And no, this post has nothing to do with Johnny or the Fair. Really, it’s about where I am now after the final chemo, my hair, how the kids are doing now and will I make a few New Year’s Resolutions?

I’ll start with my hair. It’s growing back rather rapidly and that surprises me. I expected to lose some hair two weeks after the last chemo treatment. What happened is — and I believe I experienced the same last time around — I lost no hair. Now, what I do have is a patch or section of my scalp where the hair is growing slowly. It’s coming, slowly.

How about those kids? Well, they’re fine now. My Neprhologist asked me what I did to correct the high creatinine. I told him I did nothing, really, nothing. I took a couple of days off from work and laid around the entire weekend. Then he mentioned stress. I believe he is concerned about me and stress and I certainly have and have had my share of stress but, since I am not independently wealthy, and though I would love living the bohemian life in an artist colony somewhere, I cannot. What I did learn that weekend is the benefit of taking time for oneself. I think, for my New Year’s Resolution, I will resolve to take time off for myself and I’ll pretend I am living a bohemian life in an artist colony somewhere.

The beauty of that restful weekend was noticing my dogs. The one Boxer — or Valley Bulldogge as I’ve been told, more on that later — has taught me to look inward and gauge my feelings before acting. Because she is super sensitive — selective hearing — she has taught me how to know when something is near by listening to an internal voice. I discovered this about her when trying to get her in the house one day while rushing. She does not like what I’m obviously putting out when I’m in a hurried mood. She actually waits, outside, until I have undergone an attitude adjustment. I’m an old dog and I’ve learned a few new tricks thanks to her.

My Boxer Boy — yeah, he’s a true Boxer — has taught me how to relax. The boy has the whole relaxation thing sewed up. My weekend in self-imposed exile was spent studying him and I too gave myself over entirely to sleep and relaxation. It worked wonders for me and by Monday, I was so relaxed everyone I met noticed it. I have now dubbed these two R&R Man and Spirit Girl.

Now, the bad news pending conversations I will have with my Rheumy. It appears I will go through another three months of chemo. Bah Humbug!!! Why? My doctor is concerned with inflammation. I did not get the ESR values but I’m assuming — again, pending conversations with my Rheumy — the values must be pretty high. The good doc believes if I am taken off chemo I could “flare up” again. I have no doubt he knows what he’s talking about particularly since my kids were in the “bad kidney zone” two weeks ago. The doc also added, even if we go another three or six months, I may still flare up after therapy. Oh joy, oh rapture.

Going back to New Year’s Resolutions, my charge will be to reduce inflammation. Let the research project begin.

Oh the beauty of Vitamin D. Apparently, the D values are rising and I’m staying, so far, at 4,000 i.u. I have noticed my blood pressure has decreased significantly, so much so, I am no longer taking the blood pressure medication. NOW, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME unless you are able to monitor your blood pressure. I cannot say with certainty it is the Vitamin D. I noticed the decrease in my blood pressure from the average — for the last four years — 160/90 to 100 to what I now see is anywhere from 110-120 over 66-80. Very good. I stopped taking the blood pressure medication when I started having fainting spells and, after checking my blood pressure, found the numbers hoovering around 90/60 — near death experience.

Unfortunately, prednisone will not be reduced at this time. I’m guessing with a high erythrocyte sedimentation rate, predisone and I will continue living together. Another big Bah Humbug!!! I was hoping but, one can only do so much which brings me back to my New Year’s Resolution of reducing inflammation in my body.

So there’s my update which, in a nutshell, is no change. I am still on chemo, still on prednisone, my kids acted up briefly and after some rest, they are now fine and for the first time in I don’t know how many years, I will be making New Year’s Resolutions. Oh dear, dear, me. I’ll keep you posted.