Thursday, September 3, 2009

QUICK UPDATES FOR SEPT

Wednesday 9-30-09: I'm taking Decadron today in preparation for Super Chemo tomorrow. I slept 8.5 hours and feel fine this morning.

Tuesday 9-29-09: Today it will be a beautiful Fall day in the low 70s. My sore throat is gone! I wonder how my red blood cell count is doing?

Monday 9-28-09: From the head cold: still have a sore throat but feel less miserable than yesterday. From the chemo: the bones in my shoulders and upper back hurt.

Sunday 9-27-09: Miserable head cold.

Saturday 9-26-09: Went for a 2 mile walk this morning! Had to stop and rest a lot, but it was a great walk. Feeling good today.  Off to the grocery store and coffee shop now...

Friday 9-25-09: Wide awake after seven solid hours of sleep. Sore throat again. Took an Airborne fizzy pill this morning.

Thursday 9-24-09: Woke up with some kind of cold! Sore throat, stuffed up, blah. But today is Easy Chemo Day and I am going to Duke to kill some cancer cells even if I have to bring a box of tissues with me. Oooh maybe they are going to make me wear a mask!

Wednesday 9-23-09: Maybe 8 hours of sleep is not enough! Feel kind of achy with upset stomach this morning. But I am ironing my khakis and headed for the vanpool.

Monday 9-21-09: Plan to take the vanpool today, so I am up early. Feel pretty good, considering that it is 5:40AM on a Monday.

Sunday 9-20-09: Feel good again today. Went for a long walk with Lou. Had to stop often to rest, but it was an awesome walk.

Saturday 9-19-09: Feel good again today.

Friday 9-18-09: Woke up feeling totally fine. Yahoo!

Thursday 9-17-09: Still have flu-like symptoms but no migraine yet!
Hope to work from home today.

Wednesday 9-16-09: Evening Update: It is just after 5:00PM and I am finally feeling almost human. I go another migraine this morning! And another day of flu-like symptoms. If we stick to the pattern, I can expect a happy healthy day tomorrow though.

Tuesday 9-15-09 Afternoon Update: Gosh, around 8:00AM my day went to hell! Got a migraine right after I left for the car dealership. I am still trying a variety of migraine drugs, so this time it was Relpax. Took it in the car and foolishly kept going; not such a great plan. Got rid of the sparkly lights pretty quick, but left me with a terrible headache, worst yet. I successfully got the car serviced. Finally got home and went to sleep from about 11:00Am to 1:30PM. Woke up with migraine gone but replaced with achy exhausted flu-like chemo side effects. I decided to spend the day in bed. So tired I can't sleep or read or watch TV. Pathetic! But thank God no barfing! ;^)

Tuesday 9-15-09: Woke up at 3:30AM! Feel pretty darned good however. Worked for three hours, which is nice.

Monday 9-14-09 Evening: Tired today, with one numb foot -- and aren't those lovely side effects?! I feel so lucky. Based on the previous cycle, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week might be tougher. Tonight I had a Healing Touch appointment with Amelia and left feeling FABULOUS.

Sunday 9-13-09: Feel fine so far but going to try to take it easy today. I do want to accomplish two things: grocery shop this morning, and go to dinner with a big group from the neighborhood tonight.

Saturday 9-12-09 Late Morning: Had a busy day planned today, but we have already had to cancel the BBQ lunch & live music at Big Boss with Woody and Meredyth because I am too tired. Still planning to visit the lovely couple who lease our old house.

Saturday 9-12-09 Early morning: Jumped in the hot tub this morning and enjoyed the 101 degree heat and blue skies overhead. Busy day planned today. Visiting the lovely couple who lease our old house, maybe meeting a new baby in the old neighborhood, than heading out to Big Boss for BBQ lunch & live music with Woody and Meredyth. Tonight I'll go for pizza with my pals in Holly Springs. Feeling good! But ready to bail out of our plans if I start to feel wonky...

Friday 9-11-09: I cannot write that date without feeling sad about what happened but proud that we have thwarted further attacks within our borders. I get Super Chemo today instead of yesterday because the Monday holiday threw off the regular schedule. Let's kill more cancer cells today! Decadron woke me up at 4:30AM filled with energy. I saw that Lou had slipped away to the guest room to escape my snoring. That made me feel bad so I went to the Harris Teeter at 5:00AM to pick up smoked salmon to go on the poor guy's bagel for breakfast today. [I tell you the good things I do for him but hardly ever mention how I drive him insane.] I am having SUSHI LUNCH with the fabulous Deborah A !!! Sushi alone is a thrill, but sushi and time to chat with Deborah is a super thrill. I'll tell ya, I am a lucky lucky woman.

Thursday 9-10-09 Evening: I was super busy with urgent deadlines from 9:00 to 1:00 at work, which I perversely enjoy. Then I headed to Duke for my regular labwork and doctor appointment which occurs before chemo. (Super Chemo tomorrow.) I crashed at 3:00PM and struggled to stay awake in the waiting room because I was afraid I would miss my name being called. Once I got into the exam room, I stretched out on the exam table for a nap and was just about to drop off when Dr R arrived. All is well! Planning to crawl into bed at 7PM tonight when Lou leaves for poker with the guys.


Wednesday 09-09-09 Night: I got a flu shot this morning and got to work pretty late, feeling tired and cranky. But I got my second wind after lunch, started feeling wonderful, and worked till 8:00PM. What an awesome day!

Wednesday 09-09-09 Morning: INTERESTING DATE TODAY! I woke up dreaming I was Kevin Costner's character with the webbed feet in Waterworld. My feet were stinging and burning. (I really disliked that movie.) Slept late (till 7:30AM) in the hope that I will not crash at 3:00PM again. I have an important meeting at 3:30PM that I need to be able to think during ;^)

Tuesday 9-8-09 Evening: I crashed at 3:00PM, left the office at 4:00PM, and then slept till about 6:30PM and now feel just fine. I woke up just in time for a wonderful chicken dinner from Carol and Linda, including a fresh peach tart that blew us away. Then we went for a walk and finally met our newest neighbors up the street.

Monday 9-7-09: Happy Labor Day! I am shocked that it is Labor Day already. What happened to my summer?! Oh yeah, I was busy getting radiation and chemo. April seems like a million years ago. So much has happened since Chemo Nurse Ann called and said, "There is a spot on your x-ray they are not happy with." But we have had some fun this summer. We took trips to both Charleston, SC, and to Kitty Hawk, NC.

Sunday 9-6-09: Slept till almost 9:00AM! Feeling pretty good. Bottoms of my feet are numb. Went for a short walk with Lou and Sam. Planning to go to the Bavarian Brathaus this evening with John and Pat. Still feeling so lucky and happy and relieved at the good news.

Saturday 9-5-09: Got up at 8:00AM and found Lou in the hot tub. What a great way to start the day. Lots of golfers out early today. At one point there were four golf carts piled up at the 5th tee. Went for a short walk with Lou and Sam, dropped off Sam, and then walked out to the front gate of the neighborhood. Got to do something to combat the weight gain from Decadron. I have put on 10 pounds in 10 weeks of chemo. Darn. But who can complain since it is working so good! :^)

Friday 9-4-09: Wow, slept great, feel great, nothing more therapeutic than fabulous news. I must not have been snoring because Lou did not slip away to the guest room in the middle of the night to escape the racket. Yesterday we were trapped at Duke because waiting for both the CT Scan and the Dr R appointment took forever, so we had to cancel our generous dinner delivery from our neighbors Carol and Linda because we did not think we would be home in time and we did not want to be worrying about them all afternoon. Last night I had some bathroom trouble but caught it early and feel fine today. I have not ironed in like two weeks and thus have nothing to wear to work. Lou is taking today as a vacation day.

Thursday 9-3-09 evening: SCAN SHOWS SIGNIFICANT SHRINKAGE! Later tonight I will post more details. Thanks everyone for your prayers and good thoughts!

Thursday 9-3-09 morning: Happy Birthday Mom! I have the best mother in the world, and today is her special day. I just hope her present arrives in the mail today.

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