Monthly Archives: September 2013

Opps, I did it again.

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You call it a table, I call it a bed.

You call it a table, I call it a bed.

Hey Reader’s!

I am alive and back home but I must admit, I am not feeling well. Round three as hit me pretty hard. I am exhausted and very nauseated. I called into the doctor and have asked for more medicine. Hopefully My Man will be able to pick it up today. Here are some photo’s from the past few days.

All ready to go.

All ready to go.

Waiting for a room to free up.

Waiting for a room to free up.

Cold!

Cold!

Flat Screen!

Flat Screen!

Cycle 1 out of 7!

Cycle 1 out of 7!

Gift from Tech Izzy

Gift from Tech Izzy

I have this sign on my door and wear a bracelet since I am an amputee and a fall risk.

I am a fall risk.

I am a fall risk.

Working

Working

Now, since I fell on Saturday, I get a star. The fall was a bit worse than I first let on. I kinda messed up my leg/bone. It is all bruised up and it hurt to walk on it. Putting on my prosthetic was painful but I worked through it. I didn’t tell the RN about it till that evening. She called and told Dr. Read!! So embarrassing.

And now every one knows I fell...

And now every one knows I fell…

I think Timber might be turning into a cat! Or at least copying Panny’s sleeping positions.

What? what?

What? what?

Opps! I did it again! Well, not really. I did not fall, more like slam into the molding around the window in my room. I was trying to avoid stepping on Timber’s foot and well, bam! I am ok though. No need for another star!

Ouch!

Ouch!

The sun is out here in the ALT. If it is out where you are, please go out and enjoy it for me!! Be Great!

Last Cycle!

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Reader’s!

How are you today? Inside watching football (like me) or outside enjoying a nice day? Last night was much better for me. Maggie was on the floor last night a was my RN. I so happy when I saw her. I got the right sleeping medication ans she was so quite when she came in throughout the night. Even though I slept pretty well, I was still very tired, worn out. The chemo and meds are hitting me a little harder this time. Dr. Read had mentioned that round three seems to hit people hard. 

I slept on and off till around 1pm when My Man and The Boy came. My Man woke up and went out and brought in breakfast. He went out to this cool coffee shop that has some yummy breakfast treats. He then left to go home and get cleaned up. He took Timber for a nice walk and brought the boy back down. The Boy and I played about 6 games of Uno. It was fun. He and I then took a walk around the floor and my mom and dad came. They stayed for about 45min.

I am about to start my last cycle of chemo for this visit. That will have been a total of 7. Woot! Woot! I am getting my premeds now, which is good because I am kind of nauseous. After the chemo I will have my post hydration that will last anywhere from 12-24 hours. All of my numbers and counts look good. My blood pressure is going up and down. Went a little below 100 but to bad.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday. Hopefully my will not be as crazy as last time I was here! Keep a smile on!

Um? Where’s my Chemo?

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Roll Tide Roll Saturday!

Happy Saturday Reader’s

I am tired Reader’s. I did not have a good night sleep last night. The RN last night (Tiffany & Maggie were off) gave me a pill to fall asleep. Now, I have no idea of the names of most of the medications I take. I call tell you what the they do and if a pill, what they look like but the name, no idea. So when she gave me a pill I was like what is this? I thought it was a pain pill for my little spill I had earlier in the day. She said no, it was a sleeping pill (I had already taken it). I told her that my sleeping meds where always given to me via my port. It is listed in my records. At that point, there wasn’t much I could do. The pill did not really work well. It took me forever to fall asleep and I was in and out of it more than the night before. It also left me kind of fuzzy and my face was all red this morning. Plus the bags under my eye have bags!

But the worse thing was that she didn’t realize I need to have my premeds at 6am and chemo at 6:30am. She came in at 4am to change one of the IV bags and then again later, not sure the time, to do something. At that time I asked if it was my chemo and she said no. Well, the next time she came in was for shift change at 7:15am. I was like, I was supposed to have my premeds and then chemo at 6:30am. She was like “what?”.  I know it is all written down in the records on the computer and I was here when Theo told her. Anyway, I got my chemo and I don’t think it will push me back to much but it was a bit disheartening. My Man was not happy. I think I may have her again tonight. None of my favorite are working tonight.

So, I finally told a RN that I had a little “fall” late yesterday. Well, I my chart is now marked! I am a true “fall risk”. She even called my doctor an told him. So embarrassing. He came around to see me today and was like “what happen”. Ugh. Well, yesterday I put ice in one of the blue gloves (from the five boxes in my room), and iced it. It did hurt. I was able to get my prosthetic on but it I could feel it. This morning it the swelling had gone down some and I was up and walking around but later when I took it off, there was bruising. Pickles. Oh well. I showed it to the doctor and he didn’t seem to worried. It does feel better.

I had visitors today! Rebecca and Devra drove done, as did Kristen and Baby K! She isn’t a baby any more, she is 2! She and her mama brought me breakfast. Thank you! It was a fun visit. Lots of laughing. My Man came back and then left again to get lunch. He brough back Bone Garden Cantina! Yummy. The Boy and my parents are on their was back from Montgomery. The Tri-Athlon was a success! The Boy was very happy to see his cousins. I can’t wait to see him!

 

 

Friday! Friday!

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Good Morning!

I hope you are all doing well on this Friday morning. I can see the sun is out here in the ATL from my room on the 7th floor. Last night was uneventful. Slept till around 4:30am. Tiffany (yeah!) was my night RN and she had to change my meds and take some vitals. I had to use the restroom anyway and was able to fall asleep right after. My Man woke me up talking on the phone with his dentist. He overslept! Had to change is morning appointment to an afternoon one.

My chemo started a 6:30am and finished around 8:30am. Afterwards I took a “sponge” bath and changed my clothes, I had a bit of an incident. As you know, I am a below the knee (left leg) amputee. The only time I have fallen out of bed (because I didn’t put my prosthetic on) was right after The Boy was born and I was in the hospital. I had taken my leg off and then proceeded to stand up and fall. Not smart. Well, it happened again! I am ok but my leg is pretty sore. When I do put on my leg and walk it hurts. I will try to lay off of it for a while. I just feel like an idiot! Rookie mistake.

Later today my mom, dad and The Boy are headed to Montgomery, Alabama. On Saturday my dad and brother will be participating in their first triathlon. My dad just turned 69 yesterday!! I think they are both a bit nervous about the whole thing. The swim with be in a lake. It will be a staggered start, so not a total free for all. Last year there were 100 participants in the race, so hopefully this one will be low-key too. The cool thing for The Boy is that he doesn’t know his aunt and uncle and cousins will be there too. He will be very excited. Bad thing is I won’t see him till later on Saturday.  

For breakfast I had a protein shake and a cup of coffee I made with the portable coffee maker Dona C. loaned to me. It works perfectly! I brought two containers of soup from Breadwinner for me to eat during lunchtime.

Theo is back this morning! The floor is booked full of patients but it is pretty quite right now. Soon I will get my soup and walk to the microwave. Get some exercise!

Reader’s!! The weekend is almost here! Be good, Be Safe and Enjoy it!!

 

All Checked in…Finally.

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Good Afternoon Reader’s!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day. I am finally settled into my room here at Emory Midtown Hospital. The day started out well. Once I signed in at the doctor’s office this morning at 9am, they called me back to access my port and take blood samples. Then I was called back to meet with Dr. Reed ahead of my 10am appointment. Woot! Woot! The appointment went well and he was very happy with how I am doing and feeling.

Then we went to admissions and our train slammed to a halt. Turns out the seventh floor was booked. There was no available room for me. Pickles. They sent me to a temporary bed on the first floor. The woman in the next bed was not having a good day. There was loud moaning and groaning and she threw up once. Doctors kept coming in and asking me if I was Miss Smith. No, thank goodness. Miss Smith was not having a good day.

They were able to start my fluids around 1:30pm. This made me happy. I really did not want my chemo to start late and push everything back. God knows I don’t want to stay here any longer then I need too.

I finally got into my room around 3pm. Guess who was there? Theo! He had my white board all ready written out with my chemo orders. My room has a flat screen TV!!! Theo said that they are slowly replacing the TV’s and that I got one of the two rooms that have them. Sweet! My first round of chemo should start around 6pm. Like before, I won’t be able to take any pictures and post them while here in the hospital. However I will when I get back home.

Tomorrow is Friday, my favorite day of the week. Make sure you enjoy it!

Happy Wednesday Readers!

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Happy Wednesday Readers!

I am feeling a little panicky today. Tomorrow I will be admitted into the hospital for round 3 of chemo and I feel like I have a ton to do. While I did do some laundry yesterday, there is still more. Isn’t there always more? What’s up with that? I vacuumed but of course there is fur all over the floor this morning. Timber is shedding and I can’t seem to keep up. Then there is the packing! Ugh. I hate to pack. I feel like I do when I have to pack to go on a vacation. I am trying not to bring a bunch of stuff that I won’t use (like I do on vacation).

My mom and dad are on their way over here from Alabama. They will be hanging out with The Boy and all the fur children for the next five days.

I met with Molly from WDesign Landscape, Inc., earlier today. We reviewed the plans for the Hotel Yorba Landscape project. She is really excited about the coop/run project. We discussed how we could reuse the wood from the swing set and cedar fence. The fence people will start next Tuesday or Wednesday and the rest of the project will start later next week. I will try to take some pictures. Can’t wait till it is all done!

Not sure how much posting I will do while in the hospital. I will try to take more pictures this time. Take care Readers!!

Waking Up is so Hard to Do….

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Reader’s!

Is it me or is it almost impossible to wake up on a Tuesday after a long weekend? I love long weekends but waking up is so tough and now for the rest of the week I will be thinking it is one day behind. I have a lot to do in the next two days. I have three conf. calls for work, trades to make, follow-up letters to write, house to vacuum, laundry to wash, bathrooms to clean, grocery shopping and packing for my trip to the hospital. Pickles. Life suddenly got very busy after being lazy for three days. Does this happen to you too?

IMG_2825

Now that Labor Day is over, I am ready for Fall. I am. Like right now. Let’s close up the pool, pack away the shorts and pull out the jackets and jeans. Fall is my favorite season and I am ready for it to begin now. However, living here in the ATL, I think I have to wait a bit longer. Other than rain, the temperature for the rest of the week will be in the high 80’s. I will have to wait for my mid 60’s.

Whatcha Reading?

I have not been in the mood to read anything since I started chemo. I think the chemo makes it hard for me to focus on one thing for too long and I found it impossible to concentrate on reading. My friend Jennifer C. had suggested the book The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. I started reading my last time in the hospital but couldn’t get into it. This weekend I tried again and had a very hard time putting it down. The story is about a groups of friends growing up in the 70’s and follows their lives, through marriages, break-ups, politics, AIDS etc., to present day. I really enjoyed it even though I did not really like a few of the characters. I finished the book yesterday and decided to give another one of hers a try. I am now reading The Wife and am liking what I have read so far.

Question

What is your favorite season? Why?