Tuesday, Nov 30

Wonderful wonderful dogs – they let me sleep till 10:00 a.m. this morning.  I kept my bedroom door closed during the night and that seems to keep them from waking me up.  Maybe I just don’t hear them stirring around in their cages.  Whatever it is, it works and I will use it.

Getting up that late throws meal times off.  So I will just munch thru the day and not worry about it.

Rainy day today, had to encourage the dogs to go out.  I was so pleased with them that I even dried them off with a towel when they came in.

Coming down off all the steroids I kind of crash and feel shaky and clumsy today.  Called in the prescription for next week, have to pick that up this afternoon. 

My hair doesn’t seem to be falling out yet.  I keep testing.  I find tickles in my nose and find nose hairs in the hanky when I blow it.  Had not thought about those hairs coming out.

This journey is a continual surprise.  I learn something all the time.  For 48 hours after chemo I am to be careful with bodily fluids. 

It is easier since I live alone, no one else to worry about except the dogs.  I am to put the lid down and flush the toilet twice.  I have heard that putting the lid down when flushing is always a good idea.  Think of that mist in the bathroom where your toothbrush is.  Yuck.

On that thought I think I will get something to eat.

later….

 

 

Monday Evening

Chemo was the same as last week.  No new drugs and the time it took was about the same.  The place was very busy probably due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Susan took me and Lory picked me up. 

Lory was happy with my computer desk job and was glad I found some of her items there. 

So I got to see and chat with both my daughters today.  How great is that.

Now if I can recover from all those steroids and not get too sick from the chemo, I’ll get on with my life.  Guess I’ll get on with my life anyway.

It has been pointed out to me that if I pray for patience God may create ways for me to practice more patience.  That comes under the saying “be careful what you ask for, you might get it”.

So forget the patience thing – please.

Later….

Night Before and Day Of

Sunday 6:30 p.m. – No head pounding, just a hyped up feeling.  Time to go for using this drug induced energy to get something done.

Computer desk before:

9:30 p.m. - Computer desk after:

Do not notice stray wires or that post-it note on top of the computer tower. 

Items found were sorted, safety pins were organized, buttons put with buttons, items to be sold at the antique barn were separated from items to be kept.  A trash bag was filled.  Everything was dusted. 

One item I found was part of a scented candle from Fredericksburg, TX.  It must have gotten lost in the shuffle.  So I lighted it and had aroma therapy while I worked.

No, I will not come to your house and do this. It needs to be done in several areas of my house so I will be busy enough right here.

12:00 p.m.- Not sleepy but have taken 2nd dose of steroids and will try to at least get some rest.

9:00 a.m. Monday – Spent about an hour of “lay awake” time thinking about whether midnight is a.m. or p.m.  If 11:59:59 is p.m. then 12:00 should be p.m. but if someone says 12:00 a.m. my first thought is midnight.  Probably my thought process is off.

Dozed for about 3 hours, maybe a bit more.  Read a lot and felt a bit nauseas off and on.  Turned on my fireplace for a while.  Very nice atmosphere.

I just finished reading Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  I saw the author interviewed on TV and ordered the book.  I recommend it and plan to pass the book on to my daughter who claims she is an atheist. 

First I will extract a promise that she will read it.  I may have to exert ill parent authority on her. 

This morning I need to make a run to the bank to deposit 2 refund checks from medical bills.  Every time I pay a bunch of those bills some of them send the money back.  DARN 

I’ll post any new news this evening.

Later….

Day Before

Sunday will be another “day before chemo” day.  The steroids I take on the day before are DEXAMETHASONE.  They come in 4 mg strength.  I am to take 4 of them 24 hours before and 4 more 12 hours before chemo.  Last week I took 5 each time.  I hope to be able to reduce the dose each week.

We will see if I have the pounding head the same as last week.  I have a prescription of HYDROCODON-ACETAMINIOPHEN for if I get that pounding again. 

I am trying to plan productive activity for the inability to sleep on Sunday night.  Maybe clean.

To night Susan took me to church.  It’s one of those non-denominational churches where you come as you are.  They serve coffee and the hymns are projected on a couple screens.  There is a band instead of an organ.

Susan and Willie brought me home from church and Willie got to meet Bandit. It was a love match.  If you pet the right spot, and that’s just about anywhere, Bandit’s back leg gets going.  Sometimes both back legs get going and he has to lay down.

In getting ready to go to church I had a problem getting my hair to behave, the sides kept sticking out.  Hmmmmm.  I pulled out the scissors and cut off the pieces that stuck out, then trimmed the top a little.  I’ve done this before but not with such abandon.  Since it’s all going to fall out soon I can whack away all I want.

Actually it will save time if I can just slap on a wig instead of fixing and fixing and spraying.  I may even post a bald picture on here. It depends on how gnarly my head is.  Don’t want to scare people.

later….

Thanksgiving

The weather is nasty but it IS the end of November in Ohio.  The rain that didn’t come in August, September, and October has arrived.  There is a flood warning for this area but I am on high ground.

Thank goodness it is just rain today.  Tomorrow it may be nastier with lower temps.

I plan to visit both my daughters today and eat a little with each family.  I feel pretty good, just a bit icky now and then.  I am thankful to be enjoying this season.

DOGS -

Spoiled house dogs hate rain.  They look out the open door and shake as if they are already getting wet. 

Last night I tried for the second night to leave them out of their cages all night.  There was a large puddle in the kitchen this morning. 

Considering the size of the puddle and the size of the dogs I think it was a Bandit puddle.  The kitchen floor slants a bit so the puddle had run from the back door to the middle of the kitchen.

Good morning beloved master!  Of course, I was only wearing socks when I found the puddle. 

Needless to say they waited quite a while before they got breakfast.  Guess where they will be spending the night tonight? 

Have a wonderful peaceful holiday.

later….

Tuesday

Slept last night, slept this afternoon.  I’ve heard you can’t catch up on sleep but I seem to be trying.

Looks like I might have two Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday.  One from each of my daughters.  Maybe I’ll take doggy bags home.  I can’t seem to eat much at a time which has been predicted by the chemo booklet.  So I graze all the time. 

Made a trip to the drugstore this afternoon.  The prescription for the steroids has to be filled each week.  Might ask for a new prescription that lets me pick up a months’ worth at a time.

Still having beautiful weather.  Doesn’t seem normal for the end of November. Sunshine and 50 degrees.

I tried on one of my new hats today and then forgot I had it on.  I laid down on the couch.  Teddy tried to sniff the hat from over the arm of the couch.  He wasn’t sure it was me in that hat.

After I talked to him he got over it and jumped up on the couch with me.

I  took the dog beds out of the cages and put them on the floor in my bedroom last night.  After being put on his bed 3 times Teddy stayed there all night.  Bandit paced around and slept somewhere else.  Probably in the bathroom as I leave that light on.  He has issues that I don’t understand. 

I feel just a little bummed today but not really bad.  Stomach is a little uncertain but that was expected.

I used to buy pumpkins and make pies from scratch.  Today I ordered 2 pumpkin pies so I can contribute to the dinners I am invited to.  I’m sure they won’t be as good as my homemade ones. 

My great grandson Jaryen is two years old today.  Happy birthday.

Later….

So Far So Good

Last night I slept about 2 1/2 hours, the steroids were working.  I got permission to reduce the dose by 20% next week.

My good friend, LaDonna, came and drove me to the appointment.

Got home a little while ago.  I probably could have driven myself but I didn’t.  I would like to try it next week but Lory is discouraging it.

They gave me more steroids IV and lots of benadryl IV before they gave me the Taxol.  There was a 1/2 hour wait between those drugs and the chemo.

The Taxol was given slowly for 10 minutes, then I was checked for reactions, then a little faster for 10 more minutes, 3 times at 10 minutes, then, since I had no special reaction, the rest was pumped faster for 1/2 hour. 

They showed me a collection of hats and wigs.  I picked 2 hats and a white wig.  The nurse said I would probably not lose my hair this week, but next week it would start falling out.  At that point most people just buzz it off. 

You can lose a lot of heat through the top of your head so I will wear a hat at night. 

Since my granddaughter is going to beauty school I will delegate the buzz job to her.  In fact, just for practice she is giving me a haircut Wednesday evening.  In 2 weeks she will be doing people at the school.

I had a boiled mashed egg with a little mayo on it and have a dish of applesauce sitting here with some crackers nearby.  I am not to eat whole wheat bread, just white bread.  I don’t care for white bread so I will probably stick to crackers.

The chemo kills fast growing cells which include the lining of the digestive system.  So I should eat nothing that might scratch my innards. 

The only reaction I had with the chemo was a little flush from the steroids and a chemical taste in my mouth from the Taxol.

The Dr. is doing one more test on the biopsy material (HER2 NEU).  That is the one that says what grade the cancer is and tells how aggressive it is.  If it shows up positive they will add another ingredient to the chemo next week.

The Dr. I had before this one just made a note that it was positive for that test but did not elaborate so they are doing it again to be sure. 

I have appointments for chemo on 11/29, 12/6, then an appointment for blood lab work 12/13.  I see the Dr. again on 12/20, then get more chemo that day.  She said after 2 or 3 rounds they would do more tests to see how it is working.

It was a beautiful day today, 70 degrees.  Very rare for this time of year.  The leaves on the red trees at the hospital had mostly fallen off. 

The dogs were happy to see me come home as I had left them in the cages while I was gone. 

Maybe I will get more sleep tonight, maybe not.  I have lots of books to read if I can’t sleep.

Thanks for all the prayers.  I need courage and patience if you want to get specific.  I do not ask for a cure, God’s will be done.

Later….

 

Cancering

Homemade mouthwash = 1 quart of water, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of salt.  I am to use that mouthwash several times a day while on chemo.  No commercial mouthwash.  Chemo may cause mouth sores. 

So I have brewed up the mouthwash and put it in an old bear shaped honey container for in the kitchen.  An old ketchup squirt bottle full of it is in the bathroom.

Got a call late Friday afternoon from my oncologist.  The biopsy is the same kind of cancer that started in my breast and moved to my bones and now to my liver.

Thursday I took a nap and woke up with a sore neck.  The curse of having cancer is that everything is viewed through that prism.  Had it moved to my neck?  Was I doomed from now on to this pain in my neck?  It even moved up to the back of my head, OHHH NOOOO!

It lasted until Friday evening, then subsided.  Got to get hold of myself and stop worrying.  What will be will be.  A stiff neck is probably just a stiff neck.

Visited with my friends at the antique barn this afternoon.  They have put out a APB on the guy who stabbed me Tuesday at the hospital. 

Tomorrow I will be on steroids, probably shouldn’t post to this blog in that condition.  If the phone rings I answer it “WHAT?” when I am taking the steroids.  Call at your own risk.

later….

 

 

Friday Before Chemo

Reading about this chemo stuff is a bit scary.  My bodily fluids will be poison for a couple of days after the chemo.  I guess if it is working that makes sense.  I am to flush twice and wash hands extra times.

I’m trying to get things in order so I can take it easy in case I am sick from it.  Got spare dog food today.  Got extra yogurt and a small turkey breast and lots of jello. 

I bought a blender the other day.  I have destroyed two in the past.  Okay, so they were hand me downs but still.  This one is supposed to be able to do ice cubes so maybe it will stand the test.   Haven’t tried it yet.

I have 2 different prescriptions for nausea and the doctor suggested that I try each one before the chemo so I would know their side affects.  The first one I tried, ondansetron, made it feel as if I had a brick in my stomach, didn’t make me sleepy. 

The second one, promethazine, I tried this afternoon.  It made me very sleepy, so I took a nice long nap with 2 dogs on the couch with me.  Picture that.

So now I know and can choose which side affect works at the time I need it.  Maybe bricks in my stomach will be a good thing at some point.

I found the tape measure today.  Bandit is 44 inches from the tip of his nose to the base of his tail.  That’s a loooong dog.  That cage he was in yesterday is 25 inches long.  He managed to fit.

I have an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner from John’s Mother, but don’t know if I will feel fit for human consumption.  That sounds like I will be eaten. LOL 

I’m a bit like an animal – if I don’t feel good I want to hide somewhere till I feel better.  Just leave me alone.

Trying to get Christmas packages ready to mail.  Not doing much this year.  I am basically a bah humbug person. 

later…. 

Strange World

In Ohio you are supposed to get a new sticker for your car license plate on your birthday.  Lory’s birthday was yesterday. 

This morning a policeman was waiting down the street to check to see if she had gotten her sticker.  She had not. 

That is a small town cop.  He probably has a list of everyone’s birthday in town and lurks nearby, waiting to pounce. 

Other strange happenings are going on.  Last night at 1:57 a.m. some energetic bleary eyed person made a comment on this blog. 

They wanted to tell me about a new vitamin that does wonderful things for men.  Happily they didn’t arrange for it to be published so it only came as an email to me.

I know times are difficult, jobs are scarce.  But to have a job of putting comments about male enhancement on blogs in the middle of the night?  Come on!  Flipping hamburgers would be preferable to that.

It rained in the night, not a lot but the dogs came in with wet feet and damp backs this morning. 

Still feeling a bit under the weather from the biopsy.  I’m taking it easy. 

Getting one more estimate on the new bathtub.

Proof positive that Bandit is jealous of Teddy and tore holes in his dog bed.

This picture shows him rubbing his head on Teddy’s blanket in Teddy’s cage.  If he rubs his scent on it – it is his.  All doggy blankets and beds are his.  All food dishes are his.  All couches and soft places to lay are his.  He goes into my bedroom and barks with ownership joy.  So I growl at him and he comes out.

Poor Teddy – no wait a minute.  Teddy is sort of passive aggressive, he does a few end around moves and gets what he needs.  I once dropped a cheerio on the floor so he watches and waits for another one.  Some day it will come and he will be ready. 

When I was house breaking him he tried to pee on me several times.  He waits patiently for Bandit to pee, then pees over it. 

It is for sure a turf war in this house.  These beasts I live with are a lot of entertainment.

later….

 

Number One Child’s Birthday

Parental Ramble Warning………………………………

At some point in the far distant past it occurred to me that my Mother had more to do with my birthday and I did.  So I started sending her flowers on my birthday.

I probably read it somewhere or saw someone on TV suggest that.  It wasn’t an original thought.  It was a fun thing to surprise her that way.

November 17 is my oldest daughter’s birthday, Lorain, otherwise known as Lory.  When it was popular to spell that name “Lori” she chose to spell hers with a “y”.  Her high school jacket had to be sent back to get the spelling right.  The stitching on the error still showed.

She marches to her own drum and I am very proud of her.  Her life has not been easy or perfect but what life is.   As two adult women we can agree to disagree on things.  We even yell at one another sometimes.

At some point in her youth we agreed to say (maybe yell) “GOODBYE” before we slammed down the phone. 

When she was a teen ager I once observed her talking on the phone saying “let me ask my Mother”.  Then she held the phone for a while and told them I had said NO. 

I am sorry I wished her children like herself.

So today, on her birthday, she brought me flowers.

The arrangement is a combination of things from her friend John’s backyard and from his Mother’s yard and some cut flowers, also a jeweled butterfly from someone’s jewelry box. 

So very special and personal.

Thank you for appreciating your birthday and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you.

p.s. Here is an awwwww chuckle.  Poor short legged Bandit just sneezed and whacked his nose on the floor.

later….

Survived Biopsy

Just got back from the hospital a little while ago.  I have had lots of water to drink and some pasta salad and canned peaches to eat – and of course, chocolate!

I wasn’t’ ready to come home at noon as they had thought I would be so my ride friend had to wait quite a while.

Everything went fine.  They thought they might want to use IVP (dye with iodine) so they could see better with the scan machine.  Then they saw that I am allergic to it.  They considered giving me steroids by IV but finally decided to try without the dye.

It worked without IVP dye.  Thank goodness.  I looked on their screen and could see the needle, right beside the spot it needed to be.  They tried again a couple of times and were finally satisfied.

Each time they ran me into the scan machine to check things out and get a new picture..

I was not knocked completely out but had some drugs to help me relax.  I think they just relaxed me enough that I jumped now and then.  I can hold still if I am alert.

Afterward I was to lay on a rolled up towel to put pressure on the spot for 2 hours.  I slept until they brought me some juice and graham crackers.

My friend said I was very pale when I came out of the hospital.  After getting home and letting the dogs out and back in I pinked up.  She left so I could get some rest.

I will not hear any results from this until Monday so, as usual, it is a waiting game.

It is raining today.  We need it very badly.  A 1/2 inch isn’t going to help much when we are down by 8 or 9 inches.

Nap time.

later….

Ready

I am ready for my biopsy tomorrow. 

The trash has been put out to the street. 

The dishes are washed.

A load of laundry has been done. 

I am showered. 

My clothes for in the morning are laid out.

Susan is picking me up at 6:45 a.m. – yes there is a 6:45 in the morning, too.

My friend is picking me up at noon.

Also today I mended a dog bed.  It was the one in Teddy’s little cage. 

Teddy has never torn up anything whereas Bandit tries to “fluff” the hardwood floor.  It works on area rugs which I find in a twist all the time.  He gets on the couch and paws at it so I keep a throw loosely on it so nothing gets torn, just moved around.

I have seen Bandit try to get into Teddy’s cage.  He doesn’t fit. 

The evidence says that Bandit pawed at Teddy’s bed and tore holes in it, spreading the stuffing around a bit.

So now Teddy’s bed is mended and in the kitchen and he is happily laying on it.  I will find something else for his cage.

I think if the bed can move around it might not tear, even when being fluffed and dug up.

I’ve tried leaving their cage doors open when they go to bed in them.  It doesn’t work.  I need my sleep so they get put to bed, locked up for the night.

They will probably be locked up tomorrow while I am gone.

Now to set the alarm and be sure it is set for “a.m.” and not “p.m.”.  I have made that mistake before.

Actually for years I got to work at 6:00 a.m. and worked a 10 hour day.  I was younger then and not spoiled by a few years of retirement.

Thanks to anonymous for the website referral.  I’ll let you know….

later….

 

Biopsy Scheduled and a Ramble

I called this morning to find out when my liver biopsy was going to be.  I needed to arrange transportation.  The hospital called before noon and told me it will be Tuesday, Nov. 16, and to arrive at 7:30 a.m., don’t eat after midnight.  Should be ready to go home by noon.

So I now have a ride there, thanks to daughter Susan.  Lory has to work that day.  I’ll arrange for a friend to pick me up and bring me home.

After getting that call I was free to go over to the antique barn and visit with my friends.  One of them had a wig for me.  It looks a lot like my hair used to look when I got perms.  It will be a good one for going to the bank or when I want to look normal.  I still need something outrageous for other occasions.

Ramble Warning-----------------------------

This week-end is the Planned Parenthood annual book sale.  It is a great sale.  A gymnasium size room packed with long tables full of books with boxes of more books under the tables. 

I used to go on Friday and wait in line for a couple of hours to be one of the first people in.  Sometimes in rain or snow.  I have met people from New York and Pennsylvania and other states in that line. 

They used to have some amazing deals on collectible books.  The last time I went, a couple of years ago, they had started checking prices on the internet and the deals weren’t so good.  I once got a first edition of the 2nd volume of Uncle Tom’s Cabin for very little. 

They have a “finds” section, items that were in a box of donated books but are not books.  I found a primitive calculator there one year, with 5 dials, like the old dial phones, and a stylus to turn the dials which added up what you dialed.  I paid $5.00 and sold it for $200.00 on ebay.  It was a before patent item.

I also always look for the series of books that my Mother taught from in the 1930’s.  I now have several and have started giving them to her grandchildren. 

I used to collect old school books.  It’s an inexpensive thing to collect.  The oldest one I have is 1792.  I also have a couple of the paper back Dick and Jane books that I used in the first grade.  Believe it or not, those are very rare. 

I have stopped collecting as there doesn’t seem to be a market for resale and no one in the family is interested in the collection. 

The ones I like best are the primers.  Those books used to be passed down from child to child and I like to think about all the little hands that had to be washed before they were allowed to hold that special book.  All the stories have a moral to them.

One of the books I have has recipes for a cure for “gravel” and other physical ailments written in the front in pencil.  No other paper was available to write on apparently.

My Mother used to talk about taking turns to have the calendar page at the end of the month so the kids could use the back of it to write on or draw pictures.

Never have found a first edition of McGuffy’s first reader.  The date would be in the 1850’s.  They all say “revised” except for the first edition ones.

Oh well, that’s enough of a ramble.

Later….

 

Thoughts on being bald.

If all my hair falls out I won’t have to pluck all those stray ones on my chin or anywhere else.  

My son-in-law, Tim, says the next time he shaves his head it will be in honor of me.  He is mostly bald anyway so I will say he is already honoring my future baldness.

My brother-in-law wants to arm wrestle while I am taking steroids.  He is also bald so I will assume that is for me.

Had to give Teddy a bath again yesterday.  I don’t know where he finds stuff  (s#!t) to roll in.  I walked all around the backyard and couldn’t find anything.

I’ve been reading all the literature given to me at the doctor’s office.  One paper says avoid acetaminophen but another says use Tylenol only.  Acetaminophen and tylenol are the same thing.  One of the main side effects is bone and muscle pain.  Need to find out for sure what I can take for that. 

My friends have been suggesting that I get a tattoo on the back of my head.  Maybe something like “If you can read this I am bald”.  If there are any other suggestions let me know.  I’m not committing to this tattoo but it’s fun to think about.

Who knows, maybe there are age spots all over my scalp.  Yuck.  There is definitely a wig in my future.  Maybe a spikey red one.

Later….

Health News

Had a nice breakfast with friends.

Just got back from the doctor’s office.  My oncologist suggested that I get a liver biopsy next week and then start chemo on Nov. 22.  The biopsy hasn’t been scheduled yet, it will be outpatient and I will get drugs.  I love drugs.

Her opinion was that it would be good to compare this biopsy with the one I had 2 years ago just be be absolutely sure it is the same thing. 

I got a prescription for possible  nausea and one for steroids (major steroids) to take the day before the first chemo treatment.  

  Lory went with me and explained that when I am on steroids I can peel wallpaper off the walls with my teeth.  The doctor laughed and said if I didn’t have a bad reaction to the chemo they could reduce the steroids for later treatments.

She says it will be 3 weeks of chemo then 1 week off.  I was given lots of literature to read.  

While looking out the window from the parking garage (4th floor)we got a good view of the landscaping around the area.

The one above shows alternating red bushes with the evergreens.

Don’t know what kind of trees these are but they sure are red.  They looked a bit better from above.

The dogs had gotten into my bedroom while we were gone but they left no presents for me in there.  Good dogs.  Bandit had to go outside and run in circles for a while when we got home.

I left the prescriptions at the drug store for pick-up tomorrow. 
We stopped on the way home at an estate sale.  I bought a styrofoam head for .25 cents.   Might need that for a wig soon.

We also stopped and bought dog food. 

Now I can sit back and take a break and read all this literature….

later….

Bathtub and the Past

The bathtub issue is ongoing.  A sunken tub was considered and rejected after looking in the cellar where it would be.  The house might fall down if some of those major beams were cut to make room for a sunken tub. 

The bathroom in this house was obviously an add-on.  It bumps out on the side of the house and there is a crawl space dug out under it for the pipes.  When I think about building a house without a bathroom it is unbelievable.

The only record I can find is when this lot was defined, in 1907.  It was probably at that time that the house was built.  It wasn’t built to stand up to the semi trucks that go by so we get some vibrations.

There are 2 chimneys that I have had inspected.  They are not usable so I had them capped.  The chimney’s still bump out into the rooms where there was once fireplaces.

There is evidence of an area where coal was stored in the cellar.  There is an old oil tank in the cellar.  There is a large square of different wood in the floor in the living room where one of those old monstrous furnaces had it’s register. 

Now there is a modern natural gas forced air furnace down there.  Where they had to cut the beams for the ducts there are jacks to hold up each side of the beam. 

Should I try to get that old oil tank out?  How in the world did they get it in?  Was there an outside entrance to the cellar at one time? 

I’ve been told it might still have fumes in it so it couldn’t safely but cut up.  Guess I’ll just leave it down there.  The old saying is “it ain’t eatin no hay”.

So there is one more estimate to be made on the new bathtub.  I’m in no hurry.  The old one works, it’s just very old, plastic, matte finish that is impossible to make look clean.

Decisions – decisions….

later….

Trip to the Veterinarian

Thursday was the day to take Bandit to the vet for his shots.  He liked the car ride just fine and liked sniffing all around the outside of the vets building. The inside, not so much.

He kept looking out the window and going to the door in the waiting room.  His nose knows that kind of place.   He objected loudly to the drawing of blood and it took 3 of us to get the kennel cough medicine into his nose.

Teddy went along for the ride.  He was a hit with the employees at the vet’s and sat up and begged for treats.  I wanted to know what he weighed as he was a bit too pudgy the last time we were there.  He is down to 29 lbs from 33 lbs so the diet is working for him.

Bandit seemed very thin when I first got him, his backbone stood up and there was no padding on his ribs.  Now his backbone is invisible and his ribs are well padded. I don’t know what he weighed before but now he is 49 1/2 lbs which the vet says is a bit too much for his short legs to carry around.  So now they will both be on a diet. 

Went over the the Butter Street Barn this afternoon and enjoyed a visit with my “antique” friends.  We made plans for breakfast on Wednesday at the local greasy spoon restaurant.

Got a call from my doctor’s nurse yesterday and now have an appointment for next Wednesday afternoon to talk about chemo.  I’m making a list of questions.  You can submit any you have in the comments.

Later….

 

Chemo Findings

Looking at the notes I made while on the phone with the doctor yesterday, he said “low dose” so all the info I find may be for “regular dose”. 

Taxol will probably make me infertile - HAHA.  It will probably make my hair fall out and I’ll find out if that doctor who took the cyst off the top of my head several years ago did what I asked him to do.  I asked that he make the scar look like a smiley face.

It may make me sick and have a low red blood cell count.

It may make my finger nails and toe nails fall off or maybe just get sore or maybe just get lines in them.  

I don’t have any toenails – HAHA.  I had them all permanently removed due to severe ingrown toenails.  Actually I think it was reverse evolution, toenails turning back into animal claws.

This all may happen or may not happen.  If it is low dose it may not happen, at least not all of it.  Besides, they have fixes for a lot of it.   Like you can put your fingers in ice water while you get the chemo and that may prevent fingernail damage.

Why don’t drugs have side affects like – may make wrinkles go away; athlete’s foot may disappear; your warts may fall off; your hair may curl.  Oh well. 

That’s enough to know about chemo for now.  Lets go for the one day at a time thing.

By the way, I watched the DVD of disturbia Tuesday evening.  It made me think of a Hitchcock movie, lots of suspense and a few twists, but aimed at the teeny-bopper set.  Still a good movie and it beat all the election results trickling in bit by bit.

 

Health News

Do you really want to hear all the health news?  I assume you do, so if you don’t, stop reading now.

My oncologist is out of town so when I called for results of my PET scan a different doctor called back with the results. 

He says I have 4 small finger-tip size spots on my liver.  The bone in my hip has improved, probably from the radiation.

He would recommend chemotherapy using Taxol.  He says that is given once a week for 3 weeks and then take a break.  If he said how long the break would be I didn’t catch it.  He said they have very good results with this treatment.

The reason I haven’t had any chemotherapy before is that it doesn’t do much for bones but works well on soft tissue. 

He did say that my brain looked normal!  So there!

My doctor will be back on the 10th and I chose to wait for her to come back to start treatment.  He said those few days wouldn’t make any difference.

So I’m looking on the next few days as a break, time to get used to the idea of chemo.  Time to read about Taxol on the internet.

I shopped today at Walmart and the clerk who checked me out was sad about the election. 

I tried to explain it to her but had no luck.  She said all those rich CEO’s will get a break from Republicans. 

I asked her where she would go to look for a job – some poor man or a CEO of a company.  She didn’t get it.  CEO’s are bad, poor people should have their stuff.  Sounds like Obama.

The scary part is he doesn’t just want poor people to do better, he wants to take it away from rich people (who have earned it) and give it to people who didn’t earn it. 

I tried to help a homeless person once.  After offering a few days of temporary housing he said “I want your RV”; not “I want one like that” or “you have a nice RV” but “I want YOUR RV”.  After many attempts, eventually I had to call the police to get that man to leave.

If you didn’t earn it you don’t appreciate it.  If it is given to you it isn’t worth much.  Time after time that has been proven to me. 

So all you young people get out there and get a good job and pay your dues so I can be retired and get benefits now and….

later….

 

 

Voting Day

Okay – I messed up.  My Dad’s birthday is December 1st, not November 1st.  So it must have been just the first day of the month was a better birthday than the last day of the month, nothing to do with Halloween. 

It made a good story and the decision to use the 1st of the month part is true.  I think I even sent him a birthday card a month early one year.  So it’s not a new mess up for me.

I also forgot to put out the trash on Monday night.  Didn’t have much anyway so it can wait till next week. 

There was a second plumber here Monday evening giving another estimate on the new bathtub.  He thinks I should get a tub size shower with a very low side.   I think that’s what I will do.  He is giving me a written estimate which is good rather than a ball park verbal figure.  Plus this plumber has a young family to support and the other guy was retired.

Went to vote this morning.  It was a new polling place and a lot more people were there.  I was number 80 at 10:30 a.m.  That’s just for my precinct.  There were 5 different precincts voting at that one place.  I still only had to wait for a couple of minutes.

Now this evening there will be hours and hours of voting returns and rehash of what it means.  I have a couple of movies that Lory loaned me.  Maybe I’ll watch disturbia and Benjamin Button instead of watch TV.  

Lory had to show me again how to work the DVD player.  I guess I’m not a very modern person. 

Later….

Politics BLAH

I can change the size of the type now.  Maybe this new version of Live Writer is not so bad, maybe - if I can just use the parts that I like. 

A new irritation – child proof caps on vitamins and mouthwash and cough syrup.  WHY?  This new kind of cap has a spot on each side that you have to pinch while turning the cap.  Now I can pat my head and rub my stomach but these new caps in the middle of the night (cough syrup) are just too much.  So I leave the cap loose which leaves the possibility that it will get spilled. 

And while I am complaining – political robo calls are infuriating.  If I haven’t made up my mind by now I shouldn’t be voting.

There – I feel better.

Nov. 1, my Dad’s (1909 – 1982) birthday.  I was told he was born close to midnight and by the time they checked the time they decided to use Nov. 1 rather than Oct. 31 because of Halloween.  Must have been a bit of superstition about that.

My Dad was a hard worker.  He enjoyed fishing and thoroughly enjoyed his 10 years of retirement in Florida, doing a lot of fishing and growing citrus fruit in their small backyard.

He was always interested in politics and I can’t help wondering what he would think about the present situation.  I think I know.  For a while I thought President Truman’s first name was SOB.

Looking forward to voting tomorrow and getting rid of all the political ads on TV as well as the phone calls and signs along the road.

Later….