Thursday, December 22, 2011
Chemo Treatment #6 - ALMOST
Monday, December 19 should have been my sixth chemo treatment - but my white blood cell count was low - the GRA # was 1.0 which as Dr. H explained it is "right on the fence". My temp was 99 when they checked it. So he decided that he was not going to do the infusion - to which I replied, good, then I should feel good for Christmas. Tuesday I thought I was feeling pretty good - and was keeping an eye on my temp. About halfway through the morning on Wednesday I was freezing, so I put my coat on. When I came home for lunch my temp was 100.6 - couldn't even navigate eating my yogurt - just laid on the couch covered up with a blanket! So after lunch I called out to Dr. H's office and told them what was going on - they wanted me to come out so they could do bloodwork and check out my temp. I told them I didn't know that I could even get myself out there - so I called church and Dixie took me out to the office. My temp was 102 when I got there, and Kim asked me if I knew what that meant. Of course I didn't - but her answer was you get to go to the ER. So Dixie drove me to the ER and I had called Carrie while still in Dr. H's office to see if she was available to come meet me - and she did. So when we got to the ER they did a chest x-ray and also took a urine specimen - the ER Dr. came in and wanted to know if I wanted the good news - I told him that's all I wanted was the good news. Well the urine specimen showed that I had a urinary tract infection. That was good news, because if nothing had shown up from either test, then they would have debated on whether to admit me or not. So I got antibiotic medicine via an iv (my port had already been accessed, so they didn't have to poke me, thank goodness) that took an hour and a half. When that was done, they sent me home with a prescription of the same medicine that I will take in pill form for ten days. Got to see my friend Amy when they took me for the chest x-ray and then she checked in on us before she left for the day - Thanks Amy. Carrie had gone back to work to make up for some of the time she'd taken off in the afternoon - and Justin came and sat with me for awhile. Jeff called Wednesday night to see how I was feeling - and I got to talk to Brant, who I know told me Hi and nite nite - the rest of it I'm not so sure about. Then Brody got on the phone and was telling me about the Christmas present that he'd gotten from his day care lady - a nerf gun! Then he says "you know what Grandma" and I said what, and he said "I missed you" I told him I missed him too - then before we hung up he tells me "I'll see you tomorrow" and I just said Ok. So needless to say I didn't go to work this morning - I was however feeling a night and day difference to what I had felt like on Wednesday. In the ER I was calling church to make sure things were going ok with the newsletter that was mailed today, and also calling Peggy (one of my office angels to tell her that she would have to supervise things this morning). So thanks once again to Shirley, Nancy, Dixie and Peggy for getting things all finished up for me. Thanks to Marv & Peggy for taking it to the Post Office too. As you can tell, I have some wonderful people that are picking up a whole lot for me when I'm not feeling well! I had the card and the Christmas stocking that we were going to put Pastor Jon's present from the staff in - so Nancy had to come and pick that up this morning, so that they could give it to him. We had set up an appt w/ Dr. S, so Carrie took me there this afternoon - and then found out that Dr. S was on call yesterday so he knew I'd been in the ER. The office will be closed on Friday and Monday - so I'll have a long weeked to catch back up. John has done most of the Christmas shopping, and we have just a few things to finish up, so maybe I can help with that tomorrow. And I'm guessing there won't be any Christmas cards sent out - at least not by Christmas! Oh maybe I can send out a valentine letter in February - cos work in January is always crazy with all of the end of the year stuff to do, not to mention W-2's, etc. May you all have a very Merry Christmas!
Chemo treatment #5
So I did chemo treatment #5 on Monday, December 5 - and wore the pump through Wednesday. It was a cold week - so the sensitivity to cold was especially bad that week and lasted a lot longer this time than it had in the past. Then I got another side effect too - my throat felt like I had swollen tonsils - but I haven't had any tonsils since the 7th grade. I did not have a sore throat, but different things I ate I would have a hard time swallowing. So I talked to Kim at Dr. H's and they suggested gargling with salt water - that seemed to take care of it. If it hadn't, then they would have put me on an antibiotic.
We got a new pastor (Pastor Jon) in September and his family stayed in Arizona until their house sold. So his installation worship service was on Sunday, December 4 in the afternoon. I decided to make that my maiden voyage to see if I could sit through church - of course I also sat way to the back just in case I needed to rush to the bathroom. It went pretty well, but by the time it was over I was pretty tired of sitting (some chairs are worse than others I have found) and maybe I'll have to carry a pillow with me! I didn't gain my strength back at the end of the first week or the beginning of the second week like I had in the past. The GOTRA Fall Meeting was held on Sunday, December 11 - and I probably overdid that afternoon! Thanks to my friend Nancy for helping me keep track of paperwork etc. Luckily I did feel real good on Friday, December 16 because we had planned to go to Brody's preschool Christmas program - which was GREAT by the way. Of course he was the cutest kid there and he really got into the singing and the actions to go with all the songs. He was in the middle in the front row, so we could get a pretty good angle for some pics. Unfortunately I forgot to take the video camera. After the program they had tables set up to make gingerbread houses - graham crackers put onto a small milk carton, along with frosting and things to "decorate" with, like m&m's, licorice, mint pillows, gumdrops, etc. So Brody, Jill and I decorated the gingerbread house and then he got to take it home with him. From there, we went to the Westroads to pick up a Christmas present. And also since we were that close, I delivered an angel ornament to my "angel" Nickole, Dr. B's medical assistant. From there we went to visit my uncle & aunt who we don't get down to see as often as we should. Had a great visit! My uncle has also had some health problems this year - had a defibulator put in, and also bladder cancer - so he has been in and out of Methodist Hospital this year too and also Dr's offices. We have tried to be a support group for each other. We picked supper up on the way home as I was pretty tired by that time. On Saturday morning I went and picked up our SHARE box (this is a great program - ask me about it if you have any questions). Then that evening we had our Staff Christmas Party. I had taken my relish tray to church on Friday so that Pastor Jon could take it home with him, so they could put it out before we got there. John had to work that day, so he was going to come home, change clothes and then we would head out. Well that plan got changed when he went to go into town for lunch and the pickup wouldn't start - so I ended up going to Valmont to pick him up - had taken clothes for him to change into and then we went directly out to the party. It was a lot of fun! Great food (everybody brings something), some carol singing, and then white elephant gifts. On Sunday Jeff & Jill brought sandwiches and soup for supper and then we all went out to look at Christmas lights. Brant lasted probably an hour, and it wasn't long after that Brody was getting tired too! It was a GREAT weekend and I'm so thankful that I felt up to participating in everything that went on.
We got a new pastor (Pastor Jon) in September and his family stayed in Arizona until their house sold. So his installation worship service was on Sunday, December 4 in the afternoon. I decided to make that my maiden voyage to see if I could sit through church - of course I also sat way to the back just in case I needed to rush to the bathroom. It went pretty well, but by the time it was over I was pretty tired of sitting (some chairs are worse than others I have found) and maybe I'll have to carry a pillow with me! I didn't gain my strength back at the end of the first week or the beginning of the second week like I had in the past. The GOTRA Fall Meeting was held on Sunday, December 11 - and I probably overdid that afternoon! Thanks to my friend Nancy for helping me keep track of paperwork etc. Luckily I did feel real good on Friday, December 16 because we had planned to go to Brody's preschool Christmas program - which was GREAT by the way. Of course he was the cutest kid there and he really got into the singing and the actions to go with all the songs. He was in the middle in the front row, so we could get a pretty good angle for some pics. Unfortunately I forgot to take the video camera. After the program they had tables set up to make gingerbread houses - graham crackers put onto a small milk carton, along with frosting and things to "decorate" with, like m&m's, licorice, mint pillows, gumdrops, etc. So Brody, Jill and I decorated the gingerbread house and then he got to take it home with him. From there, we went to the Westroads to pick up a Christmas present. And also since we were that close, I delivered an angel ornament to my "angel" Nickole, Dr. B's medical assistant. From there we went to visit my uncle & aunt who we don't get down to see as often as we should. Had a great visit! My uncle has also had some health problems this year - had a defibulator put in, and also bladder cancer - so he has been in and out of Methodist Hospital this year too and also Dr's offices. We have tried to be a support group for each other. We picked supper up on the way home as I was pretty tired by that time. On Saturday morning I went and picked up our SHARE box (this is a great program - ask me about it if you have any questions). Then that evening we had our Staff Christmas Party. I had taken my relish tray to church on Friday so that Pastor Jon could take it home with him, so they could put it out before we got there. John had to work that day, so he was going to come home, change clothes and then we would head out. Well that plan got changed when he went to go into town for lunch and the pickup wouldn't start - so I ended up going to Valmont to pick him up - had taken clothes for him to change into and then we went directly out to the party. It was a lot of fun! Great food (everybody brings something), some carol singing, and then white elephant gifts. On Sunday Jeff & Jill brought sandwiches and soup for supper and then we all went out to look at Christmas lights. Brant lasted probably an hour, and it wasn't long after that Brody was getting tired too! It was a GREAT weekend and I'm so thankful that I felt up to participating in everything that went on.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Chemo Treatment #4
Well, I did chemo treatment #4 on Monday, November 21. It was a little out of sync though, as Dr. H was on vacation this week, and everybody was moved to the morning - plus there were nurse practicioners there to meet with us. So we went in at 9:00 a.m. and they finally hooked me up for the infusion at 10:45 a.m. - so it was 1:30 p.m. before we were on our way home. Picked up some lunch at the drive thru and came home. By that time I was wiped, so I spent the afternoon on the couch, and did some snoozing. I was so out of sync with doing the treatment in the morning that I even forgot to put the Emla cream on - so they had to spray me with the stuff that "freezes" the skin so you don't feel the poke. Wore the pump until Wednesday morning when I went in to get it taken off.
By Wednesday afternoon I was pretty sure that I was plugged up - so I contacted Dr. B's medical assistant and she suggeted that I take some Miralax to help offset it. It was either the chemo causing the constipation OR maybe I had gone a little overboard with putting fiber back into my diet OR it could have been a combination of both. Woke up Thursday morning early having to run to the bathroom - then that slowed down. I took my Miralax - and it started to kick in about 7:00 p.m. that evening - but not in a good way. After having diarrhea for awhile things seemed to calm down. Of course during the time I was in the bathroom sitting on the pot - I also had to grab the garbage can to get sick in. That was not much fun, but it didn't last very long. I was also glad that we weren't getting together for Thanksgiving until Saturday - that gave me a chance to rest up!
We did get together on Saturday for our Thanksgiving - the kids did all the work and I basically just showed up. It was a great low key evening and I am very thankful for the time we get to spend together. Plus I got to have some time with my two favorite little guys too!
Have to go in for bloodwork on Monday, November 28 - the white blood cell count and hemoglobin were down on the 21st, but not enough that they didn't do the treatement. I'll be curious to see what they are this week! Also have to call my friend Nickole, Dr. B's medical assistant - to see what I should continue doing, and what Dr. B suggests.
My appetite slowed down like it normally does after the chemo treatment (back to eating a lot of yogurt) and I have slowed down on the fresh vegetables and high fiber stuff - hopefully that will help.
Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving - this year I feel like I have so many things to be thankful for - and I have learned that we should never take ANYTHING for granted - be thankful for EVERYTHING!
By Wednesday afternoon I was pretty sure that I was plugged up - so I contacted Dr. B's medical assistant and she suggeted that I take some Miralax to help offset it. It was either the chemo causing the constipation OR maybe I had gone a little overboard with putting fiber back into my diet OR it could have been a combination of both. Woke up Thursday morning early having to run to the bathroom - then that slowed down. I took my Miralax - and it started to kick in about 7:00 p.m. that evening - but not in a good way. After having diarrhea for awhile things seemed to calm down. Of course during the time I was in the bathroom sitting on the pot - I also had to grab the garbage can to get sick in. That was not much fun, but it didn't last very long. I was also glad that we weren't getting together for Thanksgiving until Saturday - that gave me a chance to rest up!
We did get together on Saturday for our Thanksgiving - the kids did all the work and I basically just showed up. It was a great low key evening and I am very thankful for the time we get to spend together. Plus I got to have some time with my two favorite little guys too!
Have to go in for bloodwork on Monday, November 28 - the white blood cell count and hemoglobin were down on the 21st, but not enough that they didn't do the treatement. I'll be curious to see what they are this week! Also have to call my friend Nickole, Dr. B's medical assistant - to see what I should continue doing, and what Dr. B suggests.
My appetite slowed down like it normally does after the chemo treatment (back to eating a lot of yogurt) and I have slowed down on the fresh vegetables and high fiber stuff - hopefully that will help.
Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving - this year I feel like I have so many things to be thankful for - and I have learned that we should never take ANYTHING for granted - be thankful for EVERYTHING!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Appt with Dr. B
Had my follow up appointment with Dr. B on Wednesday, November 16 - she felt that I was coming along even better than she had expected. Dr. B told me that I would see her now every three months for 18 months. It's such a pleasure to see her and her staff, that will not be a problem at all! I also turned the corner this week on the bathroom thing!
Have had no more bouts of diarrhea type trips - which is kind of what I had had since I'd been home. Sometimes it would fall in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening or overnight. Also had some what I would call "leakage" type stools - after that I ended up with some diaper rash (now I know why babies cry!) - but got some cream and got rid of it right away. (I feel like some of this was because I had taken some immodium to slow down the process {once on the night we had our pictures taken and once on the day that I did chemo treatment #3} and it did slow it down, but maybe gave me some other side effects too.) BTW - being able to poop is NOT overrated. Listen to someone who's been there - the ileostomy bag makes you kind of lazy, as you can empty it basically at your convenience. When you're running to the bathroom every 10 or 15 minutes it becomes not so much fun. And I feel like I see a light at the end of the tunnel for the "Depends".
I have gone back to work and can last almost a full day. Dr. B told me that I wouldn't regain my strength back entirely as long as I was still doing the chemo treatments. And I have some good days and some bad days - which is to be expected.
I've also gotten used to seeing myself with straight hair - or on the days that I use the curling brush on it, a little bit of curl. Dropped by to see my hair dresser the other day and she is going to trim my hair and also trim the bangs on my wig.
Had a scary experience when they did the blood draw before chemo treatment #3 - the nurse irrigated the port, then drew back and didn't like what she saw, so she kept drawing back but wasn't getting anything (blood is supposed to come back into the syringe). Anyway she asked me to raise my left arm which I did - but still no luck. So she had me get up on the examining table and lay down and then asked me to raise my left arm again - well this time she could get the blood that she needed for the bloodwork they do - to check on white blood cell count, etc. Thought maybe there had been a problem with "placement" on the port - like it might have moved a little or something.
Guess that's about all for now - am looking forward to getting chemo treatment #4 over and done with on November 21 . . . and then I am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family and having a long weekend! Hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Have had no more bouts of diarrhea type trips - which is kind of what I had had since I'd been home. Sometimes it would fall in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening or overnight. Also had some what I would call "leakage" type stools - after that I ended up with some diaper rash (now I know why babies cry!) - but got some cream and got rid of it right away. (I feel like some of this was because I had taken some immodium to slow down the process {once on the night we had our pictures taken and once on the day that I did chemo treatment #3} and it did slow it down, but maybe gave me some other side effects too.) BTW - being able to poop is NOT overrated. Listen to someone who's been there - the ileostomy bag makes you kind of lazy, as you can empty it basically at your convenience. When you're running to the bathroom every 10 or 15 minutes it becomes not so much fun. And I feel like I see a light at the end of the tunnel for the "Depends".
I have gone back to work and can last almost a full day. Dr. B told me that I wouldn't regain my strength back entirely as long as I was still doing the chemo treatments. And I have some good days and some bad days - which is to be expected.
I've also gotten used to seeing myself with straight hair - or on the days that I use the curling brush on it, a little bit of curl. Dropped by to see my hair dresser the other day and she is going to trim my hair and also trim the bangs on my wig.
Had a scary experience when they did the blood draw before chemo treatment #3 - the nurse irrigated the port, then drew back and didn't like what she saw, so she kept drawing back but wasn't getting anything (blood is supposed to come back into the syringe). Anyway she asked me to raise my left arm which I did - but still no luck. So she had me get up on the examining table and lay down and then asked me to raise my left arm again - well this time she could get the blood that she needed for the bloodwork they do - to check on white blood cell count, etc. Thought maybe there had been a problem with "placement" on the port - like it might have moved a little or something.
Guess that's about all for now - am looking forward to getting chemo treatment #4 over and done with on November 21 . . . and then I am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family and having a long weekend! Hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Chemo Treatment #3
Well I had chemo treatment #3 today! And I have my little buddy (pump) with me until Wednesday.
We'll see how it goes this time. The next treatment will be done on November 21.
As I had said before, we had the 16th Annual GOTRA Banquet on Saturday, November 5. Thanks to Carrie & Justin & John for helping set up on Friday night. I had cooked two pork loins on Thursday and two pork loins on Friday. When Jim & Nancy Mills got to town Saturday, they helped Carrie finish getting things ready. I went out about 5:00 - made it through all of the banqet presentations, and then went home about 9:30, as I could tell I was fading fast. Thanks to John, Carrie & Justin, Jim & Nancy Mills, Carol Stohlmann, Carol Aldrich and Richard & Donna Ferguson for helping put things away and doing the clean-up. It was a great night - we ended the 16th season on a high note - and are ready to start our 17th season in 2012.
We'll see how it goes this time. The next treatment will be done on November 21.
As I had said before, we had the 16th Annual GOTRA Banquet on Saturday, November 5. Thanks to Carrie & Justin & John for helping set up on Friday night. I had cooked two pork loins on Thursday and two pork loins on Friday. When Jim & Nancy Mills got to town Saturday, they helped Carrie finish getting things ready. I went out about 5:00 - made it through all of the banqet presentations, and then went home about 9:30, as I could tell I was fading fast. Thanks to John, Carrie & Justin, Jim & Nancy Mills, Carol Stohlmann, Carol Aldrich and Richard & Donna Ferguson for helping put things away and doing the clean-up. It was a great night - we ended the 16th season on a high note - and are ready to start our 17th season in 2012.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Hello All!
Just wanted to let you all know that things are coming along after the reversal surgery. My body is remembering what it is supposed to be doing, instead of what it did from June 20 to October 10! And 99% of the time it works just fine. That other 1% is usually at night when I am sleeping. It has been a long process to gain back any strength yet though I'm afraid. I've had several bouts with running to the bathroom every 15 minutes - those have not been so fun - and they have moved from the mornings to the afternoons to the evenings to overnight. Running to the bathroom is much easier in the waking hours!
We got not only individual pictures taken last night for our church's pictorial directory, but also got a family pic taken! And I lasted through all of it! I must say the pics of everyone else were GREAT - mine, not so much!
Saturday is the GOTRA Banquet and I'm hoping to last through all of it too. We'll see how that goes.
At this point I am still planning to start back up with the chemo on November 7 - I think things are working well enough that I can sit through the two hours and 15 minutes! Figure the faster we get started back up, the sooner we will get done.
We got not only individual pictures taken last night for our church's pictorial directory, but also got a family pic taken! And I lasted through all of it! I must say the pics of everyone else were GREAT - mine, not so much!
Saturday is the GOTRA Banquet and I'm hoping to last through all of it too. We'll see how that goes.
At this point I am still planning to start back up with the chemo on November 7 - I think things are working well enough that I can sit through the two hours and 15 minutes! Figure the faster we get started back up, the sooner we will get done.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Irony
About the ileostomy bag - I always felt it was a little cruel to have the girl that has a problem with adhesives . . . to wear a bag from her body that was attached to her with ADHESIVES! But with that being said, after we finally got it figured out so that it wouldn't leak (that was a bigger problem!) it was just something that you had to deal with. Now if when I came out of surgery they had told me that I would have to have this the rest of my life I would have sucked it up and said OK, but since I knew it was only supposed to short term, I was anxious to get rid of it! Now onward and upward (another couple of weeks before I can start putting more fiber foods in my diet. Is it bad that I've already started a mental list of some things that I want to have?? . . . like chili (no beans on a low fiber diet), a big salad (can't have a lot of roughage on a low fiber diet), onion rings (breaded things are not good on a low fiber diet).
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
FYI
I just wanted to tell you that I love hearing from everyone - cards, calls, emails, visits, Facebook, etc. Please don't ever feel like you are going to bother me by contacting me!
And in case you're wondering I still have my hair - just a lot less hair than I've ever had (mostly cos I've cut a lot of it off). And it is straight, which is probably a bigger shock to me when I look in the mirror than to anyone else. So I have a wig, but for the most part have not been wearing it.
Like the poem I have says - I have cancer, but cancer does NOT have me!
XOXO
And in case you're wondering I still have my hair - just a lot less hair than I've ever had (mostly cos I've cut a lot of it off). And it is straight, which is probably a bigger shock to me when I look in the mirror than to anyone else. So I have a wig, but for the most part have not been wearing it.
Like the poem I have says - I have cancer, but cancer does NOT have me!
XOXO
Catching Up
I have a lot of catching up to do, since a lot has happened since I last wrote about my treatments, etc. First off though, I must say that I did get to go to one of Brody's soccer games on the 10th of September. It was one of those warm days and the game was at 11:30 a.m., so mostly Brant and I sat in the shade of a big tree and watched what was going on from there. Jeff came and got me, we got lunch after the game, and then Jeff brought me back home again. It was a great day!
As I said, I started my first chemo treatment on the 12th of September. I did end up with some mouth sores by the end of the week, so I asked for a prescription for magic mouthwash the next week. I also had some vomiting, but Dr. H thought those were too far away from the treatment to be a side effect ?!? Probably just me and my sensitive stomach. On the "off" weeks I have to go get bloodwork done, so I did that on September 19. I did the second chemo treatment on September 26 . . . and the only side effect that I had after that was a sensitivity to cold in my hands. This is a very strange feeling! I have a feeling that this winter I may have to carry my gloves ALL the time and may have to keep some hand warmers on me too. I also have to be careful about drinking anything too cold, as it makes my throat feel a little strange.
On a side note - we have a couple of friends that are also going through chemo treatments now - and our prayers continue to go out to Carole and Brian.
Normally GOTRA has hosted an open the first weekend in October - the Cornhusker Vintage Nationals - where we invite all different types of cars to come and have a fun weekend at US30 Speedway in Columbus, NE (our home track). 2011 would have been the 9th Annual Cornhusker Vintage Nationals. This has been a pretty big deal - normally between 50 and 75 cars plus the people that come with the cars, plus the people in the grandstands, so we have to deal with registrations, t-shirts, hats, organizing the different types of cars into their own heats, typing up info for the announcer, pit gates, food, etc. etc. - we get a lot of our group participating, but also people from all over the United States. We usually did an informal get-together on Friday night, a free Swap Meet on Saturday morning, with races in the afternoon and evening - donuts and coffee in the morning and lunch and dinner for the participants. Then on Sunday an informal worship service in the grandstands with continental breakfast and then races in the afternoon. So in early August I decided that with not knowing at all how I would be able to handle, or react to the chemo, I would not be able to do what I had normally done for this event. So in mid-August we notified everyone that had participated previously that it would not be happening "because of circumstances beyond our control". This was a disappointment to all of us, but it was very heart warming when people found out the reason that we couldn't do it AND what a response we got - people offered their support, their help with sponsorship, and their help for next year, etc. etc.
Now because of canceling - this gave us a free weekend. Our friend Bruce H. who normally comes to the CVN decided that he would still make the trip to Fremont that weekend to come and visit. So he and his friend Sally spent the morning with us visiting and then we went out for lunch. Two of Carrie & Justin's best friends had set their wedding date for October 1 - Carrie was the Matron of Honor and Justin was the Best Man. Well when we first found out about the date, we thought we would be in Columbus and wouldn't be able to attend - but because of the way things turned out we could go. The wedding and reception were at the Double Tree in Omaha, and we got to congratulate Joey & Monika and their parents and daughter, and also got to spend the evening with Justin & Carrie and all of the Rehder's (Kathy & Jeff, Rach & Jake, Katie & Ty) plus a few other friends! We had a great time. But by the time 8:30 rolled around I was ready to go, I also knew that we had made the right decision to cancel the CVN - I wouldn't have been able to handle it. The Arlington Community Church was holding their fourth annual fundraiser that Sunday and they always have a Car Show in the afternoon - GOTRA has sponsored plaques for the Car Show, but we had never been able to attend. So this year, John & Jeff took their stock cars over to put on display for some PR for the group. Brody spent the afternoon with Dad & Papa and Brant spent the afternoon with Grandma!
Again on the 3rd of October I had bloodwork done - including the bloodwork that was needed for my pre-op physical. (I had the bright idea that I could do all of the bloodwork through the port instead of having to get poked - and I could!) Each time I go in either for a treatment or for the bloodwork, they check my blood pressure. We were keeping track of it from the 26th of September (it was very low on that day) to October 3 to October 5. I also had a day that I had light headedness and jelly knees - so once again I was taken off my blood pressure medication. Dr. S and I will keep a handle on this! On Wednesday, October 5 I had my pre-op physical done for the surgery on the 10th. I also got both my flu shot and my pneumonia shot that day - and boy did I have a sore arm the next morning!
Jeff brought Brody to town on the 9th of October - so that he could help Grandma get out her Halloween stuff and spend the night. As always, we had a great time! Fun decorating, a little outside time, and then some movie, snuggling time. We didn't get up in time to make it to Sunday School the next morning, but we did go to 11:00 a.m. church - and Carrie and Justin met us there. There was a Congregational Meeting after worship for the Election of Officers - our Elders and Deacons for the next three year term. Carrie was elected as a Deacon for the Class of 2014!
We had to be at Methodist Hospital at 9:00 a.m. on the morning of Monday, October 10 - John and I, Carrie and Jeff met with Dr. Bill for a visit and a prayer before I checked in, which was a very pleasant surprise! My surgery was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. The surgery only lasted an hour (they expected two), I'm not even sure how long I spent in recovery. I ended up in room 603 bed 1 - with a roommate in bed 2. There was little or no contact with this roommate (who was recovering from gallbladder surgery) or her mother who was there with her (roommate was about 40, mom was about 60). She got to go home on Tuesday morning. SO I moved to bed 2 by the window - which is the better of the two beds by the way! My second roommate came in Tuesday afternoon - she had bowel obstruction surgery. This roommate was very chatty, and we found out we had a lot of things in common. She was so sweet, she sent home a red rose that she had been given by a hospital volunteer home with me. I had calls and visits from my family, my grandsons and other people, but I had a couple of special visits on Wednesday - fellow staff member Paul Valla came for a visit and brought some beautiful mums, and then my cousin Curtis and his wife Barb from Colorado came for a visit and brought a beautiful basket of pansies and decorative plants (that I will be able to plant outside next spring)! Curt & Barb were in NE because unfortunately my uncle Calvin had just been back in Methodist Hospital - as a matter of fact, he was being checked out on Monday about the time my surgery was getting over! Please keep my uncle and aunt and their family in your prayers too! Many of the nurses and aides had been the same ones that had been there in June so that was fun to get reacquainted. Even met a nurses aide that has been friends with the Rehder's for years! We had talked on Thursday that things were going so well that I probably would get to go home on Friday - and when Dr. B came in Friday morning she couldn't see any reason that I shouldn't go home - WOO HOO! My roommate was checked out just a few minutes before I was on Friday. This surgery was so much easier than the first - I only had one vomiting episode very early on (but that's me!). Had no problems when they took the catheter out this time. Having a room with only one bathroom and two people using it was sometimes a problem! But for the most part everything went exactly as expected. I came home with no prescriptions and had to have no tests while I was there - now that's a great hospital stay!! Plus only 5 days in the hospital is much better than 11 days. The recup at home has been much better this time than last too, believe me. I am getting a lot of exercise going back and forth to the bathroom - and my 15 month old grandson and I have a lot in common these days with our underwear choices. lol And may I also say that I don't miss that ilesotomy bag one little bit - I'll take the Depends over it any day! Dr. B thought I would need a couple of weeks recup in order to get my body back in sync with what it is supposed to do, rather than what it has been doing from the 20th of June through the 10th of October. I will see her in about three weeks to see how things are going.
One more thing - keep my sis Denise in your prayers too - she couldn't come and stay with me during this hospital stay cos she's been fighting some back problems. Hopefully she will find out soon what they can do to take care of the pain that she has been having!
As I said, I started my first chemo treatment on the 12th of September. I did end up with some mouth sores by the end of the week, so I asked for a prescription for magic mouthwash the next week. I also had some vomiting, but Dr. H thought those were too far away from the treatment to be a side effect ?!? Probably just me and my sensitive stomach. On the "off" weeks I have to go get bloodwork done, so I did that on September 19. I did the second chemo treatment on September 26 . . . and the only side effect that I had after that was a sensitivity to cold in my hands. This is a very strange feeling! I have a feeling that this winter I may have to carry my gloves ALL the time and may have to keep some hand warmers on me too. I also have to be careful about drinking anything too cold, as it makes my throat feel a little strange.
On a side note - we have a couple of friends that are also going through chemo treatments now - and our prayers continue to go out to Carole and Brian.
Normally GOTRA has hosted an open the first weekend in October - the Cornhusker Vintage Nationals - where we invite all different types of cars to come and have a fun weekend at US30 Speedway in Columbus, NE (our home track). 2011 would have been the 9th Annual Cornhusker Vintage Nationals. This has been a pretty big deal - normally between 50 and 75 cars plus the people that come with the cars, plus the people in the grandstands, so we have to deal with registrations, t-shirts, hats, organizing the different types of cars into their own heats, typing up info for the announcer, pit gates, food, etc. etc. - we get a lot of our group participating, but also people from all over the United States. We usually did an informal get-together on Friday night, a free Swap Meet on Saturday morning, with races in the afternoon and evening - donuts and coffee in the morning and lunch and dinner for the participants. Then on Sunday an informal worship service in the grandstands with continental breakfast and then races in the afternoon. So in early August I decided that with not knowing at all how I would be able to handle, or react to the chemo, I would not be able to do what I had normally done for this event. So in mid-August we notified everyone that had participated previously that it would not be happening "because of circumstances beyond our control". This was a disappointment to all of us, but it was very heart warming when people found out the reason that we couldn't do it AND what a response we got - people offered their support, their help with sponsorship, and their help for next year, etc. etc.
Now because of canceling - this gave us a free weekend. Our friend Bruce H. who normally comes to the CVN decided that he would still make the trip to Fremont that weekend to come and visit. So he and his friend Sally spent the morning with us visiting and then we went out for lunch. Two of Carrie & Justin's best friends had set their wedding date for October 1 - Carrie was the Matron of Honor and Justin was the Best Man. Well when we first found out about the date, we thought we would be in Columbus and wouldn't be able to attend - but because of the way things turned out we could go. The wedding and reception were at the Double Tree in Omaha, and we got to congratulate Joey & Monika and their parents and daughter, and also got to spend the evening with Justin & Carrie and all of the Rehder's (Kathy & Jeff, Rach & Jake, Katie & Ty) plus a few other friends! We had a great time. But by the time 8:30 rolled around I was ready to go, I also knew that we had made the right decision to cancel the CVN - I wouldn't have been able to handle it. The Arlington Community Church was holding their fourth annual fundraiser that Sunday and they always have a Car Show in the afternoon - GOTRA has sponsored plaques for the Car Show, but we had never been able to attend. So this year, John & Jeff took their stock cars over to put on display for some PR for the group. Brody spent the afternoon with Dad & Papa and Brant spent the afternoon with Grandma!
Again on the 3rd of October I had bloodwork done - including the bloodwork that was needed for my pre-op physical. (I had the bright idea that I could do all of the bloodwork through the port instead of having to get poked - and I could!) Each time I go in either for a treatment or for the bloodwork, they check my blood pressure. We were keeping track of it from the 26th of September (it was very low on that day) to October 3 to October 5. I also had a day that I had light headedness and jelly knees - so once again I was taken off my blood pressure medication. Dr. S and I will keep a handle on this! On Wednesday, October 5 I had my pre-op physical done for the surgery on the 10th. I also got both my flu shot and my pneumonia shot that day - and boy did I have a sore arm the next morning!
Jeff brought Brody to town on the 9th of October - so that he could help Grandma get out her Halloween stuff and spend the night. As always, we had a great time! Fun decorating, a little outside time, and then some movie, snuggling time. We didn't get up in time to make it to Sunday School the next morning, but we did go to 11:00 a.m. church - and Carrie and Justin met us there. There was a Congregational Meeting after worship for the Election of Officers - our Elders and Deacons for the next three year term. Carrie was elected as a Deacon for the Class of 2014!
We had to be at Methodist Hospital at 9:00 a.m. on the morning of Monday, October 10 - John and I, Carrie and Jeff met with Dr. Bill for a visit and a prayer before I checked in, which was a very pleasant surprise! My surgery was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. The surgery only lasted an hour (they expected two), I'm not even sure how long I spent in recovery. I ended up in room 603 bed 1 - with a roommate in bed 2. There was little or no contact with this roommate (who was recovering from gallbladder surgery) or her mother who was there with her (roommate was about 40, mom was about 60). She got to go home on Tuesday morning. SO I moved to bed 2 by the window - which is the better of the two beds by the way! My second roommate came in Tuesday afternoon - she had bowel obstruction surgery. This roommate was very chatty, and we found out we had a lot of things in common. She was so sweet, she sent home a red rose that she had been given by a hospital volunteer home with me. I had calls and visits from my family, my grandsons and other people, but I had a couple of special visits on Wednesday - fellow staff member Paul Valla came for a visit and brought some beautiful mums, and then my cousin Curtis and his wife Barb from Colorado came for a visit and brought a beautiful basket of pansies and decorative plants (that I will be able to plant outside next spring)! Curt & Barb were in NE because unfortunately my uncle Calvin had just been back in Methodist Hospital - as a matter of fact, he was being checked out on Monday about the time my surgery was getting over! Please keep my uncle and aunt and their family in your prayers too! Many of the nurses and aides had been the same ones that had been there in June so that was fun to get reacquainted. Even met a nurses aide that has been friends with the Rehder's for years! We had talked on Thursday that things were going so well that I probably would get to go home on Friday - and when Dr. B came in Friday morning she couldn't see any reason that I shouldn't go home - WOO HOO! My roommate was checked out just a few minutes before I was on Friday. This surgery was so much easier than the first - I only had one vomiting episode very early on (but that's me!). Had no problems when they took the catheter out this time. Having a room with only one bathroom and two people using it was sometimes a problem! But for the most part everything went exactly as expected. I came home with no prescriptions and had to have no tests while I was there - now that's a great hospital stay!! Plus only 5 days in the hospital is much better than 11 days. The recup at home has been much better this time than last too, believe me. I am getting a lot of exercise going back and forth to the bathroom - and my 15 month old grandson and I have a lot in common these days with our underwear choices. lol And may I also say that I don't miss that ilesotomy bag one little bit - I'll take the Depends over it any day! Dr. B thought I would need a couple of weeks recup in order to get my body back in sync with what it is supposed to do, rather than what it has been doing from the 20th of June through the 10th of October. I will see her in about three weeks to see how things are going.
One more thing - keep my sis Denise in your prayers too - she couldn't come and stay with me during this hospital stay cos she's been fighting some back problems. Hopefully she will find out soon what they can do to take care of the pain that she has been having!
Monday, October 17, 2011
A couple of expanations
I thought I should explain why I was so excited about doing some mowing over Labor Day weekend.
I have normally done all the mowing at our house for quite a long time . . . except for last year after my hysterectomy in May - and this year! So not only does John mow the main lawn at church twice a month, he mows the south lot about once a week (every other if he's lucky) AND he gets to mow the lawn at home. He is quite a guy - never complains about any of the things on his "to do" list. That's why I love the guy so much!
The other thing I needed to explain was what all of my family was doing at my house on a Thursday at noon. Well the explanation was that they had attended my mother's funeral that morning. Now - before you ask why they weren't at the funeral lunch - it's kind of a long story, but let me see if I can give you the shortened version. When my dad died, neither Denise or I were involved in any of the planning and let me tell you that we were treated very badly at the funeral. I had made my mind up a long time ago that when my mom died, I was not going to the funeral - it wouldn't matter one way or the other because I would be "wrong" no matter what choice I made. Denise and her family {sans spouses} attended. Neither John nor I or Carrie attended, but Marlene and Jeff did. Now, let me also explain that had my bff Marlene not been here visiting when this all happened - we would not have known that my mom died until the Tribune came out and we saw the obit! Someone had called Marlene's mom in Illinois to let her know what was going on, and then Marlene's daughter let her know! Neither Denise or I or any of our families were listed in the obit (so that more than half of the actual "family" was not listed). Now please don't get me wrong - I have grieved for the loss of my mother - I just grieved a long time ago!
I have normally done all the mowing at our house for quite a long time . . . except for last year after my hysterectomy in May - and this year! So not only does John mow the main lawn at church twice a month, he mows the south lot about once a week (every other if he's lucky) AND he gets to mow the lawn at home. He is quite a guy - never complains about any of the things on his "to do" list. That's why I love the guy so much!
The other thing I needed to explain was what all of my family was doing at my house on a Thursday at noon. Well the explanation was that they had attended my mother's funeral that morning. Now - before you ask why they weren't at the funeral lunch - it's kind of a long story, but let me see if I can give you the shortened version. When my dad died, neither Denise or I were involved in any of the planning and let me tell you that we were treated very badly at the funeral. I had made my mind up a long time ago that when my mom died, I was not going to the funeral - it wouldn't matter one way or the other because I would be "wrong" no matter what choice I made. Denise and her family {sans spouses} attended. Neither John nor I or Carrie attended, but Marlene and Jeff did. Now, let me also explain that had my bff Marlene not been here visiting when this all happened - we would not have known that my mom died until the Tribune came out and we saw the obit! Someone had called Marlene's mom in Illinois to let her know what was going on, and then Marlene's daughter let her know! Neither Denise or I or any of our families were listed in the obit (so that more than half of the actual "family" was not listed). Now please don't get me wrong - I have grieved for the loss of my mother - I just grieved a long time ago!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
And away we go . . .
My daughter gently (?) reminded me that I really needed to update my blog - so I am. Let's say that I've been busy!
The last couple of weeks have been a real roller coaster - even more so than I would have every guessed. The kids had been helping get the house put back together after our major re-do - so they got the dining room all set up and we have an upstairs guest room that we can even use for a guest room. Well, little did I know that part of the reason they wanted to get things put back together was that they were planning a major surprise for me. They had talked with my bff Marlene and she showed up at the pizza party we had planned with the kids and grandkids on Sunday, August 28 - after Carrie & Justin brought her here from the airport. Well needless to say I was very surprised. Since we weren't going to be able to meet up at Mt. Pleasant, IA we were going to have to miss our yearly get-together. That was also the reason that they had persuaded me NOT to start chemo until after Labor Day - although that really didn't take too much persuasion! Of course no one told me that I needed to take a little time off work cos I was going to have company - so Marlene went with me to work on Monday so I could do paychecks. Tuesday was Dr. Bill's last Staff Meeting with us, so we had a little party at church - and John & Marlene did some running around - seeing Marlene's old houses on H Street and Irving Street, etc. and chasing after some of the black squirrels in our neighborhood so that Marlene could get a picture of one to take home to show her family. Carrie joined the three of us for lunch at Gringo's and then the three of us girls made a couple of stops in Fremont before we took off for Omaha to go to Bravada's to check out wigs. Well that we did, and I found one that the girls thought I looked really good in and that matched the natural color of my hair. (One of the side effects of the chemo that I took from the pump before was hair thinning, and the texture of my hair has gotten real thin - and since I can't do a perm because of the upcoming chemo - Carrie thought we needed to go check out wigs while I was still feeling good and having Marlene here was just an added bonus.) I needed to get a prescription for it from the oncologist, and needed to check with the insurance company too. Wednesday was Dr. Bill's official last day and also John & I's 37th wedding anniversary - and we did a cook out here with our company, and also Pat & Denise came to town to join us too. I got to meet my new boss, Jon Ashley on Thursday morning - the first time in person cos unfortuately I couldn't be at church the day he candidated - we were still trying to figure out the wafer for the ileostomy bag at that point. I really like him - he is very calm and laid back! Thursday we had lunch together at our house with Marlene, Jeff, Carrie, John, me, Pat, Denise, Randy, Brian, Chrissy and Amber (my nephews & nieces) - there's a reason that we were all together, but I'll put that in another post. Then we had to have Marlene back to the airport by about 4:30 p.m. so that she could catch her 5:45 flight. Friday I spent the day at work resting up - I must have done one too many trips up to the balcony that day though, cos I had started down the hallway with some paperwork to put in one of the committee boxes and my legs started feeling weird - so I went back and grabbed the first chair I could find. It went away pretty quickly - I call it "jelly knees" and they show up periodically - sometimes I wake up with them! On Saturday the 3rd I decided I needed to do some work outside on the rosebushes, so with gloves and pruner in hand, I cleaned them all up. Sunday John & I went to modern worship - then in the afternoon Jeff took #13 to US30 Speedway to try the new 6 cylinder out, Jill and the boys went with him too. John took #31 too so Jeff could chase him around the track - and I went too. Because there were only 4 cars - the 2 GOTRA cars, a late model and a modified, we could park real close to the pit grandstand area. I helped Jill try to keep an eye on Brody & Brant. When we got done there, we all went to Pat & Denise's for a cookout - what a good time. I was tired when we got home, but nothing too bad. Then on Monday I decided that I really felt good and wanted to see how much energy I had - so I started mowing the lawn. I didn't mow all of it, but I mowed a big share of it. Once again I went to work on Tuesday to rest up. On Wednesday, John and I went to see Dr. B - she had good results from the test I did at Methodist and so we set the date to reverse (or take down I guess in medical terminology) the ileostomy - that will happen in October. She thought things were coming along very well and was very pleased with how the recup after surgery had gone. For that surgery I will be in the hospital for 2 or 3 days (not counting the day of surgery) and will spend a couple of weeks recuperating. During that time, I will not have chemo either.
Speaking of chemo, I saw Dr. H on Monday, September 12 - my son's 35th birthday. He did an exam and then they sent me off to take some blood and then start the infusion - it takes 2 hours and 15 minutes - we started at 2:00 and got done at 4:15. (The port worked great - this one has been day & night different from the other one.) After that was done, they hooked me up to the pump (this is the same chemo that I had before in the pump but I will only wear it for 46 hours instead of 7 days like before). I went back in on Wednesday afternoon to get the pump taken off. It was "relearning" what to do with the pump - like to remember to take it with me when I get up in the middle of the night. I lay the bag on my sewing chest next to the bed at night - otherwise, I have the strap over my shoulder. It is a lot easier to only wear it for 46 hours as opposed to every day! The weeks that I am doing the chemo treatments are the weeks that John has Monday off, so that he can go with me (at least for the first few) to see how I tolerate things. I picked up the RX for the wig on Monday - and after we got done at the oncologist's office John & I went to Omaha to pick up the wig that I had ordered the week before. Then we went to Fazoli's to eat - my fav Italian restaurant! By that time I was feeling pretty tired so we headed back home. On Tuesday I went and got my hair cut - so now I have straight hair - I haven't had straight hair since I got all the long stuff cut off when Jeff was about 2. So far I have been wearing it like this - don't know when I'll break out the wig. It is certainly different when I look in the mirror! I also thought maybe getting it cut a little shorter will help with putting it up under the wig. Today is Thursday and - knock on wood - so far no side effects from the chemo. I have been spending a little more time resting this week and going to bed early and a couple of days taking a little rest after lunch. Yesterday I spent an hour or so on the phone with my cousin Curt from CO - so that was a little extra rest time too. So . . . I will keep you posted on how the second treatment goes!
The last couple of weeks have been a real roller coaster - even more so than I would have every guessed. The kids had been helping get the house put back together after our major re-do - so they got the dining room all set up and we have an upstairs guest room that we can even use for a guest room. Well, little did I know that part of the reason they wanted to get things put back together was that they were planning a major surprise for me. They had talked with my bff Marlene and she showed up at the pizza party we had planned with the kids and grandkids on Sunday, August 28 - after Carrie & Justin brought her here from the airport. Well needless to say I was very surprised. Since we weren't going to be able to meet up at Mt. Pleasant, IA we were going to have to miss our yearly get-together. That was also the reason that they had persuaded me NOT to start chemo until after Labor Day - although that really didn't take too much persuasion! Of course no one told me that I needed to take a little time off work cos I was going to have company - so Marlene went with me to work on Monday so I could do paychecks. Tuesday was Dr. Bill's last Staff Meeting with us, so we had a little party at church - and John & Marlene did some running around - seeing Marlene's old houses on H Street and Irving Street, etc. and chasing after some of the black squirrels in our neighborhood so that Marlene could get a picture of one to take home to show her family. Carrie joined the three of us for lunch at Gringo's and then the three of us girls made a couple of stops in Fremont before we took off for Omaha to go to Bravada's to check out wigs. Well that we did, and I found one that the girls thought I looked really good in and that matched the natural color of my hair. (One of the side effects of the chemo that I took from the pump before was hair thinning, and the texture of my hair has gotten real thin - and since I can't do a perm because of the upcoming chemo - Carrie thought we needed to go check out wigs while I was still feeling good and having Marlene here was just an added bonus.) I needed to get a prescription for it from the oncologist, and needed to check with the insurance company too. Wednesday was Dr. Bill's official last day and also John & I's 37th wedding anniversary - and we did a cook out here with our company, and also Pat & Denise came to town to join us too. I got to meet my new boss, Jon Ashley on Thursday morning - the first time in person cos unfortuately I couldn't be at church the day he candidated - we were still trying to figure out the wafer for the ileostomy bag at that point. I really like him - he is very calm and laid back! Thursday we had lunch together at our house with Marlene, Jeff, Carrie, John, me, Pat, Denise, Randy, Brian, Chrissy and Amber (my nephews & nieces) - there's a reason that we were all together, but I'll put that in another post. Then we had to have Marlene back to the airport by about 4:30 p.m. so that she could catch her 5:45 flight. Friday I spent the day at work resting up - I must have done one too many trips up to the balcony that day though, cos I had started down the hallway with some paperwork to put in one of the committee boxes and my legs started feeling weird - so I went back and grabbed the first chair I could find. It went away pretty quickly - I call it "jelly knees" and they show up periodically - sometimes I wake up with them! On Saturday the 3rd I decided I needed to do some work outside on the rosebushes, so with gloves and pruner in hand, I cleaned them all up. Sunday John & I went to modern worship - then in the afternoon Jeff took #13 to US30 Speedway to try the new 6 cylinder out, Jill and the boys went with him too. John took #31 too so Jeff could chase him around the track - and I went too. Because there were only 4 cars - the 2 GOTRA cars, a late model and a modified, we could park real close to the pit grandstand area. I helped Jill try to keep an eye on Brody & Brant. When we got done there, we all went to Pat & Denise's for a cookout - what a good time. I was tired when we got home, but nothing too bad. Then on Monday I decided that I really felt good and wanted to see how much energy I had - so I started mowing the lawn. I didn't mow all of it, but I mowed a big share of it. Once again I went to work on Tuesday to rest up. On Wednesday, John and I went to see Dr. B - she had good results from the test I did at Methodist and so we set the date to reverse (or take down I guess in medical terminology) the ileostomy - that will happen in October. She thought things were coming along very well and was very pleased with how the recup after surgery had gone. For that surgery I will be in the hospital for 2 or 3 days (not counting the day of surgery) and will spend a couple of weeks recuperating. During that time, I will not have chemo either.
Speaking of chemo, I saw Dr. H on Monday, September 12 - my son's 35th birthday. He did an exam and then they sent me off to take some blood and then start the infusion - it takes 2 hours and 15 minutes - we started at 2:00 and got done at 4:15. (The port worked great - this one has been day & night different from the other one.) After that was done, they hooked me up to the pump (this is the same chemo that I had before in the pump but I will only wear it for 46 hours instead of 7 days like before). I went back in on Wednesday afternoon to get the pump taken off. It was "relearning" what to do with the pump - like to remember to take it with me when I get up in the middle of the night. I lay the bag on my sewing chest next to the bed at night - otherwise, I have the strap over my shoulder. It is a lot easier to only wear it for 46 hours as opposed to every day! The weeks that I am doing the chemo treatments are the weeks that John has Monday off, so that he can go with me (at least for the first few) to see how I tolerate things. I picked up the RX for the wig on Monday - and after we got done at the oncologist's office John & I went to Omaha to pick up the wig that I had ordered the week before. Then we went to Fazoli's to eat - my fav Italian restaurant! By that time I was feeling pretty tired so we headed back home. On Tuesday I went and got my hair cut - so now I have straight hair - I haven't had straight hair since I got all the long stuff cut off when Jeff was about 2. So far I have been wearing it like this - don't know when I'll break out the wig. It is certainly different when I look in the mirror! I also thought maybe getting it cut a little shorter will help with putting it up under the wig. Today is Thursday and - knock on wood - so far no side effects from the chemo. I have been spending a little more time resting this week and going to bed early and a couple of days taking a little rest after lunch. Yesterday I spent an hour or so on the phone with my cousin Curt from CO - so that was a little extra rest time too. So . . . I will keep you posted on how the second treatment goes!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The end of August and the first of September
This upcoming week will be a roller coaster I'm afraid. John & I will celebrate our 37th anniversary on August 31 - it hardly seems possible. Not too mention that we have known each other for 39 years. Also on Wednesday we will say goodbye to our Interim Pastor Dr. Bill - he has been with us for 20 months and we have worked very well together. On Thursday, September 1 we will get our new Senior Pastor - Jon A., who is coming to us from AZ. The only constant is change, and that seems to be especially true in the church. There will be some adjustments I'm sure, but we are all anxious to start this new adventure. Our whole family had been planning a trip over Labor Day to Mt. Pleasant Iowa to meet our friends the Krivi's and their family - but unfortunately because of all this stuff going on with me, we will not be going - I know that I probably couldn't handle the trip, nor would I be able to handle all of the walking, etc., there. Of course this trip was planned long before any of this came up. We're looking at making it happen next year. Brody would like me to come to one of his first soccer games. Jeff will celebrate a birthday on September 12 and John will celebrate on September 19. I will have to contact Dr. H to see what we need to do before we start the chemo - which I would like to do on John's short week, so that he can go with me on the days when I have to do the infusion, etc. Then I'll have to see if I need a driver for the days when I have to go and get the pump unhooked. I guess I'm still in a little bit of limbo - but once things start I'll have a better idea about how all of this is going to work. And of course, I will try to keep the blog updated appropriately!
Nurse Carrie & I
Since we had such a difficult time figuring out the wafer, etc. for the ileostomy bag to begin with, I just had to report that we did finally get it figured out. A different size wafer was ordered through the pharmacy and we began using an Eakin seal (it's a brand name, but much easier to "size" than the adhesive in a tube that we were using before - we're not sure which part was the solution - but since we've been using both, there have been no problems with the bag. And I have been changing it out on my own, first under the watchful eye of the home health care nurses, and then under Carrie's watchful eye more recently. It is very helpful to have a set of eyes looking "straight" on when I am putting on the seal and the wafer, as my perspective looking down sometimes doesn't let me see how well things are fitting around the stoma. I also have to thank Nurse Carrie and Nurse Kathy R. for helping redress where the right port was while it was healing, and also dressing the left port!
My journey just got longer!
In case you missed it in the last post, Dr. H wants me to do 12 treatments (6 months of chemo) - he explained it as a recommendation from NCCN (National Cancer Coalition network or something like that). So instead of being 3/4 of the way through my journey, now I am only 1/2 way through. John and I went to see Dr. B on the 27th of July - Dr. H had sent her a letter explaining what the next plan of treatement was . . . and in her usual wonderful bedside manner explained it a whole lot better than Dr. H. The additional chemo is my "insurance policy" that the cancer won't come back. Although the tumor was gone when she did the surgery and the path reports had all come back clear, because this was an invasive type of cancer, we certainly didn't want it coming back. Well, I'll say AMEN to that! She told me that she thought we should wait until after all the chemo was done before we do the reversal of the ileostomy - I almost cried! Dr. H had told us that he would give us a "window" in the chemo to do the reversal and then give me a couple of weeks to recuperate. (The reversal surgery will mean a couple of days in the hospital and then a couple of weeks of recuperation.) John & I had finished up the appt with her and were waiting back in the inner waiting room when Dr. B came down the hallway and said - let's see how quickly you can get into Methodist to do that test - and then maybe we could do the reversal sooner. My feeling was that the sooner we do the reversal, the sooner I could go back to a more normal diet (not the low fiber diet I have to be on now with the ileostomy) - which I think would help with dealing with some of the effects of the chemo. On July 28 I went in for outpatient surgery to have the port on the right side taken out, and then went back to see Dr. L on the 8th of August to have the stitches taken out. John & I & Carrie went back to see Dr. H on August 1, and that appointment went much better than the previous one. He had the head nurse go over what the chemo regimen would look like - I will do an infusion in the office for about two hours, along with some anti-nausea meds and a calcium that they have found to make the chemo work better. After that is done, they will hook me up to a pump that will have the very same chemo that I used before - only this time I will only be hooked up for 46 hours instead of a week. This will be an every other week thing - on the "off" week I will just go in for labwork so they can keep a handle on white & red blood count, etc. If I don't tolerate this regimen, then I would do a weekly regimen with a less intense chemo. On August 10 John & I went to Methodist Hospital to do a test to see if things on the inside were healing. (I won't gross anybody out by explaining what they did to me.) The Dr. that took the x-rays and examined them sounded pretty optimistic that things looked good. Went back for a check-up with Dr. L on the 15th of August - he thought the wound where my port had been was healing very well . . . and we set up the appt to put another port in on the left hand side - for August 19. That went very well too - it seems like the worst part of both of the last surgeries was finding a good vein in my right arm (since we can't use the left arm for that or for blood pressure). The last time the anesthesiologist got it in - in the back of my wrist! I had kind of felt like I had been living in limbo for a few weeks - getting the right port out, letting it heal, putting the left port in, and letting it heal. (Dr. L & I are wondering if I might be allergic to the prep [can't think of the name right this minute] as I had some itching, etc with this port too, and they didn't use any paper tape, only silk tape.) Then waiting on the report from Methodist as to whether things are healed well enough that we could do a reversal of the ileostomy. We go back to see Dr. B on September 7, so I'm hoping that she has good news for me.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Now that I'm home
Well, I came home on Thursday, June 30 - thanks to Carrie. The reason that John couldn't bring me home was that by the time I got discharged he was already at Junction Motor Speedway, McCool Junction where GOTRA was going to race that night. I took a pain pill before we left the hospital so that the ride home wouldn't be so long and bumpy - and it really did the trick. I remembered that I was a little drugged up when we got to the front steps and my legs felt like they were moving on their own when I went up them. I spent the rest of the night and overnight on the couch - I didn't even hear John come in when he got home. Friday was spent resting too - although going back and forth to the kitchen and to the bathroom constituted as major exercise. On Saturday the home health care nurse came to take my temp, my blood pressure and my heart rate - she thought I was pretty boring (believe me that would change). Saturday night Jeff & Jill & Brody & Brant came to town, in tow with some fireworks for Dad to help Brody with. He did some snappers, smoke balls, then a boat, a motorcycle and a car. I went outside to partake in the festivities and after about half an hour had decided that I better get back inside. So when it got dark and Jeff lit off the fireworks I watched them from inside the house! John, Carrie & Justin and Jeff & Kathy Rehder all went to the races at Harlan, IA where GOTRA was racing. Sunday and Monday were resting days. Then we come to Tuesday - the home health care nurse came to change out my ileostomy bag, which she did. That has been a continuing issue I'm afraid - and that week I had a home health care nurse here every single day! Thank God for home health care nurses! Not only did we have ileostomy bag issues to deal with - but I was also dealing with some lightheadedness, that we weren't sure was a blood pressure issue or a blood sugar issue. The blood sugar issue was checked out and it was good - the blood pressure on the other hand was pretty low - so our task was to make sure that I was getting enough protein, and drinking enough water (5-16 oz bottles a day!) So that was the regimen we started on. Unfortunately, Thursday was when this all was happening, and John had to to go US30 Speedway to take care of what he needed to do for GOTRA and I wasn't feeling well, and didn't want to stay home by myself - so my favorite son-in-law Justin came and stayed with me. Carrie had gone to Minneapolis with a friend to a Brittney Spears concert (with front row seats and a meet and greet with B herself!), but she wasn't planning to be home until later on that night. Friday was a better day!
The next week went a little better - I was making my main job taking care of me - eating three meals a day, and the protein thing and the water, plus some snacks and also drinking some ensure. GOTRA went to Albion, NE for the fair races at Boone County Raceway on Monday, July 11.
This last week has been pretty good too - I am feeling stronger every day. This week proved to be a real roller coaster for me though - on Monday I went back for a post op checkup with Dr. H with my chauffeur John. He hit me out of left field with the news that he wanted to do six more months of chemo on me - my reaction was "you're kidding - right". Unfortunately he was not kidding. Which led me to my next appointment on Wednesday with Dr. L to look at my port, with my chauffeur Carrie. His recommendation was that we need to take the port out and then put another one back in. At this point, I was afraid I wouldn't be up to having surgery to take one port out and put another one back in all at the same time - so we will do it in two separate steps. So then I had a pre-op physical with Dr. S on Thursday - hadn't seen him since my normal checkup in January (before all of this "stuff" started). The scale gave me some good news on that day - I have lost 20 pounds since that January visit! (Although I would not recommend this diet plan to anyone.) I had an appt set up with Dr. S on the 7th of July - but I cancelled it, which was a good thing the way that week turned out.
On Friday Jeff came to town, not only to help John get the #31 racecar ready to take to Riviera Raceway in Norfolk that night (this has only been abut the second or third time this year that he's had the car out!), but to also help put the dining room back together. Remember the whole house makeover that we did before my surgery - new carpet in the living room and flip flopping the family room and the dining room around? Well we did get the living room pretty well put back together (and me working on the bookcases to put things back a little at a time, before and after surgery). But the dining room was still a major mess - but we put a big dent in putting it back together. It was nice having a little mother-son time, we don't get to do that very often.
Then on Saturday Justin threw a 30th birthday party for Carrie - her actual birthday is TODAY! And I went out and got to spend some time with friends and family. It turned out to be a lovely night, there was a nice breeze and so it didn't feel as hot as they said it was! Besides Justin & Carrie of course and John, Jeff & Jill, Brody, Brant (so I got my grandkid fix), Pat & Denise, Breanna, Donovan, Chrissy & Rich, Emylie, Izabell, Richard & Donna, Jake & Rachel, Katie & Ty, Jeff & Kathy - just to name a few.
The next week went a little better - I was making my main job taking care of me - eating three meals a day, and the protein thing and the water, plus some snacks and also drinking some ensure. GOTRA went to Albion, NE for the fair races at Boone County Raceway on Monday, July 11.
This last week has been pretty good too - I am feeling stronger every day. This week proved to be a real roller coaster for me though - on Monday I went back for a post op checkup with Dr. H with my chauffeur John. He hit me out of left field with the news that he wanted to do six more months of chemo on me - my reaction was "you're kidding - right". Unfortunately he was not kidding. Which led me to my next appointment on Wednesday with Dr. L to look at my port, with my chauffeur Carrie. His recommendation was that we need to take the port out and then put another one back in. At this point, I was afraid I wouldn't be up to having surgery to take one port out and put another one back in all at the same time - so we will do it in two separate steps. So then I had a pre-op physical with Dr. S on Thursday - hadn't seen him since my normal checkup in January (before all of this "stuff" started). The scale gave me some good news on that day - I have lost 20 pounds since that January visit! (Although I would not recommend this diet plan to anyone.) I had an appt set up with Dr. S on the 7th of July - but I cancelled it, which was a good thing the way that week turned out.
On Friday Jeff came to town, not only to help John get the #31 racecar ready to take to Riviera Raceway in Norfolk that night (this has only been abut the second or third time this year that he's had the car out!), but to also help put the dining room back together. Remember the whole house makeover that we did before my surgery - new carpet in the living room and flip flopping the family room and the dining room around? Well we did get the living room pretty well put back together (and me working on the bookcases to put things back a little at a time, before and after surgery). But the dining room was still a major mess - but we put a big dent in putting it back together. It was nice having a little mother-son time, we don't get to do that very often.
Then on Saturday Justin threw a 30th birthday party for Carrie - her actual birthday is TODAY! And I went out and got to spend some time with friends and family. It turned out to be a lovely night, there was a nice breeze and so it didn't feel as hot as they said it was! Besides Justin & Carrie of course and John, Jeff & Jill, Brody, Brant (so I got my grandkid fix), Pat & Denise, Breanna, Donovan, Chrissy & Rich, Emylie, Izabell, Richard & Donna, Jake & Rachel, Katie & Ty, Jeff & Kathy - just to name a few.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Surgery and Beyond
Well, they wheeled me off to surgery at approximately 9:15 a.m. on the morning of the 20th - the next thing I remember is seeing a clock (I think it was in recovery) that said 3:10 p.m. After four hours of surgery and approximately two hours in recovery I ended up in Room 631 bed 2 at Methodist Hospital. Everyone associated with racing wanted to know how I ended up with a room number with John's car number in it (31) - pure luck is my guess! Methodist has 2 bed rooms (hence the bed 2) - so I had four roommates during my 10 day stay - let's just say, some were more interesting than others! The first night there was a high wind warning - and so all of the patients were put out into the hallway because of it - luckily they let me stay in bed and just rolled me out into the hall. (That was the same night that Fremont had a lot of tree and wind damage.) John and all of the kids were there during my surgery - John also had Tuesday off work, so he spent both days with me. My sister Denise came and spent Wednesday & Thursday with me. On Wednesday they were concerned about some pneumonia - so they took me down for a chest x-ray, they also were concerned about my high heart rate, so I had an EKG done and then wore a heart monitor throughout my stay. I was having trouble with some nausea too (that was a sign that the organs weren't waking up). Friday was kind of a bad day - I was still feeling nauseous - they took the catheter out, did a bladder scan, and ended up putting a catheter back in (the bladder was not quite ready to start working on its own yet). I knew they were going to access my port to put the iv in - that was good timing, as where they had placed the iv in my arm had started to infiltrate. At this point Dr. B took any sort of food or water away - all I'd really had up to that point was jello and apple juice. On Sunday, the 26th I had another chest x-ray to see what the pneumonia was doing - there was still a little bit there, and also I was running a fever, so they did some lab work. (I was on an antibiotic via iv during my whole hospital stay.) Whenever I had started running a temp, the nurses prompted me to blow into the spirometer and that usually took it right down. This was my second experience with a spirometer - they sent me home with one after my hysterectomy surgery too. On Monday, Dr. B wanted me to try some food again - so I worked almost all day on an instant breakfast - then I ordered an Ensure to try. Well, by that evening I was feeling nauseous again - and had lost all of the instant breakfast and the Ensure. On Wednesday they took the catheter out and I also had a CT scan (Dr. B wanted to make sure it looked like everything was working like it should be) and yes I had to drink that awful tasting stuff. For the first time since I'd come into the hospital I could order up some real food - scrambled eggs & toast & apple juice for breakfast and a tuna croissant for lunch - can't remember what I got for supper. I also got the IV out then. Each day that I was in the hospital, they wanted me to walk at least three times a day and get up and sit in the chair at least three times a day. There was a flurry of activity Thursday afternoon - they were planning to discharge me, because they weren't sure that insurance would pay for another day's stay. So I made a call to Carrie to see if she could come and pick up me - which she did - I took a percocet for the ride home and about 5:45 p.m. we headed for Fremont. It was great to be home!
Thanks to everyone for the cards, flowers, calls & visits - these people stopped by to see me or called me: John, Jeff & Jill, Brody & Brant, Carrie & Justin, Dr. Bill, Tracy Kindler, Marianne Simmons, Joy Jensen, Lyle & Ginny Nelson, Denise Miller, Tim & Odetta Wacker, Carol Stohlmann, Joe Gasper, Mollie Brown, Peggy Iverson.
Thanks to everyone for the cards, flowers, calls & visits - these people stopped by to see me or called me: John, Jeff & Jill, Brody & Brant, Carrie & Justin, Dr. Bill, Tracy Kindler, Marianne Simmons, Joy Jensen, Lyle & Ginny Nelson, Denise Miller, Tim & Odetta Wacker, Carol Stohlmann, Joe Gasper, Mollie Brown, Peggy Iverson.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
update - still in hospital
this is Carrie yet again...wanted to give a quick update for those who are following along at home.
Mom has had an up and down week with this surgery recovery but overall, things are moving ahead and on the positive side! She looks good and feels pretty good too. She makes her laps around the hallway {at least 3 times a day}and is spending more time sitting up in the chair than laying in the bed...so thats good! Hoping to get out of the hospital early to mid week this week. Thats all I've got for today. :)
Mom has had an up and down week with this surgery recovery but overall, things are moving ahead and on the positive side! She looks good and feels pretty good too. She makes her laps around the hallway {at least 3 times a day}and is spending more time sitting up in the chair than laying in the bed...so thats good! Hoping to get out of the hospital early to mid week this week. Thats all I've got for today. :)
Monday, June 20, 2011
surgery is done for today
this is Carrie: Mom's surgery went well today. THE CANCER IS GONE!! [cheering] The surgery took about 4 hours and she is in anesthesia waiting for about another hour or so. I'll update when I know more information and such...otherwise, Mom will be back on here before we know it! :)
Sunday, June 19, 2011
June
June has been very busy!
On the 1st I went to the choir potluck at Woodcliff. That was fun, since I hadn't seen some of my choir friends since I quit doing choir way back in March!
The 2nd was GOTRA racing at US30 Speedway in Columbus - I opted to stay home . . .
. . . so that I could be up for the Family Reunion on the 3rd & 4th here in Fremont. We met at the church on Friday night for supper and visiting and then the Airboat Club on Saturday for lunch, visiting, some photo ops, hayrack rides, dinner, etc. What a great time - the weather cooperated perfectly - and it was great to see all those cousins from NE, CO, AR, MI, MO, etc. (I hope I didn't miss any states.) Then some of us even met for lunch on Sunday, which was a great time too! Thanks to John, Denise, Jeff & Jill, Carrie & Justin and Pat for all the help for the weekend! Couldn't have done it without you.
On the 6th John started pulling up carpet - and had help moving furniture into the dining room - Carrie painted the two walls on the 7th in anticipation of the new carpet.
Friday, we got the new carpeting put down during the day - and then went out that night to celebrate Justin's birthday!
The 11th & 12th we moved furniture back into the living room and bought new furniture. Things are slowly all getting put back where they are going to be. Thanks to Carrie & Justin for helping move "out" & then back "in".
John, Jeff, Carrie, Uncle Richard and cousins Lloyd & Holly all went on the Great Nebraska Tractor Ride on the 18th & 19th.
Saturday, my good friend Dottie and I went to lunch - and ended up spending three hours eating and yakking. Please keep Bob & Dottie in your prayers, as they are currently relocated because of the flood.
And today - Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there - especially to the father of my children, my wonderful husband John, and to the father of my grandchildren, my wonderful son Jeff.
On the 1st I went to the choir potluck at Woodcliff. That was fun, since I hadn't seen some of my choir friends since I quit doing choir way back in March!
The 2nd was GOTRA racing at US30 Speedway in Columbus - I opted to stay home . . .
. . . so that I could be up for the Family Reunion on the 3rd & 4th here in Fremont. We met at the church on Friday night for supper and visiting and then the Airboat Club on Saturday for lunch, visiting, some photo ops, hayrack rides, dinner, etc. What a great time - the weather cooperated perfectly - and it was great to see all those cousins from NE, CO, AR, MI, MO, etc. (I hope I didn't miss any states.) Then some of us even met for lunch on Sunday, which was a great time too! Thanks to John, Denise, Jeff & Jill, Carrie & Justin and Pat for all the help for the weekend! Couldn't have done it without you.
On the 6th John started pulling up carpet - and had help moving furniture into the dining room - Carrie painted the two walls on the 7th in anticipation of the new carpet.
Friday, we got the new carpeting put down during the day - and then went out that night to celebrate Justin's birthday!
The 11th & 12th we moved furniture back into the living room and bought new furniture. Things are slowly all getting put back where they are going to be. Thanks to Carrie & Justin for helping move "out" & then back "in".
John, Jeff, Carrie, Uncle Richard and cousins Lloyd & Holly all went on the Great Nebraska Tractor Ride on the 18th & 19th.
Saturday, my good friend Dottie and I went to lunch - and ended up spending three hours eating and yakking. Please keep Bob & Dottie in your prayers, as they are currently relocated because of the flood.
And today - Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there - especially to the father of my children, my wonderful husband John, and to the father of my grandchildren, my wonderful son Jeff.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
May
This has been a busy month - as May always is! I've already told you about some lunch and dinner dates and also my Dr. appointments.
On the 13th we had a graduation open house to attend for a couple of special girls - then we met our friends Bob & Dottie F. at the Longbranch in Leshara for supper! Dottie surprised me with my birthday present - some beautiful earrings.
On the 14th we went to one of Brody's soccer game.- the other team only had four players, so Brody's coach was asking if any of the kids would like to play for the other team "just today" so they could play 5 on 5 - he'd asked some of the kids and Brody was raising his hand - the coach asked if he wanted to play for the other team and he said YES! Of course it was a little confusing because he was used to getting the ball to the one goal - and now he had to get it to the other one. But they were all having a good time running around. Toward the end of the game they were at Brody's team's goal and he tripped and one of the kids got him in the nose with the side of his shoe - so he had to be taken out of the rest of the game so we could get the bleeding to stop. But at the end of the game - he not only got treats from his team - he got treats from the other team too! He told them thank you of course. Then it was cute as he went to tell the little boy he'd had the collision with "that it was all right!"
On the 15th we were supposed to race at I80 but got cancelled because of the weather - turned out to be a pretty nice evening and I got some flowers planted.
The 18th was a bad day for me - not sure exactly why - but I just couldn't navigate getting out of bed that morning, so I stayed home in the a.m. and went in for the afternoon. I haven't had to miss much work due to my health - thankfully!
On the 20th I went in and had my port irrigated - have to do that once a month.
On the 21st we celebrated Brody's 4th birthday - but instead of going to the lakes with the threatening weather forecast (funnel clouds were spotted by North Bend and the State Lakes on that day) - everybody went fishing at Lake Cunningham instead. Even Papa Ferguson who is not much of a fisherman was catching his share of fish - and then letting Brody reel them in for him! (It was all catch & return fishing.) I stayed back at Jeff & Jill's with Brant - and the two of us had our own fun playing and napping! Then when everybody came back to the house we had supper and cake and the birthday boy opened up his presents. The theme was "John Deere" and Jill had even made him a John Deere tractor cake. (Jeff has a John Deere tractor - Papa Ferguson has an IH Farmall (red) - and Aunt Carrie has an Allis Chalmers (orange).)
Our rain out at I80 was rescheduled to the 22nd, so I was planning to try going along for the evening - John talked me out of it, which was a good thing, cos I wouldn't have been able to make it! I also wasn't up to attending the two graduation open houses that we were invited to that evening.
On the 25th I celebrated my birthday - with all of my family! Had a wonderful pizza dinner and got some pretty flowers! John got me a gazebo.
On the 27th I had lunch with some good friends from high school - Kathy R., Jody P. and Pam K. - what a good time we had reminiscing! Also got to meet Dr. G who delivered both of my grandsons - it's a small world - my friend Kathy R. used to babysit for Dr. G! John & #31 and Justin & Carrie & #45 went to Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, NE that night racing - I stayed home. John said they drove in rain all the way until about ten miles from the track - and then even got to see the sun!
I had done some weeding in the flower beds on the front and the side of the house - and John had put down new mulch. I wanted to do something different with the bed in the southeast corner of the house, so we put a shepherd's hook in the corner and placed our "GOTRA" rock and our "Gone Racin'" rock there, then we went shopping for some hanging plants to put on the shepherd's hook. It has a nice fresh look to it!
On the 29th we were supposed to go racing at Raceway Park in Jefferson, SD - but got cancelled because of the rain. So instead we watched the grandsons for awhile - then did some carpet and paint shopping - I'll tell you more about that later. We brought Brody back home with us to stay the night and watched Gnomeo & Juliet - Papa & Brody started watching Rango, but didn't get very far . . . and I'm not sure who fell asleep first - the old guy or the young guy!
On the 30th we took flowers around to the cemeteries - stopped to visit our friends Desi & Steve R. - then came home and John bbq'd for supper!
The 31st was a very nice day (translate that as it was nice enough to put the top down on the convertible) - and I felt like I still had some energy when I got home from work, so I pulled some weeds, John helped me get the plants I bring in for the winter back outside - and I even repotted a couple of things. I cooked supper - and the burgers were pretty good if I do say so myself. I even got the refrigerator cleaned out while I was cooking. I really like four day weekends - they just don't come often enough.
On the 13th we had a graduation open house to attend for a couple of special girls - then we met our friends Bob & Dottie F. at the Longbranch in Leshara for supper! Dottie surprised me with my birthday present - some beautiful earrings.
On the 14th we went to one of Brody's soccer game.- the other team only had four players, so Brody's coach was asking if any of the kids would like to play for the other team "just today" so they could play 5 on 5 - he'd asked some of the kids and Brody was raising his hand - the coach asked if he wanted to play for the other team and he said YES! Of course it was a little confusing because he was used to getting the ball to the one goal - and now he had to get it to the other one. But they were all having a good time running around. Toward the end of the game they were at Brody's team's goal and he tripped and one of the kids got him in the nose with the side of his shoe - so he had to be taken out of the rest of the game so we could get the bleeding to stop. But at the end of the game - he not only got treats from his team - he got treats from the other team too! He told them thank you of course. Then it was cute as he went to tell the little boy he'd had the collision with "that it was all right!"
On the 15th we were supposed to race at I80 but got cancelled because of the weather - turned out to be a pretty nice evening and I got some flowers planted.
The 18th was a bad day for me - not sure exactly why - but I just couldn't navigate getting out of bed that morning, so I stayed home in the a.m. and went in for the afternoon. I haven't had to miss much work due to my health - thankfully!
On the 20th I went in and had my port irrigated - have to do that once a month.
On the 21st we celebrated Brody's 4th birthday - but instead of going to the lakes with the threatening weather forecast (funnel clouds were spotted by North Bend and the State Lakes on that day) - everybody went fishing at Lake Cunningham instead. Even Papa Ferguson who is not much of a fisherman was catching his share of fish - and then letting Brody reel them in for him! (It was all catch & return fishing.) I stayed back at Jeff & Jill's with Brant - and the two of us had our own fun playing and napping! Then when everybody came back to the house we had supper and cake and the birthday boy opened up his presents. The theme was "John Deere" and Jill had even made him a John Deere tractor cake. (Jeff has a John Deere tractor - Papa Ferguson has an IH Farmall (red) - and Aunt Carrie has an Allis Chalmers (orange).)
Our rain out at I80 was rescheduled to the 22nd, so I was planning to try going along for the evening - John talked me out of it, which was a good thing, cos I wouldn't have been able to make it! I also wasn't up to attending the two graduation open houses that we were invited to that evening.
On the 25th I celebrated my birthday - with all of my family! Had a wonderful pizza dinner and got some pretty flowers! John got me a gazebo.
On the 27th I had lunch with some good friends from high school - Kathy R., Jody P. and Pam K. - what a good time we had reminiscing! Also got to meet Dr. G who delivered both of my grandsons - it's a small world - my friend Kathy R. used to babysit for Dr. G! John & #31 and Justin & Carrie & #45 went to Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, NE that night racing - I stayed home. John said they drove in rain all the way until about ten miles from the track - and then even got to see the sun!
I had done some weeding in the flower beds on the front and the side of the house - and John had put down new mulch. I wanted to do something different with the bed in the southeast corner of the house, so we put a shepherd's hook in the corner and placed our "GOTRA" rock and our "Gone Racin'" rock there, then we went shopping for some hanging plants to put on the shepherd's hook. It has a nice fresh look to it!
On the 29th we were supposed to go racing at Raceway Park in Jefferson, SD - but got cancelled because of the rain. So instead we watched the grandsons for awhile - then did some carpet and paint shopping - I'll tell you more about that later. We brought Brody back home with us to stay the night and watched Gnomeo & Juliet - Papa & Brody started watching Rango, but didn't get very far . . . and I'm not sure who fell asleep first - the old guy or the young guy!
On the 30th we took flowers around to the cemeteries - stopped to visit our friends Desi & Steve R. - then came home and John bbq'd for supper!
The 31st was a very nice day (translate that as it was nice enough to put the top down on the convertible) - and I felt like I still had some energy when I got home from work, so I pulled some weeds, John helped me get the plants I bring in for the winter back outside - and I even repotted a couple of things. I cooked supper - and the burgers were pretty good if I do say so myself. I even got the refrigerator cleaned out while I was cooking. I really like four day weekends - they just don't come often enough.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Off to see Dr. B
So Carrie & I went to Omaha to see Dr. B today (thanks for taking me Carrie!). Anyway, we weren't quite sure what was going to happen at this appt - we thought probably the date for the surgery would be set up. Dr. B also wanted to check out the size of the tumor . . . and what she found was that it had gone from the size of a ping pong ball to the size of a dime (and flat) - GREAT NEWS! And the radiation & chemo will continue working, so it may shrink even smaller. So the surgery date is set - it will happen in Omaha - the pre-op date is set and the follow up date is set!
We found out that Dr. B's staff is just as caring and genuine as she is - and I got to meet her medical assistant Nickole face to face - which was nice because I had only talked to her on the phone.
I am feeling really good this week - and I believe that the energy level is coming back - I'll see if I can get some work done outside this week - I have some rose bushes to work on and some new plants to get in the soil.
Anyway, I am feeling glad that things are all set up and I can now kind of plan where we go from here . . . and at the same time am a little anxious about the surgery. One step at a time!
We found out that Dr. B's staff is just as caring and genuine as she is - and I got to meet her medical assistant Nickole face to face - which was nice because I had only talked to her on the phone.
I am feeling really good this week - and I believe that the energy level is coming back - I'll see if I can get some work done outside this week - I have some rose bushes to work on and some new plants to get in the soil.
Anyway, I am feeling glad that things are all set up and I can now kind of plan where we go from here . . . and at the same time am a little anxious about the surgery. One step at a time!
Mother's Day
I slept in! For those of you that know me - I love to sleep in!
Jeff called to see what I was doing, and wanted to know if I wanted to come down and spend some quality time with #2 grandson - so of course I said yes. So while I watched Brant, Jeff, Jill and Brody worked outside putting down new landscape timbers and mulch and Jill got some flowers planted.
Then we came back to town and Jeff & Justin barbecued some turkey broils (my favorite) - so we were ready to eat supper when John got off work. Carrie & Jill brought everything for the meal. Then John & Brody & Carrie & Jill went out to the lakes in the convertible so they could check out a spot to have Brody's birthday party. They also ran into our friends Mike & Mary who were at their camper.
Needless to say I had a great Mother's Day!!
Jeff called to see what I was doing, and wanted to know if I wanted to come down and spend some quality time with #2 grandson - so of course I said yes. So while I watched Brant, Jeff, Jill and Brody worked outside putting down new landscape timbers and mulch and Jill got some flowers planted.
Then we came back to town and Jeff & Justin barbecued some turkey broils (my favorite) - so we were ready to eat supper when John got off work. Carrie & Jill brought everything for the meal. Then John & Brody & Carrie & Jill went out to the lakes in the convertible so they could check out a spot to have Brody's birthday party. They also ran into our friends Mike & Mary who were at their camper.
Needless to say I had a great Mother's Day!!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
It's the first week of May
And what a good week it was!
Had committee meetings on Tuesday night. Then John sent the stock car that he had purchased down the road to a new home
On Wednesday we went to the funeral of a dear friend's mom - that part wasn't so good - but the fact that we got to spend some time with old friends Steve & Dez and their girls (Jennie, Jess, Amy) and their extended family was. Since Dez's in-laws lived across the street from us since we moved into our house, we were always seeing them. But since we lost Grandma Eileen about 16 months ago and the house was sold, we don't get to see them so often now - we are going to try and remedy that!!
Wednesday night we met some dear friends - Mike & Mary for supper - and had a great time as we always do when we get together.
Thursday I had a Dr appt w/ Dr. H - and they set up an appt for me for next week to see Dr. B.
On Thursday night we had our last Small Group get together for the spring. Mac brought pizza for us - it was delicious! It was great to see Mac, Tim & Odetta, Sharee & Kylee - plus John of course! We had been using the book 90 Minutes in Heaven for our discussion, and all thought it was a very interesting book!
John brought me some beautiful flowers for Mother's Day on Friday.
Now today I got to sleep in - then I went to the May Museum plant sale - then I went to lunch with Carol S., Carol A. and Charlene B. (2 hours worth of gabbing & eating) - then I went and got a pedicure.
And tomorrow I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my family for Mother's Day.
Had committee meetings on Tuesday night. Then John sent the stock car that he had purchased down the road to a new home
On Wednesday we went to the funeral of a dear friend's mom - that part wasn't so good - but the fact that we got to spend some time with old friends Steve & Dez and their girls (Jennie, Jess, Amy) and their extended family was. Since Dez's in-laws lived across the street from us since we moved into our house, we were always seeing them. But since we lost Grandma Eileen about 16 months ago and the house was sold, we don't get to see them so often now - we are going to try and remedy that!!
Wednesday night we met some dear friends - Mike & Mary for supper - and had a great time as we always do when we get together.
Thursday I had a Dr appt w/ Dr. H - and they set up an appt for me for next week to see Dr. B.
On Thursday night we had our last Small Group get together for the spring. Mac brought pizza for us - it was delicious! It was great to see Mac, Tim & Odetta, Sharee & Kylee - plus John of course! We had been using the book 90 Minutes in Heaven for our discussion, and all thought it was a very interesting book!
John brought me some beautiful flowers for Mother's Day on Friday.
Now today I got to sleep in - then I went to the May Museum plant sale - then I went to lunch with Carol S., Carol A. and Charlene B. (2 hours worth of gabbing & eating) - then I went and got a pedicure.
And tomorrow I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my family for Mother's Day.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Well, Easter is over and this was a short week at work
Since I get Monday off for the Easter holiday and it was one of John's regular days off, that's how we could keep Brody overnight Sunday night and go to the movie on Monday.
Tuesday John went to the funeral of the mother of a very good friend, but unfortunately I could not go.
Wednesday we were treated to lunch by our boss - delicious food and great company!
Thursday several of us went to the Salad Luncheon at First United Methodist Church - which is always a good time and a delicious meal! (Think about going to a salad potluck with all of the best recipes you'd like to try - and being able to!) Thanks to Nancy for the treat.
Thursday was GOTRA's first night out for the 2011 season at US30 Speedway in Columbus (our hometrack) - we had 19 GOTRA cars there. It also was Rich Anderson Memorial night - his wife Robin and granddaughter Allie were there to participate - his car number (#9) was retired, each of the GOTRA guys got a trophy that had belonged to Rich and the GOTRA cars were out on the track for the presentations and also to start the night's festivities. Rich was a great GOTRA supporter, fellow racer and was also instrumental in getting our first Cornhusker Vintage Nationals off the ground. Unfortunately Rich lost his battle with cancer last fall and we all lost a very dear friend.
I opted not to go to Columbus for the races cos I was afraid that it would wear me out. Sounded like it was a good night of racing!
On Friday we each got a bouquet of flowers from Personnel Committee - thank you guys - what a nice surprise that was!
On Saturday morning we had Work Day at church - with a very short crowd I'm afraid - so we ordered pizza in instead of the normal Youth Club sloppy joes lunch that we do. In the afternoon I even felt up to spending a little time out in the yard doing a little after winter cleanup after John got done mowing. I can hardly wait for my energy to come back so I can do some more work outside!
Sunday I got up and put a turkey breast on - that was part of what we had for lunch when we celebrated Easter today - corn casserole, green bean casserole, kings hawaiian rolls, Grandma Rehder salad and three pasta salads. We ate lunch, then spent some time outside while Brody hunted for Easter eggs and Brant enjoyed crawling around in the grass, then went back in for dessert (caramel brownie dessert and raspberry almond bars). No one went away hungry that's for sure. It was a beautiful May Day!
Tuesday John went to the funeral of the mother of a very good friend, but unfortunately I could not go.
Wednesday we were treated to lunch by our boss - delicious food and great company!
Thursday several of us went to the Salad Luncheon at First United Methodist Church - which is always a good time and a delicious meal! (Think about going to a salad potluck with all of the best recipes you'd like to try - and being able to!) Thanks to Nancy for the treat.
Thursday was GOTRA's first night out for the 2011 season at US30 Speedway in Columbus (our hometrack) - we had 19 GOTRA cars there. It also was Rich Anderson Memorial night - his wife Robin and granddaughter Allie were there to participate - his car number (#9) was retired, each of the GOTRA guys got a trophy that had belonged to Rich and the GOTRA cars were out on the track for the presentations and also to start the night's festivities. Rich was a great GOTRA supporter, fellow racer and was also instrumental in getting our first Cornhusker Vintage Nationals off the ground. Unfortunately Rich lost his battle with cancer last fall and we all lost a very dear friend.
I opted not to go to Columbus for the races cos I was afraid that it would wear me out. Sounded like it was a good night of racing!
On Friday we each got a bouquet of flowers from Personnel Committee - thank you guys - what a nice surprise that was!
On Saturday morning we had Work Day at church - with a very short crowd I'm afraid - so we ordered pizza in instead of the normal Youth Club sloppy joes lunch that we do. In the afternoon I even felt up to spending a little time out in the yard doing a little after winter cleanup after John got done mowing. I can hardly wait for my energy to come back so I can do some more work outside!
Sunday I got up and put a turkey breast on - that was part of what we had for lunch when we celebrated Easter today - corn casserole, green bean casserole, kings hawaiian rolls, Grandma Rehder salad and three pasta salads. We ate lunch, then spent some time outside while Brody hunted for Easter eggs and Brant enjoyed crawling around in the grass, then went back in for dessert (caramel brownie dessert and raspberry almond bars). No one went away hungry that's for sure. It was a beautiful May Day!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
My First Weekend!
Remember how I thought that I would have my energy back right away?
Well, last Saturday I felt great - so I was trying to catch up on some things around the house. Evidently that, or the week before had caught up with me.
I got up Sunday morning to have donuts with Carrie & Justin & John after they came home from sunrise service - but then decided I needed to go back to bed, so I did - and I didn't wake up until after lunchtime. When these"down" times hit - they come on really fast.
But I rested up the rest of the afternoon . . . so that when Jeff & Jill & Brody & Brant came back from having Easter at Jill's family - we had promised Brody that he could spend the night. Well spend the night he did and then the three of us went to see "Rio" in 3D on Monday. It is a very funny movie, and we had a great time. Even went and got ice cream as a treat afterwards. Jeff picked Brody up on his way home from work - although he wasn't really ready to go, and we weren't ready for him to leave either!
Well, last Saturday I felt great - so I was trying to catch up on some things around the house. Evidently that, or the week before had caught up with me.
I got up Sunday morning to have donuts with Carrie & Justin & John after they came home from sunrise service - but then decided I needed to go back to bed, so I did - and I didn't wake up until after lunchtime. When these"down" times hit - they come on really fast.
But I rested up the rest of the afternoon . . . so that when Jeff & Jill & Brody & Brant came back from having Easter at Jill's family - we had promised Brody that he could spend the night. Well spend the night he did and then the three of us went to see "Rio" in 3D on Monday. It is a very funny movie, and we had a great time. Even went and got ice cream as a treat afterwards. Jeff picked Brody up on his way home from work - although he wasn't really ready to go, and we weren't ready for him to leave either!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Side effects
Since I had done radiation with my first bout of cancer - I thought maybe the symptoms would show up in about the same way this time - not until the treatment was almost through.
Well, I was wrong about that too!
Actually the side effects started showing up about halfway through the radiation & chemo. Diarrhea was the first thing to show up (that was a side effect of both) - and I found that Immodium might be a very good friend to keep on hand. The couple of times that my mouth started getting a little "tingly" I rinsed it with some baking soda - I never did get any sores in my mouth. Some of the other side effects were skin irritation (this might not be for the squeamish among you) - when that started to happen I used baby powder and preparation h to take care of that. Believe me, you don't have to have hemorrhoids to use preparation h. Dr. H had prescribed some anti-nausea pills to take if I needed, but I never did.
This is not really one of the "side effects" of the radiation treatments - but when you start receiving your treatments, you are "marked" with some "tatoos". Now these are not tatoos like you would think - but actually little round black dots that they use to set up the lines for doing the radiation treatments. So I now have approximately six tatoos (three from the first time around and three from this time) at various places on my body. So I guess if I am asked if I have tatoos - I can say yes! I'm just not going to tell you where - or let you see them!
Well, I was wrong about that too!
Actually the side effects started showing up about halfway through the radiation & chemo. Diarrhea was the first thing to show up (that was a side effect of both) - and I found that Immodium might be a very good friend to keep on hand. The couple of times that my mouth started getting a little "tingly" I rinsed it with some baking soda - I never did get any sores in my mouth. Some of the other side effects were skin irritation (this might not be for the squeamish among you) - when that started to happen I used baby powder and preparation h to take care of that. Believe me, you don't have to have hemorrhoids to use preparation h. Dr. H had prescribed some anti-nausea pills to take if I needed, but I never did.
This is not really one of the "side effects" of the radiation treatments - but when you start receiving your treatments, you are "marked" with some "tatoos". Now these are not tatoos like you would think - but actually little round black dots that they use to set up the lines for doing the radiation treatments. So I now have approximately six tatoos (three from the first time around and three from this time) at various places on my body. So I guess if I am asked if I have tatoos - I can say yes! I'm just not going to tell you where - or let you see them!
I am a free woman!
Or so to speak anyway!
On Friday, April 22 (Good Friday) I finished up my 28th radiation treatment - and also did my last day of chemo (about 5 weeks total). Wow was I anxious to be done! And, in my mind, as soon as I was done with all that I would automatically get my energy back. Of course I was wrong! I'm hoping that will come in a week or two! Actually I am feeling very good and love having everyone tell me that I look good! So now we wait to let the radiation & chemo continue working to shrink or get rid of the tumor completely. The next step will be surgery - but at this point I don't know when that will happen yet.
On Friday, April 22 (Good Friday) I finished up my 28th radiation treatment - and also did my last day of chemo (about 5 weeks total). Wow was I anxious to be done! And, in my mind, as soon as I was done with all that I would automatically get my energy back. Of course I was wrong! I'm hoping that will come in a week or two! Actually I am feeling very good and love having everyone tell me that I look good! So now we wait to let the radiation & chemo continue working to shrink or get rid of the tumor completely. The next step will be surgery - but at this point I don't know when that will happen yet.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The Wall
Half of April is gone - and we officially passed Income Tax Day . . . here in Fremont, Nebraska, we celebrated that with some rain and then some wet, wet snow. At least here it only stuck to the roofs and the grassy areas - not like out west where the interstate was closed for 17 hours because of all the snow they got!
Anyway this has been an exciting week - I was looking forward to the next to the last week when I finish up radiation and hopefully chemo. I started off the week with radiation treatment #20 on Monday, April 11 and started week 5 of chemo on Wednesday, April 13. This was also the week to get the newsletter out at church. Everything was going along fine - until I got home from the Lenten service Wednesday night - gosh was I tired! So, as is not uncommon, I fell asleep in the recliner and woke up around midnight or so and went to bed. Got up not feeling too bad on Thursday morning, was still really tired - but I went to work because after all, my volunteers were coming to get the newsletter out. Well by the time we got done putting things together I knew that I had to get it ready to go to the Post Office and go home! (Thanks to Marvin & Myron it actually got to the Post Office.) So that's exactly what I did - and went back to the recliner! About 2:30 I called Dr. Z's office to say that I wasn't feeling well and thought I should stay home - they thought so too! And I stayed home from Small Group that night too - I really missed you guys though! So no radiation treatment on Thursday, April 14. On Friday, I had radiation treatment #23 - and they will add the one I missed on Thursday on to the end - so I will have radiation treatment #28 on Friday, April 22 (Good Friday). I'm still not sure what I did to over extend myself, cos I hadn't had a very busy week at all, although I felt like I was fighting a cold - but I definitely hit the wall on Thursday. Friday I went to work for half a day, and then came home and rested after that. I hate to be such a weinie! But Dr. Z told me on Friday that my energy and my immune system would bounce back pretty quickly after the radiation treatments and chemo were done. I am hoping that when I see Dr. H next week he will tell me that I'm done with the chemo too, but we'll wait and see. Either way - I'll keep you posted on where we're at!
Anyway this has been an exciting week - I was looking forward to the next to the last week when I finish up radiation and hopefully chemo. I started off the week with radiation treatment #20 on Monday, April 11 and started week 5 of chemo on Wednesday, April 13. This was also the week to get the newsletter out at church. Everything was going along fine - until I got home from the Lenten service Wednesday night - gosh was I tired! So, as is not uncommon, I fell asleep in the recliner and woke up around midnight or so and went to bed. Got up not feeling too bad on Thursday morning, was still really tired - but I went to work because after all, my volunteers were coming to get the newsletter out. Well by the time we got done putting things together I knew that I had to get it ready to go to the Post Office and go home! (Thanks to Marvin & Myron it actually got to the Post Office.) So that's exactly what I did - and went back to the recliner! About 2:30 I called Dr. Z's office to say that I wasn't feeling well and thought I should stay home - they thought so too! And I stayed home from Small Group that night too - I really missed you guys though! So no radiation treatment on Thursday, April 14. On Friday, I had radiation treatment #23 - and they will add the one I missed on Thursday on to the end - so I will have radiation treatment #28 on Friday, April 22 (Good Friday). I'm still not sure what I did to over extend myself, cos I hadn't had a very busy week at all, although I felt like I was fighting a cold - but I definitely hit the wall on Thursday. Friday I went to work for half a day, and then came home and rested after that. I hate to be such a weinie! But Dr. Z told me on Friday that my energy and my immune system would bounce back pretty quickly after the radiation treatments and chemo were done. I am hoping that when I see Dr. H next week he will tell me that I'm done with the chemo too, but we'll wait and see. Either way - I'll keep you posted on where we're at!
Low Fiber Diet
While going through radiation in this process, I was given a low fiber diet by the radiation oncology office. At first I thought this was going to be my free pass to eating junk! Instead it has been a whole new learning curve for me I'm afraid. I have been on a high fiber diet from the time we started looking at my cholesterol and blood sugar issues. So this has been quite a change! I went from wheat bread to white bread, brown rice to white rice, whole wheat pasta to white pasta. I was also told to avoid fresh fruits and vegetables. Like I said - this is a learning curve: so I decided to go to the internet (doesn't everybody do this) and see what I could find about low fiber diets. Of course, some of the information contradicted itself, but I did find that there were some things that I could try - like cantaloupe, and watermelon. I am eating all of my vegetables cooked nowadays - and I can have as much yogurt, milk products, jello, pudding, fruit cups, fruit cocktail and cottage cheese, eggs and tuna as I want. And also can have as much protein as I want - except for crunchy nut butters, tough meat or meat with gristle and dried beans. And I have found that tomatoes (in any form - including pizza sauce) are NOT a good thing. Makes me hungry for mostaccoli just thinking about it! The purpose of the low fiber diet is that it lessons the irritation to the GI tract and can help it heal. I will have to stay on this diet through the initial surgery, and then probably through the reversal of the ileostomy I think. For the time being, I just have to put a little more thought into what I eat and what I cook!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Up To Date
Well I think that brings us up to date - As Carrie told you I did radiation treatment #14 on Friday, April 1 (that was no April Fool's Joke!) That was the halfway mark!
I have had no terrible side effects from either the radiation or the chemo except for diahrrea - which they told me would be a side effect of both.
The first week that I started radiation & chemo I thought I was superwoman I guess and could do it all - but by that Friday I had found out differently! I saved up my energy for Saturday when I knew I was going to get a visit from my two favorite little guys - Brody & Brant!!
That weekend we also had the GOTRA Spring Meeting - and I was there to do my Secretary / Treasurer thing for that!
The next week I decided to go home and rest after my radiation treatments at 3:00 on Monday through Thursday - and I felt much better.
This week I have been going back to work after the radiation treatments and that seems to be working well.
(My Friday radiation appt has bounced back between 11:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. so I've been working all day on Friday.)
I had decided that maybe I should cut back on going to Chancel Choir - we had started doing some long practices getting ready to do a Cantata on Easter. I think it was a good call - but I really miss seeing my choir friends on Wednesdays - and singing with them on Sunday mornings.
I have been going to the Lenten Services on Wednesday nights since Ash Wednesday and I went to church for the first time in three weeks last Sunday. It was great to be there - and the choir's song on Sunday was absolutely beautiful! I had a lot of comments about how great I looked - and my response was that it was great to be seen!
I have had no terrible side effects from either the radiation or the chemo except for diahrrea - which they told me would be a side effect of both.
The first week that I started radiation & chemo I thought I was superwoman I guess and could do it all - but by that Friday I had found out differently! I saved up my energy for Saturday when I knew I was going to get a visit from my two favorite little guys - Brody & Brant!!
That weekend we also had the GOTRA Spring Meeting - and I was there to do my Secretary / Treasurer thing for that!
The next week I decided to go home and rest after my radiation treatments at 3:00 on Monday through Thursday - and I felt much better.
This week I have been going back to work after the radiation treatments and that seems to be working well.
(My Friday radiation appt has bounced back between 11:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. so I've been working all day on Friday.)
I had decided that maybe I should cut back on going to Chancel Choir - we had started doing some long practices getting ready to do a Cantata on Easter. I think it was a good call - but I really miss seeing my choir friends on Wednesdays - and singing with them on Sunday mornings.
I have been going to the Lenten Services on Wednesday nights since Ash Wednesday and I went to church for the first time in three weeks last Sunday. It was great to be there - and the choir's song on Sunday was absolutely beautiful! I had a lot of comments about how great I looked - and my response was that it was great to be seen!
A Note I Forgot To Tell
In addition to all of the excitement on that Friday when I was at Dr. Z's office once and Dr. H's office twice, in between the visit to Dr. D - when I got back to church all of a sudden my pump started beeping really loudly - saying "high pressure" on the screen. So I put a call into Dr. H's office - and got the answering service - I told them what was going on and they would have somebody get back with me. Well, it stopped beeping about as quickly as it started - so I thought maybe whatever it was had taken care of itself . . . Until it started beeping very loudly again with the high pressure message. I got a call back from Dr. H's office and was told to look for any kinks in the lines - but I couldn't see any - so I was told to look at the plastic clips to see if any of them were closed. AHA - one of them was, and as soon as I unclipped it - the beeping stopped and the message went away. By that point I was more than a little frazzled, as was my coworker - so we decided that it was a good time to call it a day. I went home and crashed in the recliner for the entire evening!
I also forgot to say that the highlight of this whole crazy day was my lunch date with my friends Barb & Deb!!
I also forgot to say that the highlight of this whole crazy day was my lunch date with my friends Barb & Deb!!
Thank You's
At this point I really need to say some thank you's.
Have I told you what a great support system I have?
My family has been wonderful through all of this and I love them very much!
I also appreciate the support from our friends, my coworkers and Personnel Committee, our church family and our racing family - the cards, meals, prayers, phone calls, emails, notes and messages on Facebook - they have all meant so much to all of us.
I also have to give high praise to my friends at the Radiation Oncology office and Dr. Z and his staff and also at the Oncology office and Dr. H and his staff - they have been very helpful in all this process and have tried to answer all my questions as best they can.
Have I told you what a great support system I have?
My family has been wonderful through all of this and I love them very much!
I also appreciate the support from our friends, my coworkers and Personnel Committee, our church family and our racing family - the cards, meals, prayers, phone calls, emails, notes and messages on Facebook - they have all meant so much to all of us.
I also have to give high praise to my friends at the Radiation Oncology office and Dr. Z and his staff and also at the Oncology office and Dr. H and his staff - they have been very helpful in all this process and have tried to answer all my questions as best they can.
My Repreive
So I was without my constant companion, my pump from Sunday morning in the ER to Wednesday afternoon when I went to see MY surgeon Dr. L after I got done with radiation treatment #12. Have I told you how much I like Dr. L? Besides his great bedside manner - he explains everything fully to you, so usually you don't have any questions by the time he is done. And once again he came through and explained to me that they create a little pocket for the port to rest in and of course that is where the blood would pool. Then he told me that when the blood starts to coagulate that it turns into a more gelatin like substance and then is absorbed back into the body. I told him that I had started taking my fish oil and baby aspirin again - and wondered if that had been a problem - he didn't think so. He wanted to know when Dr. H would like to hook the pump back up - I told him that they wanted him to tell them. So they went and called Dr. H's office and the nurse came back in to say that they wanted to hook it back up that afternoon. I said I was afraid that's what they would want to do. So I got my "baby" backpack back and started on week 3 of the chemo. Dr. H's nurse told me that they didn't think that I would have to add any days on to the chemo to make up for the days I was without it because they would want to finish up the radiation and the chemo at the same time. Carrie had met me at Dr. L's office for moral support, since we had no idea what was going to happen.
Here We Go
Well on Monday, March 14 John and I headed out to the hospital early in the morning to first do a PET scan and then to do a CT scan. The nice young gentleman who would do the PET scan got first shot at putting in kind of an iv port - that's what they would use to put the tracer into my body. I say he got first shot, because he couldn't find a vein. So they brought a nurse out from the hospital (oh I forgot to tell you there is a PET scan trailer that comes to the hospital once a week and parks outside the imaging center) - she got tries number 2 & 3. When she couldn't get it in, they brought another nurse out - and luckily she got it in on the first try. At that point I wasn't looking forward to anymore poking, so I had them check to make sure that I didn't need it left in for the CT scan - luckily I didn't. At some point I had asked if they could use my port, but was told that they didn't like to put the tracer through the port ?!? The PET scan was for Dr. H. Anyway we got all done there, and then went to another part of the hospital to get the CT scan - I understand that the CT scan was for Dr. Z and they would use it for some measurements to do the radiation.
On Tuesday, March 15 I had my first radiation treatment, and Dr. Z went through what we were going to do with me again. Also on that day I started the chemo - Dr. H told me that the PET scan showed the tumor - but also showed the other organs too. He told me that if the breast cancer had metastisized that it would show up in the liver and my liver looked good. We then went to "hook up" the pump. I had a couple of people tell me about some cream that would "deaden" the site at the port (thanks Amy & Kendra for the heads up.) The nurse told me that the cream was a prescription, but she thought that since we would be taking the needle out and then putting it right back in, it probably wouldn't be necessary. But she did have some spray that would deaden it. So we used that - it is very, very cold, but it made me not feel the needle go in at all. Guess I should back up a little because Dr. H was not sure that we should even use the port to begin with because of all the irritation from the tape. He told me that maybe we should do a pick line - did I know what that was Miss Cheryl? I said no I didn't and he said it was an outpatient procedure. At that point I said NO - that I had been prodded and poked so much the last couple of weeks that I couldn't wrap my head around another outpatient procedure. And could we try the port and if it didn't work then maybe we could look at Plan B. He agreed to that. So the needle went in and the pump was hooked up to be with me 24/7. It's in a little satchel that I wear over my shoulder. I had radiation treatments #2, 3 & 4 through that Friday. The next week I was noticing a little bleeding and so I would go to Dr. H's side to get cleaned up and have the tagaderm changed out intermittently. I was doing radiation treatment #9 and was on week #2 day 4 of chemo when the bleeding was really bad - so Dr. H looked me over - and he talked to the surgeon's office. Once again the surgeon that had put it in was not available - so they sent me over to see the other surgeon, Dr. D. He thought things looked fine, and so I went back to Dr. H's office to get the pump hooked back up. Dr. D also told me that he would be on call that weekend, so if it started bleeding again, to come to the ER. So on Sunday morning, Carrie, Justin & I went to the ER. Dr. D was there, as he was scheduled for some surgery, so he looked things over and decided to take the needle out - and that maybe it needed a few days to heal . . .
On Tuesday, March 15 I had my first radiation treatment, and Dr. Z went through what we were going to do with me again. Also on that day I started the chemo - Dr. H told me that the PET scan showed the tumor - but also showed the other organs too. He told me that if the breast cancer had metastisized that it would show up in the liver and my liver looked good. We then went to "hook up" the pump. I had a couple of people tell me about some cream that would "deaden" the site at the port (thanks Amy & Kendra for the heads up.) The nurse told me that the cream was a prescription, but she thought that since we would be taking the needle out and then putting it right back in, it probably wouldn't be necessary. But she did have some spray that would deaden it. So we used that - it is very, very cold, but it made me not feel the needle go in at all. Guess I should back up a little because Dr. H was not sure that we should even use the port to begin with because of all the irritation from the tape. He told me that maybe we should do a pick line - did I know what that was Miss Cheryl? I said no I didn't and he said it was an outpatient procedure. At that point I said NO - that I had been prodded and poked so much the last couple of weeks that I couldn't wrap my head around another outpatient procedure. And could we try the port and if it didn't work then maybe we could look at Plan B. He agreed to that. So the needle went in and the pump was hooked up to be with me 24/7. It's in a little satchel that I wear over my shoulder. I had radiation treatments #2, 3 & 4 through that Friday. The next week I was noticing a little bleeding and so I would go to Dr. H's side to get cleaned up and have the tagaderm changed out intermittently. I was doing radiation treatment #9 and was on week #2 day 4 of chemo when the bleeding was really bad - so Dr. H looked me over - and he talked to the surgeon's office. Once again the surgeon that had put it in was not available - so they sent me over to see the other surgeon, Dr. D. He thought things looked fine, and so I went back to Dr. H's office to get the pump hooked back up. Dr. D also told me that he would be on call that weekend, so if it started bleeding again, to come to the ER. So on Sunday morning, Carrie, Justin & I went to the ER. Dr. D was there, as he was scheduled for some surgery, so he looked things over and decided to take the needle out - and that maybe it needed a few days to heal . . .
Calm Before The Storm
Things were very calm the week of the ultrasound, maybe giving me a chance to take in all the information and things that had happened up to that point. The next week would go from the calm to the storm. On that Tuesday I had an appt with Dr. H - and I would get an explanation of the side effects of the chemo and what the pump would look like that I would have. On Wednesday I would get a call to say that the surgery for my port would be on that Friday - and that I would have an exam in preparation of the surgery that afternoon! My first thought when I got the call was that John had to work that Friday, so maybe I should try to reschedule. I told them that I would see if my daughter would be able to take me and drive me home, if not, then I would have to reschedule. I saw the PA that afternoon. Then on Thursday I had an appt with Dr. Z - and I would get an explanation of the side effects of the radiation treatments and what the plan was. Friday morning Carrie & I were at the hospital bright and early to get my "vascular access device" or port put in. When they had to try two times to get the iv into a vein, I was already thinking that maybe this port was going to be a great idea. Things went well and I was in recovery getting ready for them to send us home when all of a sudden I felt something running down my chest - I looked under the gown and it was blood running down my tummy. The nurses grabbed some washcloths and cleaned me up as best they could. Carrie said she was glad that had happened before we left - instead of after we got home! We were home, including the stop at the pharmacy on the way home by about 11:30 or so. I started taking my pain pills right away, and things were going along just fine - until I started throwing up at about 11:00 p.m. I got sick again three times on Saturday - so Carrie called the answering service for the surgeon to see what they thought. Unfortunately the surgeon that had put it in was not on call - so we got a call back from the other surgeon - and he thought it might be best to go to the ER to have it checked out. So off to the ER went John, Carrie & I. By that time we were pretty sure that it was the pain meds that were making me sick, because the vomiting had stopped when I stopped taking them. This might have been the shortest ER trip in history. I told them what had happened - and if I could take some tylenol for the pain. I also had quite a nasty irritation from the tape that they had used to cover the port up after the surgery, so the ER Dr. had suggested we pick up some Benadryl to help with the itching from that. I had found after my hysterectomy surgery that I have a sensitivity (not sure that it is an allergic reaction) to tape - including paper tape, which is supposed to be the least sensitive. The rest of the weekend was spent vegging.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Half-way = HOORAY !!!
Ok, so this is Carrie...I know Mom hasn't gotten up-to-date on telling the whole story yet {we've been soooo busy lately...and when it gets all updated, you'll see that!} but I just wanted to take a quick minute to say that today Mom finished her 14th radiation treatment of 28 total which means...{drum roll} she is half-way through the radiation!!
It seemed pretty newsworthy to report this!!
She is doing pretty good...had a rough weekend last weekend but it seems we've got any of the bumps ironed out now so that is great news! {darkness makes us appreciate the light, right?}I've taken some photos of her to keep you updated that she is still looking very good and I will try to get them uploaded this weekend {have I mentioned how CRAZY our lives have been lately - ha!}
Well, thanks for tuning in and I hope to keep updating with more great news!!
It seemed pretty newsworthy to report this!!
She is doing pretty good...had a rough weekend last weekend but it seems we've got any of the bumps ironed out now so that is great news! {darkness makes us appreciate the light, right?}I've taken some photos of her to keep you updated that she is still looking very good and I will try to get them uploaded this weekend {have I mentioned how CRAZY our lives have been lately - ha!}
Well, thanks for tuning in and I hope to keep updating with more great news!!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Ultrasound and What's Next
John, Carrie & I went to Omaha on Tuesday, March 1 for the ultrasound and the consultation. (Note - this was a beautiful warm spring day - so we know that March will probably go out like a lion this year - maybe Tuesday's upcoming snow prediction?). At the time that we went in, I wasn't sure WHO was doing the ultrasound or the consultation. When they gotten me back in a room, the nurse asked me if I knew what was going to happen. I told her that all of this had happened SO quickly that all I knew was what I needed to do to prepare for today. I asked her if Dr. B was going to do the ultrasound, she said yes. She then explained to me what would happen - I had a transrectal ultrasound, which is basically exactly what it sounds like. I liked Dr. B from the moment she came into the room - she had a great bedside manner, and told me upfront that no one liked surprises, so she would walk me through everything that would happen. The ultrasound took about 20 minutes tops (it was much easier than the stereotactic biopsy too I might add). While I was getting redressed, Dr. B went in to talk to Carrie & John. When I got into the consultation room, she brought me up to speed too. I already knew that the tumor was about the size of a ping pong ball and that there were no lymph nodes involved. The tests from the previous week had told them that I had no markers for colon cancer, and also that this was not a recurrence of the breast cancer - it was cancer . . . round 2. (All these things are very positive - including the fact that it was caught early - which is why I also want to recommend having colonoscopies! Even if you don't do them on a timely fashion - please do it. I believe that there are no coincidences in life - God has a hand in everything . . . do you think there was a reason that I waited to get my base colonoscopy?)
Let me assure you that the word cancer is not nearly as scary to hear the second time around - as a matter of fact you actually hear the words after cancer . . . the first time around you shut down when you hear the C word. She told us that I had Stage 2 colorectal cancer - and that the tumor was about 8 cm (about the length of your pointer finger) up from the rectum. Then she gave us the plan of attack - she told us that I would do radiation and chemotherapy. I had experience with radiation with the breast cancer, but the chemo was a whole new thing. She told us that I probably would wear a pump for the chemo (and that this chemo would be much less wicked than breast cancer chemo - so I shouldn't lose my hair). Another positive note was because I already had cancer, my oncologist and radiation oncologist were already in place - and Dr. B would communicate with them. Everything was broken down into two month sections - I would have the radiation & chemo for two months, then I would let the radiation and chemo continue to work for two months, then about July I will go to Omaha to have surgery (more about that later) and I will come home with an ileostomy bag (for the water waste) and then two months later (about September) I will go in and have another surgery to reverse the ileostomy (or as Dr. B put it, just as soon as you get used to taking care of it, we're going to bring you back in to reverse it). This plan of attack is exactly the opposite of what we did with the breast cancer, and Dr. B explained that they wanted to use the radiation and chemo first to shrink the tumor - which will make the surgery easier! So by the time fall 2011 rolls around all of this should be behind me.
Let me assure you that the word cancer is not nearly as scary to hear the second time around - as a matter of fact you actually hear the words after cancer . . . the first time around you shut down when you hear the C word. She told us that I had Stage 2 colorectal cancer - and that the tumor was about 8 cm (about the length of your pointer finger) up from the rectum. Then she gave us the plan of attack - she told us that I would do radiation and chemotherapy. I had experience with radiation with the breast cancer, but the chemo was a whole new thing. She told us that I probably would wear a pump for the chemo (and that this chemo would be much less wicked than breast cancer chemo - so I shouldn't lose my hair). Another positive note was because I already had cancer, my oncologist and radiation oncologist were already in place - and Dr. B would communicate with them. Everything was broken down into two month sections - I would have the radiation & chemo for two months, then I would let the radiation and chemo continue to work for two months, then about July I will go to Omaha to have surgery (more about that later) and I will come home with an ileostomy bag (for the water waste) and then two months later (about September) I will go in and have another surgery to reverse the ileostomy (or as Dr. B put it, just as soon as you get used to taking care of it, we're going to bring you back in to reverse it). This plan of attack is exactly the opposite of what we did with the breast cancer, and Dr. B explained that they wanted to use the radiation and chemo first to shrink the tumor - which will make the surgery easier! So by the time fall 2011 rolls around all of this should be behind me.
And we wait!
The Dr. had told John that they had found something - and had to send it in for tests - and that it might take a week to get the results. There was a 50 / 50 chance of it being cancerous or not. But when John and I talked later, both of us had the feeling that it probably was!
On that Thursday (only two days later), I found out from one of my GP's nurses (who also happens to be a friend of mine from church) that it was cancer - and asking which Surgeon I like to set up an appointment with. Well, I wanted to go to the Surgeon that had done my gallbladder surgery and my lumpectomy, so an appointment was set up for the next day. Carrie, John and I went to meet with the Surgeon, who confirmed the biopsy results with a pathology report. He told us that I would need an ultrasound that they couldn't do in Fremont, so they would refer me to an office in Omaha. Because this appointment was late on Friday afternoon, that office was already closed for the day. I was told to expect a call on Monday for the appointment to be set up - and so I waited. Not too patiently I might add. My junior detective daughter figured out what office we probably would be working with - and so I called the number she found and explained my situation. I was told that they had me tentatively scheduled for the ultrasound on March 15 - but that they were trying to get me scheduled in sooner than that. So on Tuesday (the next day - exactly a week after the colonoscopy), I got the call I was waiting for - they had set up a CT scan in Omaha on Tuesday, February 24 and then the ultrasound on Tuesday, March 1.
On that Thursday (only two days later), I found out from one of my GP's nurses (who also happens to be a friend of mine from church) that it was cancer - and asking which Surgeon I like to set up an appointment with. Well, I wanted to go to the Surgeon that had done my gallbladder surgery and my lumpectomy, so an appointment was set up for the next day. Carrie, John and I went to meet with the Surgeon, who confirmed the biopsy results with a pathology report. He told us that I would need an ultrasound that they couldn't do in Fremont, so they would refer me to an office in Omaha. Because this appointment was late on Friday afternoon, that office was already closed for the day. I was told to expect a call on Monday for the appointment to be set up - and so I waited. Not too patiently I might add. My junior detective daughter figured out what office we probably would be working with - and so I called the number she found and explained my situation. I was told that they had me tentatively scheduled for the ultrasound on March 15 - but that they were trying to get me scheduled in sooner than that. So on Tuesday (the next day - exactly a week after the colonoscopy), I got the call I was waiting for - they had set up a CT scan in Omaha on Tuesday, February 24 and then the ultrasound on Tuesday, March 1.
Timing is Everything
I know that you hear that everyone should have a base colonoscopy at age 50 - but when I turned 50 I was in the midst of wedding plans to be the mother of the groom and then seven months later to be the mother of the bride! (Did I tell you that these kids are almost five years apart in age?) Anyway, I thought I was too busy. So when I turned 51 we were in the midst of the DCIS diagnosis - and that was definitely on the front burner! From there through age 54 I was just dragging my heels. (At this point John had already had two colonoscopies, so I knew second hand that it appeared as if the prep was much worse than the actual procedure.) Prior to my 55th birthday I was having a lot of problems - so I had a full hysterectomy done on May 6, 2010 (Carrie & Justin's 4th anniversary). So once again the colonoscopy got put on the back burner. But when I went back in for my checkups with my OB/GYN he told me - you know Cheryl you need to get that scheduled - and I assured him that I would.
So at one of my GP checkups in early 2011 - we set it up. I was going in to have my base colonoscopy done on February 15, 2011 (that was really poor timing with Valentine's Day being the day before - but they scheduled them on Tuesdays, and that happened to be one of John's days off. Another time I might fill you in on John's weird schedule).
So I did all the prep stuff according to the instructions I was given - a glass of water every hour starting at 8:00 a.m. - and the normal stuff that you can and cannot have. Then at 5:00 p.m. I mixed however much Miralax I was supposed to with 64 ounces of Gatorade - and started drinking 16 oz every 1/2 hour. About a half hour after drinking the last 16 oz I was in the bathroom (no surprise there, huh) but also felt some nausea washing over me - I threw up about 16 oz - so I had to call the answering service to find out what to do. The answer to that question was of course - to drink some more. The problem being I had only purchased enough to do what I needed to do - so my wonderful husband went back out to the grocery store at 9:00 p.m. to get some more Miralax for me.
We went to the surgery center on the morning of the 15th and everything went as planned . . . except for the fact that they found no polyps, but they had found a mass - which they did a biopsy on.
So at one of my GP checkups in early 2011 - we set it up. I was going in to have my base colonoscopy done on February 15, 2011 (that was really poor timing with Valentine's Day being the day before - but they scheduled them on Tuesdays, and that happened to be one of John's days off. Another time I might fill you in on John's weird schedule).
So I did all the prep stuff according to the instructions I was given - a glass of water every hour starting at 8:00 a.m. - and the normal stuff that you can and cannot have. Then at 5:00 p.m. I mixed however much Miralax I was supposed to with 64 ounces of Gatorade - and started drinking 16 oz every 1/2 hour. About a half hour after drinking the last 16 oz I was in the bathroom (no surprise there, huh) but also felt some nausea washing over me - I threw up about 16 oz - so I had to call the answering service to find out what to do. The answer to that question was of course - to drink some more. The problem being I had only purchased enough to do what I needed to do - so my wonderful husband went back out to the grocery store at 9:00 p.m. to get some more Miralax for me.
We went to the surgery center on the morning of the 15th and everything went as planned . . . except for the fact that they found no polyps, but they had found a mass - which they did a biopsy on.
A Little History - Round 1
As some of you know Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 were very exciting times for the Ferguson household - Jill Morgan and Jeff Ferguson got married on October 15, 2005 and Carrie Ferguson and Justin Rehder got married on May 6, 2006.
A week after Justin & Carrie's wedding I had my yearly mammogram scheduled - a day or two after the mammogram I got a call that they would like for me to come in for an ultrasound because they had seen something. So I did. Let me tell you that this was not scary for me, because at the time I had my base mammogram done, they had asked me to do the same thing - and found nothing. Well, this time they found something that they felt they needed to investigate further. Following the ultrasound, they did a stereotactical biopsy. (If I never hear those words again, it won't be too soon!) The results came back that I had cancer - more specifically that I had Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS). My GP who broke the news to me told me that it was considered Stage 0 due to the fact that it was limited inside one of the ducts. There's good news and bad news he said - the bad news is you have breast cancer - the good news is that it's the most treatable kind of breast cancer. I got the diagnosis in late May or early June, then there were a flurry of Dr. appointments - I was set up with an Oncologist and a Radiation Oncologist, and also was sent to see a Surgeon. And then came the discussion of what we were going to do from there - first there would be surgery, a lumpectomy and also the sentinel lymph node was taken out (which happened on July 17, 2006) then as a precaution, radiation everyday Monday through Friday (which started on August 21, 2006 and ran through September 29, 2006).
Just a gentle reminder, without my yearly check-up, we would not have found this cancer in the timeframe to make it so easily treatable. If you've not had your exam, please schedule it. Early detection is the key to finding, treating and moving past cancer. Its really no big deal.
I was feeling very good about coming up on my five year anniversary this May WHEN . . .
A week after Justin & Carrie's wedding I had my yearly mammogram scheduled - a day or two after the mammogram I got a call that they would like for me to come in for an ultrasound because they had seen something. So I did. Let me tell you that this was not scary for me, because at the time I had my base mammogram done, they had asked me to do the same thing - and found nothing. Well, this time they found something that they felt they needed to investigate further. Following the ultrasound, they did a stereotactical biopsy. (If I never hear those words again, it won't be too soon!) The results came back that I had cancer - more specifically that I had Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS). My GP who broke the news to me told me that it was considered Stage 0 due to the fact that it was limited inside one of the ducts. There's good news and bad news he said - the bad news is you have breast cancer - the good news is that it's the most treatable kind of breast cancer. I got the diagnosis in late May or early June, then there were a flurry of Dr. appointments - I was set up with an Oncologist and a Radiation Oncologist, and also was sent to see a Surgeon. And then came the discussion of what we were going to do from there - first there would be surgery, a lumpectomy and also the sentinel lymph node was taken out (which happened on July 17, 2006) then as a precaution, radiation everyday Monday through Friday (which started on August 21, 2006 and ran through September 29, 2006).
Just a gentle reminder, without my yearly check-up, we would not have found this cancer in the timeframe to make it so easily treatable. If you've not had your exam, please schedule it. Early detection is the key to finding, treating and moving past cancer. Its really no big deal.
I was feeling very good about coming up on my five year anniversary this May WHEN . . .
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