In between

My in between week - on Saturday, February 18 John sold his 1996 white S10 pickup and bought a 1999 silver S10 pickup.  Also on that night we went out to eat with the kids and grandkids to Wooden Windmill - what a great time we had.  There was a benefit for Brian Emmons that night at Izaak Walton - John had taken a gift certificate "A Night in the Pits" from GOTRA and Ferguson Racing for them to auction off.  After we got done eating John went back out to the benefit for awhile - I was pooped, so I spent the rest of the evening on the couch.  On Sunday morning we went to church and then out to Wal-Mart - well I didn't travel too far from the checkouts before I found a bench!  Monday I had my bloodwork as I always do on the off weeks of the infusion.  Tuesday night I went to the Session meeting (our governing board at church) to explain vouchers, etc. to all of the Elders.  I was supposed to have done this in January - but was running a temp that night, so opted not to go.  On Wednesday the 22nd I had my three month checkup with Dr. B - I was sure that I had another fissure and she confirmed that I did, but otherwise was very pleased with how things are going.  I had asked her about my little "pooch" and if I would ever have a belly button again - so she looked at my tummy - and told me that I had a hernia.  But that she wouldn't worry about it for a year or two or five - I asked if there was anything I should look out for - and she said pain.  The walls of my stomach are weak from all of the surgeries and that is what caused it.  I googled hernia to see what I could find about them, and found out that straining for bowel movements might have caused it.  So just one more thing to add to the list.  At the appointment with Dr. B in January she told me that I would probably be very sore, and would probably have bleeding - that time I didn't have either - this time I did.  As a matter of fact I had taken vacation on the 22nd and 23rd so that I could rest up to go with Carrie and Jill and Brody to see Disney on Ice on the 23rd at the MAC center in CB, Iowa.  When I got up Thursday morning I knew that I would not be able to sit all the way there, plus all the way home and all during the performance.  So I called Jill and was trying to figure out who could go with them - Brody's friend Lauren went with them - and they all had a great time!  So now, somewhere along the way Brody and I will have to do something special just the two of us.  Friday I went to work and then came home and made pasta salad (for the Airboat Club wild game feed) and also a chocolate cake.  On Saturday Justin & Carrie went with me to pick up the Fremont SHARE boxes - then I came home and did some laundry and also cleaned out the freezer.  On Sunday I was pooped out, but did end up cleaning out the refrigerator by the end of the day and running the dishwasher.  And then it was time for  . . .

Chemo Treatment #9

Well I did chemo treatment #9 on Monday, February 13, and got the pump off on Wednesday, February 15.  One year ago on February 15 - was when I had my colonoscopy and they found the tumor.  This year has been a real roller coaster ride!  Because of the problems that I was having with my feet, Dr. H did not do the one chemo drug this time - oxaliplatin.  He didn't want the damage to my feet to get any worse - he believes that it was causing some peripheral neuropathy.  This also cut the infusion time down by about an hour too.  This chemo was what caused the sensitivity to cold in my fingers, and also gave me a weird feeling in my throat if I drank something cold.  It was also easier this time to get the bowels working again - the chemo has a tendency to constipate me a little.  I am not going to have to do the oxaliplatin the rest of the time.  Knock on wood - no side effects this time.  Dr. H did prescribe another anti nausea pill if I needed it - hopefully I won't.  I got a neupogen shot today at Dr. H's office and will also get one on Friday and Saturday at the hospital.  This has been a busy week at work - we did staff planning on Tuesday, February 14 - after eating our pancakes, etc. from the all you can eat pancake feed that the Mariners put on - we went through the calendar from March through December to come up with a master calendar.  After work on Tuesday we took Brody & Brant's valentine presents down to them - Brody got a John Deere excavator and Brant got a  John Deere dump truck.   They were having fun playing with them, and it was fun watching them!  Also had to do paychecks this week and the BELL will be mailed out tomorrow.  Plus catching up on vouchering and writing checks.  I have been tired, but made it through ok - have come home and taken a little nap a couple of days this week.  When I come home for lunch, I usually rest before I go back to work.
Had a great weekend - even though it was very cold out!  I needed to fill my prescription for my Welchol, so Jeff ran me to the pharmacy so I could pick it up.  John went to a Swap Meet Auction in Hastings, Nebraska on Saturday to do some promoting for GOTRA.  Pat & Denise came to town on Saturday night and we went to Brass Wok for supper.  Sunday I stayed inside and hibernated - actually I worked on the computer all day!  I have always been on the cold blooded side, but it seems that since I've been doing the chemo I am always cold - so usually you can find me curled up on the couch with my blankie!  John got me a heated blanket for Christmas, and I have been using that too.  Seems like I have been having trouble with running a fever the week after the chemo treatment, so I have to be careful about keeping too warm with the blankets - and keep an eye on my temp.  And I do appreciate my heated mattress pad on the bed - so that things are warm when I go to bed at night too.
Guess that's about all for now - three more treatments to go and I am anxious to be done!
Hope you all got to spend Valentines Day with your honey (s)!  I got the most beautiful pair of black hills gold earrings from John - not for Valentine's Day, but for being 3/4 of the way done with my chemo!  He really spoils me.

Chemo treatment #8

I did chemo treatment #8 on Monday, January 30 and got the pump off on Wednesday, February 1. 
This is a very busy time at work - we had the Annual Meeting on Sunday, January 30 - and ran the Annual Reports for that meeting on Friday, January 28.  Then next it was on to printing the W-2's & 1099's and W3 and 1096 and W3N - then end of the month paychecks.  I felt very good on Monday and Tuesday, which was a big help to get all of this done that has to be done by certain deadlines. 
On Wednesday however, I came home early as I wasn't feeling good.  Did a little snoozing on the couch in the afternoon, but then before John came home from work I got sick.  And then I was sick again in the middle of the night - will talk to Dr. H about that on my next appt, as he said he could give me something else for the nausea.  I also had been having some tingling in my toes - kind of like the tingling in my hands to cold when I have the pump on.  Dr. H told me that was from the infusion chemo, and if it continued that he could cut back a little on that chemo.  Knock on wood - so far this time it hasn't been nearly as bad.  Thursday and Friday I had to go out and get a neupagen shot - on Saturday I had to go to the hospital to get the shot.  Luckily John was home so he could take me - if it would have been just me, I would have cancelled.  The streets were very slick and the visibility was very low!  I bet we probably had five inches of snow when we went out there at 8:00 a.m.  Picked up some oatmeal and breakfast burritos on the way home.  When we got home John started some chili - and boy does it smell good!  Then he went out and did a little plowing with the tractor.  I had brought home some paperwork to go through and I got that all done.  Just started the dishwasher and John thinks it's time to try out the chili (it's delicious by the way!).  Will work on some laundry now.  Maybe in between loads I can work on my office to organize the GOTRA stuff so I can start getting ready for income tax. 
I'm feeling really good at this end of the week, which is different than the last couple of treatments - it's taken me into the second week to get any energy back.  I have four more treatments to go and will finish up the last week of March.  Needless to say I am anxious to get this all over and done with.  Then I guess we'll see where we go from there.  I certainly want to thank everyone for their good wishes - and am always very aware of the people that are praying for me through this journey - I couldn't do what I need to do without all the support from my friends and my family.  Love you all!

Chemo Treatment #7

I did chemo treatment #7 on Monday, January 16 - then couldn't sleep worth a darn that night when I went to bed and was up at about 5:00 throwing up.  Not my best night ever.  So I slept in Tuesday morning.  I even took one of my anti-nausea pills, but I'm sure that came up with everything else.  This is the first time that I have gotten sick this close to the chemo treatment, and while wearing the pump.  I got the pump off on Wednesday and then had to have a neupagen shot at Dr. H's office on Thursday and Friday, and at the hospital on Saturday and Sunday.  KNOCK ON WOOD - no drastic side effects this time.  I'll go in and have bloodwork done tomorrow and then they will see if I will have to do the last two shots or not.  I'm hoping it's so high that I won't have to, but it got very high last time and then went down by the time the next chemo treatment rolled around.  I'm wondering if I'll have to do the neupagen shots afer each treatment before I get done ??!!
This treatment really kicked my butt and I couldn't make it a whole day at work the whole rest of the week.  Did take some naps after I came home on most of those days.  Saturday I had to be at the hospital at 8:30 a.m. to get the shot - I got up feeling really good.  Came home after the shot and got some things done - then had to go to Staples, then went to work for about four hours to work on next week's newsletter and also the W-2's & 1099's.  Got a little housework done later in the afternoon and then Jeff and Jill and the boys came Saturday night - brought pizza for supper and we got to spend some quality time together.  John was at the Swap Meet in Columbus all day and into the evening on Saturday doing his GOTRA promoter thing.
Sunday morning I had to be back out to the hospital at 8:30 a.m. for the shot - John took me out, then we went to church - Carrie met us there.  Also got to catch up with friends Nelson & Shana, Tim & Odetta and Ron & Linda - and Pastor Jon, who had been gone all week to a continuing ed event.  Was feeling pretty pooped after we got home so both of us spent the afternoon on the couch - me on the computer and John snoozing.  Probably overdid yesterday.   Hoping this week is better.

All good news

Well I did the neupagen shots on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Went in for bloodwork on Monday, and the good news was that the numbers were so high that I didn't have to have a shot on Tuesday. 
I finished up my last two Welchol tablets at noon on Monday, so I called my friend Nickole at Dr. B's office to see about getting a refill.  I also needed to ask her about some rectal bleeding that I had been having.  She thought that I needed to come to see Dr. B, so this morning John and I went to Omaha.  * I have some irritation and also had a fissure (tear) which was causing the bleeding.  Now the irritation and the fissure were probably caused by the diarrhea that I had been having.  The diahrrhea that had been caused by either the neupagen shots or the anti-nausea tablets that I had taken - or probably a combination of both.
So the good news is that hopefully the irritation and the bleeding will take care of itself - and I also got the refill of the Welchol pills so that it can continue doing what it has been!  (It especially is helpful during my chemo weeks so that I don't get constipated.)
I have an appointment with Dr. B set in February (which was set up after the post-op appointment) and we will see then if everything is all better.

* On another note - Carrie was going to work down 23rd Street when we were coming out of the McDonald's parking lot.  She let us go in front of her and we got just past the stoplight on Clarkson when John's phone rang - Carrie's car had died.  So we turned around and John helped her push the car into the closest parking lot.  And then we took her to work.  Guess that was good news too - we were just where we needed to be at the right time!!  There are no coincidences.

Chemo Treatment #6 - HALFWAY!

Did chemo treatment #6 on January 3 - and wore the pump until Thursday, January 5.  #6 is halfway through - so I will be finished at 12 treatments (that will be in March 2012).  (Dr. H's office was closed because of the holiday, so we were out of sync on the days - we are however back on to John's Monday & Tuesday off schedule!)  Early Friday morning I had some nausea and vomiting - not sure what that was about, but did use one of my anti-nausea pills and that seemed to take care of it.  On Friday morning I went into Dr. H's office to get a neupagen shot - it is to stimulate white blood cell count.  Saturday morning we went to the hospital to get a shot.  Had lots of trips to the bathroom today, not sure what that was about either.  We were supposed to go help my greatnephew celebrate his third birthday today - but I decided that I better stay home and rest.  Sunday morning I will go back to the hospital to get a shot and then on Monday and Tuesday I will get the shot at Dr. H's office - for a total of five shots.  Hopefully this will circumvent any other problems with low blood count that would keep me from having a treatment.  Monday I will go back in to do bloodwork. It was a crazy week at work - of course we are trying to get all the financial stuff rounded up so that we can close out the year and do Annual Reports - and then go on to W-2's & 1099's.  This is always a crazy time of year.  The boys went to the Monster Trucks on Friday night at the MAC - and I found myself dozing off throughout the night.  John is on his sixth year as an Elder and changed committees this year - instead of being on Building & Property Committee, he is on Membership & Fellowship Committee - their first meeting is this coming Tuesday night.  Carrie is being ordained as a Deacon Sunday at the 9:00 a.m. worship service - so I can't miss that!  Because John is also ordained, when they do the "laying on of hands", he will be able to do that to Carrie for her ordination.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

After my trip to the ER on the 21st, I wasn't sure what the rest of the weekend would be like - Friday and Saturday were "catch up" days that I spent resting.  By Sunday I was feeling pretty good, so we went to church (my first time back for a Sunday service since my October surgery) - and it went pretty well.  Plus there was a special little guy that was baptized that morning, and we got to see Grandpa & Grandma and mom & dad and aunt and uncles!  Came home and rested during the afternoon, while John made the soups for our Christmas get together that night.  We went out to Carrie & Justin's about 4:00 and then opened up presents.  This year the guys got an envelope and the girls got an envelope - from Jeff & Jill.  The guys opened up their envelopes first to find tickets to the Monster Truck races!  The girls opened up their envelopes to find tickets to Disney on Ice!  Brody went and sat outside on the porch with his arms crossed, when he was asked what was going on, he said "This is just too much to take it all in".  Guess he was overwhelmed.  We all got lots of nice presents.  Thanks to Carrie doing some shopping for me, John got a pretty new shirt.  Luckily I had picked up cards and some stocking stuffers one day when I was out!  John did all the rest of the shopping - not to mention the grocery shopping, the laundry, etc. etc.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate him and how helpful he has been throughout this stressful year.  Actually I appreciate ALL my family so much, as I certainly have needed lots of help.
Dr. B had talked with me about a prescription that would help even out the bowel movements, so initally I had tried some powder that you mixed with water to take three times a day before meals.  That was going pretty well until the December 5 chemo treatment - by Wednesday I was afraid that I was going to throw everything up when I was drinking the last bit of the stuff.  So I called the office to get the prescription for the pills (they had told me before that the pills were pretty pricey, but at that point I didn't care).  Nickole had checked with the pharmacy to see what the copay was going to be - it was $46.92 - so John went and picked up the RX for me.  I take two of the pills before each meal, and it is doing exactly what it is supposed to.  I had a little trouble last week (diaper rash again), but I'm wondering if the antibiotic pill might be responsible for that.
Monday the 26th was our second day off for the holiday (I love when the days fall so we get a nice long weekend out of the deal!).  Dr. H's office was closed on Monday too, so I went in Tuesday to get bloodwork done - things looked a whole lot better than they had the previous week.  Dr. H wanted to do chemo treatment #6, but I told him that I would like to wait and build up some more strength, plus if we waited until next week that would be back to John's schedule of Monday & Tuesday off, so that he could be there.  I was surprised that he didn't put up a fight to do the treatment, but he just said Ok.  This was a busy week at work - Peggy had gone south, Dixie went to spend Christmas with her kids and grandkids and Shirley took the week off to spend time with her kids and grandkids.  So Nancy and I held down the fort.  I did get a lot of catch up stuff done, which should help with trying to do all of the stuff that has to be done in January - getting ready for Annual Reports and W'2's and 1099's and 941's which all have to be done before the end of January.  It will be a long month, as it always is.
I have been feeling pretty good this week - the long days at work all week, plus Saturday I put away what little Christmas decorations that I'd gotten out.  Cleaned the bathroom and did some laundry.  On Sunday we went to church, and then Jeff came to town and brought Brody so that he could spend the night.  We went to see Alvin & the Chipmunks - Chipwrecked and took Aunt Carrie and Uncle Justin with us.  It was a funny movie - but then who doesn't like the chipmunks.  Then we came home and played and colored, etc.  Had pizza for supper (Brody's suggestion).  After supper we played Left, Right, Center and Brody won!  Played some more, then picked up toys and watched Cars 2 until Brody fell asleep (well, actually all of us fell asleep!).  Monday morning (my New Year holiday) no one except for Grandpa was moving too quickly - and when we did get up, we were pretty much bums all day - stayed in our pj's!  Brody helped me bring the snowmen down, so we got them out to decorate.  Grandpa had gotten Brody a monster truck, so he spent most of the day playing with that and lots of cars.  Dad came about 3:00 p.m. to take him back home.  We had a great day!  By the time 5:00 p.m. rolled around, Brody & Jeff had been gone for about an hour and 45 minutes, and I'd gotten in about an hour's nap. 
Tomorrow will be back to the grind at work - with no holidays off until the Monday after Easter.  I will also do chemo treatment #6 in the afternoon, and then wear the pump until Thursday (this is the halfway mark - I'll finish up in March 2012, barring any complications).  When I get the pump off on Thursday I will have to get a shot everyday for five days (at Dr. H's office during the week, at the hospital over the weekend) - to help stimulate the white blood cell growth, so hopefully we won't have any more problems with low blood count.  More about that after the fact!
I am praying that 2012 will be a much healthier year than 2011 has been!  As you might imagine, I am anxious to have 2011 behind me, and will be pleased when all of the treatments are done.