Some More Florabunda Alphabet Letters

Yesterday I drew some more Florabunda alphabet letters, and have now done F to J. I noticed that the first few looked a bit sparse compared with later ones, so I added some more flowers to the backgrounds and re-scanned them, so they are now more of a piece.

Only 16 more to do and the alphabet will be complete! Here’s how it looks so far.

These will be nice to use on personalised cards, and now that they are scanned in, I can make them whatever size I want. I can also colour them if I want, but so far I quite like them in black and white.

Yesterday I made a leaflet which I want to show to the organisers of the cancer information centre at the hospital when I next visit. I am hoping they will allow me to run an informal group of say half a dozen people, so that I can teach them the basics of the Zentangle method of drawing. I do not profess to be a teacher and am not a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) but in a small way, I think I could share what I know, and get people started on what is a most relaxing and fulfilling activity, which is very de-stressing, and could really help people to deal with their cancer/chemo a little better. I do hope they will agree to let me do this!

If they give me the go-ahead, I can adapt this leaflet and make it into a poster, with their contact number and details on it.

Health Update

I am now well into my second week of my final chemo cycle, and have been feeling pretty terrible for the past two or three days. This happened last time too, on the reduced dose – I thought I was getting away with it because I felt so good in week 1 compared with other cycles, and then it hit me big time in week 2! This time, it’s worse, and I’ve had symptoms I haven’t had since earlier on in my treatment – I felt a bit nauseous this morning but fortunately that passed before lunch because I took my pre-lunch anti-sickness meds. Also, the peripheral neuropathy was quite troublesome this morning, and again my hands seemed to seize up, but these symptoms are transitory, thank goodness. I suppose that I should expect this, because even with the reduced dose, the effects are cumulative. I’ve felt extremely wiped out again, not helped by the fact that for the past few nights I have slept very badly, and I had a sleep this afternoon. I’ve felt very weak and wobbly, and my balance is much worse than usual so I am having to be careful moving around the house. I am using my trolley rather than my crutches and that does help.

I know that this will pass, and that by the end of this week I should be feeling a lot better again! Knowing that feeling better is no longer a prelude to being cast down to the bottom again by another treatment is having a huge psychological benefit, and I can put up with anything in the knowledge that this is temporary, and that I am now at the beginning of the road back to being my “normal” self again!