Giving thanks

It doesn't seem all that long ago that i worked on a gratitude list, but in fact it has been almost a year... since tomorrow is already Thanksgiving again.  This year i have a short list of wonderful things:

• Friends, such a blessing, whether near or far, busy or quiet
• Fabric, petting it is just as much fun as cutting it and reassembling into quilts
• Work, which keeps my mind distracted and finances my ongoing needs
• Audio books, since i don't tend to read while i quilt
• Mountains, which remind me to stay calm even in storms

What a year it has been.  The six rounds of chemo are done, but I'm dealing with the after-effects of  these drugs; and I've started taking the next drugs... eventually i will start being more energetic (blood is improving, slowly).  And eventually my legs and feet are eventually going to be less swollen and less painful.

It was a dark, and rather bleak walk through chemoland.  The actual IV process was less impactful to my schedule than the first time -- an afternoon every three weeks.  Some of the challenges i dealt with were remembered, but I do indeed have selective memories...  so the challenges could be unique and new!  By the last round, the most obnoxious results were swelling of feet and ankles... and i was looking forward to getting my hair back and taste of everything becoming more normalized.  Water tasting better is a wonderful thing.

The tumor marker responded quite happily to the drugs, but I didn't get as much of a clearing of the liver as i would have liked... still have 20-30% of the liver volume having tumors.  The new drugs are to keep it stable or decrease it ("tamp it down" gently) -- they are expensive, but if they do their job I will remain grateful for that as well.