Here and there

This week is hectic, but it is the last of the really hectic ones. This is the last of the double drug treatment and no more of the fluids the next day. I still will have chemo every two weeks, but I only have to go for the injection(s) the next day!

Adding to the hectic nature is packing for Chicago on Friday. I keep hoping we will hear something about any limit on luggage. I don’t know which bags to pack
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I am really random in thinking today! My mind just flits from place to place. I hope this is not indicative of what is to come this week. I have way too much to do. I can’t afford to be flitting from place to place.

I was hoping the new drug I would be on for the next four weeks would be easy. That was until I talked to a woman at chemo today. Her regime is the same as mine, and the .one I will be starting has been hard on her. My mantra will have to be the same.. Everyone reacts differently. These hard ones have been fairly easy
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Well, see you in about a week and a half.

What do you want?

I can honestly say that I really do love my sister in law. We get along famously. She is quite a dear, but . . . If you are a Dr Phil fan, you would know that he would say that this is my real feeling. I guess it is, even though I would still do anything in the world for her. The but is I'm not sure how much common sense she had. She is in real life Dr Psychologist, so we know the book smarts are definitely there.

The reason I am doubting common sense is that I got an email the other day. They are moving a china cabinet to their house on the next mountains to the SSB. She wants G to help P move it in. OK, not a problemo. Tomorrow would work really well.

They are leaving this morning from the Capital City, with the expectation of arriving about noon. We are leaving Swampland with the expectation of arriving about 5:30. Wide Spot in the Road has its community club meeting this evening at 6:30. It is a covered dish dinner. I have to warm our dish. She wants help when we get there.

Um, we still have to get Simone settled and the house opened. Does M really think we are going to stop by their house, and then get to ours. After a 5+ hour drive? Don't think so. I told G we would stop on the way to WSITR. Knowing my brother in law, he will have the thing moved by 1 and it will be set up with dishes in it by 2!

The long awaited Easter canned post

Spending Easter in the Texas Hill Country at the SSB has proven to be a questionable issue. We have had our house there three and a half years now, and Easter has been quite interesting.

The first year, my niece and her family were here along with my daughter and her family, not to mention my brother in law and sister in law. We like to get together when everyone is here, and that seems to be Christmas and Easter. Christmas is not the problem - ever.

The plan was for us to go over to the in laws for Saturday night dinner, and Easter Sunday would be here. The men folks here were working on the front deck Saturday until early afternoon. We decided to sit down to play a board game. As we were playing, the skies began to get dark. The weather said there were storms heading our way. They got darker and darker, and finally the lightning and thunder began.

About 2 pm, the electricity went out. Being all too citified at that point, and not thinking at all, when son in law decided he really needed a shower. We said to go ahead - no problem. We are on a well. There was enough water in the tank for a shower. Then we were out. We felt quite stupid.

About 5, we headed out to the in laws. It had been raining heavily, and the roads were very muddy (they are not paved - remember). But we were confident because we have 4-wheel drive in the troop carrier. As we were going up the in laws road, we met my niece and her husband who rolled down the window as he forced us off the road and yelled "no 4 wheel drive!" They were heading back to Austin. The in laws also had no water, and their son was little bitty and sick with an ear infection .

My brother in law was having to fix the evening meal on the gas grill because our kitchens are both electric. That was the only choice. The menu was a whole filet and potatoes. The deck he was using faces directly north. The wind was from the north. E had difficulty keeping the grill lit.
The resulting meal was interesting. Some of the potatoes were burned and some were raw. The filet was rather rare, but that is fine with me.

Shortly after dinner, we decided we really better head home. It was dark, and the lights were still out. Lady Bug had never been through a power outage. She was about three at the time. She could not understand why she couldn’t watch movies and we were sitting around in the dark with candles burning. Fortunately, S’s lap top had long lasting battery and we used that for her movies.

Needless to say we went to bed early, only to be awakened at 2am when the lights came back on.

Last year, we had bad weather again. We stood at the patio door on the front of the house to watch the weather happen outside. It was blowing again with a thunder storm. As we were watching, a tornado (small one, thank you God) passed to our left heading toward the other people on the next hill.

That brings us to this year. M and E were here again. We knew there was going to be cold weather and rain. That dashed all hopes for an outside egg hunt. Mid afternoon it was 31 degrees. It began to sleet, then snow. We had an inch accumulation on the back deck. But we went over for an Easter egg hunt and dinner - again.

Getting down out steps was a trick. They were so icy. The roads were muddy, and at one point there was a huge puddle. We made it. Things went better because the electricity stayed on. That was really great.

Next year, we are staying in Swampland!

Hooray!!!

Today's visit to the oncologist was really great! I have one more visit of the really hard chemo, then we switch. My next course is a much less toxic drug, and the really good news is that I don't have to come back the next day for 4 IV bags that include fluids! I only have to take the shot that boosts my white blood cells. What good news.

As far as the canned post, I am going to try to get that one up soon. We had a pretty weird time at the SSB the last time. It's worth recording here.

Where has the time gone?

I don't really know how the time has flown. When we were at the SSB, I wrote a post for Tuesday. The problem was that for some reason, the laptop cannot access WiFi because the "radio" is disabled. It still is. I'm at a loss here. I have transferred the post to a CD and I'll get it onto Della here sometime.

This week has been full of trips to the medicos. I have been really tired. I didn't get any rest at the SSB, and this week has just compounded the fatigue.

I'll be back soon

Today was my bi monthly appointment with the oncologist. Two weeks ago, I made it for 8:30 because when it was 9:45 I didn’t get out of there until almost noon. Well . . . I didn’t get to see him until 9:30. I know there was a wreck on the freeway that brings him to that office, but . . .

It was a good appointment however. He is amazed that I am tolerating the chemo so well. He says that I am an easy patient.

The best news is that, even though there will be another round of four doses of chemo, after I complete this there will be no radiation. We will move straight to the pills. I have a good chance of beating this thing all together.

I reminded him of the Chicago trip, and he was fine with it. That’s good since it is paid for.

We are off the SSB for Easter. It looks like it will be placed in the usual family Easter there. When we were all together there three years ago, there were terrible thunder storms and flooding rains. This year it looks like freezing weather with snow/sleet.

Easter egg hunt anyone?

Have a great Easter or weekend - whichever you celebrate. I’ll be back with you on Tuesday.

Marching to a different drummer

I sometimes think I must be the one who marches to a different drummer. I really do try to keep a positive attitude, but there is always someone who comes along and bashes it all to hell.
Yesterday, I ventured out to the big box store of W*lmrt. That takes quite a bit of courage on my part. I go there knowing that someone will put a crimp into my day. But we are going to Chicago for a week at the end of the month, and I needed clothes for the trip! My last expedition for clothes was last year when we went to D*sneyland for a week. Since I do not know what this chemo will do to my body, I didn’t want to spend a fortune on clothing, even if it is Chicago!

I had completed my shopping and headed for the checkout line. I couldn’t remember how many items I bought, so I didn’t go to the 20 or less line because I hate people who do that. K called my while I was in the longer line, and I was leaning against the closed line beside me, talking to her, while I waited for the three in front of me checked out.

A little old lady about 85 was fitting around behind me, still mulling over the last minute purchases that line the checkout lanes. When I looked up, she asked me if I were in line. No, I just like loitering around at the checkout lines in that store. When I replied that I was in line, she grunted in disgust, and was obviously miffed that I was in line. I guess she thought she should be able to precede me or something.

With that, she took her 25 cartons of jello, 3 bags of hamburger patties, and who know what else, found something else in the merchandise at the lane, and put herself into the 20 or less line.
I was miffed as well as amused. Please deliver me from that kind of attitude! I try to be understanding of those 80+. I have dealt with them, am dealing with them (G’s parents), and if the Lord desires, I’ll be one.

Today, I had the experience of taking one of the cable boxes back to exchange it. I had hoped either K or S would volunteer, but no such luck.

When I got there, there was already a line. There were probably about ten people in front of me, and I almost left. But gasoline is too expensive, and that trip was one that was not to be combined with any other errand, so I was committed to staying.

So my question to myself is why would someone go to this "outlet" if they wanted new service or change their service. It can be done by the telephone. When I got there, one representative was tied up with a couple who wanted to initiate new service, but they couldn’t decide what they wanted. Another representative was tied up with someone who I thought was paying a bill, but I still don’t know what they were doing. They, too, were there for the entire 45 minutes I stood in line.

That left one open for those of us who merely needed to exchange equipment, That was until, alas, another wanted to change service. That brought the entire process to a grinding halt.

The trip that I expected to require 15 minutes tops ended up taking 50 minutes.

I guess I must be the one who is out of step!

Body image

A lot of women struggle with problems with body image. I am definitely one of them. I always have and I always will. I’m not trying to make it seem like I am blaming my parents on my problem, but they did have a great deal to do with it. They always made references to me being fat - even when I wasn't .

I decided early on that I would never do that to my children regardless of their body type. K takes after me, which means she takes after my mother. Funny, huh? Mother was on the heavy side too, but never missed a beat to point out that I was "chubby" at six.. B is my father reincarnate. He is tall and thin. But I never said anything about their body types. K has been able to manage well. B doesn’t have to worry unless it’s about putting on weight (oh how I hate that !!).

If you already have body image issues, just get breast cancer. It does wonders to add to your feelings. First you get to have a mutilating surgery. Dr Surgeon did what will hopefully be good later by leaving extra skin, but right now my right breast is a sunken area with a horrible scar down the middle. It is so horrible. I refuse to be seen by anyone but G without the prosthesis.

Now I get to add being bald to my lack of body image. I am not bald yet, but the hair is going fast. I didn’t think it would bother me, but it is. As I have said, I have been wearing a wig for over a year, but there was still something on my head. I think soon there won’t be anything. It is a blow to the old ego.

When I first began this battle, I thought I would be ready for all these changes, but as they occur I wonder if I really am. But then, as with many other things life throws your way, there is nothing to do but accept it and wait until things get better.

Wee beasties

When I got home from getting the fluids on Thursday, I had an interesting message on the answering machine from my neighbor on the east. She told me she was watching squirrels running in and out of a hole on the south side of my house and birds flying in and out of a hole on the north side. Living in Swampland is so wonderful. Apparently the saying "Mi casa es su casa" is certainly applied to wild life here!

So I remembered a television commercial I had watched. There is a company here who provides quite a number of services from killing bugs in your house to building swimming pools. One of their services is to get rid of invading wildlife. I called them, and they came out Saturday.

It seems like we are not only invaded by the above-mentioned vermin, and yes even birds if they are trying to share my house are vermin, we have "roof rats." They are clever little beasties that get into your attic to live during the night, then leave during the day to forage only to return that evening. Wonderful.

We signed a contract, and they will be here this week to seal up any and all entrance areas into our attic. They will place snap traps - glad our bedroom is downstairs so we won’t be hearing that action. They will also place live traps. The hitch here is that on the contract we are to contact them within 24 hours of finding something in the live trap. Guess what! We will be gone from Friday to Monday. I figure that to be just a tad more than 24 hours.

I wonder what that will do for our contract?