Last one on tap

It is safe to assume, if I don’t post, I’m not feeling well.
The posts get farther between, because it is taking longer to recoup.

The last treatment on July 2nd not only put a big damper on 4th of July celebration, (mom took Sarah to see fireworks which she truly enjoyed – THANKS MOM!) but left me weaker then I’d ever been. My blood counts dropped like they have been only much faster, sooner & farther down. Pretty much as far as you can go, white blood down to Zero. My blood pressure dropped drastically. The doctor apparently didn’t want to worry me at the time, but when it came back up after a regimen of daily shots he expressed his relief and said how dangerously low it was getting. I could tell it wasn’t right. I couldn’t sit upright for 60 seconds with out the black outs starting with a fish bowl feel then a tunnel vision. Standing was a joke. I’d have to get up, get to the stairs and stop at the top & lay down. Go down the stairs & lay down on the couch at the bottom.

Heading into the next, the 6th, the (hopefully) last chemo treatment this Wednesday, not only is my stomach churning, and I’m having “total recall, memory tastes” (one can actually taste the injections. They are not pleasant and pretty much stick with me for the 3 weeks) I’m scared as well. Pains started coming back. Not pains from treatment side effects, but the same old pains in chest & in the arm where the lymph nodes were removed. I can’t help but wonder if this is all even working… I do try to remember to tell myself it is, but you just can’t help but wonder and be scared. I’m not scared for me. I’m scared for my family.

I’ve not gone to church for weeks (which doesn’t help me feel any better) either being way too tired which hits any moment and fast, or my counts are too low and I fear of catching something from the child that usually is behind us coughing. I defiantly get the guilts from not being there.

I’m feeling very anxious to get the show on the road for the other steps I need to take. I need to get “tumor markers”, I need to get radiation started quickly… I need to get ovaries out, but before I do that, I need to find a new doctor. I just don’t have the faith in my long time ob/gyn. There isn’t much time. Generally, by the time you s tart feeling a little better is when you have to get these other things rolling…

THANK YOU EVERYBODY that's hanging in there with me!!!

Sarah's summer sucks a little less

Thanks again to mom,

Sarah’s summer had a little boost from the normal sitting around in the house doing nothing…. She had horse lessons. Not only did she get to ride, but learned everything you need to do before you get on. Getting them out of the stall, cleaning brushing before and after, how to put on the saddle… way cool. And I think she really enjoyed it. What little girl doesn’t like horses?

Sammy update

After a few trips to the vet (thanks for taking him mom), blood tests, x-rays, and a special diet with a feeding schedule, Sammy is better. We got him through some kind of pancreatitis shock thing, now we have to keep him on a special diet. Sarah and I brought a mattress down to camped out in the front room with him. He was so weak, he could barely walk. Getting upstairs was completely out of the question. We had to bring him his food & water & help him get up to get him outside to pee. He had lots of pills. So did I! I was having one hell of a time trying to keep them straight! I had pills 8 times a day, he had 5 times a day… I was worried I’d take one of his by accident or give him one of mine! Poor guy, one night he just laid there and moaned all night in pain. Finally after near a week, he pooped & we were all hootin’ and hollerin’ & clapping for him. He had a look in his eyes like he thought we were complete idiots, but waged his tail in recognition anyway.

Fear of the Unknown...

Heading into my 5th chemotherapy (tomorrow morning) and my feelings are racing in all different directions. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I have to get that mid picc line again and I know it’s going to hurt, or because just when you start feeling a little better, here comes more poison treatments.

Maybe it’s because of the dream I had 3 months ago that still haunts me. Where I walk into the house as if I just got home from work, but I notice the house is quiet and empty. Sammy (our dog) doesn’t rush to me to greet me like he usually does tail wagging furiously with smiles waiting for a doggie treat… Sarah doesn't come running saying "HI MOM! Guess what happened today?!". Bobby doesn't come down the stairs saying "hey, ma, what's for dinner?"... I’m defiantly alone in the house. I look around and notice all that is in the house is a couple pieces of large furniture. The kitchen table, one couch, the TV upstairs… the tv in the bedroom… everything else is gone. No paperwork, no books, games or videos on the shelves… I think at first, Oh my gosh! We were robbed! But wait. They really cleaned out the place, pile of bills and all, and left the big tv?…. Then it hit me. I was dead. I was a ghost. I didn’t know for how long. And apparently my husband and daughter had to move for what ever reason. Where are they? Did I tell them I loved them? Can I still? What do I do now? And I woke up in a pile of sweat and tears.

Or maybe it was what happened a couple nights ago. I got up, one of the many times I do, in the middle of the night (as I have been for weeks) and went to the bathroom. I passed the mirror, as I always do when I make my way to the toilet, but something caught my eye and I backed up back to the mirror to do a double take. I HAD MY OWN HAIR! It was long as it has always been! I just stood there in shock and disbelief thinking, THANK GOD! Thank you God! It really WAS all just a horrible horrific nightmare! I just sat and stared at myself a while. Tthen I woke up again. I reached for my head. I felt skin instead of hair. I was confused for a moment as to which reality was really real. I was hoping I’d ‘wake up again’, but when I didn’t, I realized, the nightmare is what is actually real reality. Disappointment doesn’t describe it.

Maybe it’s because after this I head into a different world of reality which is unknown to me, of surgery and radiation every day. Maybe it’s because I happened to catch an episode of Desperate Housewives which I haven’t seen in a really long time, and one character is battling cancer. She only gets a few days where she feels ok before all her chemo starts again. (will I have to go through chemo again? Probably.) Her wig slips off, and totally turns her husband off…. I haven’t seen the show for a really long time and don’t know what kind of cancer she has or what her treatments actually are, but it sounded to me like it was a life long chemo treatments. Hmmmmm. Life long. Just HOW long is “life long”?

Maybe it’s because, this is a beautiful summer and so far, I’ve missed it all. My daughter is missing most of it because I usually did something with her every week and now I can’t. I’ve missed outdoor birthday parties and important graduation parties because I can’t be in the sun, I can’t get “warm” because I could start bleeding somewhere from even thinner blood. I can’t be around anyone that just might get sick in the next couple days, because catching anything right now, would be deadly for me. Glad I didn’t have tomatoes for those couple weeks! It was a God send that I didn’t have any on hand, because I usually do! I don’t think I’m supposed to use mosquito spray, because that’s more chemicals, yet, I can’t let my affected lymph node arm get a mosquito bite…

Maybe it’s because I read the blog of a young woman’s battle with cancer. So so young, just married and hopes of children. Her entire marriage she battled cancer. But at the end of her blog are her husband’s words. She passed. He still writes of her and her accomplishments and how much he loves her. Months later it’s hard for him to write because it still stings so. I should be thankful I have a great husband of 15 years (which I was totally down for our anniversary) and we have the most beautiful, compassionate loving child…. But instead I pitty myself because I don’t want to lose what I have. And I spend so much time worrying & feeling sick, that I’m allowing myself to miss the now.

Then I have thoughts of, was there cancer they saw on the scans but didn’t want to tell me about? Hoping that “positive attitude” & chemo might take care of them like their placebo studies? Was there some they missed? Every day I have strange physical feelings & pains and wonder, is it normal? Is the chemo killing me? Is the cancer growing? Going away? Staying the same? Will those odd pains go away? Will they always be there? When I have my ovaries out, will the hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, insomnia, go away? Or are those things here to stay? Will the radiation cause an entire host of other problems I’m unaware of? Will we be able to afford treatments in a couple months? In a couple years? If we can't....

Throughout this entire experience with chemotherapy, no two treatments went the same. Each time, something different went wrong, or my body reacted different. 3rd chemo, I actually got near a whole week where I had some energy. Not a lot, but more then I’ve had. This last time I was really looking forward to having at least a week where I felt better and hoped to spend time with Sarah. But it didn’t work that way. I had absolutely no energy. I could force myself to sit up and watch a movie one day, or sit outside (in the shade) for an hour, or start to do dishes (couldn’t finish them) but that would tire me out for the rest of the day.

As I move toward more unknowns, which kind of doctors do I need next? Where do I find them? What will my test results & new scans show? When can I go back to work? I’m becoming more and more frightened. I’m a control freak. And a control freak needs those answers ahead of time. I have no answers. Therefore, I’m totally out of control.

I hope I’m not getting bitter. These are just things that float through my head, and sometimes they come in and out so fast, I really feel like I’m going insane

Yes, yes, I know. Sit, relax. Meditate or do yoga…. It’s really really hard to do that with a daughter & husband home all day and feeling crappy. Although, they just went out now…. And look what I’m sitting here doing.
Perhaps I should put the rest of this time to better use.
Thanks for listening.

Oh hell... (( 8:00 pm ))

Now our faithful, sweet, handsome fella, Sammy is sick. Pretty dang sick. He wouldn’t eat even hamburger, or play with a rock.

He’s become somewhat lethargic, tail way way down, moving super slow when I can get him up, throwing up all over… some runs… drooling like no tomorrow, like shoe strings hanging from his mouth. And he’s not a drooler.

Mom was great, she acted fast & came to take him to the vet right away. Sarah went with so she could comfort hem. They came back with 2 bottles of pills. 2 pills twice a day of one, and the other 3 time a day. Plus pepto bismal 4 times a day. Vet gave him a shot for his fever & antibiotic, said water in small doses but more often. He was drooling, I gave him 5 laps of water. Was about to try to get the first pill down 15 minutes later and Sam barfed more then he drank.
Vet said too early to tell, (he is bloated) could be anything from kidney stone to.... cancer.

Sarah asked me…. “mommy? Is HE gonna die?”

Vet wants to see him back tomorrow. Not Thursday. Tomorrow (when I get my "gone all day" treatment.)

Poor guy can’t tell us what’s wrong. But you can tell, what ever this is, it is hitting him really hard.

This little angel could use some prayers too.