Cancer Hit The Curb Today

What a beautiful day God gave me today!  I was really expecting to have a lousy day going on past experience with the Neulasta injection I get the day after chemo.  The injection is for boosting my white blood cell count.  The only draw back is the side effects are lots of bone pain.  On Wednesday, the day I got chemo the nurse said, "don't forget to take your Claritin (yes, that is what I said, the over the counter allergy medicine), one hour before you come in on Thursday to get your Neulasta injection."  Well, Dr. G also told me to get the Claritin when I saw him.  I am always such a "Doubting Thomas," but thought, what the heck I am going to stop second guessing my doctor and nurses, they are always right.  So I did just what they said and took the pill yesterday.  I am to take it for two more days.

I woke up this morning and took those 5 awful Prednisone pills, yuck!  Ate my breakfast and said, I am going outside to pull weeds and clip around my perennials.  God gave us a beautiful rain last night, so the weeds were easier to pull up than usual.  Bill was busy with a workman.  We had to get a new hot water heater, so it was best I was not around anyway.  Bill kept me supplied with lots of water and even threw me a package of peanut butter crackers for energy!  I did do what I am supposed to do though; wore a hat, glasses, mask and two pairs of gloves, long sleeves, long pants and even my back brace!  I worked outside for several hours, with a few breaks on the porch.  I was having such a good time, my Mama and Grandma would be proud of me.  I love my flowers out in the yard.  I am amazed every year how they reward me with such beauty.  The peonies are coming up, love them!  The last thing I did before coming in the house was clean the bird bath.  Here is the proof, okay so this is not the best picture, but hey, I worked in the yard today!!

If any other cancer survivors are reading this blog and they take Neulasta, try the Claritin, it may just work for you as well.  I'm not saying that tomorrow might not be as good a day as today was, chemo has a way of systematically creeping up on you.  But, for today, I gladly accept each good day God decides to give me with all the Grace I can muster up.  So how about it Cancer, stay on that curb a little while longer!  Love to all of you that support me with your prayers!

aller faire du shopping

After a rough night with nausea, the morning brought me sunshine and I felt great!  The cancer center had already done their job by giving us RX's for just about any crisis.  I used the Phenergan and yes it works!  We had to be at Bill's shoulder replacement therapy at 10:00 a.m; I dropped him off and said see you in an hour.  That was the best hour I have had in a long time.  I went immediately to Belk's Department store and bought a few things, I felt like I was in a race.  I had my mask on and the shoe sales lady asked if I am having trouble with allergies.  I said no, and raised my hat to show my bald head, oh well folks are just curious.  She said God Bless You, so it was worth it to answer back.

I bought a little white cotton sweater to wear over a sun dress I bought last year but was too sick to ever wear it.  Also, I bought a white top with smocking, just right to wear to chemo day, they can access my port easily.  And, I just had to buy another hat to wear with my Capri's and jeans!  I found the best yellow hand bag for summer also, I felt like I got everything I needed today, except could not find some white sandals, oh well.  The jewelry I already had.  The scarf my Michael brought back to me from a trip to Paris, ain't it gorgeous?  I am curious, Ann would you ask Mama the history of the Ivory bracelet, I think it is Ivory or maybe bakelite.  I think she got it when we lived in Japan, anyway she gave it to me many years ago.  It is too large for my wrist so I always wear it with scarves.  I just love it!

I have always believed that "shopping" is one of women's natural rights, agree??  It makes life bearable, but then having a will of my own helps!  Someday I might just have to give up chocolate, but never shopping!

I'm eating a delicious homemade peanut butter cookie and having a cup of tea, just need some friends to join me!  My sweet neighbor Gloria made the cookies and brought them over yesterday, Yummy!
God Bless everyone and hope this good run will last awhile for me.

Wings Of A Dove

Today was chemo day and I did not start off with a body full of perkiness.  Missed my second cup of coffee, not good.  Just a few minutes shy of reaching Westminster the violins started playing in my head and the river of tears started.  On any other given day in the past Bill would have chocked the emotion up to PMS!  But, oh no not today.  He is the best, started talking to me and walked me out of the river of tears.  Chemo went good today, no problems.  We walked out the door of the cancer center at 2:30 p.m. after starting at 8:45 a.m.!  Anyway, an amazing thing happened after lunch.  A young man, my guess he was in his early 40's, came in and sat in the chemo chair facing me.  The nurse hooked him up with his chemo and he proceeded to listen to his i-pod.  His wife left but came back later when he was finished.  He looked at me as I rolled myself and machine to the bathroom and back.  I smiled at him as I went by.  I know ya'll are saying okay already get to the point!  Okay, here is the point.  He finished before I did and he walked over to me and said, "May I ask what kind of cancer you have, so I told him."  He then told me he had a cancerous brain tumor, you could see the scar on his bald head and that the doctor told he had 6 months to live.  He then said that was 2 years ago!  This is what he said next, "Are you a Christian?"  Of course I said yes and he said he was listening to the Gaithers (gospel group) on his i-pod and he felt a strong urge to come over and tell me that I was going to be all right because  God was not through with me yet!  I told him thank you and God Bless You.  I did not even get that "Angel Messenger's" name, what was I thinking!  I did ask my nurse a little about him (but you know they won't volunteer much info because of HIPA and I get that), she just said they are a very nice couple.  Bill told me later that the "angel's" wife was standing to the side where I could not see her, smiling at her husband.  Brought tears to my eyes, but this time they were happy tears!  Here I am in my chemo chair.

I felt so good and it was such a beautiful sunny day.  Bill suggested we go outside for a few minutes to soak up some Vitamin D.  I put on my shorts and shades and beat him out the door!

I know what all of you are thinking, is that a beer she is holding, well yes, but it is a ROOT BEER!

So the message today is simply the words of WINGS OF A DOVE:
When troubles surround us, when evils come,
The body grows weak; The spirit grows numb.
When these things beset us, He doesn't forget us.
He sends down His love, On the Wings Of A Dove.

Hey, one last note, remember when I was griping about the 104 pounds, well today I weighed in at 104 and 1/2 pounds!  I guess those lead weights I put in my pockets worked!  Ha, Ha, just kidding I would not do that, but I even made myself laugh at the thought of doing it!  Love you all, sorry if I was a little chatty today, but you know when the thoughts are there they must come out.  God Bless You All!

104

What the heck is wrong with 104???  I'm not talking about my temperature or my body mass index, I am talking about my weight!  Okay, so I have lost a few pounds, what do you expect, the last few weeks have not been just sitting around drinking wine and eating chocolate, wish it had been!!

Anyway, we went to see my oncologist for my labs and a check up before my next chemo treatment on Wednesday, and I thought he would be thrilled that my white blood cell count is up to 5.9, outstanding number for me, the rest of the numbers still low but okay for the go ahead for chemo.  He was focused on my weight for some reason and told Bill to try and persuade me to eat more to add a few more pounds!  Good Grief, I have always been thin my entire life, I eat good food and lots of it, it just does not "stick" to my bones, what can I say.......

We picked up some ice cream at the local grocery store on the way home, guess what I will be eating after supper, and I am not really fond of ice cream.  I prefer homemade chocolate chip cookies, homemade pies and cakes!  Here is the proof of purchase......

Upsetting, so the southerner in me came home and made a meatloaf and macaroni and cheese. That wore me out, so I am propped up in my bed doing this blog.  I am going to pig out tonight on comfort food and I guess a bowl of this ice cream.  Hope it works!  And get this, I thought I was looking good, wore my cute red hat, but all Dr. G was interested in was the 104 lbs, go figure!

Bill is thrilled, said the house smelled so good.......glad I could at least please him.  Thanks for listening to me gripe a little.  I am truly blessed to have a doctor that is only looking out for my best interest, so I will try really hard to pass his test.  Love you all for tuning in to the latest news at our house.

Memory Lane

Just a short blog today.  I am feeling okay today, but something was just not quite right, bothering me in a "down" kind of way, if you know what I mean.  After lunch, it dawned on me.  Today, March 9 is the anniversary of my father's death.  He was born on March 2, 1913 and died on March 9, 1998 after a battle with colon cancer.  Many years have passed since then and I think what triggered my memory of him was when I got my head shaved at the barber shop yesterday.  When my Dad retired from the Air Force he decided to go to barber school.  He worked for many years doing just that.  Even gave both my boys their first haircut!  I think he would have been very proud of me choosing a barber shop to go to yesterday.  Thanks Dad, it must have been some kind of subliminal message he sent to me from Heaven!

I have such fond memories growing up, and my Dad is a big part of those memories.  The picture below is my Dad and my brother, Brent in Florida on Father's Day in 1989.  Thanks Dad for a little fond walk down memory lane.

 Just a side note, my Dad's name is Harvey Philip Hammer, born in Buffalo, NY.  My grandson's middle name is Philip and my niece, Pamela named her son Harvey.  Hope you enjoyed my little memory walk.  God Bless all of you that follow my blog.

Gone Baby Gone

I have felt like a dog shedding her winter coat for the last 5 days.  At first it was just a few strands and then each day there was more and more hair in my comb, and when I washed my hair, good grief the hair really came out when I combed it.  I was in a little denial about the hair losing thing, because it did not happen right away after my first chemo treatment; so I thought just maybe it won't happen to me.  Never second guess your oncologist, he said it would happen and it did.  Anyway, after 5 days of the shedding I went and had what was left of the thin hair shaved off.

I agonized over where to go for the "shaving."  No, no not my regular beauty salon, too many people, sometimes with small children and I just did not want the women looking at me, I know sounds funny.  But, the too many people and small children are a real concern for me because I have very few infection fighters, white blood cells right now.  So, I asked Bill about his barber.  Bill goes to a very small local (Westminster) barber shop.  We decided to be there around 9:00 a.m. this morning, so maybe there would not be many men there.  That turned out to be the best decision of the day.  I think God led me there, because no one was there yet, and Bill had discussed my situation with the barber last week when he went for a hair cut.  I hopped in the chair, all ready and what do I see on the wall in front of me, a large poster of the Ten Commandments and next to it is a good sized American flag.  I knew I was in the right pew!  Turns out the barber is also a preacher at the Westminster Wesleyan Church.  So going to Ken's Barber Shop this morning was a gift from God!  Enjoy the following pictures of the "event."

I think my daughter-in-law, Aimee would approve of my hat and I know Michael and Keith will approve of my earrings and pearls!  I even put on lipstick and Chanel No.5 parfum for the event!

I am okay with it all, just a little cold if I don't wear a hat.  I ordered a hat for sleeping from a cancer website, it came today, good timing.  I ordered the one with an angel on it, because I know I have lots of angels out there praying and watching over me and I thank each and every one of you, right after I thank God for all my blessings.  Thanks for listening and cheering me on.  Love to you all.

12 minutes remaining

Just to let everyone that follows me know, every day is not spent in pain or feeling lousy, there are some good days.  And today was a great day!  I called my good friend Jean, and just so you know, I would not be able to quilt like I do without her, you just can't learn everything from a book!  Anyway, like I said I called her this morning to see if she would like to come over and help me on Katie's quilt for a few hours.  She said "I will be there at 1:00 p.m."  No hesitation in that girl,  she came and we had the best time, talking girl talk and sewing just like I was completely well again.  I feel tired now so am in my bed doing this blog, feel kind of like my laptop when the warning comes on and says, '12 minutes remaining.'  I will "plug" back in and feel re-energized very soon!

Jean took a couple of pictures of me just to prove what I am saying is true!  Mama, these pictures are especially for you because I know you worry about me.   I told Jean my hair is starting to fall out, so get the picture of me with hair while you can!

With friends and family that love me unconditionally, how could I disappoint any of them by not getting well.  So, I will continue to take each day as a gift from God.  I'm going to take that little energizing nap right now.  Love you all.

The Statue and the Pigeon

Okay, okay, I know the old saying that you need to accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!  But good grief, a week of being the statue is just too much.  I was praying for my gun toting southern friends to put down their bacon and start scaring the pigeons away from my head.  Thanks guys, I am now the pigeon again, feeling so much better today.

And another thing, don't always think that your lucky number is lucky!  I always thought the number 14 was my lucky number, don't know why, just did.  Well, after Fridays labs, my platelets were 14, yikes, not good, so back to the hospital for more platelets.  They must be important, don't know much about them, but I am feeling so much better now.  Thank goodness for the IV fluids, steroids, blood and yes them there platelets, I am back in the saddle again.  Now if I could only get my nurse oncologist Missy, to infuse me with some of her energy, that girl has more than enough for one person.  Love her, she makes me laugh even if you feel rotten!

Felt good enough last night to go downstairs and lay on the sofa that Bill fixed with a pillow and blanket, what a charmer he is!  We watched a Netflix movie, titled Firewall with Harrison Ford.  Wow, I actually watched the entire movie and loved it.  Went to bed after that, had no fevers all night, yea!

Still feeling good today, just a little tired, so I am in my bed doing this blog.  But, wait I must tell you when I got up this morning, I told Bill I was going to make my "home made" chicken noodle soup, if he would help with the "clean-up!"  He was all in for that.  I sat on a stool and chopped the vegies and in no time we had the soup for lunch.  Let me tell you, nothing against Campbell soups, I have eaten plenty lately, but mine today was awesome!  Here is a picture of the finished product.  Only thing missing is some friends and/or family to share it with.

For all my friends and family, and you are a friend if you are reading this blog, if you haven't guessed by now, my faith gets me through each and every day, because I always ask God to just give me the strength and courage to keep fighting, and you know what I absolutely feel His love touch  me and comfort me.  I hope this blog brings some comfort and joy to anyone suffering, that would make me a lucky girl.  But, I think I will still change my lucky number!  God Bless you all.