One day at a time! And Hawaii plans :)

 

Hello friends 😊

Paul and I are out for a walk at a local park on a cool but nice wintry day.

I'm learning to take things easy around here. I think my biggest lesson this year is going to be 'patience'. You can't rush healing.

I still have 1-2 medical appointments each week, even five months after my surgery. This past week I had an Aclasta iv infusion for my bones, and a session on an arm pumping machine for my lymphedema.

I do get down quite often, but then I put things in perspective and feel better again. I am definitely getting physically better though, just very, very slowly. I guess it’s been a lot all at once for my body.

I even had a bout of vertigo a few weeks back, completely out of the blue. It’s crazy times I tell you.

Thankfully I found a YouTube video that helped me fix that (it’s the displaced crystals thing), and I am 95% better. I’ll wait a few weeks more and go to a specialist if I’m still not 100%.

One fun thing we did was book a Waikiki Beach holiday in Hawaii for later in the year.

Paul heard of a special package deal from a local travel agent on the radio and one of the hotels offered was the one we stayed at on our belated honeymoon in 2013. We were married in 2008 but had a business to run and no money for a honeymoon at the time.

So we’ve just booked our honeymoon hotel and now have six months to look forward to it and also, for me to get healthier and stronger. It will be our fourth time in Hawaii, it really is our happy place!

We don’t do anything strenuous, just alternate beach days with shopping days, and eat some nice meals in between.

I’m still reading a million books and not writing any. I just finished the newest Freida McFadden ‘The Divorce’ on audiobook in 2.5 days, it was such a ripper! Would recommend 😊 It’s here on Amazon at my affiliate link.

I’m also reading ‘Woman Down’ by Colleen Hoover. I’ve not read any from her before. I’m about halfway through and don’t like to ditch a book. But I think she is more dark romance which doesn’t really ring my bell. I know she is mega popular though. That book is here on Amazon too. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!
Fiona x
 

Focusing on the positive

 

Dear friends,

I’ve been so down in the dumps and fed up with my ongoing lymphedema and post-radiation complications, that I posted an update on Instagram three weeks ago and completely forgot to copy it over to Substack and this blog (I post the same on both).

You can read my missing post here on Instagram to catch up, but otherwise here I am today, out for a walk in the sunshine. It’s well into autumn now in New Zealand but it’s warm enough, especially on a sunny day with wind from the right direction (i.e. not the south pole), that I took my long sleeve top off and walked in a tank top on this particular day.

It’s nice to get some vitamin D on at least one of my arms, since my other arm still has a compression sleeve on!

With my medication being changed from Letrozole to Tamoxifen due to my bones not being good enough to deal with Letrozole, I’ve had to start the whole ‘it takes a few months to get used to the changes’ all over again, and I really have felt so hormonal on Tamoxifen.

Overwhelmed and fed up, crying on Paul’s shoulder, being a bit of a biyatch to those closest to me… it’s all been a lot of fun let me tell you.

So instead of all that, let’s look at the other side of the coin, the bright side. What are all the good things I’ve enjoyed lately? Shall we focus on those while I wait for my lymphatic system to (hopefully) repair itself?

🫶 Paul and I went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 last week, a mere one day after it was released. I enjoyed it but nothing replaces the original. Definitely worth watching and rewatching though. Milan was so gorgeous and the sumptuousness of the whole movie was gorgeous.

🫶 We got gluten-free fish and chips and ate them at the beach. I felt bad that the last time we’d been to the lovely fish and chip shop with the nicest owners was two years ago but you don’t want fish and chips too often, do you?

🫶 I am on book 3 of the Hideaway Bay trilogy that is so cozy, wholesome, gentle and lovely that I don’t want it to end. I’m listening to the audiobooks and they are beautifully narrated. Would recommend! (I bought them with Audible credits previously but I see now all three are in the Audible Plus catalogue so you can listen to them without using any credits).

Book 1 is The Secret Keeper, below, book 2 is The Game Changer, and book 3 which I only have 2.5 hours left on (so sad!) is called The Rule Breaker. These three books are already contenders to add to my favourite re-reads list. I’d love to get the paperbacks too or maybe just listen to the audiobooks again :)

 

I listened to the same author’s Blackbird Beach series a few years back and that’s still on Audible Plus too. I loved that series, but I love this current series more. It’s just so comforting to read. Her storylines draw you in and you want to see what happens next. I love happy books, and these also have a light sprinkle of mystery and suspense too. But they’re mostly calm and meandering :)

🫶 I’ve been enjoying my daily walks and weekly yoga, and getting into strength training too. Just at home, with squats and lunges, and some light arm work. Plus doing little things on my rebounder (one of those mini trampolines) which is good for my lymphatic system.

🫶 It’s cool enough to light our woodburner and we are having lovely fires each night. The doggies enjoy it so much and take turns sunbathing before they have to move away after getting too warm!

So that’s about all I’ve been up to: walking, reading, relaxing, and keeping day-to-day life sorted.

I went to a lovely Mother’s Day afternoon tea with my sister hosted at my mum’s yesterday, with aunties and cousins and close friends. It was a sociable way to spend a few hours.

I hope you’re well too, big hugs :)

x Fiona

 

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