Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Chemo #3, day 2 over and done with!

Today's treatment was a short one and not too bad. I had it on Tuesday because of the holiday yesterday. The girls had sleepovers last night and Caroline's sleepover became a "sleep-swap" . . . both girls are at our house tonight. John is heading back to work early in the am, so I'll be on my own tomorrow with all three . . . I may have to sneak some Benadryl in their toothpaste tonight so I'm not forced up at the crack of dawn! Shhh, don't tell anybody!

John has moved, errr, is moving into a new place for the season. It's a 2-bedroom mobile unit that's older and rustic, but really charming. I like it, and I'll like it even better once we add our own personal touches. Last weekend, me and the girls went up to clean and organize. And John is taking up a load of stuff tomorrow. We really could use a set of bunkbeds in the second bedroom because it's really small and cramped. Hopefully, we'll find something!

As for me, I'm feeling good. A little worn out from the busy weekend. But I was able to see a bunch of Cullasaja friends who I had not seen all year. We have such an incredible family up there. I am so thankful!

We are going to try to go back up this weekend and finish up the "cabin renewal"! Mom and Jan may come with us. Tyler and Ansley will be at their dad's for the weekend, so they won't be able to come. It's a new "living situation" for their family, one that's not the best. But they are adjusting, I think. Please keep Jan and the kids in your thoughts and prayers as they make this transition. They've been dealt an unfair hand and deserve much better.

Well, off to bed - hopefully the gaggle of girls has settled down by now!

Monday, May 23, 2011

CA125 is down even more!

It's now at 95. I'm still waiting for 34, which is normal. But I'm celebrating the milestones. Starting at 353, I think 95 is great!!!

Today I began treatment series #3. After June 6th, I'll be halfway done. Hoping done is DONE this time and scans come back clean in September!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Week off

This is my week off chemo and I am feeling really great. Getting things done and feeling productive. We are actually having a yard sale this weekend to try and make some cash for our beach trip. Come one, come all!!! We'll start it on Thursday and go til Saturday. We don't have too many valuable items, but lots of cheap junk for those that love bargains!! We actually have a lot of ladies and girls clothes. I am finally giving up on my size 4's and 6's. After hanging in the closet for years waiting on me to lose weight, they are ready to move on to a needy anorexic. Actually, some of the dresses are really nice and a few never worn (wishful dreaming on my part, I guess!).

The girls are doing great, just wrapping up the last few days of school. Their last day is next Wednesday. We are hoping to go up for a Highlands visit Memorial Day weekend. John has a place he is renting for the summer. I'd like to get up there and add my personal touches to it! We are looking for a sleeper sofa and a set of bunk beds to use for the summer, or to buy cheap. Anyone have any leads, message me!

Well, got a busy day today so I better get started. Right after I enjoy this yummy cup of DD coffee. I have to say the customer service industry has redeemed itself to me in the past few days. After buying a coke at a Burger King last week, I drove up to the window counting my handful of change. I didn't want to use my debit card for $1.92 and I never have cash. The nice lady told me as I was counting, "Just give me what you got, honey!" So I handed her my dimes and pennies and drove away. How nice was that! And this morning, at the DD, I misunderstood the guy on the intercom and was short 10 cents. I tried to give him a dime, but he just waved me on with a smile. Good Morning and God Bless to all who have a kind and generous heart! My goal is to pay it forward always!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Pharmacist called. Lortab is ready for pick up. Thank you, Lord, and sorry for the fit. Give my love to Jesus.

Patience

Normally, I am a pretty patient person when it comes to customer service type stuff. If an order at a restaurant is taking a long time, usually I won't complain (it's the "spit in your food" thing here!). Or, if a person checking me out is taking forever, I will stand quietly and maybe give her a look or smile to let her know I would like to get going. But I am a believer that if you get bad service you should be compensated in some way. That's why when I got an order of chicken wrong once and got all the way home before I realized it, when I drove back to the restaurant and went inside, I politely asked for a dessert to compensate for the gas it took to correct their mistake. What could they say? It was yummy, and all the better because I stood up for myself. But that was a rare instance, normally I assume the person is doing their best and cut them some slack, especially if they are pleasant about the whole thing.

But as I sit right now waiting for a prescription to be refilled, I find that I am losing my patience. It all started this morning when I arrived for my chemo treatment. I got there at 9am. My nurse had me prepped and ready in no time, all we were waiting on was the drugs. There is usually a chemo pharmacist on the floor who is outstanding! Her name is Suzanne and she is sharp as a tack!!! She knows everything about everything chemo! She's the one who gets the drugs ready and I have never had to wait. They are almost always ready before I am ready. Well, today Suzanne was not there. Apparently, she is not ever going to be there again. Something about working relationships, management . . . I don't know. I just know that I was the first patient to arrive that morning and I did not receive my chemo drugs until 11:10. I sat for 2 hours waiting and waiting. And when the bag did arrive it was only the Avastin, the Abraxane was still not ready yet. Usually, I get the Abraxane first and I like that because it means I can use my cold caps before they get too thawed. Well, not today! I asked my nurse what was the deal because she was as frustrated as me. She explained about the new pharmacist situation. I asked if this new situation was permanent. She said most likely. That doesn't make me happy. I don't know if I have enough patience to deal with a 2-hour delay every Monday! That's definitely going to eat into my patience bank!

So, that was this morning. Now it's 5:30 and my patience is being tested again. While I was waiting on the chemo drugs, I put a call into my dr for a prescription refill. It's for Lortab, a narcotic that helps with my cough and chest pain. I had to leave a message (of course!) and heard the recording say the Rx would be called in by the end of the day. John went to pick it up at 4:00, no Rx . . . no phone call, no message from the dr, nada! I called the dr back and had to leave another message with the same lady. After a half hour I called the pharmacy to see if it had been called in. Can you guess? No phone call, no message, nada once more! I called the dr back and after waiting for 10 minutes, she finally came to the line. I explained my situation and she transferred me back to Beth, the nurse practiioner whom I know very well. But once again, I had to leave a message. It is now 5:30 and I have heard nothing from no one. No return call to say it was called in, no pharmacy call to say it's ready, nada. And now my patience is NADA!

Maybe I'm just grumpy. With the weather getting warmer, my hot flashes are getting worse which makes me irritable like PMS. Maybe I just need to relax and chill out with a glass of tea. Writing this post has helped some, getting it all out of my system. Maybe I can take Tylenol tonight with my cough syrup (which I hate!) and that will be enough to get me through til morning. Maybe tomorrow, I'll feel up to taking up the fight for my drugs! I just wish all this could be easier. I'm probably spoiled by now - all the dinners brought to my door, all the offers to take my kids off my hands, all the housecleaning, all the monetary gifts that we've put to good use, all the help I can't even remember it all to list! It's like I'm not getting the princess treatment from the medical community like I've gotten from friends and family and I'm having a little tantrum about it! Oh well, like all tantrums, ignore them and they'll go away.

One good thing that's cheering me up is the fact that I have off for the next two weeks!!! YAYYYYY!!! Today was the third dose in this second round, so that means I don't start the third round until May 23! I will have to go tomorrow for my neupogen shot and I'm praying that it doesn't give me the fever like last week. If so, then I will definitely be fighting for my drugs!!! I'll be down at the dr office pitching a Bannister fit (that's my mom's side of the family!) including pots and pans thrown and words screamed at the top of my lungs from the uncensored list!

Yep, I'm grumpy - see how I went from feeling positive to cussing out my doctor in one short paragraph! Time for that glass of tea.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Neupogen is evil

Tuesday afternoon I had to go for my neupogen shot. It keeps my white counts from bottoming out and I get it after every treatment from now on. So far it hasn't been a big deal, just a few aches that a Lortab can fix. But this time, I got the Neupogen fever. It only got up to 100.8, but I thought I was dying! My head was pounding and every time I had to cough, I thought my brains would burst through my forehead. My legs, back, chest, all hurt. Like I'd been tossed around in a car wreck. The dr. said to go to the ER if the fever got above 101, something about a chance of infection somewhere. Thank goodness, it never got that high. I'm still keeping my vow of never going back in the hospital! Finally, last night I slept really well and feel great, er, normal today. And mom brought me some watermelon yesterday, so I am HAPPY!!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Meal calendar update

Since the chemo is treating me pretty well and I'm not having as much down time as before, I've redone the meal calendar. Now the only days I would appreciate dinner is on my treatment days. I went ahead and filled it out til the end and it looks like I will be done by August 29! Prayers that it will be the real end of it all!!!

For those of you who have already brought dinners, I wish I could repay you somehow. You can't know how much it is appreciated. Whether it was an actual meal, or a gift card, you have been a lifesaver! I wish I could thank you enough!! Just know, that I will be sending a special prayer of recommendation for a VIP spot in heaven for you!!

And the cleaners came! Some very special parents of my students gave me a gift certificate for cleaning. But I've been gathering stuff around the house for an upcoming yard sale (I know, not smart!) so the house has been really cluttered and I've been waiting to set up a time to have it cleaned. Well, John moved everything out to the garage so I made the call last week. Ahhhhh, it still smells lovely!!

So, yeah I'll be having a yard sale soon. I'm not rushing into it. I'm taking my time setting everything out and pricing it, so maybe we'll be ready by July! I still get really winded and don't have any stamina. But since I'm not working now, I've got the time . . . and could use the income!!!

Enjoy the day everyone!!