My lucky bra

I don't know if it's the bra or if it's the dance I've been doing before the nurse starts the IV, but two treatments in a row there have been no problems with the blood draw. I know you're wondering, "What does a bra have to do with it?" but I was thinking one morning that it's possible my bra was moving my port, which is located on my chest just above my right breast. Those Victoria Secret bras can make some terrific temporary breast improvements, but in my case, maybe the improvement was a little too terrific. Anyway, I've been donning a less "agressive" bra and things seem to be flowing well. Anything that works to avoid needle sticks!

(You never know what you're going to read on here, do you?)

Ed managed to get to his swap meet Friday afternoon and Saturday and found lots of bargains, while Mom kept me company. We chatted and watched a lot of the "Food Network," my favorite channel. Even when I'm nauseous, I still enjoy watching food, watching people cook food, watching people eat food, and watching people talk about food. Does anyone else have this borderline obsession?

My blood counts recovered over the week I was off treatment, but as has happened in the past, they never return to the previous highs. I'm not certain what is going to happen this Friday with my baby white cells (ANC as it's listed on the report). Keep your fingers crossed that they are 1.1 or higher, because I'll have to skip a treatment if they are 1.0 or lower. I'll let you know what happens.

I continue to work on our plans for our upcoming European vacation. My travel agent informs me our cruise documents are in, but we can't do the document dance (not to be confused with the blood draw dance) until the documents are actually in our hands. For those who haven't cruised before, I'll explain the significance of the dance: Having your travel documentation in your hands (usually a booklet that contains the cruise contract telling you everything you can't do or bring onboard, your luggage tags, your itinerary, and other assorted bits of information) means the cruise that you've been waiting for is usually less than 45 days away. For people like me, who not only book some cruises up to 18 months in advance but endlessly research and plan (mainly for cruises in the Med, Hawaii and Alaska -- not so much in the Caribbean), it means your vacation is real and near. I booked this cruise in March 2007 on the morning the itinerary opened so we could get our favorite cabin on our favorite ship, so it's been a long time coming. When we do the dance, I'll be certain to let you all know.

The weather here is beautiful so I'm going to do some outdoor work for the first time in months. I have to make certain I cover up and put sunblock on, though, since my skin is supposedly sensitive to the sun during chemo.

Happy 46th birthday today to Ann, my friend from England, who has been keeping in touch with me since we met back in 1997. I hope you're having a fabulous day!