A New Week Begins

Today, I have a noon appointment to get my clotting factor measured.  I hope Dr. R. gets me set up at the Coumadin Clinic at Banner Baywood soon.  I'm almost out of veins to be tapped.


Tomorrow I'll see Dr. Fastenberg and we'll decide if I am well enough to return to my chemos.  Plus I want to see the final CT result for myself.  I'm so happy about the shrinkage of my adrenal gland tumor, and thankful for some good news for a change. :)


Nancy and I are going to make three-bean turkey chili for dinner tonight.  We're using black beans, kidneys and great northern beans.  Jane had made a bunch of sauteed veggies yesterday:  Asparagus, red onion, orange, yellow and red bell peppers and jalapenos.  We'll finish them off tonight.  Actually, I think they'd be great as a topper for the chili.


The turkey chili is a slow-cooker thing so we'll get that put together when we get home from the blood-letting.  It will make the house smell so good!


I'm feeling strong enough to take my walker to the lab today, rather than my scooter.  Even with the Handicapped parking space, their actual location withing the building they occupy is about as far in as you can get. :D  But I'm looking forward to walking on my own two feet.  Keep those blood clots at bay!!


Speaking of walking, I'm off to take a gander at my back garden.  It's nice and cool this morning, so I must take advantage of the temperature.


Love and hugs to all!

I Hate The Weakness

Yesterday, I was so weak I almost fell, so I'm using my walker around the house again.  And today, I fell asleep after lunch.  I hardly EVER sleep during the day, but I guess my body knows what it needs better than I.


Other than feeling pretty nasty, I've been spared many of the Xeolda and Camptosar side effects, at least so far.  Dr. F said we should do this regimen for four months and then get scanned again.  It's just so weird that this is my life; tons of drugs, days of not being well, then days of feeling great, and a vague disbelief that I'm even sick... until the cycle starts again.  Yeah, when the weakness hits, I feel like it's a precursor of the end of my days.  I can't do a damned thing.  Must be why I slept.


Is it strange that I think it's hilarious that I was so worried about the Esophageal Cancer, which is pretty much stabilized, and what's really going to get me is the Adrenal Gland Cancer?  Hey, but at least it has NOT metastasized yet.  Yes, see, you can tell when I'm not feeling very well, because I start to accept that mortality isn't all that bad.  When I feel good, I know I can fight for quite a while more.  It's normal; you feel physically bad, you feel mentally bad, and vice versa.


Anywho, the cycle of good days is about to come around any day now, and I'll be back to my old self.  Hopefully, I'll be good enough to run a dungeon with my sisters tomorrow. :)  Yes, we're making it a weekend ritual.  It's good for us; keeps us all connected, and works our brains, and I get to be the healer!  Maybe I can get some of that good healing juju to transfer from the PC to my poor cancer-riddled body. :D  I should try to get a good screen shot during a boss fight, so I can show you how we have fun.


Ok, hugs and kisses to all.  I'm going to go use up an Amazon gift certificate.  I think I hear something chocolate calling to me.....

A Curious Young Lady

While waiting to be called back to see Dr. Fastenberg, Jane and I were sitting in the waiting room when a child of about 3 or 4 (yeah, I kinda suck at figuring out the age of children... no frame of personal reference, you know) came walking up to ask what apparently was a burning question.


"Are you a boy, or a girl?"  Mom, sitting across the aisle was mortified.  I just answered the question.  "Well, I was hoping the sparkly pink earrings would give it away, and I know I don't have hair, but I really am a girl."


"Why don't you have hair?"


"I'm taking some medication, and it made my hair fall out, but it will be back."

She then eyed my pink walker, which I also assumed would be a clue to my gender, and we won't even mention that I do actually still have breasts...and asked, "And what is that for?"


Now, her mom is just shaking her head in resignation, at least happy that I am not taking offense at her inquisitive little darling.  "Sometimes the medicine I take makes me really tired, and I need to use this to help me to walk so I don't fall down."


And with her curiosity sated, she returned to mom who gave me a mouthed "Thank you." 


Listen, I figured if she was that curious, I just had to be up front with her.  But that's another by-product of never having had children; you tend to just treat them like adults.  I think they like it quite a bit, too.

That's a shot of my little Dwarf Shaman flying past the Twilight Hightlands at sunset.  Pretty!

Cumulative Effects of Chemo

Food is an abomination right now.  But sleep is coming pretty easily.  My stomach feels like it's tied in knots, and nothing tastes good.  Nancy made me a garden burger for lunch, but I could only get two bites down.  I did eat an entire Sargento Pepper Jack cheese stick, though.  YAY for protein.


I slept until almost seven AM, then I got down my plethora of pills with two pieces of toast.  And then I went back to bed and slept until Noon.  My strength is gone, and I'm wandering the house using a walker again.


Actually, I think I hear my bed calling out to me again.  "Come, sleep!"  "Rest more!"  Oh the temptation.  I don't feel sick while I sleep, but who wants to sleep away their life?  But I am so tired.


I'll post more tomorrow, or the next day.  I'm tired and I don't feel so hot.

The Pink Walker

For some time, now, I've had a pink Rollator that my sisters found, brand new, in a local thrift shop.  I used to use it for work, because though I have a rather splendid handicapped parking spot, (Thank you, Judy Smith) it's still a LONG walk from that spot up to my desk.  The walker has a seat, and a place to put stuff, like your purse and your laptop, because with my lungs, I can't carry much at all.

Since I've been doing the chemo and the radiation, I've mostly relied on my hecho en Mexico cane, that I love dearly.  But today, the walk from the parking lot into the building and down the hall to the PHLEBOTOMIST (oh yes, I still love that word!) was exhausting.  I felt like crying.  So, I decided it was time for the walker to make its appearance once again. 

So we got it into the back of my Equinox and Nancy and I headed to Ironwood for this afternoon's radiation.  And may I tell you how much happier I am using it again.  It's like an old friend.  It just makes me feel more secure, and with that handy seat... YAY!

Another exciting aquisition was some Xylitol mouth spray that I used just prior to radiation, and it was FABULOUS!  I didn't panic from my dry mouth or try to swallow convulsively.  Believe me, when it comes to radiation, you want to be very still.... so as not to move and get zapped in the wrong bits.  This would be bad.  Very bad.  Because you know, there are A LOT of VERY IMPORTANT bits in my chestal area. You know, lungs, heart... things like that. :D

Oh boy, tomorrow is marathon chemo day, but with my handy netbook, I'm sure the time will fly!  And two more radiations until the weekend... wooohooo!  I takes my excitement where I can gets it, these days. ;)

Hugs and kisses!