Drawing

They say a picture is worth a 100 words.

My crew loves to draw and the canvas often takes a different form than the traditional paper. This is my mouse pad that I had made with fun pictures. Now my pictures have a different face:)

Easter

I love Easter. It is a sign of spring. All the bulbs are starting to bloom, hope after a long winter that spring is here and rebirth can happen.


One of the Easter traditions that I have kept is coloring Easter eggs. As time goes on I am discovering that the decorating is as much for the grown ups as it is with the kids. We got to do eggs twice!


Several eggs got broken in the process, since we had so many hands. Those "broken ones" were labeled for Pappy. It is great to have someone willing to eat the rejects.

The ball wrappers were a big hit! Notice my watermelon egg. Mom got this idea from one of her students.
Along with all this newness, is the excuse to get some new clothes for church.
Preston was under the weather so he didn't go to church. I couldn't get him to pose for a family picture.
This is what my wigs look like. It is so easy to take care of a wig. All I have to do is shake it real good and then put it on my head.
After church there is an egg hunt, which is tons of fun for the kids and the parents too.

Although not on Easter Sunday, I was able to get both boys together in their sharp Easter outfits, the next week.

Chemo Part 1

I was told I needed to have chemotherapy as part of my treatment. I like to think of it as my insurance. Even though the cancer was removed my body, we want to kill any remaining cells and stop them from starting to grow again.

I was not looking forward to chemo. I had these pictures in my head from movies and my grandfather of looking too thin and spending a lot of time hovered over the porcelain god. Add on to the mix hair loss, what sane person wants to sign up for that?

I decided I didn't have much choice in the matter. I tell myself that this experience is only short term and I get through this. Plus I want that reassurance that I did everything I could to stop this disease.

A few days before Chemo, I was having chest pains. They were not going away and were seeming to get worse with physical activity. I thought it was some reaction to my newly placed port. So I called my medical doctor and left a message with the nurse. The nurse quickly got back to me and said go to the ER. I asked "Can't I just come in the office and be looked at?" No the hospital has more equipment and we would just end up sending you there. Well this happened to be the day of my MRI. I knew there would be no way that I would get out of the ER in time for my appt, so I canceled and rescheduled on a less hectic day.

They were very quickly to get me into a room and then began a series of tests to see what was going on. They ran all kinds of tests and found nothing. I asked the Dr if this could be anxiety. He responded that I certainly had a lot to be anxious about in my life. He sent me on my way.

Originally I was scheduled for MRI on Monday and chemo on Tues. Well it took a week to back into the MRI and this pushed back chemo a week too.

My port is located above my left breast and would need to be accessed during chemo. I was all worried about this and what to wear. By this point I have caught on that it needs to be a button up shirt, polo shirt or dress with an open neck line. So since I am dressed up for this occasion I have made the remark that I look like a babe on chemo days. (I had a roommate that used this term when she was looking nice or hot) Here I am on the first day.

What is chemo like? This a question I often get. At this point I will walk you through chemo day and the following days as I remember it.

This is me with my port hooked up and I am getting my drugs.

The room where I get chemo has several vinyl recliners and a nurses station in the middle. There are curtains between chairs that can be moved for privacy or if you want to take a nap. I sometimes refer to it as the chemo lounge and the cocktails they serve up are my chemo drugs. MY first 2 cocktails were Adriamycin and cyclophosphamide. The Adriamycin is sometimes referred to as the red devil. It required a nurse to sit by my side and push it over a 10 min period.

I am jumping ahead of myself here. So chemo morning starts off with getting up earlier than usual and preparing for the day. I would ride with Jim to work in the morning and depending on if were were on time one of us would drop off Preston at a church member's house for the day. I pack a big bag with a blanket, travel pillow, laptop, book, my bag of medicine,mints, and kleenex.

When I get to the doctor's office I check in and head to the lab for blood work. It is very important that I am healthy enough to receive chemo.

I then have an appointment with my oncologists who listens to my heart and lungs. Asks for any problems (vomiting), and then sometimes mentions something in passing like genetic testing and shutting down my ovaries for a while. My tumors were estrogen positive and that can effect them in the future.

From there I head into the lounge. They start an IV through my port (which I have already applied a numbing cream, so I don't feel a thing) and give me meds for the neasea followed by my chemo. I also take a pill call emend, it is an anti neausea drug.The red devil comes out in a brown plastic bag and is in a huge syringe. I suck on mints (icebreakers) because I can taste things while they are accessing my port. I later ended up feeling that same tasting sensation at home. The answer to this problem was an anxiety pill. I surf the internet, read or nap while I am sitting in the chair. It takes about 2 hours to get my treatment. Netflix is a blocked site so I am unable to stream in a video.

I brought snacks with me to chemo and now the thought of those snacks makes me want to gag, so I have a new plan and that will be shared later.

After getting all my drugs, I would have a very full almost bloated feeling. Not a I ate too much food fullness, but I have so many drugs in my body. A friend would pick me up and I would go home and sleep.

Meals were brought in several times. This was so nice that I didn't have to bother with cooking. And I was having issues with taste, so wasn't too motivated to fix something.

Days 1-4 I had to several pills (emend, steriod, Zofran and Companzine) for the nausea. These pills made me groggy and hard to focus too. I didn't like to drive. The pills worked though, I have yet to throw up. Then as the chemo was wearing off I would start to get a real appetite from the steriods. I would also have blurry vision and need to wear my glasses just to help focus. Water started to taste funny. I would feel so thirsty and nothing would quench my thirst. This was so frustrating for me. I usually am a big water drinker. I would go in on Day 2 for a neulesta shot. This often made me so tired I could not get out bed the next day. then I would also get bone pain. This would happen usually while I was doing something like sweeping the floor. At this point the best thing was to sit down and take a rest.


Day5-8
No more Drugs! Yay. But by day 6 I was having a down day emotionally. Why did I have to get cancer? Can I make it till the end of the week and then water will taste better. I have no motivation to do anything. I am still taking a daily nap. Going to church sometimes wore me out.

Day 8 would come and I was starting to feel better. 2 weeks of normal would occur. I was able to cook our meals, do some gardening. go on dates with Jim, and even take the boys on some trips. In fact we took our vacation to the Outer banks on one of my good weeks.

What I do differently now that I have been through the process a few times.
I take an anxiety pill when needed and before treatment.
If 600 mg of Ibuprofen does not knock a headache, I break out the Excedrin. This girl is not going to mess with a migraine. The very first treatment gave me a migraine. I was so worked up. Remember my cancer images. I haven't lost weight, in fact I have put on a few pounds. And that is ok. I am dealing with this the best that I can. And sometimes food is the answer for me.

Jim's Birthday

Still playing a little catch up here. Jim's birthday is in March. For his birthday this year we met his folks in Altoona for lunch. And since I have taken some cake decorating classes, this gives me a chance to practice my skills. A constable cake.

Jim works for a company called Energycap. He likes to get up early and head into work first thing in the morning. He is a constable on the side. This is the perfect side job for Jim. He gets to wear a uniform, carry a gun, wear a badge and drive an old police car.
Jim loves to eat ice cream and watch old episodes of Law and Order SVU.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

This is picture taken in Feb. I was having a good hair day and always like to document those:) I was wearing my MRI outfit (yoga pants, cotton shirt and sports bra ..... no metal) This makes it so that I don't have to change into a robe when I get there.




Losing one's hair is one of the big things associated with cancer. It makes my disease known to all those around me. It reminds me that I am sick.

I was blessed with thick natural curly hair. While sometimes my hair had a mind of its own, I loved my curls. Sure there were times I wish it were straight to fit the new style, but most always liked the curly part.

This was one of the 1st questions that a cancer patient asks, "Will I loose my hair?"

The Oncologist assured me it was imminent and that I should shop for a wig. This took a while to sink in, but once it did I decided that if I was going to lose my hair then someone else should benefit from it.

I was in need of a hair cut and not knowing exactly when chemo was going to start I made the leap and it all cut off short. I had heard of Locks of love, but upon further research discovered they required 10 inches of hair. I had 9. Luckily Pantene would take 8 inches. My hair dresser came over and we did 4 pony tails. It takes at least 6 to make a wig. Now my 4 were tiny pony tails, I imagine it is 6 regular size ones.

Wig shopping
There is a cart set up in the Altoona Mall that carries wigs. Jim and I stopped by and found a fun wig. I still wanted to compare what was available out there and arranged with a friend to go wig shopping to another place. I decided the price and style could not be beat than what I found at the mall. So one day I set out to get my wig. The lady was so nice. she allowed me try on several styles and colors until I found one I liked. Then she sold me one right off the rack. I even wore it home. No waiting for it to be ordered and no second trip.

The wig lady has several attachments that would make a pretty pony tail. I have even considered getting one of those pieces while waiting for my hair to grow long again.

Hair Loss
I had read online that hair loss occurs about day 15 of treatment. I was anxiously awaiting for this to happen. I remember that morning that nothing really happened, but then as the day went on I could grab a hand full and pull it out. Then it dawned on me, that chemo wasn't first thing in the morning, but later on in the day. Once I got to the "I can pull out a hand full of hair" stage Jim got out the clippers and buzzed me down. This was on a Thursday.

I wanted to put in a picture of this stage. Apparently we took a before, but no after. Jim offered to buzz me again. I just laghed at him and said I was not parting with what little hair I have growing. The new drug I am on is allowing my hair to come in.

Come Sunday morning while I was in the shower it was coming out every time I moved my hand over my head and clogging the drain. It was time for another shave. This time he took me down to 3/16. I wore my wig that day.

After that point I wore my wig to church and political events. I had some scarves and other head coverings that I wore. As spring moved along it got too hot to wear any head coverings. And now I go bald everywhere, even to church. Unless I am cold, then you will see me covering up.


Sometimes small children will ask "Mommy why doesn't that lady have any hair?" If they are asking me, I just tell them I have cancer and the medicine they give me is so strong it makes my hair fall out.

As I am writing this, my hair has started to grow back in. I am quite excited about this and curious what I am going to get this time around. I believe I have a birth mark on my scalp. Having always had hair, I never knew this was here. I have a head of stubble. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am getting closer to it.