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.