5 whole days with nothing much to show for it 😦
I’ve been feeling absolutely lousy due to my oncologist fiddling around with new medication which didn’t suit me at all. Three days of feeling dreadfully nauseous, followed by two days of light-sensitive migraine. You truly wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy.
I haven’t touched The Cloths of Heaven. It’s OK, I have time in hand there. I did manage to get January’s F2F blocks for Emmely done, though. There’s a substantial pile of green offcuts and tiny scraps on my cutting table, and the blocks themselves are up in the F2F Gallery, in case you feel like taking a look. I have come to the conclusion that improvisation and wonky are not really for me. It was interesting as an exercise, and I enjoy other peoples’ work in that area, but I get much more personal satisfaction from symmetry. I have also done a little bit of embroidery for a secret sewing project, but you’ll have to wait a while to see it – a long while, in fact, since it’s for the end of February.
Today I’m feeling a fraction better, and it’s time to start cranking up the pace a bit. I’d like to get the backing and batting for the side panels on CoH cut and sandwiched. I’ll see how I go.
Normal service will be resumed shortly. I hope.
talltalesfromchiconia 
Poor Kate, I feel your pain as I have terrible trouble finding suitable medications – so much so, I carry a list with me in case of emergency of all the medications that do not agree with me. When you think about it: Medications are made for Mr & Mrs Average and none of us are average! Hope you feel better soon. Please do not push before your body is ready.
Don’t you hate it when the supposed cure is worse than the original problem? I’m still very light sensitive today, a normal consequence of migraine, so I shall be careful about getting too much much light on my work. It’s time to start again, though…
Mammy was a martyr to migraine so I have some idea of what you are going through. I know the feeling of wanting to get back into things, but please go easy… can you work with sunglasses on?
That was exactly my plan! Also, I shall cut fabric in a shuttered and curtained room, just enough light to see I’m on a straight line!
Good plan and stop before you feel you need to! If you overdo it today, there will be no sewing tomorrow! I’ll stop nagging now. 😉
You’re right, and I shall obey!
Poor sausage. Sorry to hear this stinky news. Just rest up for as long as it takes ❤
Gnash, gnash, I want to get on! Don’t you hate it when the cure is worse than the disease…?
I hope you are feeling much better soon Kate. The good thing is that you still want to sew even though you are too ill to do it. Speedy recovery to you!
I shall be making a stab at cutting out the backing and batting for the side panels today. I can do that in dimmer lighting so it won’t hurt my migraine-hangover head. Thank you so much for the good wishes 🙂
Oh hell. I had no idea you need an oncologist. I’m really sorry to hear this.
It’s OK, I’m in remission :-). She’s attempting to deal with some of the more trying side effects of the oral chemo I’ll be taking for another 2 years till I get the all clear. Side effects 1, drugs nil!
Glad to hear you are on the mend. But damn, those drugs must be some hell to play with. Yuck.
Not nearly as yuck as the intravenous stuff… I’m used to it, and am looking forward to the Liberation come May next year! A clean slate, and I can say I beat it, instead of being in remission.
I HATE it when I hear that you are poorly. Bloody doctors. I hope this begins to improve soon. You were asking me about colours the other day and I was a bit stumped but here I am sitting facing an ochre wall, offset by an orange passageway that leads into a room with walls of deep blue and it is afternoon in there so it is filled with afternoon light. And John is lying asleep on a burnt orange couch! The floors and skirting and doors are all natural timbers. What does that tell you. I do hope you get to feel better soon. I do.. c
That tells me *exactly* what I need to know. Also that you love colour and are good at it! I’m on the mend, just a migraine hangover. I shall sew in sunglasses today! 🙂
Sunglasses are most useful.. c
Hope you feel better soon, Kate.
It’s crappy stuff, that Effexor… Feeling a good bit better today, except for being light sensitive.
What IS Effexor? Am only on Arrimedex/Anastrazole and now Fosomax once a week for the osteoporosis. And that’s quite enough, thank you very much. 🙂
Effexor is venlafaxine, an antidepressant. I’m not depressed, but one of the side effects in a particular dosage range is to help reduce hot flashes. It’s summer in the tropics, and I thought, well, why the hell not. Now I know… 18 months more of the Tamoxifen, and I’m done!
9 months of mine and I’m done. Just hoping the flashes go away. They might not because though I was over 2 years done with menopause, there was no pause in the heat waves before cancer and treatment. Bad enough to have them in the northern hemisphere. Can’t imagine in the tropics!
Not much fun… I live in hope that stopping Tamoxifen will help. I must just be patient a bit longer.
Hope it works out. I think it usually does.
I hate it when they fiddle about with medication, even a generic brand, which does not seem to be quite exactly the same, can lead to side effects worse than then problems you started with. I hope the migraine passes soon . I was brought a “nap ninja ” it’s a black neck cushion With attached hood, it thinks it’s supposed to be a joke type present, but it’s great for light sensitive migraines , especially if you cannot find the darkness you require. I do hope they find a solution & you feel better soon.
Love the sound of your neck ninja! I’ve made myself padded black eyeshades, which combined with a cold pack out of the fridge, does help a lot. The worst is past.
My migraines must be a bit weird, I prefer hot to cold & have an electric hot water bottle/ bag. Every one offers cold, but this makes mine worse. Glad the worst is over, I’ve been struggling for the last few days as the atmospheric pressure is so low here in the UK, I’ve really had to watch what I eat or do so not to trigger one.
Whatever works best, I reckon. I need dark, quiet and a cold pack or wet flannel. Oh, and a bucket by the bed! The fierce heat and humidity here aren’t helping, either…
😦 Take it easy, rest when you feel depleted. Being overtired only makes the migraine worse.
I”m with you on “wonky.” I like the look of it but don’t actually like working that way. Asymmetrical? Sure, sometimes. But not wonky.
Hugs…
Today is a bit better. I’m ‘hung over’, but at least I can think clearly and move around without wanting to barf! It’s a strange experience cutting fabric wearing sunnies…
Yes, I like asymmetrical too, if the design calls for it, but not as a first principle.
Migraines and post effects are awful, not to mention feeling like you’ve lost days. I hope being able to do a bit will make today a whole lot better 🙂
I’m making good progress, and by the end of the day I’ll feel I’ve made up a bit for lost time. I just have to work smarter for a bit till I can bear the light again…
Well I hope the med did something better to make it worth the extra discomfort. Too bad they all come with side effects. Sounds like you know how to take care of yourself.
Not enough of an improvement to make it worth taking! I won’t be taking it again…
Oh my word, I did not know you had been ill and are still dealing with the monster called medicine. I agree, the cure is often worse than the illness. I agree with the rest of the peanut gallery. I know how much I wanted to get back on my feet and still fight to do more than I can. But the body needs rest to heal itself. Do until you are feeling a bit a fatigue and then rest. I’ve been doing in bits for a long while and keep trying to do more, but the body wins every time. I had to let go of the 20 embroidered towels I wanted done for my quilt group at Christmas. I turned out to be ok but I get where you are. I will keep your health in good thought until I hear the word “remission” is no longer necessary and only wellness exists. I’m keeping good thoughts for me too. 😉
Seriously, if anyone had told me how bad chemo was, and that I’d still be suffering permanent side effects 3 years later, I’d have thought longer and harder about accepting it, and would have been better prepared. Still, water under the bridge now, and I can live with what life has handed me, even what she was trying to fix for me. More tolerable than the solution, anyway! Thanks for the good wishes, and the day I get the all clear, it’ll be shouted aloud from the WordPress rooftops!
I’ll be waiting to hear that shout. 🙂
It’s coming!
I’m so sorry you are being laid low by treatment side effects. I hope your “fraction” becomes a big fraction by tomorrow!
I’m having fun discovering just how much I can get done in semi darkness! By tomorrow, I expect to have all the side panels sandwiched and pinned, and possibly even the quilting started. Lots of water, frequent halts to rest my eyes and chugging along steadily in between….
Not good Kate! 😦 Hope you feel better soon xo
Getting there 🙂
Kate, I have only ever had one migraine. We never knew what triggered it and I have never been bothered since. It woke me from a deep sleep and then I passed out in the kitchen trying to get a drink of water. Bob found me on the floor and took me to the hospital. Total weirdness, and yes, so painful. Glad you are on the mend!
I’ve had them all my life but up till 3 years ago they were controlled with an implant. That had to go when I got my cancer diagnosis, and since then I’ve had them every few months and they last a good day or so. This one, I think, was triggered by the new medication, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to continue with it.
Agreed!
All the oncologists I have met are very nice people, but the poisons they have to give people to beat the sucky disease! I am hoping this misery is worth the gain and that next year you graduate from remission to fully cured.
Improv and wonky are not my natural playground either.
Dr H is a lovely, lovely lady, and the drug was given with the best of intentions, but it simply doesn’t suit me, and there will be no net gain. Still, it’s not as bad as the chemo… very little is! Very much on the mend now, and will have progress to report tomorrow 🙂
hugs to you Kate. stay focused on remission.
Thank you so much! Most of the time I can forget about the whole thing, but at times like this I’m reminded. Onwards and upwards!
So sorry to hear that you’ve been feeling poorly:( I had wondered. I used to get migraines a lot long ago, and would lay on the lounge room floor so the baby could crawl around and over me and not have to worry about him falling. I left my husband and no. more. migraines. Don’t think that’s the solution for you. Horrible things and the pits to deal with. I second to infinity what everyone else said about taking it easy, pacing yourself etc and keep as cool as you can. Btw, really like your green blocks, lovely greens there. I like wonky for me and maybe for people I know who embrace wonky, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Be well soon.
Thanks, Nanette, I’m already feeling much better – so much so that I actually did some quilting in the semi-darkness today! Glad you like the F2F blocks, I wanted to use some of my lovely clear emerald and apple greens. I don’t think the Wonky Log 4-patch is my best work, but at least I tried!
Take care of yourself… I just hope that there is some medication that will work without side-effects.
I’ve learned to live with the issues she was trying to treat, so it’s no great loss.
Shame you had to go through some days of misery to be back where you started, though. Ah well, at least you are getting back to some creativity now.
I’m so glad you’re feeling better Kate. I get migraines infrequently and then they usually just manifest themselves with flashing lights in the corner of one eye. I can take an ibuprofen, close my eyes for 5 minutes and it will go but I can imagine the really serious ones would be hideous. I hope your medication can be changed for something that suits you better and you continue on your onwards and upwards path.
Emmely’s blocks were the first time I’ve tried a ‘wonky’ and I quite enjoyed it actually although Mr. T. looked at it strangely and I had to explain it was deliberate.
I was quite resigned to the problem, and now I know the drugs are not good for me, I shall go back to being resigned! 🙂
The Husband wasn’t sure either….
Oh, gosh! I’m so sorry you have been sick. I wish I were there to help you…
Linda
That’s very kind… I’m all good now :-). And besides, I think you have quite enough on your own plate!
May that fraction of feeling better multiply exponentially!
I think we’re up to 97/100 right now 🙂 It’ll take a while for the eyes to desensitise.
I wish you all the best!
Thank you!
Oh, Kate. I’m feeling with you and hope you’ll get better soon!
I’m all better now, as you can tell from all the emails pelting back and forward!
It is ok not to sew when you are feeling bad. This hobby of ours are supposed to be fun, not a competition. I hope you are feeling better now 🙂
I’m all better now, thank you Gun 🙂
Glad to hear that 🙂
Oh Kate! 😦 I’m glad you’re feeling better now.
It was nasty, but it’s over…
Hi Kate,
Sent you a response to inquiry concerning scrappy item but lost your message and what I was trying to send. I resent all please let me know if you’ve received the photos. Hope you’re better.
Blessings, Lorij
I’m much better now, thank you, and have responded to the rest of your message elsewhere!
Glad to read your comment here that you are feeling better this week!
Just wanted to give you an extra hug!
Esther
Hugs are *always* gratefully received.
Big hugs Kate, stay positive
Always! Thank you for your support.
Hope you are feeling better now. It can be grim when they start messing around with your medication.
I can sympathise with the migraine – I once had one for two weeks before I managed to shift it. They make you feel truly rotten, don’t they?
They do indeed. I’d much rather have the side effects she was trying to reduce!
Sorry to hear this. I hope things have leveled out and you are feeling better.
I’m fine now, but I won’t be using that stuff again!