a wee bit serious, a wee bit silly

Chemo round #3 has begun! Here are my known medical updates: 

Unfortunately, I am borderline anemic; meaning my red blood cell counts are incredibly low. Of course, I have just introduced iron supplements into my pill poppin’ daily run through to help my blood be a smidge better. This is a typical response to chemotherapy treatments, though I was not anticipating it beginning so early in my chemo trek. Since my blood is so thin, I am getting random bruises and; not to TMI ((but it’s MY blog)), my already heavy menstrual cycles have far worsened to a point of worry. On top of that, of course since my blood is in poor state & I am an individual partaking in chemotherapy, my immune system is extra extra extra vulnerable. When my bloodwork reaches a point of too much fragility or if I end up sick, it will delay my chemo treatment schedule. 

Speaking of chemo schedule, I would like to make the heartbreaking announcement that if all is going well, I will be on chemo for Halloween, Thanksgiving, & Christmas this year. It’s a mega bummer, but I do not want to experience a health issue that delays my chemo. 

My only other medical update is I had a handful of days last week that I experienced more swelling on my head/face, sharp pains in the areas of my left frontal lobe, left side of the occipital lobe, & the area of my right side brain tumor, & major sinus irritation. All of that could be caused by literally anything- spinal fluid gettin’ out of control, maybe I have developed allergies, perhaps it’s because my cat & snuggle buddy, Storm, has been a dirt roller that loves to lay on my pillow, could be cancer growth, maybe it's just a post radiation symptom… This week I have not re-experienced those symptoms so far, so I am not too on edge about the cause of the issues.

Let's move on to the non-medical side of what’s new n what’s on my mind!

This past week has been a little bit of a cake week! Got to make my first large vanilla/strawberry sheet cake for someone’s birthday, a round of cupcakes to give away, & a small but tall cute vanilla/raspberry/lemon cake for Debbie Gray’s birthday! I am beyond grateful to be able to bake my heart out in a proper industrial kitchen that is quiet. In the future, for certain I will take a deep blog post dive into my background in this particular kitchen space.

Food wise, something I have always loved is grilled & smoked food. May 31st, 2025 I received something I have wanted for most of my life- a Traeger pellet smoker/grill. I shed tears when my mom gifted me this item that is far more valuable to me than gold n baroque pearl jewelry. Along with that, my aunt covered all the upgrades n trinkets. Wow. Tragically, my first Traeger from 5/31/25 broke down during mid- ribeye steak execution. It was a fault that was not caused by me luckily & it was replaced with another new Traeger a few days later thank goodness! Today, 6/10/25 at 6:05pm, my herby T-Bone steaks hit the Traeger. By 6:20pm we; my mom, aunt, & I, were devouring the most delicious melt-in-your-mouth perfectly seasoned soft medium rare T-Bone steaks. My mouth is watering right now at 8:06pm as I write this. I also totally had two Traeger hotdogs for breakfast today. I’m no savoury food expert, but I am on a mission to master this Traeger. Watch out- I am grillin’ hardcore in my cheetah print kaftan.

Other than food, I looooove music. Everyone has their own taste, gets their own take aways from music. On Monday, the Eminem song “Lose Yourself” randomly popped up on the radio during our drive back to Genesee from my chemo appointment and it took me far back in time. It took me back to when my favourite artists were Eminem, Ice Cube, & Nicki Minaj around 5th/6th grade. I remember having a tablet with some music downloaded to it and some big white cushy headphones. Eminem said while I was on the school bus, during class time, & during my drive back from my most recent chemo appointment:

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime

You can do anything you set your mind to, man

I no longer jam out to Eminem, I am not a fan like I was as a middleschooler; but those words along with the beat were a huge push towards accomplishing my goals at a really young age. As silly as it sounds, it genuinely helped me grow into the individual I am today. There’s a lot of other songs by a bazillion other artists that have pushed me in different directions, inspired me, helped me process emotional things, given me a poetic coverage of a bazillion different lifestyles, helped me relax, made my body want to move n groove ((I am not a good dancer though.)) …

When I hit 7th grade, I started going by Alex instead of Alexa & I hit my emo phase hardcore; cut & dyed my hair fun colours, loved spending my deniros at Hot Topic, & I would jam out to music that was dudes screaming about crummy things in life. All that time, I had a heavy dislike for country music, even though I was a farm animal 4-H kiddo. Whenever my aunt would drive me somewhere, we would listen to country and the one song I loved, despite my country hatred, was Pontoon by Little Big Town. Huge thank you to country swing dancing for giving me the love of country music a couple years ago.

I’m not headed into something deep with this music information spill. Everyone who knows me pretty well knows that I love Smino, Nickleback, Charlie Sutton & Charlie Crockett along with a bazillion other artists as well. I can go trashy, classy, … anything in between.

Thanks for tuning in for my not so deep silly blog post with some serious medical updates, my food knowledge progress, & a tiny tip of a gigantor music related iceberg. I am still the same ol me n happy as can be!

P.S. if you’re in need of a cake or a plated dessert, reach out to me via the email that’s at the bottom of this website!