February 29, 2024 - Praise the Pickles in this Topsy Turvy World!

I can't believe it's been this long since I posted. Well...maybe I can. In life, we all get thrown curveballs. It could be health related, it could be family related, it could be weather related - heck it could be anything. Life has been a little topsy turvy for me, but I keep reminding myself that my “problems” are little in magnitude compared to others.

Yes! Even with a Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) diagnosis looming in the background, I know that others are suffering far greater than I am at this point in my life. I have friends that are fighting Stage 4 Cancer that are moving to line of treatment 6 because line of treatment 5 has now stopped working. Or, they are looking for a new clinical trial with the hopes of finding yet another arrow in their quiver to fight back cancer progression. I am almost ashamed to be on my second line of treatment - and have been since 2020. It makes me think of survivors guilt. Why is my cancer remaining stable, when so many others are fighting progression - sometimes progression with aggression. It’s hard to think about.

Which is a bad segue into my post update. Maybe this is the reason I’ve been avoiding the mighty pen. So, here we go…. The last few months have been filled with the holidays and my normal Mayo visits and scans. I am happy to report that I received good news with my scans. All is stable. My docs are encouraging me to keep on doing what I’m doing! Stay on this line of treatment because, by golly, it is working!

My wounds from my surgery have healed, but I am still dealing with limited mobility on the left side. I am working on my range of motion, but I can’t lift my left arm very high. My friends tease me about my T-Rex arms.

I am still fighting the bouts of side effects contributed to my chemo cocktail that I take. Most bouts are daily and expected - meaning I can normally plan for them which helps me manage my life. Every now and then, I get hit with a doozy without a map - such as this past weekend.

TMI warning! I was literally up for 48 hours with gastric issues on the hour, if not more frequent. This time it brought along sever abdominal cramping, which I don’t normally have. I had to take my “strong” diarrhea (TMI) medicine, which makes me sleepy, nauseas and loopy. It does help with the cramping, but that is about all.

To add to my lovely weekend, I was plagued with severe leg cramps. I’m sure the extra dehydration did not help. Side note: When I’m in this state, I drink a ton of fluids to try to counter the dehydration, but this time I couldn’t get ahead of it. I’m not how much I have shared about my leg cramps, but they are legendary. When it happens, and it happens often primarily during the night, my feet curl, my toes curl, and I get the worst cramps on the TOP of my calf. Sometimes they strike in the back of the thigh or calf, but mostly they are on the top part of the calf and foot. They are so painful. I have talked to my docs and there really isn’t anything to do for them, except…..wait for it……Pickle Juice!

Yes, if you aren’t aware, pickle juice helps with leg cramps. In fact, many long distance runners can attest to this. I usually take 1 shot a night before I go to bed, but this weekend I needed a lot more. I promise, if you are in the throws of leg cramps, as soon as you drink that pickle juice, you will find relief. Thank goodness that I loooovvvveee pickles! And no, I’m not robbing the brine from pickles in the fridge. You can actually buy pickle juice by the half gallon. You can find it in the vinegar aisle of your local supermarket. It has many uses, such as leg cramps, but you can also use it as a delicious brine for your chicken. Sigh….I digress.

Proof that I’m not crazy!

This post has been topys turvy. Let me end on a high note. Because I missed it and missed you…….Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Valentine’s Day, and Happy Birthday to Jamie and all of my friends who celebrated any milestone!

Our Christmas photo

Mason is doing very well. He is a rising 9th grader as he navigates that last few months of 8th grade. He is growing tall! He 5’8”, which means he is towering over me. He is very involved in Scouting. He will begin working on his Eagle project this summer to achieve his Eagle Scout ranking. His Dad and I are very proud!!

And I can’t end this post without gushing about how proud I am of Jamie. He took the giant leap of leaving corporate America and started his own business. He now spends his time working with people helping them navigate Medicare and all of the confusion it can bring. He said it has been the most rewarding work because he is actually helping people and making a positive impact to their lives. I shared details in this post https://www.reneekranking.com/p/exciting-yet-scary-news-yet-very in case you are interested. Shameful, I know.

My pledge is to do better with the frequency of my posts. Many of you have reached out to check-in on me, and for that I am grateful! I do know one thing, the moment things start going South, I will writing about it. It’s the only way I know how to navigate this topsy turvy life!

Oh! And Happy Leap Year!