being me

This summer has truly been an adventure for me... A lot of it was really amazing, I was finally well enough to travel on my own to BC, for three weeks! And yet a lot of it was really hard for me.  I am realising the hard way, once again, that I am not a "normal" teenager.  I don't like partying all the time, or getting sucked in to all of the negative drama. I am so glad that I am getting better, but I am also learning that, that comes with a lot of new struggles.. I have no friends, yet I want to be social.  I have a year until college, yet I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. But I think the main thing that I am struggling with, is finding out who I am.  What I like and what I don't, but also the people I want to surround myself with. For two and a half years, cancer was my main focus...now that I am getting my own life back, I really have to figure out what I want myself and my new life, to look like.

Update on how things are going :)

     I am finally getting some regular teenage bits and pieces in my life--boys, prom, school, work, even growing some hair!  I could almost style it into a pixie cut now, which makes me so beyond happy, I don't even know how to explain the feeling.  It's wonderful.  I even got my G2 drivers licence, I'm not quite ready to drive on my own yet, but with practice, I'll get there.
     Last Friday was my two year mark of the day that I was diagnosed.  Most people ask me why I think it was a day to celebrate, and they expect me to be sad.  I see it as the complete opposite of that, March 27th, 2013 was the day that my life completely changed, the day I was diagnosed with leukemia, and last Friday, to me, was a huge reminder of how much I have have overcome, and how much I have improved since that day.  It is another day that I am successfully fighting, and beating cancers ass! I think that's reason for a huge celebration.  I am not 100% sure when my treatment will be completely finished, but I know that it's a big step closer to the end.  A bunch of friends and family came over and we all went to the mandarin for dinner, and it was really nice, I had a lot of fun just being with some of the people have always been there for me.
     Treatment-wise, things are going fairly well.  Right now I get a bag of chemotherapy once every four weeks, a lumbar puncture every eight weeks, along with another bag of chemo, and I'm on two types of oral chemo everyday.  I got a lumbar puncture yesterday.  It's a big needle that goes into your spine and they take out spinal fluid so that they can test it for cancer cells.  The next step is they inject chemo in my back, and I have to lay flat for an hour so the chemo can circulate around my brain.  It hurt, but once you get something enough of times, you get used to it.
   
   

New school. (I'm back!)

It has been forever since I've posted on here!.. To be perfectly honest, 1) I forgot my password and 2) I have actually been busy!  I started school the beginning of this year, but I just wasn't getting enough credits fast enough.  I ended up switching to an independent learning school called C.I.S where I can go at my own paste.  They are so much more flexible with attendance, I was just missing way to much school because I had to be in hospital.  There is also a lot less people there, and I feel right at home.  They all ended up at this school for one reason or another, but they just couldn't attend a regular school, so I feel no judgement.  There may be a lot of adults and older students there, but most students are so much more mature, I feel like I fit in so much better.  I feel like it was really important for me to start at C.I.S, not just for school work, but for me as a person.  I think I learnt a lot about my self, and I was able to come out of my nut-shell, and know that it's not my fault I am the way I am (lack of hair, restrictions because of cancer, etc.) therefor I should not be ashamed or self conscious.  I think that it's really important to accept yourself for 100% who you are, and not be afraid to show it off.  This school has really started to help me do that.

Forgot to post this

Im honestly so sick of being sick. I am missing so many opportunities because I'm ill. I want to be as normal as possible, but nothing seems to be going right. My best friend offered me my dream; to go to Paris, England and Italy with her in one big trip this summer. I couldn't go because I can't get travel insurance, because no one will cover me, as I am "high risk". I planned this big sleepover that I was really excited for because I haven't had a sleepover in over a year now.  I may not be able to do that now because I have shingles for the THIRD time, and I might be admitted for that tomorrow. So not only will I have that admission, but I am also supposed to be in hospital all week next week for some intense chemo. Also I have to start on this new weird drug that goes into my lungs and I have to be in a "clean room" and all sorts of weird stuff, because my current drug is suppressing my immune system. And that's just the beginning. If I got into the basic stuff that I'm missing I could go on for hours(school, going swimming, sports, walking, skipping, sunshine, camping, anything involving independence etc.). It's just negative after negative. I feel kinda dumb for complaining about stuff i've had to deal with since day 1, but I guess when I couldn't move from the bed/couch because I was so sick, I didn't really care about the opportunities that I was missing because I didn't feel like doing them.  But now that I'm slowly starting to feel better, I want to do more. And knowing that I can't because of this stupid disease, is really starting to bug me, to say the least. It's starting to really weigh me down, and I'm definitely not feeling very positive lately. I'm sorry I haven't been blogging lately, I guess for a while I sort of lost interest. Ill try to make the next blog a little more happy, but I think it's good to vent out the negatives here and there as well.

Whats up

Its been a pretty stressful little while for me lately.  I finished my five day stint, and I did indeed lose all of my hair once again.  This means that it is highly likely, that until September, my hair will continue to fall out every time I get that treatment.  This has been really hard for me to go through, because it's not like I'm just losing my hair once.  It grows back a little bit and I get excited, and then it falls out all over again. Right now I'm on an evil med, called dexomethozone and it really messes with my head.  I find it very difficult to think clearly, and I have very intense mood swings, so I am not very happy at the moment.  I know things will get better, I just wish they would pick up the pace a little bit.

hair progress

My hair has started to grow again. I actually almost have a full inch of hair right now! I am very excited. My doctor said that since I just got a lot of treatment in the five days, there is about a 50/50 chance that my hair will stay this time.  If it is going to fall out, it will fall out in a week or two.  I'm scared because I don't want to get all worked up that my hair is growing, because I know there is a good chance that I will just lose it again.  But it is just so exciting to feel hair on my head again!  I can use shampoo, and tug on my hair a bit, and I have nice eyelashes and almost full eyebrows.  How could I not get excited about having all that?  I'm so worried that it will fall out, it is heart wrenching.  I have to hope for the best and expect the worst I guess, here's hoping!

1 year!!

On March 27th 2014, it was my one year mark, since I started treatment.  I wanted to write a special blog on that day, but unfortunately I was in hospital for a 5 day stint(5 days of chemo) and the meds that I was on during that time really messed up my head.  I couldn't think straight enough to decide what exactly I wanted to write on here.  However I did make a facebook post, so you can look at that if you want. 
This past year I have been really self conscious of losing my hair, and the other many ways my appearance has changed since I started with all of this.  It's really hard being a bald and poofy 16 year old girl.  On that day, I gathered up all of my courage and for the first time, I posted a picture of exactly what I look like.  I think I have finally come to terms with the fact that I look different, because I am struggling.  I don't think there is anything to be ashamed of, and I don't think anybody should be ashamed of exactly who they are.  I plan on starting to post more pictures of my progress, on here and on facebook.  When I have hair and look "normal" again, I want to have pictures and memories of how I look now.