXA scan which is a baseline for the medication I am on. I didn't like to say I wasn't sure if I would STAY on the  medication.

As we were over that way we decided to go out and in the end ended up at west Quay and IKEA. We were looking for bedroom ideas - didn't find any - for a specific ornament - didn't find one - and we happened to visit Nigel's favourite shop in the world (as there isn't a shop that just sells model buses!!!) Hotel Chocolat. Well it would have been rude not to.

We also had a lovely lunch out at a New Forest Pub. It was a day or normality after so many days of not normal.

I have done my first design team scrapping for a long time - can't share that of course yet - and I have been drawing and painting

Two recent paintings - one a tutorial (the post box) and one of the local landmark Old Harry Rocks

 

 

 

 

and this was a drawing from two weeks ago that was fun.

 

Today I am thankful for

• little bits of normal

and how amazing are these

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back down to earth

It's been a few days now and I think I am finally processing the events of the last 5 months.

I still have a mess of appointments - DEXA scan and CT scan next week, radiotherapy sessions etc etc but I am so relieved I can't tell you.

I have even been scrapping a  little for my iconic America album

 

This was opposite the restaurant in Capitol Reef National Park which turned out to be one of the most amazing nights of our life

 

 

We do enjoy going to see the more unusual places - this was a must see in Wyoming

 

 

 

 

And this had us all over it - the tiny town of Lebanon in Kansas where you can find the geopgraphical centre of the contiguous states of the USA. As we were travelling the states coast to coast and north to south - the centre simply had to be done. And it was lovely

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I have even been painting

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• recovery
• support
• life and health

It's official - great news

It is offical as of yesterday

I am cancer free.

 

It's been a busy week. I met witht he oncologist on Monday who wasn't as helpful or professional as we might have hoped. She seemed very flakey and didn't instil us with confidence. We asked lots of questions and the answers were not very clear. One question was what the advantages of Anastrazole were in terms of prevention of reoccurence. She said that I was at about a 10% increase in risk of reoccurrence but that Radiotherapy halved that - so 5% and anastrozole halved that again so 2.5%. To be honest for a drop of only 2.5% we are not convinced the anastrozole is worth the many many side effects.

We will wait and see. I plan to try 3 months and then re-evaluate. we asked what happened when you came off it after 5 years. Did your body suddenly produce lots of oestrogens again and your risk went up a lot. She didn't really know as she didn't see patients at the end of the journey but she felt they felt it was OK! That wasn't very knowledgeable. It seemed we found out more from Dr Google. However, the main purpose of the visit was to start the radiotherapy process which we did. The side effects of that sound grim but it is necessary and I am now waiting for the appointment for the CT scan to set up the target areas and then about 10 days after that I will start radiotherapy. I am pleased that it is only a course of 5 treatments given daily over a week. They used to do three weeks but they found the difference in results from 1 week to 3 weeks was negligible so since 2019 it is just a week which we are pleased about. Again it's not nice to do that to yoru body but needs must.

I was not able to celebrate being cancer free on 8th February when I had my breast results because I was still undergoing lots of tests because they believed I was at risk of uterine cancer due to several bleeds. Yesterday I went in as a day patient to have a hysteroscopy and possible polypectomy and the results of all of that were no sign of cancer. They were so sure they didn't do biopsies. They don't know why it is happening to me but at the moment I am clear. If I have any further bleeds, especially after 6 months since yesterday I have to go back because they will look again.

It has been a real roller coaster of a rise since 22nd October last year and I don't think either of us has quite processed it yet. There are several things of importance though. Our national health service, despite what the press say, is alive and well and when it needs to pull out all the stops it does. The staff are wonderful. I was looked after so well yesterday by everyone from the reception staff to the nurses, doctors and anaesthetists - they were all wonderful. It did highlight again, though, the difference between Bournemouth and Poole. Bournemouth is an altogether nicer experience.

I hve received so many messages of support throughout the last 5 months from so many people - friends on facebook, texts, phonecalls, and messages from readers here. And it has meant so much. I wanted to be open and honest about it all and promote the need to get yourself checked but I have been so supported by everyone.

The other important thing is that I couldn't have gotten through it without Jakki and Nigel. Jakki is always there with wise words, comfort and support. She will cry with me, laugh with me and encourage me. Nigel is just an utter saint. He has been to every appointment, researched everything, and supported me physically, mentally and practically and he really has lived those words - in sickness and in health. I am truly blessed.

So on to other news.

 

New releases at Pickleberrypop today and I worked with this gorgeous new collection from Tiramisu

Credits

Art Box number 1 by TirAmisu Designs

 

 

and also this from Chunlin

March 2023 Artsy Layered template #3 by Chunlin Designs

Our adventure bundle by Chunlin Designs

 

 

Today I am thankful for

being cancer free and grateful to  everyone who contributed to my physical and mental wellbeing throughout this whole process