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.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
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!
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