Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Days like these....

Oh, how I love them.  The weather is cooler, almost colder than most of our 'winter',  Ethan is on Spring Break this week, so he and I slept in til 11am-oops didn't mean to-and now I am updating here while he lays beside me on the bed watching "Happy Feet 2" on my Kindle laughing hysterically!  I love it when he laughs at something appropriately!  Like Saturday when Hailey and I took 4 boxes of glass bottles to the recycling bin and as she dropped each box into the already huge pile of glass, he squealed at the crazy, crashing loud noise it made! 

Speaking of the little bald guy-he turned 8 on Friday March 30th-and we celebrated Circus style.  Sorry, Camryn-ribs aren't usually circus food!  Hots dogs and nachos.  Cotton candy and popcorn.  Licorice and candy.  Punch balloons and elephants  wait scratch the elephants-not in the budget this year!  AND I was informed this is the last year for a 'baby' themed birthday party for him.  Try and stop me honey, just try.....
3 layer fondant cake courtesy Emily Bowers!  It was so yummy thanks!!!




when you have a peanut allergy kid-orange candy ones are the next best thing!

Ready for Disney!

Aweseome cool light-up toys I found in the $1 spot at Target!


Had to post two pics of the kids to get everyone looking forward!  Ella what are you doing to Parker?

Kristin checking out E's new bean bag!


So the party was a huge success thanks to all my family and friends who helped me decorate, set up, blow up balloons-we used the air compressor-and then stay and take it all down and clean up!  I was very grateful for the last part especially because I hadn't gotten my nap that day, and I was beat!


I had my Neulasta shot last Monday, it is the white blood cell booster shot I will get after each chemo treatment.  Not too bad, and thank goodness I didn't get hardly any of the side effects that can come with it-which are terrible bone pain in the low back, hips and thighs and sternum.  I took my prescribed regimen of Claritin and Ibuprofen and I think it really helped.  I had a couple days of twinging, heat-like pain in my right hip and leg, and some burning in my chest.  But because my heartburn is so bad, I'm not sure which pain was related to which treatment. 

Now for the fabulous news...........

My blood counts were amazing!  When Jennifer-my NP-came into the room she jokingly asked if I had even received any chemo the week before!  My white count was 8.9-yes higher than the day of treatment when it was 6!  My neutrophils were 3.5-higher than my treatment day of 2.8 also!  Like a good RN friend posted-I had Ninja cells!  Woo-hoo!  I had one crappy day where I slept pretty much all day-it was the day before Ethan's party, and I was kind of nervous I wouldn't make it through his party.  But I slept so good that night and made sure I slept in a little bit the next morning, I think it made all the difference. 
My hair is not coming out yet.  I have a little in the drain when I shower, and it feels a little thinner than normal-but no clumps! 
I half jokingly said to Brian last night that I hope Robert Courtney wasn't the Pharmacist mixing up my chemo drugs or I'm in trouble. 
*all joking aside, for those of you who don't know who that d-bag is, he was a KC Pharm who diluted chemo meds for patients in the name of making more money-and I firmly believe he will rot in hell for what he did to those people and their families. 
But it does make me kind of nervous that I 'm not getting any of the 'normal' side effects.  Not that I WANT any of them.  But what if it's not working? What if the dose IS wrong?  Ugh, I could make myself crazy thinking about it-so I just don't.  But back to Rawley's Law-if it can go wrong......

Anyhoo-big news on the horizon-I get to go back to work!!  Not my full hours, but 24 a week for now!  I am going to plan on working Monday and Friday nights!  I am hoping to start next week, so we will see how that works out.  I miss my work, and my co-workers!  And they keep telling me that the only way to beat fatigue is to stay busy, so here goes!!!  As long as my counts stay up I will be ok, but if they should drop, we will have to re-evaluate.  I am thankful to have such an awesome department willing to work with me! 

Brian is looking forward to maybe getting out of his sling the end of next week!  His PT says he is improving on his range of motion by about 14% after each weekly session.  If his sling comes off next week, they will start working on strength training until mid-May.  Then he could possibly go back to full duty (and off-duty) then!  We will need it, cause even though I can go back, this week will be the last paycheck I get.  All my donated PTO will be gone, and the only hours I will have on each check will be those I work.  We'll make it-we always do.  On a wing and a prayer and a lot of help from our friends and family!  Speaking of family, my Aunt Mici is coming in town tomorrow to stay for a week with us!  It will be so good to have her here!  I can't wait!  So she and my Mom are going with me to Chemo this week, hope they have room for us again!  I have to be there at 8:15am-seriously?  Don't they know I'm a night owl???  Oh well, I will just take my Ativan and take a little nap, by the time I'm done it will be lunch time!  And maybe time for a little trip to Good Ju Ju's new store and Bella Patina ......

One more thing-my kids made me the most wonderful gift-a Quillow!  It's a quilt that folds up into a pillow for me to take to my chemo treatments and they made it all themselves!  Teresa-my Dad's wife-her parents were in town a week ago, and Janet-her Mother- is an amazing seamstress.  Well, she helped them do it, but said Parker was fabulous with the sewing machine; sewing and talking and pulling pins all at the same time!  Better than Hailey!  Janet volunteers with incarcerated women in Iowa-just one of the MANY places they volunteer- and they make these Quillows for the women at Hope Lodge, a place much the Ronald McDonald houses who provide a place for cancer patients to stay while receiving treatment.  I am making the lodge one of my pink ribbon wreaths in exchange for her making me some head scarfs! 







Don't my kids do great work?? I think I've fostered Parker's creative skills quite well?!!?!!?
 



















3 comments:

  1. Awesome party! And I bet that chemo is doing it's job.... it just knows who it's dealing with ;) Keep up the high counts and hopefully the hair! You rock!!!

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  2. Remember.....You ARE awesome!

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