Bouncing a Little Slower?

My third chemo treatment is seeming to take a little longer to bounce back. I’m not sure if it’s the accumulation of the treatments or the fact that my bloodwork showed me to be a little anemic. It’s probably a combination of both.

I had my LiveWell exercise appointment on Thursday and was pretty wiped most of the rest of the day. I’m going to keep pushing myself with the exercise, though, because it is supposed to help with fatigue (although it didn’t feel like it that day!) and nausea, plus my oncologist said it can help with anemia too. I know cooking in cast iron can help too, so we’ve done quite a bit of that as well.

Saturday, we traveled up to Smith Center to visit my folks, sisters and their families and Kyle,

Caitlin and Baby K were up there too. It was so great seeing everyone. Mom has had had Influenza A, so I don’t think I’d seen her since I told them of my diagnosis. We had a great day, putting together a puzzle and playing dominoes. Kyle and Caitlin gave me a darling, pink floral arrangement with a picture of Bubbles on it. It is my incentive to keep fighting. Grandbabies alone will do that!

Sleeping at night is tricky because I drink so much water and sloughing the chemo means I’m up a lot using the restroom. Generally, I can get right back to sleep, until around 4 or 5. Then I usually get frustrated and get up and work a little. Oh I miss the nights of crawling into bed and sleeping until the alarm goes off! I don’t think I’ve set my alarm since I started treatments! (That’s not a bad thing though!)

All in all, it was a great weekend, although I slept more this time than I have after the past two. We’ll see if this is the new normal, but I’m hoping not. We finished the evening with a FaceTime call with the other grandkids (and kids). I just doesn't get much better than that!

Still blessed and grateful for all of you! Your love and encouragement help so much and your prayers are cherished. You all rock!

Chemo Day #3 ✔

I have to say, since my little fiasco the first part of last week, everything has been going really well. I have had energy and was able to work in the office some last week too. The weather has been nice enough that I’ve been able to take walks outside. Sunday was a little windy and I was a little worried that my bucket hat, which doesn’t have ties under the chin, was going to go flying off and my little bald head would be chasing it all over the neighborhood! Alas, it stayed put though.

This morning was my third of the first round of chemo. It was uneventful and I came home and napped, worked a little, then went for a walk on this beautiful day. I have been hungry for pesto chicken and pasta and had some delicious pesto in my fridge from a delicious food crate we received from some of my co-workers. So, while Scott was working out, I whipped it up and it was delicious. I’m so thankful my taste buds and appetite has not been affected, yet anyway! All in all, I’m still doing great! I will probably crash early tonight, but that’s ok.

Obviously, your prayers are working; thank you so very much! We love you all! God bless you!

Who's Kickin' Whose Butt?!?

My chemo treatment last week went really well and I think my symptoms were actually less than the first time. My lab work taken on Monday was really good and my white blood cell count was only one point below where it should be. I’m sure the Neulasta shot has taken care of that by now. I was feeling great on Saturday and most of Sunday and then…my hemorrhoids decided to flare up…no, they decided to rage like never, ever before.

I apologize if this is too much information and I’ve debated whether to share this or not. But this is a journey and I decided before I started I was going to be as honest and transparent as I can, so you’re getting it all.

Anyhow, I can honestly say I would take chemo over this issue any day! Luckily my doctor got me in quickly on Monday, prescribed some meds, treatments and bedrest for a couple of days. Fortunately, it is all working and I felt good enough today to work all day from home. I’m planning to put some time in at the office the rest of the week too.

In the middle of it all, I told Scott, “I feel like I’m kicking chemo’s butt, but right now my own butt is kicking me!”

I am grateful for God’s healing power and for providing medical personnel and treatments to assist. Thank you, Lord!

Bless you all for your continued encouragement and prayers. Love you all!

Birthday Party!!!

Little Miss Kinley, otherwise known as Baby K or Bubbles, turned one year old on the 10^th, so we celebrated her birthday in Abilene on Saturday. Scott and I traveled over for the day and got there around 11:30 to help set up. There was a lot of family and friends there, so it made for a great day! I felt good and loved every minute of it.

Kinley hasn’t been introduced to sugar yet, so no smash cake for her. To go with her cowgirl theme, she was given a trough of blue gelatin (watering trough, get it?) to “smash”. Eventually, the trough was dumped onto the high chair and she went to town. She loved the jiggly feel and by the time she was done, her little hands looked like a

Smurf’s hands!

I took the purple wig along and had every intention of having it on when the grandkids got there, but we were too busy setting up for me to remember. The daughters-in-law found it in my bag when we were cleaning up and insisted we try it out, at least long enough for a picture. Emma and Killian thought it was awesome, Baby K, not so much. She was terrified (thus not in the picture).

Bubba, Pnut and Jace, my great-nephew

After we were finished, we ran to Salina to have a very late lunch/early dinner. While waiting for them to seat us, Bubba asked if he could see my hair (that looks like his) again. I lifted my cap slightly, so he could see it and he said, “Grammy, it’s frosted!” Now that all the bottled red is cut off, I’m down to the faded red and quite a bit of blonde! He’s a sweetheart and you got to love a kid’s honesty! Right?!?

Bubba took this pic! He's getting good!

G.I. Jana

Well…the deed is done! One more off the checklist, which was bound to come. After the amount of hair that was swirling around my bathroom floor on Tuesday morning as I got ready to go to my second treatment, I knew it was time. It happened so quickly, I was a little nervous to even touch it for fear it would start to come out in big clumps, as I’ve heard is possible.

Wednesday evening I was off to Jeri’s salon and we proceeded to try as many goofy haircuts as possible before the final buzz. There was the Sandor Clegane (“The Hound” for those Game of Thrones fans), which Kellen named after he saw the picture. Then there was the long Hosmer

The Short Hosmer

reverse mohawk, the short Hosmer, the Flock of Seagulls cut and finally, the G.I. Jana. We died laughing, taking pictures as we went along. It was exactly what I needed. Scott gave me a big hug when I got home and we both started giggling. It felt really weird to hug each other and feel nothing but skin from your head to your neck!

I was more than ready, once my hair started falling out and it actually feels better short now. I have beanies and a few hats, plus my cute wig, but I’m finding it’s most comfortable with nothing at all, except when my head gets cold!

G.I. Jana

Yesterday I had my first LiveWell workout at the hospital’s Center for Health Improvement. I warmed up with a gentle walk on the treadmill for about 10 minutes and then worked on about eight different weight machines doing 8-10 reps as heavy as I could take. I did that twice and then walked the track for 20 minutes. It’s a little tough on the ego when all the “old” people are passing you multiple times on the track. I’m giving myself a break though… not a competition right now and I’m just grateful I can even do it. Although I was pooped for the rest of the day.

I’m feeling good this morning and looking forward to a visit from my dear friend, Kristi. It will be fun!  I am blessed as always and you are all part of that!

Love you all! 

Chemo Day #2 - ✔

My second treatment is done and it went well like the first. I rested and slept most of the afternoon and no nausea yet. Dr. Coe, my oncologist, was very pleased with my bloodwork and how I was doing. I really like her, she's kind, caring, down-to-earth and straight-forward. She is my kind of gal. The nurses who work in the center are amazing too.

Tomorrow will be "Nowhere Hair" day. I found a children's book by that name that I sent to the grandkids to help them understand why Grammy won't have hair anymore. The kids brought it this weekend, so I could read it to them (although they had already read it to them). We decided I'm going to loan my hair to a cat that needs a new cloak (ha-ha, love it)! Anywhooo...I haven't seen much hair on my pillow, but it made quite a pile in the bathroom this morning when I was getting ready. A quick text to Jeri and we're set to do it tomorrow evening. I'm ready. It's just one more step in the journey that is temporary and survivable.

I certainly can't complain about any of it so far, the symptoms have not been too bad and I am so incredibly blessed by all of you! The encouragement, good thoughts and prayers are treasured and appreciated. God is good, all the time!

Now to find that perfect hat....shopping time!

The Best Medicine

I had a great week last week and felt like I was back at 100% for most of it. We met with the surgeon for my post-op and he was pleased with my healing from the port/cath placement. He also confirmed that due to the discovery of more cancer in another quadrant of the same breast, it will mean a mastectomy. We won’t be able to determine all the surgery options until we see how the “tumas” (remember...best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) react to the chemo. So, we are praying for the chemo to act like Ms Pac-Man (as a good friend of mine suggested) to devour the cancer. I prefer that she leave the good stuff alone, but hopefully, the Neulasta will battle back for me.

Because I was feeling so good, the kids all decided to come for a visit this weekend. We had a ball with all the grandbabies and the older kids too. There was a lot of games, puzzles, and some crafting. I talked Kyle into making me a new purse organizer like my old one which is literally falling apart. He made it out of acrylic, so we’ll see how this works. He did a great job! Both boys worked together on a miniature carousel from a craft kit purchased from Hobby-Lobby that the girls picked out while shopping for a new puzzle, since they finished the one I had started earlier. The one they picked out is torturous. It should be a cardinal sin to make a puzzle in which some of the edge pieces only butt together. The girls conveniently put together all the easy parts and left the hard stuff for me to finish. Geez! I’m thinking they’re just going to have to come back to finish it…or maybe that was the plan all along.

It was the best medicine this Mama/Grammy and Dad/Pop could have asked for.  Love you all!

Making Progress!

What a great week it's been so far! My energy is back and I'm feeling good. I had labs drawn on Monday and found out later that day that my white blood cell count dropped to 2 and it's supposed to be at least 3.8. I was a bit bummed and then, while showering, I thought my back felt strange. Scott took a look and my back was broken out with a rash from my shoulder blades to my hips. What the heck?!? A call to the doctor led to some allergy meds, which I had stopped abruptly when they told me the chemo defeats the benefits of allergy shots (which I was nearly done with). A little added cortisone cream and it is much better. I also found out it is common for the white blood cells to drop and the Neulasta shot takes 7-10 days to kick in, which might explain why I'm feeling so much better now! However due to all the flu and upper respiratory crap going around, I have opted to work from home, just in case.

I signed up for the LiveWell program at the Center for Health Improvement. It is an 8-

In my dreams!

week program, working with a cancer exercise specialist. The goal is to keep me from losing muscle mass during treatment, which is very common. They have found it also reduces nausea and fatigue. I am all for that!!! I can also get out and focus on something new, at least when my blood counts are good enough. When they aren’t, she will give me things I can do at home. Of course, all of that is dependent on how I feel, but I’m determined and Coach Scott is here to encourage and help me!

Tomorrow we have the post-op check with the surgeon. I am anxious to get the steri-strips off and the stitches out from my port/cath. We will also get more information on post-chemo surgery options now that we know there is more there than originally thought.

To date, my hair is still hanging in there, but that will likely change in the next week or so. I check my bed pillow every morning for signs so I can get ahead of any traumatic chunks falling out. I have Jeri's number on speed dial when that time comes. I’m thinking we should experiment with some interesting cuts before the final buzz, just for a few laughs.