Leaving for the hospital!

Okay - dad and I are out the door. I'll update you later in the week.

COOKING AND BAKING

I did a lot of cooking and baking while out of the hospital this time. I think that my mom thinks that I am her new personal chef! :) Sometimes I cooked alone and sometimes mom and I cooked together and when baking, dad took care of oven duties and some of the heavy mixing. The kitchen that we use is tiny, so the three of us in the same kitchen was bit of an ordeal. Early in the month, we made the most delicious Chicken and Artichoke in Lemon dish. Dad pounded the chicken into thin strips and mom and I did the rest. It was really good. We also made a chicken dish in a red, chunky tomato, mushroom sauce. I made up the red sauce recipe as I went along. It was very good as well. Since I was away from chemo for a longer time, I splurged a couple of times and ate red sauce and a couple of spicer dishes (even some salad dressing). I guess that I will go back to bland eating starting today! Mom and I also made over 100 stuffed shells for Easter dinner. We made three cheese stuffing, meat stuffing and cheese and spinach stuffing. They are stored away in the freezer and mom will make the sauce and bake them for Easter. I also baked some mini apple cakes and a couple of carrott cakes. The apple cake and carrott cake are sort of my signature cakes - they are the ones thaat I always like to make and are usually crowd pleasers. We froze the carrott cakes and will have them on Easter as well. It was pretty tough to keep my mom and dad from eating the carrott cake when it first came out of the oven. It smelled so good! All I will have to do is make the icing and put it on the cakes Easter weekend. With any luck, I will be out of the hospital on Friday and feeling okay by Sunday, but you never know. Anyway, it was theraputic cooking and baking - not only physical exercise, but mentally challenging the memory and relaxing at the same time.

MY TIME BETWEEN CHEMO TREATMENTS CAN'T BE OVER YET

I can't believe it. I have to go back to he hospital for another chemotherapy treatment tomorrow! Where did my three weeks go?
Well, I had lots of physical therapy appointments. I am gaining strength and stamina and I have lots of sore muscles. I am pretty good on the steps and even walked around Walmart today! I've been to the grocery store a few times, but still have problems walking and carrying things at the same time - not sure if that is a strength issue or a coordination issue! (I have always been clumsy).

I had my eyes checked. I ordered and acquired new glasses. Apparently part of my eye issues these last few months had to do with my progressive lenses being in frames that were too small for them, as well as the frames having been horribly bent out of shape and mangled due to the bandages from my brain surgery and the various hospital stays. I won't say that my new glasses fixed my vision issues 100%, but they have done a lot of good and I can read much better now - both books and the computer!

I bought a wig - yes, I don't believe it myself, but I did. A wig! I had been a scarf/hat person - not really caring what people thought and or the stares that I would sometimes get. I had not even thought of buying one and then when I realized that I had at least six more months of being without hair (or in reality, with patchy hair) on my head, I decided that I might need a wig. If my hair had fallen out completely, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad - but instead of a clean, bald head, I have these patchy spots of hair and no hair. What is that all about??? Anyway, I couldn't shave it off and look like Mr. Clean - I have the big ugly C minus scar from the surgery and there was no way that I was going around as a C minus. So, a wig was purchased. Well, the wig has been out and about with me three times and it has received very mixed reviews. My dad totally hates it. He has been very vocal about it. (Good thing that I am not sensitive about that sort of thing! :) My mom loves it, but wishes that it had a bit more curl or pizaaz or something. My sister likes it, but says that it is not "me". Some other friends have loved it and said that it was totaly "me". Oh well, I think that it is okay and that is all there is to it. I still wear my little caps for casual wear and to physical therapy (all I need is the wig to fly off while exercising). Mom also bought me a big floppy hat - very stylish - for wearing in the sun. The chemo makes me extremely sun sensitive and those few sunny days recently caused me some minor skin irritation issues, so I bought myself some heavy duty sun screen and a big floppy hat - so now I am prepared for the sun. So, bring it on - I love sunshine!

Also, these last few weeks, I have made a million or so phone calls. I hate all the tape recordings that I have listened to lately. The insurance company is on my last nerve. The Adaptive Driving class that I am required to take is still a mystery and the MVA - well, need I say more - again another loop of answering machines and never a real live person to answer my questions. I thought that being recertified to drive was going to be a simple matter - well no - it is quite complicated and I have not gotten a straight answer from anyone yet. Well, I'll try some more calls this week. The only thing I do know is that I really need to be able to drive again - I am tired of being Miss Daisy! (Hmm - maybe if dad had a limo and wore a little cap, maybe then it would be okay :) Actually, I have to be super thankful to everyone who has driven me around and gotten me to appointments these last 5 months or so - I don't know what I would have done without everyones help. I have been especially thankful for the people who have driven me to fun events (lunches, dinners, parties, etc.), especially since there have been so few fun events these last few months, but again, I have been lucky to have as many as I have had and that there are lots more to come as I feel better and better. It is difficult not being able to do what you want and go where you want when you want to do it. I know, I am being whiny!

Well, I did lots of other things in the past few weeks, but I am tired now and going to bed. I need to be ready when the hospital calls in the morning. I'll send another update soon. Keep the positive thoughts coming my way and stay in touch. Only 6 more chemotherapy treatments to get through! But, I am still taking this one step at a time, so for now, I am just trying to get through tomorrow and get admitted into the hospital for the first of my monthly chemo treatments.
Updates to follow in about a week.

Health Update

I had an brain MRI yesterday and it was compared to the prior brain MRI's and all was the same - which is a good thing! Also, all my blood work today was good. And, on top of everything else, I am feeling well and working hard at physical therapy and regaining my strength and endurance. Lots of good things going on this week - I feel like I have accomplished a lot this week - so many appointments, so many things to do (so little time before going back into the hospital!).

SPRING

I have never been so happy to see Spring arrive! Even the weather is warm and sunny. This has been a wonderful week. I am feeling good - getting stronger every day and best of all, I am not in the hospital (yet). I went to my own house twice this week - the croscuses in my back yard are already blooming and tulip leaves are peeping out of the ground. I was shocked when I saw them. The last time I was there, that part of the yard was snow covered. The garden that I dug out last year at the bottom of my yard is still empty, but I am determined to make it a rose garden this year - I am just waiting for the rose bushes to be in the store and a little more strength - I have wanted a rose garden since I was a little girl on Shamrock Avenue and I am determined to have a rose garden this year. It is a small garden, most likely only big enough for three or four rose bushes. One of the bushes must be Peace roses - yellow blossoms with a hint of pink at the ends. We had a rose bush like that in the tiny garden in our yard on Shamrock Avenue and I loved those roses so much - I have always wanted to grow them. I wish that the garden as a little bigger, but it was hard enough digging out that space and building the little brick wall around it last summer, so I knew that smaller was better and easier to maintain. I tried to complete it last summer, but apparently no one sells rose bushes in July! I couldn't even order them online. Well, the rose bushes will be available real soon and I will buy them and plant them and have my very own rose garden - soon!

It was nice to be in my own home, even if it was only for a couple of hours. It was also a bit overwhelming - it has such a neglected look about it. Christmas wrapping paper is still sitting out on the table, the bag of clothes that I was putting together (back in October) to take to the Goodwill is still sitting on the basement floor. The dining room table still has an arrangement of Fall flowers with a circle of glass yellow and brown acorns around it. I did remember to take down the Christmas wreath from the door the last time that I was there! I had to empty out the pantry - a lot of the canned and boxed goods were expired! I didn't even remember buying some of it - but apparently I had caught a good sale on Jello Cook and Serve Pudding - chocolate and vanilla - I had about 8 boxes, which is a lot of pudding for a person that lives alone! The boxes of pudding are all good until 2011, so I took them to my parents house. I guess me and dad will be eating a lot of pudding in the next few months! :) So much to do, so little time - but I am thankful that I was given the giftof time.

UPDATE

I had blood work done and met with the Nurse Practitioner today. All the blood work came back normal except for my potassium levels came back high. The chemotherapy treatments deplete my potassium levels and I usually get it intravenously during chemo (apparently low potassium has bad effects on the heart). After chemotherapy I usually need to take potassium pills (which are gigantic and hard to swallow), but I have not taken them for over a week. I guess that I am eating too many bannanas and baked potatoes (I have no idea what else could be making my levels high). So, I have to limit my bannana intake and aside from that, all is good. Good thing that I am not a monkey - I would starve!

YEAH - REALLY GOOD DAY

Well, today is a really good day for me. It is the first 2nd Monday after a chemo treatment that I am not waiting to go into the hospital for another chemo treatment. Yeah! I have until March 29th to check back into the hospital. Yeah! I will still be in the hospital one week of every month, but it is sooo much better than two weeks of every month. And, best of all, I am feeling very well. Very few side effects at this time. A little fatigue, but not as bad as it was.

I have lots of stuff to accomplish during this non-treatment time, but at least I have the time out of the hospital to have all these physical therapy appointments, etc. I have already started the physical therapy/rehabilitation to regain strength and endurance (most of which was lost during the coma). I am doing much better on the stairs and can stand for longer periods of time. According to the therapist, a lot of what I need is repetition - I have to do this series of exercises twice a day - so far I have ben very dedicated to my exercises - I want my endurance back!

I have been very busy lately. Aside from all the appointments, I have visited with some co-workers and friends. I have had a couple of meals in restaurants and I have been to the grocery store and to Target. I know - not all that exciting, but so much more than I have done in a long long time, so exciting stuff for me. Actually, I always enjoy visitors! It is so much fun to catch up on other people's lives and not be the center of conversation (or rather my disease be the center of conversation). It is also nice to do mundane, "normal" things like picking up a few items at Target. It almost feels foreign to me - it has all been so long since I have done these kinds of things. Anyway, I am really enjoying my time out of the hospital - no, the path to recovery is not over yet - there is still quite a lot of it in front of me, but it just hasn't been as bumpy of a path these days and I am very very thankful for the smoother path.

CHEMO SPILL

The first night that I as getting the chemo, I had a "chemo spill". I was twisting and turning in bed and accidentally tore the needle out of my chest and port. Well, I have never done that one before! Lucky for me, eventhough I was only half awake and it was 3:15 am, I jumped into action and turned the chemo drip off and immediately used by pajama top to get the dripping chemo off of me as I was using the call button to alert the nurses. Well, they all suited up in their Hazmat suits and blue gloves and came running into the room, but I had pretty much everything under control by the time they got there. It sometimes amazes me how alert I can become in a crisis. The funny thing is that after it was all over, I was a nervous wreck. Lucky for me, no ill effects from the spill - no skin burns or anything. They got the a new needle in and the chemo running again in about an hour, so it all worked out in the end. Although, the next day, everyone in the hospital knew about my chemo spill! I am getting quite a reputation at Franklin Square Hospital!

CHEMO # 8 IS OVER - LAST OF THE EVERY OTHER WEEK CHEMO TREATMENTS

So glad to have this one over. I will now get three whole weeks to recuperate between treatments! No, I won't be sitting around eating bon bon's - I need to do outpatient physical therapy in-between the treatments to help me regain strength and endurance and to keep what I have gained - it is amazing how quickly you lose muscle mass in the hospital. I had a physical therapist come in for an evaluation - she had not seen me in a couple of months and was quite pleased with the many improvements that she saw in me physically. I am really trying to do as much as possible without exhausting myself. I know that if I keep working at it, it will come. You know - there are a lot of places that I will need strength and endurane to walk to for lunch when I get back to work (yes, lunch is always a priority with me:)

This treatment went well - not too many issues or side effects. I am feeling fairly well - a little fatgued. Had a little incident this time around, but I'll give you the details later.

I'll give you an update tomorrow. Happy to be home again - and in the daylight! It will also be nice if the weather is good - the last couple of times that I was out of the hospital it was frigid or snowing out.

Lots of nurses and medical professionals were exceptionally kind to me this time - it always helps. So, as much as I hate being in the hospital, I felt that everyone worked to make it a good experience - but the days go by so slowly!

LEAVING FOR CHEMO #8 - Last of the every two week ones

Hospital has called - a room is waiting for me. I'll be in touch soon. Kind of excited to get this one over with - I will get three weeks off after this one! Keep the positive thoughts flowing my way - I'll be in touch soon.

PS: Had a good weekend. Celebrated a friend's 50th birthday. The first of my close friends from the Class of 1978 to turn 50. This will be a birthday party year - lots of us turning the big 5 0 - you all know who you are, even if you are in denial. Me - I am happy to be alive and growing older each day! It is going to be a really big and festive year!