Running Around Tuesday

WOW!  My granddaughter, Andrea, turned 23 years old today.   Her Mother and I took her shopping at a Thrift store.  We had a great time, even found some stuff for ourselves also.

My major contribution was to meet her at the License Bureau and get her a new sticker for her license plate. 

Since this excursion took up most of the afternoon and I spent most of the morning on the phone I didn’t have time to overeat.   Yet my stomach still feels a bit uncomfortable.  So maybe that’s just how it feels on the day after chemo. 

She informed me that she is getting a pink bow tattoo in honor of my having breast cancer.  Her Mother and I tried to convince her to get it where it could easily be covered up.  I think we won. 

I’m trying to feel honored about this tattoo.  I know it is the latest thing for the youth to do.  I even got one a couple of years ago so I guess I can’t object too much.

Later….

 

Chemotherapy Treatment No. 14

I have occasionally complained about comments from this blog referring me to websites about male enhancement.  They, happily, do not show up as comments on the blog, just come to me as email. 

So now I want to say something nice about an anonymous comment on one of my old posts that thanked me for helping them solve a problem.  It was a post about the steroids I take the day before chemo.  Don’t know how it helped but I am happy that it did.  It made my day.

Sunday I took three 4 mg dexamethasone pills both morning and night.   Hope this works well.  Could it be possible to reduce this even more?  Time will tell.

The problem that is most bothersome now is the numbness that is progressing in my right foot.  It started at the toes, has progressed to the ball of the foot and the heel and ankle are feeling strange now.

This is called “Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy” or CIPN.  Looked it up on the internet and it is found in 60% of Taxol patients.  It is the nerves, not the circulation. 

Maybe the most bothersome thing is the fingers on my right hand are starting to be affected also.  I am very right handed.  My poor old left hand barely knows it’s name. 

One place I worked, many years ago, the cord to the calculator would only reach the electrical outlet from the left side of my desk.  Eventually I learned to use it with my left hand.  But that was MANY years ago.  Can you teach an old hand new tricks?  I may get to find out. 

Just got back from chemo.  I drove myself, even turned right on red twice – haha. 

No problems with the chemo.  I slept thru some of it.  I try to pull the blanket up to my face so it can catch any drool.  TMI? (too much information)

We are having Florida weather, quick shower of huge drops with thunder then sunshine.

Now I just have to remember not to eat too much at one time the rest of today and tomorrow. 

later….

 

 

 

DVD Critique

They came, they watched, they laughed, they oood and awwwd.  The DVD’s were all watched this afternoon. 

Some of the ones we had wanted to see were not included.  A search was launched and they were found, still on movie reels.  So the job is not done.

Comments such as “I don’t remember Grandma ever looking that young” and “now I want to go see Yellowstone” were common. 

We had pizza instead of popcorn.  The pizza is made 2 doors down the street at the high school pizza hang out.  It is hand made while you wait.  I know because they make mine without cheese for me. 

One thing we have learned over the years is that pictures of people are more important than pictures of places.   The places are still there, some of them may have changed, but not much.  The people surely do change. 

I’ll bet that rock balancing on top of a pinnacle in Bryce Canyon is still there. 

Of course, the old cars in the movies from the 1960’s and 1970’s were fun to see.

There were a lot of movies of child number 1, not so many of child number 2, and even less of child number 3.  Since their birth years were 1963, 1966, and 1968 there is a good reason for taking less and less movies.   Very busy parents just coping with food, clothing, and shelter is a pretty good reason.

Susan thinks she has a computer program for editing the DVD’s.  The DVD’s play from the beginning of a section thru to the end.  You can pause and restart, you can fast forward, but you can’t stop and start again where you left off in the middle.  I wish her luck in editing.

I was able to pawn off a bag of paperback books on Susan.  Always glad to see things leave here that have been laying around for a while.

I have been watching the news off and on.  Sometimes I have to turn the TV to animal shows or reruns to take a break from all the alarming news.  

Sure hope the world settles down soon.

later….

 

St Patrick’s Day and How I Fooled an Irishman

Once had a brother-in-law who was very Irish.  He’s now one of those out-law in-laws as so often happens these days.

Years ago he and his family were invited to our home for St. Patrick’s day.  The mugs were frosted, the beer was cold, everything was ready.

The beer was opened and amber liquid poured into the frosty mug – and immediately turned green!

His eyes got big and he demanded to know how I did that. 

Irish magic – created by a drop of green food coloring in the bottom of the mug.

Today the weather is beautiful.  I sat in the sun for a while with my almost bald head soaking up some sun.  Got to get it toughened up for spring. 

The new diet has almost solved the digestive problems but not completely.  I don’t think anything will solve it completely. 

I’m looking forward to Saturday.  The old 8 mm family movies have been converted into DVD format.  The kids and I plan to look at them and try to date them.  Maybe also figure out where they were taken.  

This should be good for a couple of laughs.  One of my kids thinks I’m going to make a recording explaining the films.  Like “that’s a tree”, “that’s your uncle Pete” etc.  

I’ll let you know how it goes.

later….

SUCCESS

I successfully drove myself to and from my chemo appointment today!

I walked around in the brisk air in the parking garage for about 10 minutes, then sat in the car and listened to Rush Limbaugh for another few minutes before I felt for sure able to drive. 

I didn’t make any right turns on red but I did slip thru a couple of lights on yellow rather than slam on the brakes.  One of them a car even came thru after me, his light had to be red.

This appointment I saw the doctor for a few minutes before the chemo.  She said I was very flushed, but since I don’t look in the mirror much I hadn’t noticed.  She said I should cut the steroids by one more pill next week.  That will make it 3 pills in the morning and 3 at night (4mg each).

Since my right foot is starting to go numb she also will reduce the amount of taxol I get each time from 138mg to 120mg. 

My last blood marker was 33 and less than 38 is considered normal.  Good news.

The really good news is that if things continue to go well I will be able to take two weeks off between rounds of chemo if I want to.  Maybe I could even run away from home if I could gen up the energy.

I will be getting more scans in April.

I made a stop on the way home to look at the river.  These Canadian geese are looking at the river, even honking about it.  The current is still too swift for them.  They would end up in the Ohio River in a short time.

 

Smart birds.  The bank of the river has changed since I was there last.  The river is a bit wider in spots and some trees are gone from the edge. 

Now I just have to settle down and get something to eat and see what I can get done with this left over steroid energy.

later….

 

Quiet Sunday

It has been quiet around here for a few days.  Nothing much to report.  The sun has come out and the weather has been pretty good. 

The weatherman is predicting 70 degrees for St. Patrick’s day.  The luck of the Irish.

I’ve been putting my bathroom back together since the painting is done, well, almost done.  There are a few spots to touch up but nothing significant.

I went to the barn yesterday and put out a basket of plastic Easter eggs with a sign saying “One Per Customer”.  They have coupons in them for 25% off any item in my booth.  Sure hope that gets some things sold and out of the way.  Since I only have half a booth it is getting pretty crowded. 

My kids are upset about tragic news that connects to them. 

Susan’s coworker was murdered in Louisiana by two prison escapees who wanted his car.  They haven’t been caught yet, last seen in Tennessee.

At Lory’s place of work there was a murder and suicide yesterday.  An ex-husband killed his ex-wife’s boyfriend and himself.  At least he saved the city some money by killing himself.  Really stupid thing to do though. 

Since it is Sunday, our day of rest, I’ve been thinking about one line in the Lord’s Prayer:  “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (or “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”). 

The “as we” is the hard part.  It seems could mean that if we will be forgiven in equal measure that we forgive.  That is a challenge.  So I’ve been thinking back over things that I thought I had forgiven and checking to make sure that I really did forgive.

That could take a whole month of Sundays, maybe longer.  Forgiving should be done for yourself, to release you from anger and the energy it consumes.  I don’t think means I have to forget.  

This is a steroid Sunday, getting ready for chemo tomorrow.  Started looking in the cupboard where I keep prescription bottles and at first I couldn’t find the pills.  It took three thorough searches to find them.  Cheeesh.

Later…. 

 

Dreary Thursday

The plan was to take the dogs to the park along the river and take some pictures of the water and the bike trail, which is way under water.  That was the plan.

The sky is grey and it is misty and cold, the mist is supposed to turn to snow in the afternoon.  Yuck.

So much for the plan. 

The diet seems to be helping a lot.  If I don’t mix protein and starch in the same meal I don’t have a stomachache. 

The book explains that the enzymes that your digestive system uses to digest these two things counteract one another and can create a blockage, taking a very long time to digest the combination.  Vegetables go with either protein or starch so I get plenty of veggies.

A chicken, egg, and pickle salad with a little mayo makes a nice protein meal, no bread as that is starch.

A potato with salad dressing and green beans or peas makes a starch meal.  

Of course, then I get this hunger for pancakes – or maybe just the syrup I put on them.  The pancakes are starch but sugar was not mentioned in that diet. 

Chocolate was also not mentioned.  I don’t think chocolate counts.

Beans are also a bit of a quandary.  They are a vegetable but they also have protein and starch.  Maybe that’s why they cause gas.    Maybe I’ll just avoid beans.

Yesterday it rained all day and I walked the dogs in the backyard on their leashes.  There were no puddles in the house but there was a wet yellow slicker and muddy boots. 

This weather brings on aches and pains in my old joints.  Maybe I’ll take a nap.

later….