Holiday Wrap-Up 2012

By the light of the tree

Ah, Christmas. It was a beautiful whirlwind of food, loud family gatherings, quiet moments lit only by the tiny white lights of our tree, giving, receiving and downtime. The time span is the same each year, but I can never believe how fast the season goes by. The parties will spill into January with New Year’s Eve celebrations and post-holiday gatherings, but all the hype and sparkles of the season have begun to fade.

We did get a white Christmas here in Connecticut and the snow has continued. Today the sun is shining on a beautiful blanket of white, so it finally feels like legitimate wintertime. Sammy Dog has already managed to slice her foot open on some ice – an annual sacrifice to the season’s new terrain.

This year felt somewhat surreal to me – just a little off. Maybe it was the milder than usual weather leading up to Christmas. Maybe it was the tragedies of the Newtown Elementary School shootings and the tangible sadness felt for those beautiful families. Maybe it was because we rekindled some old traditions and tried to start some new ones, which can bring on a slew of emotions. Maybe it was because I was suffering painful and nauseating constipation from my treatment or that my back and hip pain is again severe. Maybe it was because I continually find myself dumbfounded to have been here for it: my fourth Christmas with cancer. Not sure what that means. I took it all in in a very quiet way, sitting back and observing and appreciating.

Pain, Puppy, and Phlegmy Tissues

Annual Christmas tree hunt on the farm. 

The pain got to be very severe, setting in seethingly Thanksgiving Day night and increasing through that weekend. I talked with my Columbia team, and it was decided to put me on a little pop dose of 50mg Prednisone for a couple of days. If the pain responded to the steroid, it was safe to assume that it was being caused by a tumor flare (a good sign). If the pain did not respond to the increased steroid, it may be lymphoma growth (a bad sign).

With one dose, the seething pain in my back and left side completely dissipated. I’ve  been off the 50mg for a week now and the pain has remained gone. It was likely my body once again getting used to the Revlimid ramping things up after being off of it for a week while my rash cleared.

The perfect tree.

I am pain-free and nearly ache-free as well. However, I have the glassy-eyed, manly voice, and piles of full tissues that are tell-tale signs of a full-blown winter cold. I blame my husband who was sick the week prior for passing it along to me – we share everything, cute, huh? It started with a raging sore throat Sunday morning, moved to head fullness and pressure to crazy sneeze attacks and constant nasal dripping and nose blowing. This morning a rumbly chest cough has joined the scene. ‘Tis the season.