The first thread, Tomorrow ...., is becoming long, so here's a new one documenting my experience with breast cancer treatment.

I do this as I see value in other women having a familiarity with what could be involved in addressing cancer for their own or a loved one's treatment one day. Everyone's cancer and treatment is unique to the individual.

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A great benefit to me has been the kind and genuine support, interest, and encouragement from forum members. I am humbled by your kindness and earnestly thank you for it.

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The cancers:

1) breast cancer. HER2 positive, meaning that it's aggressive.

2) Paget's disease of the breast - a rare form of breast cancer of the nipple and areola.

Treatment so far:

Doxorubicin. The world's strongest chemotherapy, also known as Red Devil Chemo - named after satan because it's red and because of its side effects.

Paclitaxel. Another chemo often known as Taxol.

Perjeta, a targeted immunotherapy treatment.

Herceptin, a targeted immunotherapy treatment.

Surgery - mastectomy and removal of lymph nodes with implant reconstruction.

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This morning, the PICO dressing (with its pump) was removed, and a simple dressing applied. I didn't actually see the scar tissue, but apparently it's (still) almost healed with the deterioration looking only superficial.

I then met the Oncology Radiologist who had a look at the scar tissue and cleared me to start radiation this morning.

I was set up on the table for radiation treatment to begin, but the technician found that there were changes in the breast/chest wall, and radiation treatment could not begin. Thankfully, someone had the foresight to predict this change, and had scheduled an appointment for another planning session. I had to wait around for another 90 minutes, but the session was completed.

Radiation treatment will now commence next Monday 24/2 for 15 sessions Monday-Friday. The Oncology Radiologist now, therefore, does not want the new chemo to commence until after radiation is completed - Monday 17/3 which allows for the Canberra Day public holiday in March (the chemo clinic runs every day of the year, but radiation treatment does not occur on public holidays). This means that drug treatment won't finish until December now, but that's OK.

This is what a PICO pump looks like. It stays in the bag, and is worn around the neck. The OK button should periodically flash green to show that it is working. If the next icon is lit up, it means that the seal around the dressing has lifted and air is escaping. If the third icon is lit, it means that the dressing is soaked in blood/fluid and needs to be replaced. The fourth icon will illuminate if the battery has drained. They cost several hundred dollars and have a 14 day shelf life.

You can see the thin tubing; the other end is embedded in the dressing somehow - not actually visible to me.

As many of you are aware I'm now living at my little house in North West Victoria. Today marks the end of the first week here and it's gone incredibly quickly. I'll be honest and say apart from unpacking I've mostly just allowed myself to rest. I was really exhausted by the lead up to the move as well as the move itself. It's also been really hot here.

Now that most rooms are unpacked I want to start working on the outside of the house, clearing away any long grass and tumble weeds. A lot of them have blown away but I need to clear more each day I suspect if I want to keep them from piling up. I'll need to mow in stages, the front part of the house is fine - I mowed that last visit but the rest will be done in order of priority.

My first inside job is to attach panelling to the laundry room wall to block the cat from escaping. It's only a temporary fix but it will mean I don't have to worry about her until I'm ready to fix that part properly.

I also want to cover a couple of floor holes in the back part of the house. Fixing the subfloor is the next job my son-in-law will be helping me with but he's busy replacing his own kitchen at the moment so it will probably be a while before he's available.

We've been discussing how much can be achieved in two and a half hours on the Controlling our Budget thread.

Because that's 150 minutes, we're calling it our Nifty One Fifty. If you accept that just 2 1/2 hours, whether it's daily, twice weekly, weekly or fortnightly can transform your home and your life, then that 150 minutes will seem like nothing.

If it's ONLY 150 minutes and then you have the rest of the day to yourself to do whatever you want, then it might even seem worth getting up early or staying up late for.

On Friday, I had a Power Cooking session...

http://www.simplesavings.com.au/fora/3374988/#3376405

...and this is just a portion of what I managed to cook in that time...

...so it's amazing what you can achieve if you just treat what you're doing like a job, and get stuck into it. No breaks. No having a cuppa while the cake bakes, or sitting down at the computer to check on the forum ;-)

So the premise is this. Treat your domestic tasks like a real job. Accept that you'll achieve more if you just focus on the task at hand, without interruption (if possible), and without a break. If it were your 'real' job, you wouldn't take a break in a 2 1/2 hour shift. You'd arrive, do your job, finish your shift, THEN relax. Treat this the same way.

So on Friday, it took me 150 minutes to fill my fridge with four dinners, at least four breakfasts, and snacks for a week. I estimate this saved us about $150 on supermarket spending as I only used what I had on hand, and if you equate it to eating out or takeaway (which we as SSers don't do so much, but some people DO), I potentially saved my family around $600!

It got me thinking. If managing the home is my job, what else could I apply the 'Power' mentality to, and spend two and a half hours on, that will make a difference to our lives and our budget?

I'm thinking....

150 minutes of intensive cleaning.

150 minutes of cutting out items of clothing for sewing. That includes PJs, lingerie, dresses and shorts and so on.

150 minutes of sewing the above.

150 minutes of preserving fruit and veg and making jams and relishes for gifts.

150 minutes of preparing cookie dough for baking treats for gift giving closer to Christmas.

150 minutes of making velvet and brocade heat wheats for gifts.

150 minutes of altering and mending.

150 minutes of decluttering.

150 minutes hours of making gift cards for birthdays and Christmas.

150 minutes of printing on butchers paper (which I bought thousands of sheets worth for $24 at Christmas), and making gift toppers for gift wrapping. I'm thinking I could package the hand printed paper and gift toppers which I blogged about here....

http://atrayofbliss.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/rose-silhouette-present-topper.html

....and give packages of them as gifts to friends and family too. Funnily enough I find everyone actually loves getting a gift of gift wrapping stuff. It saves so much time and money :)

That's ten things.

That's two working weeks worth.

That's my next challenge. I'm going to work my way through that list and see just what I can produce in 2 1/2 hours a day, or a Nifty One Fifty.

I'm giving myself weekends off, except for today because I can't wait to get started ;0)

Once I've Nifty One Fiftied the home, our wardrobes and our gift stash, I'll apply the same principle to the garden.

What could you achieve with a regular Nifty One Fifty?