Monday, Monday!!

Readers! How are you doing? I am at home right now writing this post on Word again. I will be going into the office on Monday and will upload it to the blog from there. The last few days have been busy ones. My parents have been in town and were able to meet and discuss the clinical trail with Dr. D. My dad had a lot of questions and I think both he and my mom left the office feeling much better. I had blood drawn, gave a urine sample and had an EKG done before my mom and I left.

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I did find out that I am the first patient of Dr. D’s that was found for the trail. The trail is world-wide but very small due to the difficulty of find people like me. You know, one who kicks ass! Ha, just kidding. There are a lot of certain criteria that one has to fit and I guess I am the best one they have found so far. On Thursday, I went back for an Echo Gram to check out my how my heart is doing. I had this done about 2 months ago before I started the last chemo I was on. It is very normal for the to be done before each round of chemo. I will also have another CT scan performed. The one last week was only for the chest and for the trail they need to one of the chest, pelvic and abdominal areas. I had to drink contrast (which was mocha flavored and disgusting in the morning) and have been fasting since midnight last night. I am allowed to have little sips of water but no coffee. That is what is hurting the most. I am sure around 10:30 I will hit and invisible wall and want to pass out!

At my appointment on Tuesday we discussed my pain levels. I am feeling much better then I have been for the past few weeks. Right now I am taking 3 10mg of Oxycotin in the morning and evening and 1 5mg of Oxycodone about 2 to 4 times a day depending on my pain. I had been around an 8 throughout the day and now I have dropped to as low as a 3 sometimes! It is like a different world! Gold star for Dr. D!

The Boy, Best Friend and The Mom

The Boy, Best Friend and The Mom

The Boy has been having and exciting week thanks to my friend Jennifer (mom of best friend of The Boy) and my dad. On Tuesday night they went down to Centennial park and rode the huge Ferris Wheel they have there. They also played in the Olympic Water Rings.

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The Boy spent the night and then on Wednesday Jennifer, my Dad, The Boy, The Friend and The Sister all went canoeing on the Chattahoochee River. There were stops to islands, mud fights, water fights and ice cream involved. Good Times! Apparently The Boy packed for two nights so he spent the nights so he spent the night again. Trying to have as much fun as possible before school starts of Monday!

Another Proud Chicken Mama Moment

Zazzles & Terry Pete roosting!

Zazzles & Terry Pete roosting!

Poppey & Turbo not roosting.

Poppy & Turbo not roosting.

Not only are Zazzles and Terrance Peterson roosting, we have a new member of the family! My FIL, Bob, came down to visit us since it has been awhile since we have all seen each other. He had yet to meet The Girls, Timber or Panny. He is a reader of the blog and thought The Majestic need a rooster to watch out for the girls. Introducing Felix!

Keeping watch

Keeping watch

New home

New home

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Felix

Felix

I am at work getting ready to post this. I have a lot more to write but it did not save on my zip drive. Hopefully by the time I get home today the internet will be working and I can start posting regularly from home. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Updates! Updates! Updates!

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Panny hiding from the vet in her carrier.

 

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Nail trim

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Patchwork Panny!

Patchwork Panny!

 

August 3, 2014

Readers, I writing this post (at home on Word) in hopes I can post it while at work tomorrow since our internet at Hotel Yorba is still not working (using a flash drive). I wont get all into all the details but hopefully by the 11th of August our internet will be up and running again. There are a lot of things going on here and I feel lost not being able to blog about them and share it all with you. There are also picture I want to post, so those will be randomly posted too! I have decided to write a brief explanation and hopefully I will be able to share it with you all soon.

Zazzles and Terrance Peterson

I am proud to announce that Zazzles and Terry Pete have laid their fist eggs! Woot Woot! How awesome is that? The eggs are small and light brown. I am guessing has they grow their eggs will grow along with them. I am so proud of my girls. It was The Boy who went up to the Majestic for a visit while I was out doing errands today. He didn’t see Zazzles in the run so he opened the door to the nesting boxes and there she was! Just chilling out doing her thing. Once I got home he told me about what he saw and then ran back up to the coop and came down with three eggs. One was Turbo’s and then there were two tiny ones. Very excited for my young hens. Proud Chicken Mama!

The Elephant in the Room

Had to move to the special toothbrush and toothpaste.

Had to move to the special toothbrush and toothpaste.

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you know that my doctor’s appointment on the 31st did not go as we hoped it would. Long story short, the chemo I was on wasn’t working. My pain in/on my ribs was getting worse and I had been in a pretty shitty mood for the last two weeks. When we left that hospital I was scheduled to check into the hospital on the 4th of August to start the chemo I did last summer. You remember, I was in the hospital for 5 days, lost my hair and was a mess. Dr. Read did suggest I try to get a second opinion but in the meantime try the big guns chemo but even though it had worked in the past, there was no guarantee it would work again. My Man and I were very bummed out. I went home and went to bed depressed.

My sarcoma girls reached out to me and all suggested I meet with a Doctor who use to be at Emory Winship center but who moved to Duke Hospital (to do sarcoma research) and then moved to Northside’s Cancer Hospital here in the ATL. She is very well-known in the Sarcoma world (around the world) and basically saved one of the sarcoma woman’s life after all the other doctors gave up on her. The ladies really wanted me to meet with her. Since she was in the ATL, I figured I would try to meet with her before I try to go to NYC.

Fast forward to Friday around 11am. I wrote Dr. Read that I would like to meet with this new doctor, we will call her Dr. D., for a seconded opinion. Within 30 minutes I talked to Dr. Read on the phone and he told me Dr. D wanted to meet with me that day. She is working on phase 3 of a clinical chemo drug for sarcomas and thought I would be perfect for the trial. The Boy and me met with her (had to cancel my nail appointment :)) and I really liked her and what she had to say about the trail and Phase 1 and 2.

So this is how things stand now. On Tuesday I will go in and give my written consent to participate in the trail. I will have a few tests done and then will be put in the system to see if I am randomly picked for the trail drug. If I am (she will be told) I will go the infusion center (sometime after the 11th of August) and have it given to me. It is out-patient deal. I will go in after a week or so to have blood work done and then after three weeks go back in for another infusion.  Phase 3 of a drug trail means they have had success with Phase 1 and 2 and are ready to bring it up in front of the FDA to get it on the market. They have been working on this drug for like 10 years.

If I do not get picked for the trail drug I will get a cocktail of chemo drugs that Dr. D. has already picked out for me. I will go in one day the first week and get one of the drugs. Then the second week I will get a mix of two drugs and the third week I will get off to either sleep, puke or work! Like with the trail drug I will be monitored. So either way, I will be getting chemo, a chemo the doctor thinks will work. She also mentioned getting me into a trail for a pill that they are working on to fight the growth of sarcoma cells in the first place. That would be great. Because we know that some chemo works for me, however new tumors keep coming back. That is what we need to fix.

She also discussed my pain issues with me. She wrote me a new prescription for a drug to take. She asked me to keep a pain diary and monitor my pain level and how much of the drug I am taking. I got the new pills on (Sunday) and am feeling better.  Of course I also went to Target to get a nice journal and new writing pens! Love an excuse to go to Target. (The Boy also needed new underwear!) I am still juicing and have stopped eating read meat, pork and chicken. I spent 30 minutes chopping up all my veggies and fruit for this coming week.  I feel I need to do my part in this fight of mine and I honestly believe it helps. I felt so good on Saturday after My Man and I made the decision to work with Dr. D. I woke up in less pain. Like the tumors know I am pissed and are going to fight! Little T wants to get better and is ready to work with me!

My parents were a little scared at the change of doctors but when they looked her up and read all about her they called and was like “She is famous for her work in the sarcoma world!” She is a sarcoma rock star. They are feeling much better about the new plan.

I feel good about this decision. The way that it all panned out, the speed that I was able to get in and meet with her; I feel it is meant to be. That this is a door God has put out in front of me and has given me a choice to open it. And I think opening the door was the right choice.

Shout Outs!

Everyone has been so supportive and caring on FB, via text, comments and email. I am not a telephone person, so I apologies for those of you who try to call but I was not in the mind-set to talk to anyone about anything and most of the time I was in bed sleeping!

There are a hand full of you out there that have helped me so much. I hope you know who you are and how much you mean to me. You are my rocks, you make me laugh, smile and give me strength. Thank you soooo much!!! And Karen, thank you for that e-mail and phone number. I owe you on….big time.

Readers! Not sure when I will be able to post again but the flash drive thing seems to be working. I hope you all have a great Monday morning!

Picture Time!

Reader’s!!! How the heck are all y’all? I am doing good. I am loving the weather that the ATL has been having the past few days. It looks like it will continue through the weekend too! We are having friends coming into town tonight and still have a lot of cleaning to do. I am feeling kinda tired right now but I am going to have to get passed it and vacuum!

Mustache Boy

Mustache Boy

This morning I was up and out early. I stopped by Dunkin Donuts to grad 50 donut holes for The Boys class. I then went to Home Depot to get more plants for around the pool and more cucumbers (I have a fear none of the other 5000 I have bought will grow!) then to Trader Joes to buy food for tomorrows party. I headed home and cleaned bathrooms. I really wanted to go to sleep! Instead I went back out and hung out with The Boy’s class and gave them donuts holes after they were done with their lunch for The Boy’s birthday. Their classroom had already been broken down. His teacher was so excited today was the last day. I bet she was!!!

Car full of balloons!

Car full of balloons!

After the school, I went to the $$ store and bought nine balloons for The Boy’s big day. Buying the balloons at the $$ store is the best deal! All the balloons are $1! You can’t beat it! Then it was time for my workout with SK. I was tired and my knee hurt but I made it through.

So soft!

So soft!

When I was leaving Austin bright and early at 6:30am last Saturday my Guru, Judi, came down to say goodbye. She was wearing these super cute PJ’s and I asked where she had got them. When I got back home I went straight to the website and order myself a pair (not the same pattern). They came today and I soooo wanted to put them on and climb into bed! Instead I put the in the washing machine and am typing away to y’all.

BFF's

BFF’s

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Timber and Panny

I love that picture of Timber and Panny. We were just hanging out in the screen in porch watching the baseball game. The weather was so nice, the toads were talking and the lights! Oh I love the lights!

My Man and his dog

My Man and his dog

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The rest of the day will be filled with cleaning and laundry. Our friends won’t get in till around midnight so I guessing I will be taking a nap at some point tonight. I hope y’all have a wonderful and safe holiday. If you see a service man or woman this weekend or have a grandparent or uncle or aunt or parent, go up to them or give them a call and say Thank You. If not for them, who know where we would all be!

 

It’s been one week….

…and about $2,100.00 worth of pills later and I am feeling fine. Pretty good actually. I get a little tired here and there (thank you Rebecca for letting take a nap at your house on Sunday!) and I am still taking my pills for the nausea. We are going back to see Dr. Read on the 12th. They will just take some blood and run tests on it. They will be checking my liver, kidneys and white blood cell count. At this point, I have no reason to think they won’t come out good.

Who doesn't love a picture of Panny?

Who doesn’t love a picture of Panny?

I do get sharp pains in my right side every so often. They remind my of the pains I would get in my left foot back when I had one. They feel like being stabbed with an ice pick (not that I know what that feels like!). It also seems that these pains usually happen when I am in the car! Not good.

Look! A Headband! And Hair!!

Look! A Headband! And Hair!!

On Saturday night My Man will be taking me out to dinner to Quinones at Bacchanalia for my birthday dinner. My big day isn’t till the 13th but I will be going out-of-town on the 14th. I can’t wait. I took My Man there for his birthday dinner last November. It was SO GOOD! I am really looking forward to it.

Bedtime #1

Bedtime #1

Zazzles and Terrance Peterson are moved into the Majestic. Turbo and Poppy still pick on them a bit. They want all the treats for themselves. I think they will soon find out that will not fly for much longer. Z and TP will continue to grow and soon will be the same size has Turbo and Poppy. They may have something to say about the sharing of treats then!

Sleeping in the nesting boxes.

Sleeping in the nesting boxes.

No matter how much I try, they all insist on sleeping in the nesting boxes!

Timber & BFF Rebel

Timber & BFF Rebel

Today is day 24 of my 30 day 10,000 step FitBit/LifeTime Fitness challenge. I have been doing pretty well so far. I am getting tired but I will not give up till it is done. Right now, I am in 7th place at my gym! Whoot! Whoot! I have no idea that I would even be in the top 10. After the challenge is done, I am going to take a day off but then try to hit the 10K mark five days a week.

Getting two new legs!

Getting two new legs!

I know many people can’t say it but I am getting two new legs soon! One with an everyday foot like the one I have now. I can move the heel depending on the height of my shoe heel. The other will be a “sporty” foot. One that I can work out in and that is extra bouncy and light. It was crazy switching between the two. This will be the first time I have a workout foot/leg. I can’t wait! I will take pictures of them when they are all done. I am hoping to get them by mid June.

Have a Happy Thursday!!

Know any bedtime stories for chickens?

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Good Morning Reader’s!

Happy Saturday! The sun is out here in the ATL this morning. It was nice to sleep in for a change. Today is day 3 of taking my $$$ pills. Yesterday morning I was a bit nauseous and didn’t think I was going to be able to make it to the gym for my workout. I took one of my pills left over from my chemotherapy treatments and it was able to settle my stomach. Even though I wasn’t in the mood to go workout with SK, I did and am happy I did. It was nice to see SK and to show the f-ing tumor that I was in charge!

Zazzles, Terry Pete & Turbo below.

Zazzles, Terry Pete & Turbo below.

What is he doing???

I just looked out my office window to see Timber digging a hole in the bushes. I think he got a whiff of a rodent and has a mission to make him his. I should probably go stop him before he digs a hole to China!!

On his way to China?

On his way to China?

For the past two nights Zazzles and Terrance Peterson have been sleeping in the big coop. I have had to put them in the coop and help them up onto the roosting bars which is pretty funny sight. Yesterday morning Timber and I went out to see how they made it through the evening. Turbo and Poppy were out and about but Zazzles and Terry Pete were still in the coop on the roosting bars! They wouldn’t come down! I had to use the pole of my rake to help them get down. Then they walked out the big door and hoped onto the top of the green run!

Zazzles, Terry Pete & Poppy down below.

Zazzles, Terry Pete & Poppy down below.

Last night I went up there around 8:30pm and they were on top of the green run like they were waiting for me to put them to bed! And I did. This morning Timber and I headed back out around 8:15am and there they were still in the coop. I told them that they were going to have to figure it out for themselves. I waited till about 9:30am before I went back out to check on them. They were out!! So proud of my little girls.

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Tonight will be the big test. Will they walk the plank up into the coop and fly up to the roosting bar? If I was betting on it, I’d say no. I think they will be sitting on top of the green run waiting for me to put them to bed and read them a goodnight story! What they don’t know is that tomorrow I will be moving the green run out of The Majestic. They are going to have to figure it out fast.

Happy Weekend Reader’s!!

The $75.89 pill…

Reader’s!

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This is what a $75.89 pill looks like. I thought it would be bigger. And Orange. And Glow in the dark. Nope. Looks like an average pill. Let’s hope it doesn’t work like an average pill but like a SUPER pill.

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I got my pills around 11am today and took my four. I am to take them all at once (much easier) and on an empty stomach. So far I feel ok. My head is a bit fuzzy but I forgot to take my allergy pills and even though we have had a lot of rain over the past few days, the pollen is still out there.

Birthday

The Boy’s Birthday is coming up this month. Truth be told, The Boy has too much stuff as it is. I always get him clothes, he needs those but I really don’t want to by him stuff that he will forget about in a months time. So this morning I came up with an idea. The Boy loves animals, especially cute ones (who doesn’t?!). Recently I came across Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary in Australia. They take in hurt and abandoned farm animals and provide them a home and healthcare. In some cases they adopt them out. On the site they have a page where you can “sponsor” an animal on the farm. I took a look and have found the perfect one for The Boy for his birthday. Reader’s! Meet Boots!

Boots!

Boots!

Isn’t he the cutest thing ever?! Make sure you take a look at his video on the website. He jumps around like a jumping bean! I also love his sweater. I wish we could bring him home. Aidan will get a Welcome packet and then will be sent updates on Boots via e-mail for the year. I hope they send some pictures of him in his sweater with his friends! Such a cutie!

If you go checkout the website take a look at Little Miss Sunshine. She is a super smart Chicken. Check out her video.

I am happy that the weekend is almost here. I am planning on adding Zazzles and Terry Pete to the big coop and run permanently. My fingers are crossed. Zazzles and Terry Pete have gotten the hang of roosting and if they need to, they can hop up and get away from Turbo and Poppy. Hopefully they will get use to each other soon.

It’s that time again…

Good Thursday Reader’s!

I hope you all have been having a good week. Tomorrow is Friday and I can’t wait! I am planning on working in the garden this weekend. I have $20 gift card to Lowes and plan on buying some veggies for the garden.

Timber sleeping on the job @ my office.

Timber sleeping on the job @ my office.

It’s that time again…

Tomorrow, My Man and I head back to see Dr. Read for my two month scans. I will be getting a CT scan, blood drawn, port flushed and will see Dr. Read. Other then the pain is my shoulder, ribs (I am going to ask about that) and allergies, I feel fine! If you pray, please say a few words for my family and I. If you don’t pray, please send good vibes my way. Thanks!!

It took nine years…

New TV

New TV

Cozy for TV watching.

Cozy for TV watching.

Timber loves it already!

Timber loves it already!

…but we finally got a TV out on the screened in porch. Woot! Woot! I am so happy. Direct TV came out and fixed it all up for us. We were also able to get a new DVR and can now record 4 shows at once! Plus you can access all your recorded shows from any TV in the house.

Zazzles and Terry Pete Update

The two little girls are doing great. They are still being separated from Turbo and Poppy. I think they are all getting use to each other. They have been introduced to arugula, cantaloupe and honey-do. They really like the melon. At this point I am mainly worried about how Poppy will treat the little girls. Turbo just wants the food in their dish but Poppy seems to want to get up close and personal. Time will tell!

Hmmm....Lunch.

Hmmm….Lunch.

Reader’s, what are your plans for the weekend? For those of you up north, has the snow all melted? Have fun and Stay Safe!