Happy New Year!

This is my 50th post!

Just wanted to wish you all a very happy, safe and healthy 2008! I know I can't wait to say goodbye to 2007. I hope that this coming year will be filled with better things!

E

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish you all a happy, healthy and safe Holiday Season.

I'm going to my parent's today.

Santa was good to me this year! I got the new Voyager phone (Verizon's version of the iPhone). It's so cool!

*blink*

Superpowers

If I had one superpower, it would be teleportation. I could just blink myself anywhere anytime, no driving, no traffic, no stupid people on the road, just *blink* and I'm there. Fiji, Paris, Ireland, *blink*.

Or if there is somewhere I don't want to be, *blink*, and I'm not there anymore! That would be wicked awesome!

Like right now, I don't want to be at work.

Thought I would just check in and say Allo. Been feeling achy for the past few days, not sure if I'm coming down with something, or what.

Some of the lab technicians are having a pot luck lunch, and one of the ladies made peroghis. I begged her for one. There is no shame in begging when it comes to food! :) Love em, so good.

Well, I should go at least pretend to do some work. Talk later.

*blink*

Who me? Sarcastic?

I had a doctor's appointment on Friday, December 7th at Dana-Farber. Funny thing, no scans were scheduled. I thought it was weird, thought about calling them to suggest they schedule a scan while I'm there, but didn't, for reasons unknown to me.

So we had to wait over an hour to see him because he was running late. When we finally get in to see him, all he does is look at me and tells me I look fine. Gee, thanks, Doc. THEN he suggests that we get another CT Scan of my lungs to check to see how the nodules are doing. COULDN'T YOU HAVE SCHEDULED THE CT SCAN ON THE SAME DAY?! Dammit, I should've called.

Now I have to go back in January to get this done. Then I have to go back in March for another follow-up. He likes to see me every 3 months. I told a friend that I wasn't having a scan done for this appointment and she asked me, "Well, what are you going to do at the doctor's office then?" I said that he's just going to look at me, tell me I look fine (which I'm not complaining about) and tell me to go home.
Which is what happened.

If you are all looking for an update, there isn't one. Not until January at least. But hey, I look fine! Grrr.

Krazy

Thom spoke some very true words to me this morning: Only you.

You will understand in a minute.

So here I am this morning, trying to Krazy Glue my headband back together. (Do you see where I'm going with this????) The damn hole was clogged so I'm using a pin to puncture it. Thought I unclogged it. I'm trying to force the glue out of the hole. Unbeknownst to me, the glue was coming out...just at the wrong end. All of I sudden I tried to move my fingers and found that 4 out of the 5 fingers on my right hand were all stuck together, including the Krazy Glue bottle. I calmly walk upstairs to the bathroom and Thom sees me.

"How's the gluing going?"

I show him my hand. He looks puzzled.

I shake my hand and the bottle doesn't go anywhere. He starts laughing at me.

Hence the comment, "Only you...this would only happen to you."

So I didn't have fingerprints for most of the day. And I still have the odor of acetone in my nostrils...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy and safe Thanksgiving!

I'm in the kitchen cooking, with my laptop! Gotta love portable computers!

I'm having my parents, my sister, my sister and brother-in law and my nephew over for Thanksgiving dinner. You know what the best thing about hosting Thanksgiving is? One word: LEFTOVERS! :)

Is she going to get mushy? Yeah, I am. I have a lot to be thankful for this year. You, my friends, are among them.

God bless you.

E

2nd dose of Zometa

Yesterday I got my second infusion of Zometa. This time they gave me a dose of some steroid, dexamethosone or something like that. That was to keep the fever at bay. So far, it's working great! No fever, or achiness, so that's super! My next infusion is scheduled for December 14th. The only side-effect from the steroid was that I had trouble sleeping. It gave me a boost of energy that lasted all day and night! It was perfect timing because I got to go out with some friends I haven't seen in more than a year and I got to stay out later than usual because I wasn't tired. That was cool! Want to say hi to Shannon, Brenda, Matt, Heather M. and S., and Crystal! There were others, but they don't read this. It was so wonderful to see you guys!! I had a great time! We NEED to do that again soon!

Colleen, it was so nice to see you! Glad you came to the soccer game and I hope to see you at more!! Can't tell you how happy I am that you are finally in a good place in your life! You go girl!

I got a comment from a friend that I haven't talked to in, man, over 6 years or something crazy like that! Becky!! I was so surprised and excited to hear from you! I will have to think about what I would like from Germany. I do collect nutcrackers...and chocolate is always a winner!

Speaking of nutcrackers, I got this catalog in the mail and on the cover was a hand-held nutcracker of Hilary Clinton!!! Oh my goodness, I laughed my ass off on that one! You put the nuts right between her legs!! How perfect is that!? Sorry to all the Democrats out there, but...not so much! Heehee

Sorry I have been quiet lately, but I was thinking, I don't mind being the boring person with cancer! LOL No news is most often good news!

I cannot complain. I'm feeling good, just tired a lot. I'm thinking of this cancer now as a chronic illness instead of terminal. I think that makes a HUGE difference in my state of mind. Not to mention having such wonderful friends like YOU! All this helps.

I want to wish you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving! Eat lots, enjoy your family and friends and remember what you are thankful for. I know I will.

Much love you all of you!

Side Effects

Interesting, almost exactly 12 hours to the minute after receiving the infusion did I feel the side effects. Laying on the couch, I started to feel achy in my hand joints and knee. Soon after, the fever started. 100.4, 100.6, now it's 102. Can't sleep. Most likely caused by the fever, made worse by the damn "Drip Drip Drip" that was happening. The ceiling was leaking because of the rain.

I lean over. "Thom? Thom?"
"Huh? What?!"
I was silent for a few seconds and then he heard it. "Drip Drip Drip"
"!@#$%&"
He gets up and puts a trash bucket under the drip.
He climbs back into bed.
"DRIP DRIP DRIP"
"!@#$%^& @#^T^@&"
He throws back the covers and walks to his dresser. I hear some shuffling and then he places a pair of socks at the bottom of the bucket.
Aaahh "drip dri dr" He's so resourceful.

Now I'm awake. Even my eyeballs hurt!

Funny how this triggered some memories of having fevers when I was a kid. The drug of choice was St. Joseph's children aspirin. Still sold today, I might add! (Ding! Shameless plug for St. Joe's aspirin! Where's my check?! LOL)

When I had fevers, my mom would dissolve 2 tablets in a tablespoon of water and waited until they started to dissolve. I still remember the texture and even the taste. It was comforting.

Other tricks she had in her arsenal (from bad to worse): stripping me naked so my teeth would chatter so hard I swear they were going to break in my head. Wet towels on my naked body (No comments about the naked part - I was just a kid - you PERVS! LOL), teeth chattering so hard now it shook my very brain. And the WORST: an ice bath. OH MY GOD! That should be listed as one of the top 50 worst tortue devices ever devised. Next to Chinese water torture DRIP DRIP DRIP!!! I say devised because it's evil! So evil, it's EEE-VEEL! Whole body went into convulsive spasms. Brrrrr. And my poor mom had to endure the screams, the crying and the pleading. The poor thing. Mothers are the strongest people I know.

I'm laughing out loud as I'm typing this. Memories, in the corner of my mind...
Memories are funny things.

Anyways, the achiness and fever are expected side effects, so this is just par for the course. This medicine will make me better, faster, stronger. They have the technology...

Heehee, another memory: The Six Million Dollar Man. Great show! Cheesy effects, but brilliant none-the-less. And six million dollars was a lot of money back then. Come to think of it, it's still a lot of money now!

Finally...A bit of good news!

I got a phone call from Dr. Silver from Dana-Farber. He finally got a chance to compare my films and I got some good news. He said that the nodules in my lungs have remained unchanged, they didn't get any bigger, nor were there more of them! That's great news because it means that the medicine is keeping things under control! He was very happy with those results, as am I. I finally have some definitive news about how I'm doing. If we can keep the status quo, that's more than fine with me!

We're going to continue with the treatment as we have been, no need to change anything. Let me tell you, I slept like a rock last night.

Keep the thoughts and prayers coming!

Zometa

Met with the doctor here in Worcester about the Zometa (Zo-may-tah). I have my first intravenous infusion appointment this Friday, the 19th, at 9am. The infusion lasts about 30 minutes. Side effects include fever and/or bone pain, or generalized achiness.

This drug is manufactured by Novartis and I got a patient starter kit. Included in this kit was lots of reading material, a water bottle, hand sanitizer with a clip I can put on my purse, and a cool bone-shaped pen! I like funky pens, so I was walking around the lab here today wearing my bone pen, telling corny jokes like, "I got a bone to pick with you" or "No bones about it, you're swell!" People just shake their heads at me. I crack myself up though. :)

I'm feeling fine, except for the kidney stone pain.

Sarah reached her goal!!! Thanks to all of you for donating!!