It has been awhile…

Two Boys in the City having fun!

Two Boys in the City having fun!

Readers! I know I have been away for a bit. Last week was spent in the hospital for Cycle 4. They didn’t kick me out! The chemo went on fine but I did have a few issues. I threw up on Wednesday or Thursday (I can’t remember). I had also thrown up the morning before I checked in. I think that messed up my nerves/ribs/something because all hell broke loose on Thursday evening. My back and under my ribs were on fire. I was put on oxygen because I had problems breathing. They took an EKG to check my heart. They did a CT scan to check lungs. Everything came back fine. I asked for lots of pain killers and got some. Finally after one sleeping pill didn’t work they got a stronger one and it knocked me out. The pain lessened but was still worse than it was before I went into the hospital. It flared up again on Monday afternoon. Wasn’t as bad but still bad.

Thankfully the last two days have been good. Hopefully whatever got messed up or moved around has settled back in place and I can enjoy starting to feel better. I won’t go back into the hospital till the 6th of January. I am looking forward to steering clear of that place! Here are some pictures from the past week and a half. Please note, not all were taken by me. My friend Jennifer P. provided me with some.

He did a great job!

He did a great job!

Getting ready to paint

Getting ready to paint

From some lovely ladies.

From some lovely ladies.

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Shout out to my lovely friends who bought me a Christmas bracelet and a WONDERFUL wine sippy cup! Perfect!

Yummy!

Yummy!

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Out with friends.

Out with friends.

Cooking Saturday night dinner.

Cooking Saturday night dinner.

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So cute!!!

So cute!!!

Finally feeling better and festive.

Finally feeling better and festive.

I have a few days to try make sense of Christmas. Oh I hope I make it through! Be Good Readers!

It’s that time again…

The huge, cold pool.

The huge, cold pool.

Hi Readers! How are you? How was your Thanksgiving? We had a nice time down on the Florida Panhandle visiting with my parents, brother and his family. The Boy had a blast with his cousin Emma and Papa. Those three had some fun adventures on their bikes. The Puppy had a blast too. Nice long walks, new smells to smell, playing with his two puppy cousins and of course stealing a bite of the sweet potato casserole off the counter on Thanksgiving. Puppy likes toasted marshmallows!

Hanging on the deck.

Hanging on the deck.

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Hi!

Sleeping right next to mom.

Sleeping right next to mom.

My Man and I were able to check out some nice returns for lunch and dinner. This year we stayed further down 30A near Rosemary Beach. My brother and his father recently moved into a home they built down there. There were a bunch of new restaurants for us to check out and of course, we couldn’t go to them all! We always run out of time. Boo!

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Me like!

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The sun is out but still kinda chilly.

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After day 1 the sun came out but it was still kind of chilly. At least it was for me. I seemed to be cold the whole trip. I read that it will be in the 70’s there this week. Pickles.

It’s that time again…

I will be checking into the hospital today at 11am for my 4th round of chemo. I will have chemo every 12 hours. The 8 day out-patient chemo I was doing has proven to be too much for me. I should hopefully get to come home on Saturday, just in time for the SEC Championship. That is was I keep telling myself. My Man will not be able to stay with me at night but should be able to visit me for a few hours each day by working from the hospital. The Boy and I have already planned some FaceTime dates and hopefully he will be able to come visit me one night after school in the “family guest” area. Please keep your thoughts and prayers with My Boys.

I am trying to have a positive out look on this trip to the hospital. That chemo is a good thing (like my friend Geri tells me), it is the thing that is going to kick these tumors ass. That I have been through this before and survived it…and will do it again. I am able to block out the negative thoughts most of the time but as I get closer to chemo the thoughts creep back in and I know by Day 3, I will be a blubbering mess. Ugh! While you are praying for My Boys, through a few in for me.

Be good this week Readers!

Brrrrr…..It be Cold!!

It took 9 years but his first "real" winter coat.

It took 9 years but his first “real” winter coat.

Brrrrr!!!! It’s cold here in ATL Readers! What’s up with that? The last two mornings The Boy has stated he wants to move to Miami. The ATL is too cold for him. The water in The Girls coop has been frozen the last two mornings and even the door to the nesting boxes takes some real effort to open. Now, I have seen the pictures from western NY and that is why I will now shut up about how cold it is here. But really, why to people live up there???

Me and Calanit

Me and Calanit

The ladies

The ladies

Monday night I got to go out with the ladies for dinner. We celebrated three birthdays, drank wine and had some yummy food. First of all, it was nice to feel up to going out at all. But most of all it was nice to meet and talk about other things than cancer. It was nice to be reminded that I was a mother whose kid isn’t the only one who drives her crazy or a working woman who has concerns about her job. You know Normal stuff. Thanks ladies.

Timber Update

Timber continued to have problems over the weekend and into Monday and Tuesday, although it seemed he was doing a little better. I ended up taking him to the vets office on Tuesday after I picked up The Boy from bus stop. The Vet said he saw a lot of dogs come in with issues like Timber was able to give him some med’s and very bland food. On Tuesday night My Man got up with Timber two times to let him out of the house, so no mess ups in the kitchen. Since the med’s and the bland diet he has been feeling much better. He is back to sleeping through the night. I think he is ready for his trip to the beach! Woot! Woot! Puppy!

Labs Update

I went in for labs yesterday and am happy to say everything is up! Now, not everything is back to normal but since I have had gone through three rounds of chemo they were not expected to be. I am feeling much better. It is like night and day. I think back about how I felt last Wednesday and compare to now and it is mind-blowing. Chemo is some really rough stuff. What it does to your body and mind is so hard to begin to explain it. I guess you must have been through to even begin to imagine.

I will check into the hospital on Dec. 2 for my 4th round of treatment. My Man and I talked about and we both think it is best that I go into the hospital. The treatment will take almost half the time since I will have the chemo every 12 hours instead of once a day. We are mainly concerned about The Boy. He is not happy that I will be going in for treatment. One night he laid in bed with me and just cried on my shoulder. I tried to explain the reasons why I am going to go in but to a 9-year-old all he hears is mom won’t be here. Poor boy.

I will be MIA for a week…do not worry! I will try to post with pictures of turkey and a happy puppy playing at the beach before my hospital visit. I wish y’all (who celebrate, I know we have a least one Canadian out there) a Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your family and give them a little extra love next week. Enjoy the food and drink. Enjoy the Football….RTR!!!! Enjoy yourself!

 

Chemo Free…for awhile.

Timber and I on our way to work!

Timber and I on our way to work!

Readers! Happy Sunday! The sun is out here in a chilly ATL. I won’t complain about the cold, I know it is snowing in other parts of the country so I will keep my mouth shut. How are y’all feeling? Me? So much better. Life is so much better when you are not on chemo. My Man and two friends who had seen me on Wednesday said I looked liked new person on Friday. I felt like a new person! It is amazing what a few days can do to a person. We went to see Dr. D on Thursday and where I felt better, I was still feeling kinda run down. My labs showed it. My white blood cell count was low and my hemoglobin was 8.4. I knew in my heart that it would not go up in a week and agreed to a blood transfusion. I was not going to make that mistake again. We are going out-of-town for Thanksgiving and I did not want to mess up our travel plans and I have a very busy week next week at work. So, I spent my Saturday at Northside Hospital.

Saturday and the hospital.

Saturday and the hospital.

Remote, ice water and hot coco.

Remote, ice water and hot coco.

Didn't think ahead and got my IV in my right arm. Shit.

Didn’t think ahead and got my IV in my right arm. Shit.

Thank you for those who donate.

Thank you for those who donate.

My RN, Georgia, and was pleasant to work with. Readers, why does everything in the hospital have to take so dam long? I was planning on going to Target when I was done because it has been over a week since I had been there, and they miss me. But no. No Target for me. I got to Northside at 10am and did not get home till 4pm. 4pm!!! WTH? Thank God I had a TV but still. My butt was numb by the time I got out of there.

When I got home My Man had lunch/dinner in the oven for me. So nice. He even roasted me carrots (which were very yummy). Today I feel very good. The transfusion worked. I will be heading back to the Dr. on Thursday to get labs done. Fingers crossed that they have improved.

Poor Puppy

Poor Puppy

Readers, Puppy is not feeling well. The last two mornings we have woken up with the smell of shit in the air. Not Good. I can’t begin to describe what we woke up to. Let’s just say after Saturday morning, My Man and I have changed our Christmas gift plans and will be giving each other new carpet in the rec room. Merry Christmas to us.

Last night we made a point to shut the doors to the carpeted rooms downstairs. Good thing we did. When I walked into the kitchen I was overtaken with the smell of shit. OMG. I can’t believe what I saw on the floor. I almost took a picture. I kid you not. I was like “I need to put this on the blog”. Don’t worry, I talked myself out of it. You’re welcome. It was 7:45am and I will admit that I did not want to deal with this. I had just taken two pills for nausea for goodness sake!  So I called up to My Man (who was sleeping in bed) to tell him what I had found. In my defense, I did clean up a little of it but I soon escaped to the bathroom and let My Man clean it up. Yep, I totally bailed and left it up to My Man to clean the poo. He also cleaned up the rec. room mess that day before but I was getting ready to leave for my day at the hospital so I really couldn’t help.

On Monday I am going to try to get him into vet. I hope he doesn’t have a repeat performance tonight. He is going on vacation to the beach and I know he wants to feel his best (and we can’t have an explosion at the rental). Please send some good vibes to Timbers belly.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday Readers. Be good and hug those you love.

Seven days of chemo in review Part 2

Day 2

Day 2

Day 3

Day 3

My poor tummy

My poor tummy

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The shots are taking it out on my Tummy. I have few days I where will be having to take three shots a day. We are running out of places to give them. My Friend Judi R. suggested some lotion to use before and after each shot. I just got mine. I hope it helps.

Day 4

Day 4

Dozing

Dozing

It is starting to affect me Readers. I have had some meltdowns, even in front go my SIL. When you are on chemo it makes you think about being sick and what may happen in the future, which scares the shit out of me. I try not to think about it but it is so hard not too. So then I cry and I know it upsets My Man, me thinking of those things we can barely say.

Day 5

Day 5

Day 7---All done except for my little friend.

Day 7—All done except for my little friend.

Day 7 is done. I still have my little friend with me. My Friend Rebecca is going to come pick me up at 11am take me to get it taken off. Woot! then I will be really free. Having Robin here this past week help out a lot. I was so sad to see her go (country music and all)!! But after talking it over with her, My Man and my folks I have decided to take my next treatment at the hospital. It is just too much on me. Seven days and having to get up and get there, still try to be a mom and a wife cause I can’t help but too when I am home, it is too much on my body and my mind. I know it will suck for the boy but we can face time and he can visit.

I almost wrote happy Friday since I have no idea what day it is. You get lost in this world of chemo. It is Tuesday. Have a happy Wednesday. Thank you for all your good wishes and prayers. They really mean a lot to me, it is all kind of overwhelming.  Thanks.

Seven days of chemo in review Part 1

Chemo Day 1

Chemo Day 1

Wait...this isn't chemo!

Wait…this isn’t chemo!

Nope, no chemo for me on Monday. My hemoglobin dropped from a 8.1 to 7.1 in three days. Instead the doctor ordered a blood transfusion. I can’t begin to tell you how happy I was that Robin was here with me. We had to go to Northside Hospital to get my blood tested and typed. We then had two hours to kill. We arrived back at 1pm ready for the transfusion, except they were not ready for me. I didn’t get my blood till around 2:30. By then we were both beginning to lose it. Thankfully we did not have any other problems and got home around 6pm. It was a long day.

The Real Day 1

Day 1 again. All good to go!

Day 1 again. All good to go!

All done with Day 1!

All done with Day 1!

Day 2

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We got a meal delivered to us from Instead of Flowers (thanks Geri & Bob) last night for dinner. It was good and so nice to not have to worry about making something. The Boy was able to take leftovers for lunch, which was cool.

Dinner!

Dinner!

After dinner I went to wash my face and afterwards my pumped started beeping. I read the screen and it read “high pressure”. I had no idea what that meant so I ran downstairs to let My Man and My SIL know what was going on. I got the booklet and of course there was nothing about “high pressure” in it. There was at 1800 to call, so I got them on the phone, it was just an answering service. While I was on the phone I realized the front of my shirt was wet. I was leaking! I looked down and realized that my IV needle was not fulling in my port. So, while on the phone, I pushed the IV needle thing back into my chest and the pump stopped beeping and the started working again. WTH??? Yeah ok. We were kind of worried that it would pop back out so we grabbed the old trusty duck tape and taped in down.

Classy

Classy

The crew today were shocked to hear what happen. The pumped worked fine while I was sleeping, so there was no set backs. I was able to do a little work doing chemo but I did start dozing a little. I can tell I am getting a bit tired but over all I am doing ok. I took a bath this evening and the hot water felt wonderful. My SIL will be staying with us till Sunday. So awesome of her. She has been a lifesaver.

All fixed!

All fixed!

Tomorrow is Friday! Enjoy Readers!

Happy Sunday Readers!

Happy Sunday Readers!

How has your weekend been? Ours started out with great news from Dr. D. on Friday. There has been shrinkage! Woot! Woot! There are five tumors that they are tracking. In September one was as big as 9cm. 9cm! No wonder I was in so much pain. I can’t believe it was that big. That one has shrunk down to 5cm. The others have all also shrunk from the September CT scan. Dr. D seemed very pleased. We are all please but I am still freaking out inside. My Man says I need to enjoy the good news and keep thinking about it, not to about all the “What If’s ?” He is right, I do this in other aspects of my life. Something good will happen at work and instead of enjoying it, I think about negative things, “What if my practice doesn’t grow?” What I should be doing is focus on the positive. Ugh. I need to stop but how do I do that? Ideas?

Taken by Lynda Lou

Taken by Lynda Lou

The Boy had a wonderful Halloween. It was pretty chilly here but it did not stop The Boy and his friends from covering a good part of the neighborhood. Since Halloween was on a Friday, he got to spend a lot time trick or treating and got a lot of candy. Around 8pm it started to rain a bit but luckily no snow for the ATL.

Taken by Lynda Lou

Taken by Lynda Lou

My Man told The Boy that we would pay he 20 cents per piece he gave up to us. He was up for it and made out with enough candy and $12.00. We will keep some of that candy but we are also donating some of the candy to the troops. The Boys school is gather candy to send in gift boxes to our troops overseas. We are a gallon zip lock bag full to give.

Candy!

Candy!

My SIL is on her way down from MI as we speak to help us for the next week. We are going to go out to dinner tonight and then Round 3 begins on Monday. We have cleaned the house from top to bottom. We have gone to three grocery stores to make sure that we have enough for dinner, snacks and The Boys lunch. Laundry has been done and put away. We have done are best to make sure there will be nothing I may freak out about next week . Monday and Tuesday I should be ok. However by Wednesday it should start to hit me. Hopefully all our preparation will pay off.

The sun is shinning in the ATL right now. It is in the 50’s, up from yesterdays 40’s and no where as windy. Hope you all are doing well. Be well. Be Safe.