Rainy Saturday

This second round of chemo has left me with more energy and less aches and pains than the first one.  Don’t know if it is due to the Crestor pill I took the night before or not.  I’ll take another one next time just in case.

Friday I went out to lunch with Susan.  I had a small hamburger.  Then I picked up the mail at the post office and went to the barn.  Several of my good friends were there and I got lots of hugs.

We have been having thunder storms.  Thank goodness Teddy doesn’t get terribly upset about them.  We spent this morning on the couch.  Nothing like curling up under a quilt with a warm dog on a rainy day.

The other evening Teddy came to me trembling all over.  There seemed to be no reason for it until a few minutes later I heard it – the dreaded “CHIRP” of low batteries in a smoke alarm. 

We spent a lot of time going from room to room and waiting for the sound to happen again. 

Finally found it in the bedroom.  It was the carbon monoxide detector the Red Cross gave me several years ago.  It was plugged into the wall socket and I had never given any thought to its batteries.

At least it took two double A batteries which I had on hand.  The whole thing reminded me of smoke alarms which I have to get working and have someone put up on the wall.   I don’t do ladders.

later….

 

Griping

After all the excitement of the emergency vehicles on Friday Teddy is bored.  He has barked at me several times to come play with him.  He also looks out the window and barks now and then.

I don’t feel like playing.  The aches and pains aren’t nearly so bad as last time, thank goodness.  I think the Crestor helped. 

Eating is a challenge.  Nothing sounds or tastes good.  The couch looks good tho. 

My lawn got mowed and trimmed Sunday.  It looks really nice. 

Since I now know where my liver is I feel jabs there sometimes.  Don’t know what it means, could be cancer growing or cancer shrinking. 

Years ago I was diagnosed with migraine.  I found it hard to believe since I never had a headache.  All the other symptoms were there, sensitivity to light and noise, dizziness, a feeling that everything was going WRONG.  I actually had a small stroke at age 28.  I have a tiny blind spot in my left eye and my right side didn’t work well for months. 

At that time I had a four year old, a two year old, and a newborn.  I had no choice but to take care of things.  It was probably good therapy. 

So the headaches I get now are a surprise and a new thing for me.  I take Vicodin and that helps.

Enough griping – go play Angry Birds.

later….

Reality Test of Emergency System

While I was at the doctors office getting my chemo this afternoon I got a call on my cell phone from each of my daughters.

The police and ambulance were at my house because the button on the box of my Lifestation (<-link) system had been pushed and I didn’t answer.

Susan took some pictures of the excitement.

School is out, kids go to investigate the excitement.

Lory parked in the front yard as the driveway was full. 

It had to be Teddy.  There was evidence that he had been on the bar stool at the breakfast bar.  A few items were moved around on the counter. 

I would have loved to see what he did when that voice came over the system box.  It is very loud because I’m supposed to be able to hear it anywhere in the house.

It took a while to convince the police and ambulance people what had happened.  I had a couple of my guns laying out and that brought some questions.  Thank goodness guns are legal.

So far I feel okay from the chemo.   I’m just not hungry so I will do a little snacking and see how that works. 

I spent some time in the parking garage before I drove home.  I did fine driving but may ask for a ride after this.  I sure wasn’t walking very well.

At least we know the system works.  The only problem was they just called the emergency people and Lory.  They are supposed to call the other people on my list, like Susan and her husband Tim.

Lory called them back and asked if they were supposed to call everyone.  They said they were, so someone should be in trouble.

GOOD

I guess this was a good test of how these things work.  The first responders came, they worked the combination lock on the box on the front door, they got in and had been upstairs and in the basement. 

BAD

They left the front door open and Teddy was wandering around the front yard.  They had to be asked twice to close the front door. 

Now I know, Teddy has to be locked in his cage if I am gone.

Later….

 

Getting Ready

This week I’ve been trying to get ready in case this Friday’s chemo makes me feel like the first dose did.

I’ve been trying to accumulate all the food I’ll need for a couple of weeks.  I’ve done all the laundry and plan to have the kitchen sink cleaned out of dirty dishes. 

I bought a tub of potato salad at Kroger, their brand.  I tried it the other night.  I’ve never had potato salad that burned my mouth before.  I’m not sure I want to eat any more of it.  I’ll have to look for Amish potato salad next time.

When I first started chemo, Nov. of 2010, my general practitioner gave me some samples of Crestor to take the night before chemo.  I thought it helped with the aches and pains. 

I ran across the rest of those pills recently.  I’m going to take one tonight and see if it helps.

The weather is warm today, 76 degrees outside.  I sat on the deck and let my bald head soak up some sun. 

It is supposed to rain tomorrow afternoon.  People who got in a hurry to put out their plants have had to cover them several times.  No point in getting in a hurry.

later….

 

Nothing New

Late this afternoon I got a call from Susan offering to take me grocery shopping.  I took her up on it and got dressed.

Of course, I bought junk food, and ginger ale.  Ginger ale helps settle my stomach.

I am taking less pain meds, if fact I haven’t had any today.  I won’t say I’m completely without pain but if I don’t remember to take the pills I must not need them.

My hair has completely fallen out from the chemo.  The top of my head is tender to the touch.  Don’t know why.  The hair was about an inch long when it fell out.   It covered my keyboard so I had to use tweezers to pick it off before it got down between the keys. 

Nothing much happening around here.  The wind has been blowing.  There was a plastic table cloth folded up on the picnic table, I think it’s in the neighbor’s backyard now.  My tulips have survived and still look pretty.

later….  

Sick Car

Four errands today, give blood to the doctor down the street, buy business size envelopes, turn in city taxes, and mail my taxes. 

I got the first three done before the car went crazy.  I pushed the button to start it as I was leaving the city building and the horn started it’s panic beeping. 

I got the horn stopped and got in the car.  It tried to start but turned right off again.  I tried the key, the same thing happened.  A couple of times I got the beeping horn again.

After several tries I got out the book, (if all else fails, read the instructions).  There is a security system on the car that stops it from running if someone uses the wrong key.  That system is not compatible with a remote start system. 

OOOOHHHHH   NNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!

I called my trusty garage and explained the problem.  I would just like the security system disconnected.   They said they didn’t think they could do that.  @#%$

They came with a large flatbed truck and maneuvered my car onto it.  They gave me a ride home, across the street and two doors down.  Okay, my feet hurt when I walk. 

I took a nap until they called that my car was ready and they would pick me up in a few minutes.  It turns out the remote key start malfunctioned.  They had to unsolder a connection and cut a wire to get it to stop turning the engine off after 2 seconds.

(I did get to the post office after getting the car back.)

Now I get to take the car back where I had the remote start installed and try to get some satisfaction.  At the very least they should have known that a 2002 Jeep wasn’t a good candidate for a remote start system. 

I’m good at intimidation.  I’ll get to practice my skills.

later….

Better Days

Been feeling a bit better each day, pain pills and Phenergan for nausea help.  Some of my extended family/friends showed up with a remedy that is legal in some states. 

I tried it and if it made me goofy, it wasn’t very noticeable from my usual goofiness.  I did eat more than usual for supper and the impressive part was there was a marked improvement in my digestion.

Bad GreatGrandMa!!!! 

The front of my house with tulips.  Yes that is a bowling ball on top of the milk can on the right.  The milk can is over a well head that I haven’t cut off or sealed.

Me with the tulips.

And the back of the tulips.

It has been chilly and windy so I thought I better get pictures before the wind blew the flowers away.

The lawn mower man came yesterday and my lawn looks good again.  He brought along his girl friend.  He used to live next door but he is grown and on his own now.  He has a good job – he is an energetic young man.  It’s nice to be around him.

John and Lory visited and Chris and Andrea visited this week-end.  Chris changed the oil in my lawn mower.   Lory  and John brought a plate of Easter dinner which will last me for a while.

 I’ve been told that just because you get a lot of side effects doesn’t mean the chemo is working.   We will see in a couple of weeks if the second dose produces the same week of miserableness.

I’ve gotten a couple of loads of laundry done but the sink is still full of dirty dishes.  One thing and one day at a time.

Been trying to get a picture of Teddy’s face.  As you can tell it’s been a few hours since Teddy was brushed.   Even a few minutes would look the same.

later….

Miserable Week

This has been a miserable week after starting Ixempra.  I read the side effects and I didn’t get them all, thank goodness.  The ones I did get were extreme. 

Every muscle and joint ached, a meal more than two tablespoons caused a stomach ache, a head ache persisted for five days, and the buzzing in my ears almost drowned out the TV.  Strange jabs and stabs of pain that make me jump now and then. 

I took a lot of naps and now have permission to take two Vicodin (Hydrocodon-Acetaminophen 5-500) every six hours.  One just wasn’t doing it. 

So on the news yesterday was an article that said people are taking a lot of Vicodin and becoming addicted.  I don’t care, so there.

So not much got done except laying on the couch and taking pills. 

I stirred myself yesterday to ride along with Lory to a couple of garage sales.  The GPS got us lost and twisted up.  Of course I haven’t gotten new maps for it since I bought it several years ago.  I have a new Tom Tom so I will get it out and use it after this.

We had a frost warning last night and now a freeze warning for tonight.  I have nothing outside to worry about.  Another month and I’ll put my house plants outside.

There was a large onion trying to grow in the refrigerator so I had Lory plant it in a bucket on the back deck.  We will see how it does in an outside refrigerator.

Here’s hoping things get better from here.

later….

Spring Flowers

Maybe you can see the tall post beside the garage, the top of the tree was already gone when I realized the men were here to take it down.  It turned out to be a walnut tree.   It was probably planted by a squirrel. 

I’ll bet I could plant a walnut and take care of it for years and a tree would never grow.

That little stump is all that’s left of the tree.

The rest of the pictures are of tulips that Lory and John planted last fall.  What a nice spring surprise.

I haven’t figured out the fine points of my camera but I get pictures, download them, and then find them on the computer.   That may be as good as it gets.

I’ve been tired and worthless since Friday (the new chemo).  Naps are good.  I did manage to cut down about 15 weeds in the yard and am quite proud of myself.

The lawn needs mowing again.  I think my lawnmower blades need sharpening.  I’ll wait to see if my neighbor, who is going to mow my lawn this summer, wants to use it or use his mower.

later….