A good day

     I went in for labs today.  My counts are low but I should be alright by the next treatment (next week).  So I don't get to be totally carefree this weekend but that's ok.  I didn't have big plans anyways.

     I met a young man today that has the exact same situation I have.  Well not entirely the same I'm sure but the one kidney thing and Ewings sarcoma.  I was waiting for the nurse when I heard another nurse telling the family about me and how they had to meet me.  She said zoo keeper and that is when I started listening in on the conversation.  I remember this same nurse telling me there was a 19 year old with the same case and that I should meet him.  I never did and he did something bad and is no longer at moffitt.  I always wondered if I had met him, if I could have helped him through his tough times.  So, I popped my head into the room and said hello.  They took my email and asked a couple of questions.  His name is Grant and he is 26 years old.  I remember when Jeremy and I sat in that room and were blindsided by the treatment plan.  I thought about what it would have done for us had someone with the same plan came into that room, being halfway done with treatments, so I could see what I had to look forward to...good or bad.  I know I helped him and his family and that made me smile.  I hope he has as easy a time with treatment as I have had.  Otherwise, I'll feel like a liar.

     Since I'm supposed to avoid crowds, I decided to go to the art room and paint.  Apparently, I've become a 'regular' and they asked me to be in their new brochure.  My face is going to be all over moffitt supporting the arts in medicine program.  Pretty cool.

So far so good

     So this is the week that has been a problem in the past.  My last two inpatient treatments I've landed in the hospital about a week after treatment with a fever.  I'm still at home and my temp is normal...So far so good.  I've been scrapbooking.  Finally starting a book on all my animals at work.

     I did attempt to make baked green tomatoes.  They were ok.  I don't think they would have been better if they were fried and certainly the health trade off would not be worth it.  I also made tuna pasta.  I used to eat this dish all the time.  Whole grain pasta, celery, onion, green pepper, tuna fish and lemon...yum.

Surprise

     I got a nice surprise this morning.  When I mentioned having one more night to go, the nurse asked if I was sure.  I did a recount and it turns out last night was my last night.  So I am home in my own bed with all of my favorites!  Tomorrow is Saturday so Jeremy doesn't have to work.  I imagine we will sleep in a little and then go have breakfast.  We definitely need to do some grocery shopping and maybe hit the gym.  I'm gonna keep it low key this week.  I have a concert coming up and I don't want to get off track again.

     The discharge process is still the slowest process happening at the hospital.  I spent about 2 hours in arts and finished up the last two episodes of orange is the new black.  They know I'm going home pretty early on in the day but for some reason can't get me out before 4.  Anyone who has ever been in charge of discharging a patient, please enlighten me on what could be the reason this takes so long.

     So they weigh me every morning.  I gain just about 10 lbs while they have me hooked up and are pumping fluids in me 24/7.  I feel disgusting right now.  Hopefully, that all goes away in a few days.

     I have been very productive since I got home.  Laundry in the dryer, hospital bag repacked, everything put away in its place.  Now it's time for tv in bed with my guys.  Goodnight.

Almost done

     Got back to the room about an hour ago.  I made some more 'pages' in my origami book.  I got glue all over my fingers. I forgot how much I like to pick it off.  Weird.  Waiting on dinner right now.  It's just some soup and fruit.  Jeremy is bringing me a delicious publix sub.  Just couldn't get on board with the daily specials today.  I've almost exhausted all of the hot items on the special menu.  I'm not trying to eat hamburgers everyday.  Looking forward to having dinner with my husband too.  Maybe we will sit at a table somewhere.  There is another art thing this evening...who thinks I will be able to get Jeremy to paint with me? Hehe, we shall see.  Just doesn't seem like his thing. I'll post a pic if he does something.  I have some pics from the book and one of a string painting to add to the wall. A friend made it...I'm not that talented.  She is an art major and it shows.

I made the rhino after a friend sent a pic of one of our rhinos reacting to another rhinos urine.  It's called fleming...she is not trying to eat a tiny tree.

very good day

     This day seemed to go by fast, which is great.  I started watching Orange is the new black...very good show.  Took a nice hot shower.  Met up with 2 friends for arts in medicine (the volunteers get upset when you call it arts and crafts).  I started an origami book.  It's nice to do something new.  I'll take pics soon but im in bed now, getting ready for chemo and an episode of the new show.  Lunch was delicious.  You can't say that very often.  Black beans and rice, plaintains and chicken...not dry at all.  Burger for dinner.  Snuggled with Jeremy for a few hours watching tv.  Going from king size to a hospital bed is a big difference.  Its funny to watch us both try and get comfortable.  It is my favorite time of day though and I usually end up falling asleep on him.  This is night 3...2 more nights and I go home to m

First night went fine.  We got started pretty late.  Something about orders not in order but then they were so chemo started around 11 instead of 9.  Tonight we were able to start at 10.  Hopefully, I'll get some better sleep after we are finished.  I'm in a room on the inside of the hall. It's a bigger room but it doesn't get dark because of the main areas light outside my window.  It's also easier to hear things.  All the hustle and bustle happens outside my door.  The guy that shares my wall has a deep voice and it comes through.  I put a playlist together for sleepy time.  I'm not sure if it helps.  I need different music I think.

   

I'm in

I got the call around 8pm.  I'm about to get my first bag.  Toy story 3 is on.  I ended up watching the end and now the beginning.  Apparently there is a toy story marathon. 

I forgot to post pics of my visit to Busch Gardens.  Here they are...

My weekend so far

     So Friday after labs, I called up my director to see if I could visit the park.  It was great to see the people I saw and of course all the animals.  I also got some VIP treatment with a private veldt tour and I got to watch a rhino eat a watermelon.  After that I ate two bowls of Olive Garden salad by myself and then later that evening, met some folks up at Jeremy's old shop for drinks.  I got to taste some watermelon mint meade...very yummy!

     Today, J and I went out for breakfast.  We found a new place and will definitely return...maybe even tomorrow.  We would pass this place all the time.  I assumed it was a bakery but they have a full (and unique) breakfast and lunch menu.  We also went to a Saturday market by chance.  Again, I had heard about it and assumed it was a bunch of home made trinkets for sale.  Not at all.  There were people selling farm fresh eggs and meat.  There was a very large section for produce and then of course some interesting shops.  Then I went to a friends house for a birthday celebration.  It was great to see so many people and not have to worry about eating out of the same bowl or double dippers.  I got to love on one of my favourite dogs.  And now I'm pooped!  I took a nice bubble bath and now it's bedtime.

     Tomorrow, we will probably go for breakfast again (it's or favourite meal to have together).  I'll call admitting in the morning and see when they want me.  If they plan on doing treatments at 9pm as usual, I'll see if I can come in later...I'm not looking to sit around doing nothing if i don't have to.

Good night all

A normal person for the weekend (sans hair)

Fridays labs were excellent.  I also got the doc to change my admittance day to Sunday.  I get to have a weekend without cleaning restaurant silverware, I can have iced coffee/tea and I can eat all the raw vegetables I can stand (and fruit).

     Well I did absolutely nothing yesterday.  I fed myself breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner.      I cleaned up the dvr and started reading a new book, Forbidden Strawberries.  It's a woman's recount of her experience during the holocaust.  I read a book earlier this summer, Sarah's Key, that (not to sound corny) touched my heart.  That has sparked an interest in reading about other people's experiences.  In this book I'm currently reading, the woman's family was a wealthy one.  They avoided the trains for a long time.  At the halfway point in the book the girl has lost her family and other adults around her are looking out for her.  She writes as if spending the day scrunched up above the fire place in a niche until dinner time for months was nothing.  If that doesn't put things into perspective, nothing will.  Sometimes I get down because there are things I can't do and I feel like I currently have no purpose and I just sit on the couch all day.  I have nothing to complain about.  How could I possibly feel sorry for myself?

     Today, I was more productive.  Instead of making breakfast and sitting down in front of the tv, I put my suit on and went to the gym.  I met a lady with one leg.  She was a machine! I can't even guess how many laps she did without taking a break.  I was able to do 2 laps before I had to take a second.  After about 40 minutes, I enjoyed the hot pool and the sauna.   I hit the post office and dropped off a donation at Good Will.  I went to publix...Jeremy sent me on a mission to get a big cake for work.  I found a recipe and picked up stuff to make a delicious dinner...paella.

     Now I'm deciding whether to do the splash fitness class or yogalates tomorrow.  I'll finish deciding tomorrow when I get there.  :)

Well poo

The scheduler called yesterday to move my appointment from today to Friday.  I was supposed to have my labs done and if all is good be admitted for my 5 night stay.  That would be treatment number 7.  Looking at the calendar, if I am admitted this weekend and everything stays on track, my last treatment will be December.  I don't expect things are likely to stay on track based on the last few treatments which means a warm Christmas for us.

it's a beautiful Sunday

     I love Sundays.  It's big paper day.  We make breakfast, I get my cup of coffee and sit down to read the paper.

     Friday, was movie night with the girls.  We watched Red in preparation for Red 2 tonight at the theater.  mmm popcorn!  Yesterday was shopping and the gym.  I spent my time in the hot pool doing some of the exercises I learned from the class.

     Today, I'm moving it to the treadmill and then maybe the pool for fun.  I need to redo one of the tests from my wellness assessment.  My vo2 max was 18...It should be at least 27.  It could be related to where my body is at in between treatments.  I'm at the point where activities take more effort than they should, I get a little dizzy when I stand and my heart rate just always seems elevated.  We shall see if it's any better today.  My resting heart rate was at 96 last time.  A good rate would be 60-70 I think.

     Does anyone use the swype function on any touch screen device?  I'm having this issue where one letter will not work and if you cross over it, it screws up your word.  Two days ago it was the e.  Today, it is the f.  I find this very frustrating.  Anyone have any suggestions?  My screen is clean, my stylus is new and all the other letters work.

wow

     So I guess I shouldn't have kept up with the group for water aerobics on Monday.  My legs randomly get weak and my back and chest spasm every time I change position.  I've had sore muscles before but this is ridiculous!  Even laying down hurts and I don't like taking pain killers...not a good combo.

     On a good note, my scans came back clear.  I go in Tuesday to see where my counts are at and if they are good we will start treatment 7 (I had it wrong before).

discovery

     I made a great discovery last night.  I have many, tiny hairs coming in on my head, eye brows and lashes.  I kind of obsessed about losing my lashes and brows.  I even counted my eye brows a few times, keeping track of how many I had left.  Shaving my head when that hair started falling out wasn't a big deal for me.  You still look like a person if you have the hair surrounding your eyes.  When you lose that, you just look weird and then you try to pencil in eye brows and that looks ridiculous.  So with my little bits of eye brows, I can shade in to make them appear fuller until more come in.

     Now one of two things could happen.  I could lose all the little hairs again because I have 7 more treatments to go or I could not lose them and they will continue to grow.  I did have close to 3 weeks off from chemo, so maybe that's why hair has started growing back.  If I do go back to losing hair, at least I know how quickly the hair will grow back.  Taking bets on what colour and texture my new hair will be.  Right now it's peach fuzz, like a baby...very soft.

     Mom left just a little while ago.  She will be flying home with a friend on Friday.  I will miss her and appreciate all she has done for us this year.  I'm doing really well and other than having someone to hang out with all day, I'm able to do everything for myself.  I know everyone at home is looking forward to having her back.  I can't wait to hear what Joey does when he sees her.  Lots of love to you mom :)

well that's just great

    Yesterday started out good.  I woke up with 40 minutes to get to the aqua class...plenty of time.  I more than kept up with the class and had no bad side effects.  Enjoyed the hot pool and the sauna before going home.  Grabbed some delicious Dunkin Donuts coffee.  Went home and took a nap.  Around 2, I drove out to a farmer's market I've never been to.  Great selection and decent prices.  I bought way too many vegetables.  I cleaned them all and proceeded to cut them up.  I was almost done and then I cut part of my finger and nail off.  Not good!  For 5 months I took extra care to not hurt myself and I did a good job.  I was being so careful chopping up those vegetables too...well, apparently not.

     So what does this mean for me...nothing good.  If my counts are low and it gets infected, I get another hospital stay and possibly push back my next treatment.  I am afraid this isn't going to heal quickly so I'll need to be extra, extra careful about keeping it clean which means my left hand is out of commission.  No swimming or saunas for me.  Probably shouldn't go to the gym at all for awhile.  I was going to take mom to the brunchery and the gardens in St Pete today as our last fun day before she heads back to MI.  Now, we are going to spend the day in the house, airing out my finger.  We will finally make that jambalaya I've been talking about.  Although mom will probably be doing most of the work now.
phooey! (yucky photo warning)

I made this picture smaller so it will be less gross and...

gave you a large picture of Charlie and his most recent haircut.

A nice weekend

     It was a low key weekend which is never really a bad thing.  We did some cleaning on Saturday and some shopping today.  It was tax free weekend here in Florida and I had Kohls cash so I had to go.  I got a cute dress that I hope to wear to Busch gardens soon.  I'll wear anything if it gets me to the garden sooner rather than later.  So much is happening and I miss all the animals.  I also purchased new gym clothes so we could go to the gym today (my first time in months).  I hung out in the hot pool...love the hot pool.  I don't enjoy being cold or having chills.  I was not really looking forward to swimming laps in the 80 degree pool.  So I did some water exercises in the hot pool(95 degree) before going into the sauna.  I have no idea what the right exercises to do in the water are so I am going to an aqua class tomorrow morning to learn.

     I saw my brother Ryan's family today through video chat.  Eisley is getting so big and is so cute.  I can't wait to be done with all of this so I can see my niece and nephews and all the rest of the family.  I love seeing the pictures of the kids on Facebook but it will be nice to play with them one on one.

   I also had a nice surprise from the most wonderful man...

baked plantains and vanilla ice cream!  How do I find the motivation to learn to cook when I already have such a good cook at home already.  I feel like I should learn something else to balance the household.  Tomorrow, I will make jambalaya the 'paleo' way.

     Now it is time for bed :)

TGIF

     Just kidding...everyday is Friday for me.  This particular Friday is a low key Friday.  I got my neulasta shot Wednesday which means today my bones hurt.  It's mostly just my jaw and teeth that hurt but occasionally a leg or arm or lower back will make itself known for a minute.  Again, small price to pay in the grand scheme and if it keeps me out of the hospital in between treatments I'll gladly lay all day long in slight discomfort.  I do happen to have two of the best snugglers in the world to help me feel like laying around all day isn't a waste of time.  Love my guys!

     So I was poking around this blog and found a stats section.  In the beginning, I made this 'invite only' but changed it because it seemed too complicated.  I justified it as someone would really have to be looking for my blog to find it.  Well I seem to have more than a few followers in Russia.  There were a couple other countries but the numbers were insignificant.

     That's all the interesting things I have for today.  Hope everyone had a great weekend and happy Friday to all!

Just a quickie

     Just a quick update.  I'm doing well after my treatment Tuesday.  I was a bit tired yesterday but was back to normal by the evening.  I made sausage, peppers and onions for dinner.  Mom and I are going to run some errands and have lunch.  Maybe trivia tonight or just make Jeremy a nice dinner at home.  We shall see :)