Say hello to my little friend…

My little friend...

My little friend…

So I made through day One of seven Readers…and I feel fine! We head to the doctor around 10:30. My blood work cam back loping good. White blood cells up since my camping trip with the 30 degrees at night during 24 Hours of Booty. Told the doctor about and totally threw The Boy under the bus saying he insisted we stay. What a good mom I am. The Boy had to come with us since he is on Fall break and does not go back to school till Wednesday. What a way to spend your break!

The Boy an Me

The Boy an Me

Dr.D seemed very happy with how I was feeling, my blood work and the fact my pain had lesson. After this treatment is over on Sunday, will go in on Monday to get “MLF” taken off and then later in the week more blood will be drawn. I will have a CT scan on the 27th and go in and see her on the 31st. I feel good about this treatment so far. More so then the trail I was undergoing. Last year, when I was on this treatment, my coughing went down after the first round. I didn’t have a bad cough but what I had has lesson and Dr. D. heard less wezzing in my lungs. Plus, the pain had tone down makes me feel optimistic. I try to not too lingering on this feeling. I want to be very cautious going forward one.

Day 2- Like this morning I had a coughing fit, just out of the blue, no warning. So who know what is going on with me. Sleeping with “MLF” wasn’t to bad at all. I just took him off and laid him next to me. I did have to wake up and the middle of the night to pee but more than in the hospital.

My Boys one is reading the Hardy Boys book.

My Boys one is reading the Hardy Boys book.

Three hours later…I am tired and have had two more coughing fits. I was going to drop off the boy to Math tutor because I wanted to talk to her but I can’t because I am not doing well at all. I have a powerful cough medicate that will knock me out and I think that is what I will have have.My temp is a 99. Pickles!

It counties to rain here in ATL. Hope our friends out west are safe and sound. May you all have a peaceful evening.

Opps…Got that wrong.

Oh Readers, I made a boo boo. Or I was just misinformed. Or I wasn’t paying attention. I called my doctor’s office today to get an update on my blood work. First of all, it turns out that I should have stayed and waited for the results and go over them with the nurse. Opps. No one told me that. Turns out everything looks ok. My white blood count was a bit low but not low enough that I need a blood transfusion. That is good news. But then she tells me my chemo is next week! The 13th!! Wait?! What?! I was under the impression that I would get three weeks off. She said Dr. D. wanted me to check into the hospital on Monday. Wait?! What?! I thought we were going to try out-patient. Help!  As you know, I  wanted, needed, it to be out-patient. The Boy did not do well with me being gone and him not being able to come into my room and spend time with me. FaceTime is great and all but it does not compare to actually being there with him. So I asked the nurse to ask Dr. D. about the out-patient plan.

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And she said yes! I will have to go in for 7 days straight for a 3 hour chemo treatment. It will be a long week but I will be able to sleep in my bed and pee in my bathroom and not have to write it down every time I go. Both HUGE things. I will be hooked up to fluids and medicine via my port while I am not getting my chemo treatment. What does that mean? I will carry a little purse thing that will be hooked up to an IV that will run to port (I will post pictures). That means no showers. Stinky! Sponge baths for me for the week.

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No baths for me!

I look forward to telling Dr. D. how I am feeling, especially about how my pain has gone down. I still have pain but I am not taking as many pain killers throughout the day and that makes me very happy. I am sleeping better, not having as many night sweats and not having to take naps during the day. Now, I am guessing when chemo starts back up, all that will go out the window but I am enjoying it now!

Tomorrow is Friday! Yeah! We love our Friday’s here at Hotel Yorba. I hope you all have a great one and a nice weekend. Be good. Be safe.

Team Shay Warriors Facebook Page

Readers! It was chilly in the ATL this morning. I am in charge of dropping off The Boy to school for the week. My Man has to be downtown by am for a work function. it was pretty dark out too. It always feels strange to drop off your son at school in the dark.

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After I posted my last post I realized I forgot some information. I will blame it on chemo brain. First of all, Team Hotel Yorba! It was made up of My Dad, my friend Alan V. and Me. As I told you yesterday, I rode 3 miles. My dad rode 30 miles and Alan V. knocked it out of the park by riding 101 miles!! Wait? What? Yes people 101 miles. He was a rock star. I am hoping we can count on him for next years team.

Those I ride for!

Those I ride for!

I have already signed up for the 2015 24 Hours of Booty and set up a Team page. This year we will be called Team Shay Warriors. I started a Team Shay Warriors Facebook page so make sure you do check it out and like us. I will be posting about fundraising for 2015 24 Hours of Booty. I also want to post positive cancer related stories, ideas, suggestions etc. I want it to be a happy place where people can go and smile. If you come across any story, organization, group etc., that would fit on our page, let me know. I will also take cute cat pictures because who doesn’t love those.

I am feeling pretty good. I think my pain has eased off (hard to tell when you are taking pain meds). I am not taking as many pain pills as before. Does that mean the tumors are shrinking? The one on my back still seems to be the same size…I think, it is hard to tell. My breathing is betting better. I still get short of breath but the weezing has gone away. My cough has also all but disappeared. The main thing I am dealing with now, is my mouth. It is killing me. Brushing my teeth (even with my super awesome soft toothbrushes from Jennifer C.) hurts like hell. I am not sure if I am doing all that great of a job. My gums are so sore so eating is tough too. It should only last a few more days (I hope) if memory serves me right.

I know that many of you have donated to my 2014 ride and I do not expect you to donate to my 2015 ride till 2015 (please!) but I wanted to put my page link out there. Remember, it’s a tax right off! My personal 24 Hours of Booty page. If you know of any organizations that donate money for charitable organizations, please let me know. I know my company and My Man’s company match donations. I hope you all had a great Tuesday.It was supposed to rain here in the ATL but the sun is still shinning.

Be Safe and Be Good Readers!!

Team Shay & 24 Hours of Booty!!

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Awesome

Awesome

Readers! What weekend I had! It started out on Friday with my Facebook exploding with photo’s of some of you wearing Warrior Team Shay T-shirts and a video to go along with it. WOW! I was in shock, awe and tears! Lots of tears. You guys are the best! A big shout out to Calanit H., who brought you all together, Jaime G., for creating the video and Brad & Angie H. for making the T-shirts and bracelets. It really means a lot to me and my family, I can’t even begin to tell you. Y’all are super crazy and I love it.

Booty Swag!

Booty Swag!

On Friday my dad and I went and picked up our swag bags from Peachtree Bikes for 24 Hours of Booty!! Since I had so many generous people in my life, I ended up reaching the $3,000.00 donation designation. I got an awesome biking jersey and 24 Hours of Booty Jacket. I think my dad was a bit green with envy. The people at registration were super nice. I ended up showing them my video that was made and they put it on the Booty Website! How cool is that! Friday was a rainy day but the weather forecast was saying that Saturday and Sunday would be ok.

Team Hotel Yorba

Team Hotel Yorba

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Our tent in Bootyville!

Our tent in Bootyville!

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Teammate Allan

We got to Bootyville around 10:45am and found that many people had already put up their tents and were chilling out. The tent I ended up getting was pretty damn big. I mean, we could have hosted and family of three in the damn thing. I give us (my dad and My Man did 99%) a A- when it comes to putting it together. I think out little homestead was super nice…when the sun was out and the wind wasn’t blowing our tent over. The ride started at 2pm. The sun was out but the wind was out too. Very windy and chilly.

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Allan and I waiting for the ride to begin.

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Dad and I are ready!

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We are off!

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My Dad

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My goal was to ride one lap. I didn’t think it would be a big issue till a few days before the ride aka less than a week after chemo. Ugh. Can’t breath. Walking up the stairs, to the bathroom, ANY WHERE and had me almost gasping for breath. That and my left leg was acting up. It was swelling and since it is stuck inside my prosthetic there is no where for it to go. It hurts people, really hurts. Burns. Well, that was happening the day of the ride up until the start. I was very worried. My parents and My Man were telling me I didn’t have to ride but I really wanted to. I wanted to prove it to myself that I was stronger than cancer and my disability. That neither of them were going to stop me. I started off pretty good. We hit a small hill and a sharp right turn right away. There were some nice down hills in the beginning too. My leg stopped hurting once I started biking. Yeah! My breathing…not to much. It was hard to breath but the down hills seemed to be placed at the perfect time for me to recover. We came to a right turn by the Library and I thought we were almost done. I was like “Yeah! I will do another lap. No problem.” Then they made us turn left. “No! I want to go straight!” The left turn was into a very hilly neighborhood that had three areas of cobblestones. Cobblestone! What is this, the Tour de France? It was tough for this rider. My two fellow teammates, who did not leave my side the entire time, kept asking me was I ok. What was it? The heavy breathing? The fact that my bike was barely moving and I was ready to fall over, that concerned them. I told them I was ok and that I would not stop. And I didn’t. I did not stop and soon we made our way to the finish line. I had done it! I finished a lap and I got off that bike, sat down and did not move for 30 minutes. I think it took that long to get my breathing back to normal.

I did it!

I did it!

Throughout the day some friends came out to visit. It was so nice for them to show up and support Team Hotel Yorba! Thank you!

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I ended up winning the Rookie of the Year award! Wait What? Yes! Because of my wonderful friends and family I raised $3,100.00 and won award. How cool is that?

Rookie of the Year!

Rookie of the Year!

The weekend was great. The weather was cold. My Man, The Boy and I slept in our tent Saturday night and almost froze our asses off. It was so cold. My mom and dad did the smart thing I drove back to our place but The Boy wanted to stay, so we stayed. Next year if it is that cold we are not staying. Looking back on it, I should have gone home. Not the smartest thing for a girl under going chemo to do.

We are already planning on next years ride and fundraising. We want to be the number one team next year in fundraising. The top teams this year aren’t even from the ATL! What? What? That can’t happen next year. So, if you want to join our team let me know. I will be registering for the ride soon and will set up our team. I think we are changing the name to Team Shay Warriors. What do you think?

Hallucinating fish…

So, how am I supposed to come up with a blog post after the Happy Anniversary post My Man wrote. I can’t even think of it without starting to cry, let alone try to read it again. How sweet was it?! OMG! He shocked the hell out of me with that post. He. Is. The Best.

Readers, it has been a crazy couple of days since I got back home from the hospital. It was wonderful to come home on Saturday and to see The Boy, Timber, Panny and Simon. I missed them all so much. I did not have the strength to go up and see the girls. Sunday we just layer around and watched football. The Boy stayed snuggled up close to me most of the day. Towards the evening my back started to hurt and it just got worse. By Monday I was a mess. Really? My back? Ugh. As I write I still have some issues with it. I would say I am back to 85%.

Welcome!

Welcome!

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My home for the next five days.

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Goodie bag,

Monday was a mess. I could hardly walk and had a very hard time finding a comfortable position to lay/sit in. And I was so weak. We are talking about heavy breathing after using the restroom! I couldn’t catch my breath for the life of me. I took my pain pills and tried the heating pad. My assistant told me she puts ice on her back so I thought I would give it a try. Felt pretty nice! I think I will stick with ice.

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Other than my back, I have been ok. I have nausea, it a lot worse this time then last summer. I think that this is because I was given a bigger and stronger dosage. I just feel really weak. I have a some night sweats, and a few crazy dreams. No zombie ones yet. I do think I hallucinated while I was in the hospital the last night I was there. The floor in the bathroom was moving. Looked like the pattern turned into the bottom of  the ocean with moving fish!

Thank You Amy!

Thank You Amy!

Visitors!

Visitors!

Hi.

Hi.

Shout Outs!

Calanit H.- Thank you for your visits at the hospital and the magazines!

Rebecca, Amy & Tommy- Thank you for your visits, magazines, lunch and deserts!

Jennifer P.- Thank you for coming to visit me and for watching The Boy for My Man and I. You are wonderful!

Brooklyn Cafe- We have been going to the Brooklyn Cafe for dinner and lunch for years now. The are a local restaurant here in Sandy Springs. We have become friends with Jeff (owner) and the whole staff. They found out that I was in the hospital and came over on Saturday with a dinner which included a grilled artichoke, two steak salads, key lime pie and wine. How nice!! The salad and artichoke were so yummy. We didn’t drink the wine. Going to wait will we can enjoy it.

So Awsome!! Thanks Pat!!

So awesome!! Thanks Pat!!

Pat H.- It is so cool! Thank you Pat! What a wonderful anniversary gift. I can’t wait to start a fire, lie on the couch and watch some Sparty football! There will be fights over this one.

I am hoping to feel better tomorrow and then even better on Friday. This weekend is 24 Hours of Booty!! We got a tent and I am mentally packing (BTW-mentally packing is much easier than packing). If you still want to donate you can! Good night Readers!

 

Happy Anniversary

This is Justin. I’m hijacking Shay’s blog today to wish her a happy anniversary. We’ve been married for fourteen years. Most of that time, she’s been battling synovial sarcoma, a rare and scary type of cancer. That disease exacts a heavy toll and demands a lot of sacrifices. A lesser person might retreat from the world and it would be understandable.

Justin & Shay

Instead, Shay faces every challenge with courage and grace and there seems to be no limit to everything she accomplishes while she is fighting this battle. Many of you know her so you know what I’m talking about. Some of you may not so I put together a list of things you should know about my wife.

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  • My wife is a wildly successful businesswoman
  • My wife is an excellent mother and does most of the hard work raising our son (I’m in charge of math homework and sex ed.)
  • My wife manages our home practically by herself (I’m relegated to moving heavy objects and Aidan is, well, useless)
  • My wife does a great Mitch McConnell impersonation. Next time you see her, you should ask her to do it
  • My wife has a kind, generous heart (please stop sending her pictures of stray pets that need homes!)
  • My wife once drank a Dos Equis with The Most Interesting Man in the World – and found him to be a tedious bore

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  • My wife is sexy and fun
  • My wife transformed me from an insufferable tool into the reasonably decent man that you all have begrudgingly learned to love
  • My wife is better than your wife. Just kidding. (No I’m not)
  • My wife is the bridge that connects me to the rest of the world

What I really want to say to my wife, Shay, is this: For fourteen years, our marriage has been a seamless masterpiece. That is no surprise. We love all the same stuff: Indie rock, drinking in fancy restaurants, House Hunters reruns, and each other. We’ve had a great time, but there’s a lot more to come. I have it all planned out. I won’t go into all the details here, but I’ll tell you how it ends: I die of a heart attack in 2059 while the two of us are engaged in a relatively exotic and certainly ill-advised episode of gross old people sex. In the meantime, though, there’s a lot of living to do together. First I need you to beat the shit out of this FUCKING cancer. Seriously. It’s enough with that nonsense already. I know it is becoming a little more difficult and a whole lot scarier lately, but I’ll be at your side the whole time. Let’s get it done for good this coming year. I love you. Happy anniversary.

Four Down, Three to Go…

Happy Thursday Readers! It is almost Friday! Woot! Woot! Even though I am in the hospital, I am excited it is almost Friday. It means I will be one day closer to getting home. I am due for my 5th cycle of chemo tonight. I will have two more cycles to go through for a total of seven, one more than last summer. Dr. D. is going hard-core which is fine by me. I can take anything they can dish out.

I got a better nights sleep last night. No blood transfusion to keep me up. I slept from 12:30 to 4am and then from 4:30am to 8:15am. My Man came in shortly afterwards with coffee and breakfast. He is so sweet. I was able to make my conference call although I was a bit late since they were setting up my chemo. Afterwards I hit a wall and passed out. I slept through my friend, Calanit who came down to visit me! Boo! But I was tired and you got to get the sleep when you can get it.

Later my friend Jennifer P., who has been a saving grace, came to see me. She has been picking up The Boy and having him over after school since Tuesday. He even had his guitar practice there. It’s a good thing our boys have the same teacher and on the same day. She has just been so great to us.

Guess who I just saw?!? The Boy! My Man picked him up and brought him for a visit. We had to meet in the family waiting room. It was full of a few families but we had space. I miss him and being with by boys and the fur kids. I miss my bed. He seems to be ok, kinda sad but ok. He, like me, are hoping that I get to go home on Saturday. Then I will have three weeks of normalcy. i will still have to go in once a week for labs but I think I can handle that.

There is a chance, a chance that if I do well that I may be able to do my need treatment out-patient. For seven days I would go into the hospital for three hours for my chemo. Then I would wear a purse like think what would have my mesna and fluids in it that I would be hooked up to. This way I could go home!! How awesome would that be? Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

So Dr. D. just came in and sat down with me for 25 minutes to talk. Told me the difference in sarcoma vs breast or lung cancer. Talked about genetic testing. How I was feeling. Anything and everything! Wow. It is almost 9pm and she was in no rush.

Have a Happy Friday Readers!