My Boy can pick a friend.

My Boy can pick a friend.

The Boy goes to camp run by our the gym we belong to called LifeTime Fitness. It is a very cool gym and he has enjoyed going to their summer camps two summer’s now. He has met a lot of different boys who go to schools around our area. Last month a boy came up to me and asked me if I was The Boy’s mom. I said yes. He said Hi. He then walked away. Boys? Who knows. I asked The Boy who that was. “Oh that is Emiliano. He is my best friend”. Ok good to know, the dog is in the car gotta go.

Yesterday The Boy came home and I could tell he had something in his hand. I asked him what it was. He asked me if I wanted the card first. Sure. Who is it from?

“Well, you know Emiliano, my best friend? I told him you were sick and wanted you to have this.

Emiliano's card. So Sweet.
Emiliano’s card. So Sweet

Oh My God. He then handed over a small box that held a rosary in it. I didn’t know what to say. The kid is like 9 or 10 years old! I have met him once and NEVER have met his family. And look at his handwriting! It’s wonderful (The Boy’s—not so much). I wrote Emiliano a thank you card telling him how much I enjoyed his card, that he was a good friend, had very nice handwriting and to do well in school. I also told him I would keep the rosary close to me.

Camp is almost over and I am not sure if I will ever see him  again or meet his mom (I need to tell her that she is doing a WONDERFUL job raising him) but I know I will never forget him and his kindness.

PS. The rosary has been placed inside my pillow case and last night when I was having trouble falling asleep, I took hold of it and counted the beads.

 

Good Day today!

Lunch

Today I made myself two small salads for lunch. When I say “made myself” I only made one of them. The other I transferred from the container to a bowl.  The first was left over from last night that my friends Dona brought over. It came from Hearth in Sandy Springs. It had arugula, blue berries, peaches,  almonds and parm cheese with a vinaigrette. Very Yummy! Thanks Dona! I had never had that salad from there before but will add it to my list!

The one I made had heirloom cherry tomatoes, cucumber, mozz cheese with salt, EVOO and a balsamic glaze. The cool thing (for me) about this salad, is that I grew the tomatoes and cucumber! Woot! Yep! Finally getting some goods from the garden.

Go out and get some!

Go out and get some!

I used the a balsamic glaze from Trader Joes that my friends Rebecca and Amy told me about. I had no idea they had such a thing! I love it and have used it many times since. Only issue: I tend to use to much!

Hair Update: Still Got It!

Later in the day…

Timber and I spent some time with the Girls. It was nice a sunny out and they were able to get some good scratching done. I threw the ball to Timber a bit and pulled a couple of weeds in the garden. The rain and the cancer clusterf*&k has taken a toll on my poor garden. It is doing ok but I have such high hopes this summer!

I did not do much “work” today. Tomorrow I have a conf. call, so maybe I can get a bit of work done. Going to try the yoga later tonight.

Dinner

While my parents were in town watching The Boy, they made a few soups for me from the book I got from my friends Chad and Kristen.

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Tonight I had the Brocoli and Potato soup. It was really good!  Way to go Mom and Dad!! I also had some grapes and a little gluten-free parmesan risotto I made. My tummy is happy.

My Man is still giving me my shots in the tummy. I may have to get up to 10 of them. However, if my back starts hurting I am to stop! My Man can’t wait till my back starts to hurt.

Today’s Shout Outs!

Jaime- Love the shirt! Love the goodies and the Yummy oil! (I just smelled my wrist)

Tia- Thank you for the lovely scarf!

Carol- Love the card and thank you for B&N gift card!!

Alison- Love the scarf and Blue Monkey! I will do my best to make sure he doesn’t end up like Timber’s Blue Monkey

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Thanks for reading.  I’m out!

The Sun is out and Shining

Good Morning Y’all!

I am moving faster this morning. Yeah! I got up and came downstairs and made myself a morning smoothie and it only took 30 min for me to do it al!!

Smoothie:

1 cup vanilla protein powder

1 cup Dynamic Greens

1 frozen banana

frozen mixed berries

a little frozen spinach

8 ounces of water

It isn’t to fancy but very yummy and full of good things for my bod! You can put anything in a smoothie. I think it is the best way to get the fruits/veg/protein your body needs but that you may not want to eat individually all in one drink.

I am back downstairs working on the Mac. I am having issues with the D key on my laptop and the connection down here is much faster. Plus, I love my Mac! I have made some goals for myself today. I would like to finish up a financial plan I have been working on, do 10 sun salutations, hang out with The Girls for at least 30min and maybe clean up our room a bit. My side of the bed is a mess. I also want to rest, I would like to be able to get out and drive on Monday!

One thing I thought I would do is review a few of the items that have been making my illness a little bit easier, so I will be working on that too.

The sun is out here today in the ATL! I hope it is where ever you are! Sending good vibes to my dad who riding in a 5K time trial for the Senior Olympics in Cleveland, OH in about an hour! Go Daddy!!

Go out and enjoy your life and love hard!

Moving like a sloth…

imagesSo I am channeling my inner sloth…moving slow. When I woke up it took me about an hour to get the energy to get out of the bed and go to the bathroom. Then I had to get back in the bed to rest. I will not be surprised when if takes me a few hours to write this blog post.

Keeping me company

Keeping me company

About four hours later…

I am not kidding, it is really four (maybe five) hours later. I have been keeping in my sloth groove. I did eat a little lunch around 2pm and took a shower! Hair update: Still got it!

Haven't used it yet!

Haven’t used it yet!

I also did like 20 minutes of work related stuff that all most knocked me out. I am not kidding. Talking on the phone is hard for me. It tires me out for a few reasons:

1. I have to move my mouth.

2. Moving my mouth and then speaking tends to make cough.

3. Coughing hurts. It hurts my chest. This make me tired

4. I have to think. Yes, when speaking I really try to pay attention (it is only polite) and that makes me tired. I am sure some would say that this has nothing to do with the chemo the way I keep a conversation going.

Today there doesn’t seem to be a “flow” in the blog post. You will just have to deal with it. Once again, the “thinking” issue tires me out. Last night is was so nice falling to sleep to Panny’s gentle motor of her purr and the random loud sigh/sneeze/ burp(I hope)/groan of Timber.

Panny

Panny

However, right when I was about to hit dreamland I heard crying. It was The Boy. I yelled out to him to see what was wrong but as My Man always says, it is not the BEST way to communicate. Luckily My Man heard him and came upstairs to find out the problem was. Now, don’t worry friends…the crying had NOTHING to do with mom having CANCER! Nope! He had lost his “Man of Steel” and other “stuff” he had designed on Minecraft  (for those who do not have a 6-12 year old boy) because his battery ran out. Juicy tears this caused! Wailing! Life is so not fair!! How will he ever get enough iron to make it all again! The Horror of life!

Questions:

1. Do they not have save button on that game?

2. How many time must I tell him to charge the tablet!?!

I must say, I am happy with the way he is dealing with all this (the cancer, not the game). He is a super strong boy. I know when I have to shave my head he will be upset. I think if My Man shaves his head, The Boy is going to be embarrassed. Poor thing. I tell him that My Man’s hair will grow back in a week!

There are a lost of you out there who have been so kind to us over the past few weeks. Here are a few shout outs for today:

Pat- got the chocolates today!

Jason Grady- Thanks for the food!

Dona- Thank you for the food! (sorry I missed you)

Kysha-Thanks for the sweet card and tea! ( I am using the lip stuff today).

Robin & Family Thanks for Ginger treats, the Sate and Tiger shirts for The Boy and The Wine for My Man

Jennifer Sherwood-Using my cups today!

Aimee- Taking my Ginger and wearing my pink socks today!

Rebecca- Your late night text messages keep me laughing

Calanit-Thank you for organizing the food drop off!

Here are  few pictures I took from the hospital. I am working on the Mac down in my office right now. I know! I took a FIELD TRIP!!

My Bling

My Bling

Washing my hair in the hospital

Washing my hair in the hospital

Hospital Christmas Pole

Hospital Christmas Pole

Hanging out

Hanging out

Ready for Chemo

Ready for Chemo

Cycle 1

Cycle 1

So, I have this Port. Actually, I have two cause one is just not enough! For those who do not know what it is, this is how they give you them chemo, take blood, give other meds. If not, they would have to stick you each and every time. So even though I am out for a bit, I still have it in there. In fact I have to wear a fancy bracelet (or Eric the RN will come kick my ass. He will. He said so). that says I have it in.

Much better

Much better

This way if I am in a car wreak and they need to give me blood they don’t have to stick me. Happy Thoughts! I know I bruise easily but take a look! Ugh. The big bandage is still on because I am afraid to look at it!

And they say the Port is better (It really is but DAM!)

And they say the Port is better (It really is but DAM!)

This post has worn me out! Later….

Home!

I am home! Woot! Woot! I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am and nice it is to be home. I LOVE my bed. I LOVE my bathroom. I LOVE my shower! Yes, I took a shower. It felt so good. They took my needle out of my port this morning so taking a however was ago. I am happy to report that I have my hair.

Last night was not the best. I was done with all the chemo and premeds but I had the BIGGEST headache. I asked for Tylenol or Advil but all I was OK for was Vicodin. Vicodin is great for when you are in pain but not for a headache. I was in and out of sleep all night long. And I had some crazy thoughts. No zombies but crazy thoughts. I couldn’t get my mind to stop running. Luckily I was able to get something for my headache when I got home this morning.

I was able to take a nap today and ate a little pasta (thanks Devra and Jeff). Eating has been and issue. I ate about a cup and a half of it but it took about 45min for me to do it. I know I am hungry, I know I need to eat, I want to eat but it is so tiring to eat.

Oh!  I threw up! About 30min before we left the hospital!  Sorry but I said I would tell all…. Anyway, I  was so bummed. I had been doing so well. I was taking my regular pills and I knew when they went down, all was not right. My Man was able to get the trash can to me in time. Theo (my RN) was like “What?!? Your about the leave!” Thankfully it did not slow us down.

Time passing…..

I am back. I bet you didn’t even know I was gone! Spent some time downstairs. Had some more pasta and caeser salad. I also had some ginger tea. I can’t remember who gave it to me but thank you! Then 6pm came around and the one thing that has been freaking me out was about to happen. My Man had to give me my shot! I was nervous….I think he was nervous. Panny and Timber, they weren’t nervous. Simon was a sleep. My Man went and washed his hands really good, cleaned my tummy and boom! Gave me the shot. There was a bit of blood that freaked him out a bit “Why did that happen?”, but overall it wasn’t too bad.

Still a bit nauseous but the meds are helping. Hopefully I will feel up to talking a bit tomorrow, got some work I need to do. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

Good Night!

Spoke to soon…

I am feeling the sluggish, tiredness I was warned about. I have been feeling a bit sick to my stomach throughout the day. I will also admit typing this is a bit hard. I keep repeating my self and my spelling is worse the normal. No Zombies though…me just a bit slow…..

All my chemo is done, I am now taking mesna and fluids to flush my body out and protect my bladder and kidneys’. I have to do this till about 2am, so it looks like I will be here one more night. I am looking forward to my home, my bed, my Simon and Panny, my big puppy and most of all being with my boys.