I'm Ready!

I got the blood test done at my local lab this morning so I'm good to go for my first treatment. 

I washed some cherries this morning to pack for a snack, but I keep eating them so I hope I have enough left.  I will also take some grapes, tangerines, chips, a salad, a sandwich, and a few protein bars.  I may add some items to the list, since I usually eat a good breakfast and lunch, but nibble all the time until late afternoon.   I can count on Jeannie to help me out.  

Maybe this is how someone with anemia can gain weight as I am doing, although there is probably something else at work besides what I'm eating.  I've gained 6# in about 3 months, and could really stand to gain a few more.  I sure hope I can hold on to it.

It's a bright sunny day but we will have to wait until mid-Feb. to see more rain.   Too bad we can't order rain on alternate days and space it out.   February and possibly March are our last hopes for rain until next year.  I like the rain because nobody visits the "dog park" across the street.  The dog owners don't even try to put on a good front - they sit and talk and let their dogs run wild, barking at everything and everyone who goes by.  Ten or 15 little dogs barking at once is not a good thing for the folks who have to live nearby.  I understand that small dogs bark a lot, but no one ever makes an attempt to stop it when it gets really bad.

Enjoy your day, as I'm snacking my way through my day!

I'm still here

I thought I'd just write a short post to let you know I'm alive and kicking!  Not much is happening - I took my car to get the oil changed yesterday morning.  I had made an appointment for 10 AM, but it wasn't until nearly Noon that I was driving out of the shop.  Boring!  I finished the regular Sunday crossword while I was waiting, as well as about half of the NY Times Sunday puzzle.

I also shopped at Costco and tried to pick up food and snacks that would be easy to pack and take with me to my appointment on Friday.   I'm still looking forward to beginning the treatment, although I had a "down" day this past Saturday.  I guess it's normal, especially when I'm alone all day and evening.  I drove to Jeannie's yesterday afternoon after getting the oil change and Costco taken care of - it was nice spending the afternoon with their family.  Autumn was working on a report she has to give her class on Wednesday, and I'm amazed at how professional it is going to be - much advanced for a 5th grader.  I doubt I would have had the patience to do it at that age.

As always, beware when I say I'm going to write a short post!  I can't help myself when I start writing.

Moving right along

The medical people are certainly not wasting any time - they have set up my schedule for 4 wks of IV infusions, and I will need to go for blood and lab work 1-2 days before each infusion.  I'm very anxious to get started.

Several commenters mentioned the infusion process who sounded like they have pretty much knowledge about it.  I'd like to ask that anyone who works in this field, who has been through this type of treatment or have a loved one or friend who has undergone the treatment, to share info you have on what I might expect.  I fully realize that everyone is different and their reactions can be different.  I've had experience taking my ex-husband for some of his chemo treatments and can picture what that was like, but it was done in a section of the oncologist's office; I'm sure this will be a lot different.

I am eager to begin the treatments (and successfully reach the end of them).  I feel very hopeful and happy right now, and am so glad something positive is finally going to be done.  All the waiting to see an oncologist, the jerking around by the medical system for months, and then the interminable waiting for test results, is coming to the point right now, and I'm ready! 

I am being very lazy today - slept in until about 9am!    I would love to get my internal clock adjusted so that I get up earlier and get sleepy earlier - the morning is so much better for me in every way than the evening.   I usually wake up around 5am and get up to take the thyroid pill, but since I'm not supposed to eat or drink anything after for at least an hour after taking it, I just go back to bed for a while.  This morning was no exception and I was shocked to see that it was 9am when I finally got out of bed. 

I had a visitor last night; it made a lot of noise getting into the crawl space but soon quieted down.  It was making a strange noise, similar to the chirp of a cricket but at a much deeper tone, and lasting longer.  I have no idea what it is.  My son is going to fix it so that the opening is closed off, as well as make sure all the other skirting panels are secure.  I just hope every living thing gets the heck out before we close it up tight.

That's it for today.  I'm still debating about walking around the park but it's just a little cool to enjoy the walk.  There is usually enough of a breeze to make it very uncomfortable for me.  My thyroid condition makes me cold most of the time, even indoors, and even a slightly chilly breeze does me in! 

Thanks again for all the supportive comments you've written.  I cherish them, and it reinforces my attitude and hope I can get through this ordeal.

More unwanted visitors

I just heard something knocking things over to get into the crawl space.  It isn't the same large animal which I think was a raccoon, but something that makes a really weird noise - sort of like a cricket but a different sound and tone.     Stomping on the floor didn't seem to phase him.  Steve said he will come over and take care of closing that opening as well as tightening up the skirting around the entire house so pests can't get in.

My daughter in law was  bringing the baby, Quinn,  to visit  me this morning, and my son Steve came with her.  I was so grateful to him as I had to request some old medical records from when I lived in Virginia in the early 1990's.  I wrote a letter and filled out a form that I printed from their website.  Steve found their medical records dept. number and got a fax number they said I should use so as to get quicker service.  Then he took me to the UPS store to fax the papers out.  I hope to see a quick turnaround as I need the records prior to my upcoming IV treatments.  I haven't received a start date as yet, but hope it is soon.

I felt really good this morning, but after Steve & family left I was overcome by tiredness and took a fairly good nap on the couch!  It's been raining off and on today, and I'm gad I got my laundry done yesterday as I have to take it across the street to use the dryers.  The rain has been quite heavy at times and I'm sure glad I didn't have to drive in it.

I can remember the days when I was so good at paperwork and getting things accomplished - now I need one of my kids to help me along.  It's almost sad to think of a once-strong and capable man or woman, and how they often need help for simple things when they get older.  I guess life is mostly fair though, as I remember taking care of things for the kids, offering advice and helping them along.  Now the tables have definitely turned and it's "payback time".   Life is good if you can see things in a new and different light. 

I want to thank everyone who commented on my post yesterday, and offered me hope and comfort.  I hope each one of you realize how much love and joy I feel for all of the readers, and the way my heart seemed to lighten each time I read a new encouraging comment.  Thanks so very much.

Diagnosis

Rather than try to put it into words myself, I will copy a msg sent by my daughter to her brothers this afternoon.  I think it is all self-explanatory but I don't understand much of it anyway.  I'm surprisingly less worried than I have been the past few weeks wondering what tests would show, what is wrong with me, etc.  I'm in a great mood and intend to stay that way, although sitting for a 6 hr IV doesn't sound like much fun.  I'd better take lots of reading material with me.

"Just got back from mom’s Dr appt to go over her biopsy results. The results confirmed she does have a low grade lymphoma (called Waldenstum Macroglobinemia). They will start treatment in about two weeks. They treat with an antibody (not chemotherapy) called Retuximab. She will go once a week for 4 weeks (treatment is IV and each one lasts about 6 hours). Then they will follow up and re-do labs March 27.   They should be calling soon (once today’s lab work is processed and the doctor confirms everything is ok to proceed) to schedule her first treatment. It should help her anemia and fatigue. She may see an improvement right away, but it may also take a while for full effect (around 4 months after treatment and peaking after 17 months). "

I'm really not interested in prayers, but any positive thoughts sent my way are appreciated. 
 When I think of how much worse some folks have it, I am not going to complain about anything.

All Quiet Last Night

I was pleased to not have the noise and activity under my house last night.  I don't know if the raccoon got tired of it, or whether the spice barrier across his opening to the crawl space is to be credited.  I found out today that ants do not tolerate cinnamon and will not cross a barrier of this spice.  I had mixed it with black pepper so maybe it worked on the raccoon or whatever animal was making all the noise.  I will spread a bit more just to make sure, and will add cayenne to the powder the next time.  

I went to the gym with Jeannie today and walked on the treadmill plus did a fair workout.  After pounding pavement around my home park the past 3 days it felt weird to be on the treadmill, and to tell the truth I can't say which I prefer.   It just feels good to be moving and to get a bit of exercise.  I followed it up with 7 min. on the hydromassage bed, although when the jets of water reached my hipbone where the biopsy was done I sure could feel it.  I haven't noticed it hurting lately but the pressure of the jets were evidently too strong.

The biopsy results are finally in and I will visit the dr. to discuss them this coming Tuesday. 

We followed up our gym visit with a trip to Target.  I'm sorry but the past few times I've been to Target I've been disappointed in not being able to find what I wanted, and if I found it, it was very overpriced.    It was so nice getting out today, and I felt exhilarated after working out at the gym. 

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Nightly noises continue!

The "Thing" came back last night at 8:15 and the noise and banging around was as bad as ever.  I got Steve on the phone and we talked about what I might do.   He told me to stomp on the floor and the reaction was immediate!  Wow!  The "Thing" started hissing, and kept doing it, especially when I would stomp again.  It is definitely not a cat, or a rat, or anything very small.  Steve thinks it could be a raccoon.  I just don't know what to do as this thing isn't going away, and  I can't figure out what he is doing to make the kind of loud noises I'm hearing.  I will admit I was frightened, but as usual, it quieted down and I didn't hear much after that.  Now I wonder why I don't hear him leaving in the morning.  I am a light enough sleeper I am sure I'd wake up through that kind of racket.

I can't close up the opening he's coming through as it is where the utilities come from under the house to the meter outside.   I forgot to check some of the other houses on my walk this morning to see what others do about this situation, but as the pipes & utilities come out towards the rear of the house I probably couldn't see them anyway.

I walked another mile this morning around the neighborhood.  I could hear my Mom's voice in my head  scolding me for going out before my hair had completely dried, and without a hat in this chilly weather.   "You will catch pneumonia!".   I'm 77 years old and my Mom is still telling me what to do!

Nothing else has been happening.  I think I mentioned in a response to a previous comment, that my test results hadn't been processed by Tuesday, so I'm now rescheduled to get them this coming Tuesday. 

I wanted to mention that I found some Vick's Vapo Rub in my medicine cabinet that I used for my leg muscles yesterday.  I didn't have an ache or a pain after that.  I'll see how I do today, but I don't have any discomfort so far.

I wish someone could tell me how it could be Thursday already - it sees this week  just began yesterday. 

I walked today -

But I didn't enjoy it as much as when I go to the gym.  My legs are really achy, probably from walking on the pavement.  I guess I did about a mile, and hope I can continue it every day, gradually increasing the walk to 2 miles.

My son Steve came by this morning to do a couple of things for me.  I have been hearing loud noises from something getting under the house in the evenings.  I don't know what it is, but it really makes a lot of noise and banging around - I wouldn't think a rat would be that noisy.  When Steve looked into the area with a flashlight he didn't see any tracks, so I don't know what gives.  He put something in the crawl space that I hope keeps  whatever it is from coming back.

He also did a few other small jobs for me before having to leave for work, and as always, I enjoy his visits.   We can even talk politics as we are both close in our ideology, but of course he has the perspective of being much younger whereas my viewpoint is from the standpoint of one who has seen things changing over the past 75+ years.

I just got out of my chair for a moment and wish I had something on hand such as Absorbine Jr. for aching muscles and joints.  I haven't seen that stuff around for a long time, and wonder if they still sell it.

I hope the weather isn't causing any readers too much grief.  It certainly is crazy this year.

I got out of the house yesterday!

Jeannie & Autumn picked me up and we spent a few hours shopping at Costco and then Bel Air grocery.  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed being out among people - I was so wired I could hardly get to sleep last night.  The good feeling is carried over to this morning as well.  You know your life has changed beyond recognition when you can get such a charge out of going to Costco and the grocery store!

I need to make some hard decisions about getting out of the house most days.  I should walk, but walking in this neighborhood is depressing to me for some reason, and if I go out the front gates I will have to cross Sunrise Blvd., which means an interminable wait to get the walk light.  And then wondering if cars making right hand turns will hit you even though you have a walk light.  I just can't understand why people sitting in nice comfortable vehicles get so antsy if they have to wait a few seconds to turn right on red, or let a pedestrian have his or her right of way.   If I'm the one making the right hand turn and allowing a pedestrian to cross, the cars in back of me start honking their horns.  Where in the world is the fire, that every second sitting still is causing agony among most drivers.  End of rant!

I feel so good today and hope I get some decent news when I visit the doctor tomorrow for a follow up from last week's procedure.  One way or another, I am not letting it worry me although it still sits right in the front of my mind.

One of my sons was in Hawaii on business last week but fortunately was back home before the big scare.  I doubt we will ever know the true story of that event.

Several times a year I find myself wanting to get a dog so badly that it's all I can think of.  The yearning for a 4-legged companion (a male black labrador retriever) eventually goes away but will pop up again - that's for sure.  I can barely take care of myself much less a dog, but I still want one.  And only a male black lab will do!

I finally got dressed and here it is lunch time already!  As always, I'm hungry.

Hope you all enjoy the week ahead.

I'm still in a cloud!

I haven't been myself the past week, partly because of the medical procedure that was done on Tuesday.   But I thought I might be doing better.

I got showered and dressed this morning, and then went to put my cellphone into the pocket of my sweat pants.  I was having trouble finding the pocket when I realized I had put the pants on backwards.

That told me I'm not ready to be blogging yet, so if you don't hear from me in the next couple of days, I'm ok, just still in a fog!

Today is going to be a do-nothing day!

I had the medical procedure done yesterday.  I had been dreading it but as it turned out, my wonderful doctor kept it pretty much pain free.  Today I am suffering aches and pains but am determined to not take anything (such as an Advil) for it.   I am sleeping off and on, and just taking it easy.  Maybe I can write a decent blog tomorrow.
 

Busy Morning and a Shock!

I got my B-12 shot this morning and sure hope it gives me a boost in energy.  I didn't notice it so much last month, but I feel pretty good right now.  After the shot, I made my way to my chiropractor appointment.  I needed to get gas and decided to stop at Safeway before heading on to my appointment.  I was surprised to see the price of gas was $2.73/gallon, and pumped a full tank.  When I hung up the hose on the pump and got my receipt I couldn't believe my eyes - the price went up to  $2.83/gal.  I have never seen it go up that much at one time  - usually they spread the increase out a few cents at a time!  It was a shock, but I'm glad I got there in time to get the lower price.

I had a good visit with the chiro, and also had a progress check this morning.   I had to step on some kind of device which measures how balanced you are standing.  I was nearly perfect!

The rain has been falling heavily all morning.  I have a couple of umbrellas in the car but didn't bother to use one at any of my stops - just dodged the raindrops as well as I could.   I will never complain about rain as I know we will have drought conditions sooner or later.  I'm going to have to heavily treat my yard for all the grass & weeds that are growing however, before the springtime property check.   

I'm hungry for lunch already, so I'll just wish you all a great day.

A Great Weekend

I spent yesterday with Jeannie, Donald and the girls, first at a local craft brewery.  They have a large room where you can bring kids and/or pets if you like, and there are plenty of different kinds of games to keep the kids happy.

We then went to a restaurant called Macaroni Grill - I don't know if it's just a local business or part of a national chain, but the food and service was wonderful!

This afternoon I met my brother Steve and his wife Nancy at Denny's for a chat over pecan pie & whipped cream!  They were in town to visit some friends here and I was delighted they could spent some time with me.

Other than that it has been a really grey day, but a good one nevertheless.  I went to the gym this morning after an absence of nearly two weeks, and ran into my daughter-in-law Sarah.  Life is so much better when other people are in it with you.  I was getting pretty lonely last week sitting home by myself.   I really need to get back to walking every day as my knees are starting to ache when I stand up or sit down.   I've always had "good knees" and the thought of them aching is not one I want to think of.

Tomorrow I get another B-12 shot.  I was disappointed last month and I don't think I got the same effect as I did the month before.   Maybe I still haven't gotten to the actual cause of my fatigue.  I'm not ready to give up yet, but getting a bit closer to throwing in the towel.

I wish you all a good week ahead.  Stay warm!

Another Day Spent at Home

I had thought I'd go out for a while this morning but changed my mind and ended up staying in all day.  I'm not feeling very energetic which could possibly be because I'm not doing much of anything (except eating!).

I look around at my house and yard and realize I'm going to have to put some money into fixing a couple of things this spring, and of course I need to have some money to spend on my trip to NY.  So I will just stay in as much as possible.

Nothing has really happened today to give me anything to write about, so I'll stop here.  Have a good weekend coming up!

2018 is here!

I'm going to have a good attitude towards this year, as my horoscope tells me this could be the best year that a Scorpio could possibly have.   Of course, I have to account for my rising Gemini sign that isn't quite as optimistic, but I'll just take the Scorpio.  I'm half way joking here folks - I sometimes read my horoscope which usually doesn't have anything at all to do with my current situation.  I think it can be fun as long as you don't try to plan your life by it.   And I won't apologize for having a little fun wherever I can find it at my age!  So now, Scorpio, bring on all the good times and good luck!

I had fun yesterday afternoon and evening.  My daughter and her husband were moving some of Ara's belongings to a storage unit and I had Autumn and Arianna here with me.  They can really keep me laughing.

Today I'm back to more mundane chores, such as laundry.  I have been really tired the past few days and I can't figure out why.  I have another week to go before my next B-12 shot.  I guess it helps but it certainly doesn't have me clicking my heels or dancing! 

I love comparing the temperatures around the country - Wisconsin, where my brother lives is the coldest, about 12 degrees colder than NY where my son lives.   Wasilla, AK is a balmy 39 degrees, while I am shivering at 58 degrees.  It's all relative, and I'm happy being at 58 for now.

I did get a glance at the beautiful moon last night - nearly missed it because it was more over my house than where I normally find it.  I inched as close to the window as I could and looked straight up. 

I hope you are all dealing with the cold or whatever weather you're having,  and the best to come for the year ahead.