Chemo Day 12

Lots happening last week, but all was uphill from the previous week… thank goodness. I’m still looking but haven’t found my missing diamond earring (I know it's gotta be here somewhere), and my Zoie does not see much anymore, which is really hard, but she/we are adjusting. I found my missing (sticky note) information (in the hamper stuck to my jammies… lol), and I’m back on schedule with the next phase of this journey… the dates had to change, apologies were made, and I accepted.

Moving on… gotta have Faith!

So, I had to get my labwork done a day early to make sure I was good to go for my 2nd COVID vaccine scheduled for Friday. Friday morning my oncologist messaged me that I could proceed... yay! But like most people, I was a bit apprehensive on how my body would react… I’ve heard anywhere from ‘oh no problem’ to ‘fever, chills, nausea, headache, and so on’. Hoping for ‘oh no problem’, but ready for whatever. So on Saturday, I'm just doing Saturday stuff, and suddently I just felt sooo tired… which was not normal to feel that tired that early in the day... it wasn't even noon! So I did what I needed to do… I slept. Woke up a couple hours later and felt fine. Sunday… ditto! Tiredness/fatigue is one of the side effects, and the only side effect that affected me! So, yay again! I’m very relieved to have only had ‘that’ as my side effect… that’s the easy one!

I definitely have not lost my appetite, which is a good thing (they say) during chemo… oh and I definitely love food. My taste buds may be off a bit, but not enough to keep me from enjoying my favorites. And I may not be able to eat huge amounts at one setting like I used to, but that just means I can enjoy it that many more times! This veggie & meat lasagna was hand delivered the other night by the chef, and was sooo amazingly delicious, it could seriously win an award or two... or five… thank you, and love you L! <3

Oh and my neighbor N was out walking the other morning and dropped of this delicious moist, yummy banana bread, made from a recipe from our other neighbor QW… thank you both! It ‘was’ delicious!

Oh and then there was this delivery made by my co-worker… thank you T! A basket full of treats from the amazing staff at Sundown! Wow… thank you all for the heartfelt, beautiful card and all of the wonderful gifts... this basket is full of amazing scents... and thank you DM for the sweet card and gift... we go back a long way! The cover photo was one of the items in this basket and it was such a perfect reminder for me this week ~ Faith!

Not pictured, the salad, sweets or the other 6 meals! lol

Our Friday Night Greek Night has grown into our own little Greek mini food festival. Not sure if you’re aware of this, but this food still tastes great for a few days... so why not order an extra meal or three, or four... lol. It’s for a good cause! Anyway besides the amazing Greek salad, avgolemono, appetizer plate, gyro, pasticcio, lamb, chicken, spanakopita, and the amazing sweets... they often introduce new items. This last week was the Greek Pasta with grilled skewered shrimp! Delicious!!

The staff and volunteers are amazing... the kids rock the deliveries to the cars, and I miss them all so much… I was a volunteer until my chemo started. If you’re local and interested check it out at avgreekfest.com

B, K & A... you are all awesome ~ thank you sooo much for what you do for the Greek church AND us! <3

Today's appointment...

Pretty much the same as previous appts ~ and here's how it goes...

...after I’m escorted in by either Hector or Stephanie (both are awesome) they take my weight, then I wash my hands and go to my room (it’s really not a 'room' but, a curtained off section, so not sure what to call it) and vitals are taken. Then my nurse comes and the 20 (or so) questions are answered, and if I answer right, the chemo (Taxol) is ordered. Since chemo doesn’t have a shelf life it’s ordered only when the patient has been approved to continue with the infusion. Once it’s ordered I’m hooked up via my port with a normal saline drip while the Taxol is being prepared and as soon as it is ready, it's then connected to my port and my hour starts. I have my water, a snack, my special trinkets, have already kick off my shoes, accepted the (amazing) warm blanket, reclined my chair back as far as it'll go and then I just relax. I either read, jump on my ipad, or watch TV… the latter has been more popular lately as I’m pretty tired and it tends to help me fall asleep. Today I slept most of my hour… obviously it was what I needed.

And yes, I’m debuting my newest slouchy beanie today, made by my knitting machine mom! Thank you so much for the beautiful, sparkly, soft and oh so very comfy slouchy!

A quick little note for those that subscribe to email notifications:

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to send out a notification email next week. If you don’t get one please know that I tried, but due to a possible limitation with the website it may not happen. As of right now I plan on posting something next Monday.

Next appointment… March 29