The last 2 weeks have been pretty uneventful hence my lack of not blogging! I was perfectly perfect the first 4 days after chemo and didn't even feel fatigued until day 5! I had started to itch but with a little Benadryl it wiped it out and NEVER came back! I had very little stomach issues which I am convinced are due to milk now and really breezed through this round if compared to the last two! I feel very blessed. My perspective is constantly in check and even today you know, I just can't complain.
I rode for the first time in round three the farthest yet at 6.0 miles with 720 feet of climbing. I had to giggle. There was a guy walking and he said,"wow, I am so impressed. You don't see bikes over on this side of the neighborhood!" I thought, probably not riders undergoing chemo either! I kept fighting on. It hurt, wasn't the easiest of rides but I was on a cancer killing mission. It was NOT going to stop me yesterday and I probably would've ridden farther had I been with some company.
I did however have another first. I stood up and pedaled three pedal strokes on my bike. HUGE. It felt awkward and weird but it's now checked off my list! YAY!
Right now things are crazy busy with the last week of fund raising here. We are doing a yard sale at Child's Play this weekend where people donate items and the proceeds go to the team. This year, we are going to also give a portion to one of the sweetest teachers of the school, just diagnosed with ALL. I have a million emotions but my words are few. I know that shock stage can be overwhelming. Praying for them every day.
We just finished up sorting and whew, I'm cooked. It's a ton of work, but we went through and knocked it out like champs. It was sad that no one showed up to volunteer... Just some sweet moms from Sweet Rides! Gotta love 'em!
I'm off to take a nap now and hoping I'll have energy for a date night!
Tata and if you live in the area PLEASE SHOP OUR SALE TOMORROW OR SATURDAY!!!! Childsd Play Early Learning Center on Hickory Flat Highway 9-1pm! :D www.facebook.com/sweetridesga
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
Third Emory Visit!
One bad week, 2 good weeks, and one more bad week equals FOUR weeks left! Can you believe it!!?? It FLEW by. I think with school in session (blessing), and losing weeks at a time being sick, just helped it go by fast.
So yesterday was AWESOME. It was the most chill day I have had yet, and the longest! We were gone for 12 hours. 6:45AM-6:45PM. Tracy, my partner in Sweet Rides for 4 years now, worked it out so she could come along. Huge kudos to Scott for making it happen, I know it wasn't easy.
I picked her up at 7 (yes I drove, you all know I'm a nut about that) and we got there at 8:40. On the way I had realized I had forgot my litocaine cream for Lovie! I was bummed until I realized the little tube I saw in my backpack the night before wasn't toothpaste but cream! WAHOO! They took me though I was late. I had my thyroid ultrasound first. I am going to guess it was fine, because she basically said she didn't see anything and it was the FASTEST one I've ever had there. so as long as that is clear and I had good numbers, the thyroid continues to stay in check! Praise God! Oh, during the ultrasound I had to put my cream on and forgot the pad so we used a rubber glove and tissues - very creative. lol. Hey! It worked!!
We went upstairs and my FAVORITE port nurse was there. She is amazing and once again piece of cake! She even used the sensitive bandages for me since I react to everything!OH! And Buffy was there again! I was so happy! She is my cute chemo buddy who is on my same schedule :) Then we walked over to wait for Ruth O'Reagan. And wow, did we wait. It was well over an hour... but we were in no rush at all! We tlaked and caught up on everything that has been going on! It'll all happen in the right timing anyway, and that we saw... We went back and the Doctor to come in first was a resident. I've made it pretty clear that I am NOT a fan of them coming in prior to the doctor and last time, Ruth came in without them which was the best. So when she came in and started asking questions I just politely, all smiles, told her I'd rather just go through everything with Ruth so I didn't have to explain it twice. She agreed but then asked, "how are you so positive?..." She looked floored. It caught me off guard a little, but I told her prayers. lots of prayers. and staying positive. We have fun. I could sit in that corner and cry and mope around, but what good would that do?... I swear she had tears in her little asian eyes and I then realized she was the sweet doctor who talked to me over labor day weekend about my itching. I even posted on facebook how sweet she was. God just made an instant connection, and she looked at me and said, :you're my inspiration. My fiance left me today... Honestly it's all a blur from there. I know there was a promise me it will be okay and Tracy quickly said God promises. :) It was SO awesome. Thinking about it on my way home last night, there were a million things I'd want to share with her. But so thankful he gave us those 5 minutes. She was a doll and I'm so praying for her... Dr. Zane. She's on call this weekend... have this feeling I might need help with a sneeze or something! ;)
Anyway, we did finally meet with Ruth and she seemed like I'd be fine with the Benadryl and so we moved on! Downstairs to infusion waiting where I'm typically very moved. A lot of very sick people down there... a lot of prayers said and tenderness come from just sitting in that room. I recognized many people... some going downhill. Some the same. Wracking my brain of how I can help when this is done...
We finally got called back. 2 hours late and I was in bay A. Well, that wasn't going to work! I needed to sit by my friend! haha! so the sweet wonderful nurses moved me to bay B across from her and her mom. It was so nice to get to know them and their stories (yes, breast cancer for both, twice). Amazing bright women who i'm sure without a doubt God placed in my life for a reason. Forever friends... :')
No adverse reactions so we moved right along and everything was pretty good! I had my same nurse, the one whose birthday is my grandfathers birthday and we got to know each other a little more. This time it was another WOW. She asked about biking and the girls and we told her about Booty and the ride. Somehow we got on the subject of school and how her sister teaches. Do you want to know WHERE her sister teaches? At the school that will be hosting the 24 Hours of booty. I'm not lying!! I looked at Tracy like you have to be kidding me. Well, Cary is all excited about booty now and she is going to ask her sister about it... God? Um, yes! Grandpa, hello! I see you watching!!
So as Buffy was leaving she said they were wearing all pink the next visit to celebrate the end of her treatment and told us about the bell. There is a pretty brass BELL on the wall!!! You get to ring it when you've completed your treatment!!! FUN! The wheels in my head are turning like crazy! I'm going to have some fun with that bell! HAH! Y'all know me, so if you have any thoughts, please pass my way. And I promise to videotape it!
Other than that I had a pretty sleepless night. Lots of insomnia for no reason. Hot flashes, reflux, wheezing. so I played on facebook, ate a snack, ripped the covers off skip by accident (lol. hehe) Poor guy. I'm not the quietest insomniac. So I'm on 4 hours total sleep. 2 and 2 equals for I think... so I'm looking forward to my nap today. Blogging, cleaning and napping are all on the list of things to do. Nice and quiet, all in my own pace. Will probably do a little fundraising too, so if you see an email from me, know I'm passionate about this ride and helping people with cancer know it's going to be okay. 24 Hours of Booty Atlanta supports The Aflac Center at Childrens and LiveStrong, two of my favorites and I sadly know people and children needing both currently. And as we grow in Atlanta, more local cancer initiatives like Winship can be supported too. (I also know that your odds of winning an ipad mini are really good and I really want one of my friends to win it!hehe)!
If you haven't seen, www.sweetridesga.org for all the fabulous steps! Don't forget #5, it's the most important to get you entered!
Happy Happy Friday! Know I love you more! And I mean that! <3
So yesterday was AWESOME. It was the most chill day I have had yet, and the longest! We were gone for 12 hours. 6:45AM-6:45PM. Tracy, my partner in Sweet Rides for 4 years now, worked it out so she could come along. Huge kudos to Scott for making it happen, I know it wasn't easy.
I picked her up at 7 (yes I drove, you all know I'm a nut about that) and we got there at 8:40. On the way I had realized I had forgot my litocaine cream for Lovie! I was bummed until I realized the little tube I saw in my backpack the night before wasn't toothpaste but cream! WAHOO! They took me though I was late. I had my thyroid ultrasound first. I am going to guess it was fine, because she basically said she didn't see anything and it was the FASTEST one I've ever had there. so as long as that is clear and I had good numbers, the thyroid continues to stay in check! Praise God! Oh, during the ultrasound I had to put my cream on and forgot the pad so we used a rubber glove and tissues - very creative. lol. Hey! It worked!!
We went upstairs and my FAVORITE port nurse was there. She is amazing and once again piece of cake! She even used the sensitive bandages for me since I react to everything!OH! And Buffy was there again! I was so happy! She is my cute chemo buddy who is on my same schedule :) Then we walked over to wait for Ruth O'Reagan. And wow, did we wait. It was well over an hour... but we were in no rush at all! We tlaked and caught up on everything that has been going on! It'll all happen in the right timing anyway, and that we saw... We went back and the Doctor to come in first was a resident. I've made it pretty clear that I am NOT a fan of them coming in prior to the doctor and last time, Ruth came in without them which was the best. So when she came in and started asking questions I just politely, all smiles, told her I'd rather just go through everything with Ruth so I didn't have to explain it twice. She agreed but then asked, "how are you so positive?..." She looked floored. It caught me off guard a little, but I told her prayers. lots of prayers. and staying positive. We have fun. I could sit in that corner and cry and mope around, but what good would that do?... I swear she had tears in her little asian eyes and I then realized she was the sweet doctor who talked to me over labor day weekend about my itching. I even posted on facebook how sweet she was. God just made an instant connection, and she looked at me and said, :you're my inspiration. My fiance left me today... Honestly it's all a blur from there. I know there was a promise me it will be okay and Tracy quickly said God promises. :) It was SO awesome. Thinking about it on my way home last night, there were a million things I'd want to share with her. But so thankful he gave us those 5 minutes. She was a doll and I'm so praying for her... Dr. Zane. She's on call this weekend... have this feeling I might need help with a sneeze or something! ;)
Anyway, we did finally meet with Ruth and she seemed like I'd be fine with the Benadryl and so we moved on! Downstairs to infusion waiting where I'm typically very moved. A lot of very sick people down there... a lot of prayers said and tenderness come from just sitting in that room. I recognized many people... some going downhill. Some the same. Wracking my brain of how I can help when this is done...
We finally got called back. 2 hours late and I was in bay A. Well, that wasn't going to work! I needed to sit by my friend! haha! so the sweet wonderful nurses moved me to bay B across from her and her mom. It was so nice to get to know them and their stories (yes, breast cancer for both, twice). Amazing bright women who i'm sure without a doubt God placed in my life for a reason. Forever friends... :')
No adverse reactions so we moved right along and everything was pretty good! I had my same nurse, the one whose birthday is my grandfathers birthday and we got to know each other a little more. This time it was another WOW. She asked about biking and the girls and we told her about Booty and the ride. Somehow we got on the subject of school and how her sister teaches. Do you want to know WHERE her sister teaches? At the school that will be hosting the 24 Hours of booty. I'm not lying!! I looked at Tracy like you have to be kidding me. Well, Cary is all excited about booty now and she is going to ask her sister about it... God? Um, yes! Grandpa, hello! I see you watching!!
So as Buffy was leaving she said they were wearing all pink the next visit to celebrate the end of her treatment and told us about the bell. There is a pretty brass BELL on the wall!!! You get to ring it when you've completed your treatment!!! FUN! The wheels in my head are turning like crazy! I'm going to have some fun with that bell! HAH! Y'all know me, so if you have any thoughts, please pass my way. And I promise to videotape it!
Other than that I had a pretty sleepless night. Lots of insomnia for no reason. Hot flashes, reflux, wheezing. so I played on facebook, ate a snack, ripped the covers off skip by accident (lol. hehe) Poor guy. I'm not the quietest insomniac. So I'm on 4 hours total sleep. 2 and 2 equals for I think... so I'm looking forward to my nap today. Blogging, cleaning and napping are all on the list of things to do. Nice and quiet, all in my own pace. Will probably do a little fundraising too, so if you see an email from me, know I'm passionate about this ride and helping people with cancer know it's going to be okay. 24 Hours of Booty Atlanta supports The Aflac Center at Childrens and LiveStrong, two of my favorites and I sadly know people and children needing both currently. And as we grow in Atlanta, more local cancer initiatives like Winship can be supported too. (I also know that your odds of winning an ipad mini are really good and I really want one of my friends to win it!hehe)!
If you haven't seen, www.sweetridesga.org for all the fabulous steps! Don't forget #5, it's the most important to get you entered!
Happy Happy Friday! Know I love you more! And I mean that! <3
Recap because I haven't blogged AT ALL!
I guess it's been a while since I have blogged, so I will try to do a quick recap. I was working as much as I could to catch up AND get ahead for this next round, and I'm feeling pretty good about where I am...
The second chemo was WAY different from the first. The bone pain and stomach cramping was nearly nothing with the advil, claritin, culturelle, and ativan! I'm such a druggie! I did however contract a NASTY upper respiratory infection that had me calling Emory with a fever and colorful cough by Saturday afternoon. We had the scare of, "if the fever isn't gone in 6 hours you need to go to the ER." Well by the grace of God, MANY prayers and a Z-pack, that sucker was gone by midnight! Whew! Took about 6 days to knock the other crud out, but by day 10 I was feeling back to normal. Buttttt... that's when the rash came. Now at first, I'm thinking a little contact dermatitis. I was wearing a new hat and it was nasty hot. It was all around my scalp and I was an itchy disaster. Taking 3 sometimes 4 showers a day just to scorch it and then put ice water on my head! HA! I got prescription strength cortisone cream from a friend. Nada. I finally called Emory (once again over a weekend, and a holiday weekend at that!) and this sweet doctor (remember her for my next post, she stood out to me as super nice, I even facebooked that she was sweet) told me to take Benadryl, 25mg every 6 hours. I was ready to go the the ER but she said that is what they would do first anyway. It helped tremendously, took the itch off, but made me OH SO Sleepy! After a couple of days of naps and working through a Benadryl fog, Tuesday came and I had to call back. It was EVERYWHERE now. Coming, going, itching, like giant mosquito bites! I was even convinced I had bugs in my house. I vacuumed for the FIRST time in 12 weeks. With two hands and if you know my living room rug, it's like 16x16 maybe? Took 30 minutes because I thought I was sucking up bugs galore. I went outside and dumped it in a bag and started digging with my fingers... you know what I found? Nothing. haha! No bugs. But at least my living room carpet was clean! They finally got me a steroid pack called in Tuesday afternoon and it saved the day! I was on it for 6 days, tapering off. By the last day it was already coming back, but not itchy! So I was okay with that! Had my appointment yesterday and she called me in an extra pack in case it comes back this time, had Benadry in my IV and I'll do the medication coctail that helped last time...
Some fun things to recap on...
Wig! I got my wig, finally, thanks to the special sweet employees at Pings Salon! They are too good to us! Star went with me and we didn't get to meet with my wig-dresser (is that what they're called) but another lady. She was okay but scared me to death when she started cutting it all up! lol. I was like, uhhhhh, is that what you do!?? I think Star freaked too, but in the end it looked great! It was a little "poofy" for me and my flat hair self, but a fun change. I wore it home and Skip I think, was questionable. He never said he didn't like it, but I think it was too-not-me for him :) Then the girls got home and they NEVER SAID A WORD! I was like, hm, did they forget i lost my hair??? I asked madison like an hour later and she goes, "ya, I think I'm used to you without hair now." SAY WHAT?!?!! She was the reason I GOT the wig! Girlllll.... Anyway. I did wear it that afternoon and I like it. I don't need it to feel secure or anything, but it was a fun change. I wore it out the first night to the 24 Hours of booty bar Crawl and loved dressing up! But after about 2 hours, I was done and off it went and onto other people it went! lol. Like I said, it's fun to dress up... The Crawl (a tour of the Woodstock restaurants) was top notch. I don't know how the Offenbergs pulled it off, but it was so good, people were signing up last minute that saw the signs!! It was AWESOME! There was one group that was a Pure, saw the poster and the girls friend had passed away from a brain tumor and that day was her heaven day. They looked for the group and asked to sign up as did 4 other people! That's a God thing... I know it says "Bar" Crawl and that's a little hard for some people to get past, but this event was prayed over as well as the fund raising. It was truly inspiring, exciting and you know what, its over a week later and we are STILL talking about how much fun we had. And the donations the restaurants and local merchants gave, the cover was WELL worth it. I'm so going back to ICE for Sushi now! I never knew they had that amazing sushi!! I'm literally craving it! So huge shout out to Firestone (appetizers and drink specials), Pure (20% off bill and bottomless cheese dip), Ice (sushi, edameme, hummus and drink special), and Cupcakalicious (free mini cupcakes to anyone who stopped by). All four places were extremely generous making this an event that could be pretty huge in years to come... Love our little town and the friends we have here!So good to hang out and laugh in the midst of all the crazy... It's a night I'll never forget.
One other fun thing to recap on! I TOTALLY road my bike up hills last weekend. Yep, I used gears and rode four miles through the neighborhood. It was beautiful. I was feeling wonderful. I couldn't crank it up a hill, that was too much. So I was definitely limited there and had to use my gears wisely, but overall went well. Even went up some big hills! So I am hoping I can get in a couple of laps at booty. Speaking of, I sent Skip a few links to build your own pedi cab and I SO want him to do it this weekend! We have an old bike trailer that the material fell apart on us, that would be PERFECT. We are getting close to the event, only 3 weeks away and I'm getting SUPER excited. We did the booty crawl, the annual school yard sale is in 2 weeks and we started an ipad mini raffle this month!! For $10 donations we enter you into the raffle to win!! some people are getting 5-10 at a time!! LiveStrong and Radioshack donated it and we are SO thankful. Good friends helping us be successful - truly heartwarming. (So if you haven't donated, you should, because right now, I think we only have 60 entries. GOOD odds! And we are going to draw the name at Booty... www.sweetridesga.org for instructions. You have to email your receipt to ipad@sweetridesga.org to qualify, so don't miss that step!)
Finally. Special thanks to my mom and Skip's mom and Warren for staying here when I was down and out. For the MANY meals we received that week. The cards, notes and letters... You all will never know how much they helped... we are so grateful!!
Okay... think that it it for now. I know a ton happened, but it's really hard to blog when i don't feel good, and then when I do feel good, I'm catching up on work. I promise to try to do better this time! Even if not for you, but for me! It's SUCH a good therapy and outlet, and I want to keep my story. Y'all know that I don't have chemo brain... I NEVER have a memory... so this is good :)
Thanks for reading and don't forget to enter to win that ipad and donate in honor of someone YOU know that's battled cancer!!!
LOVE YOU!
Some fun things to recap on...
Wig! I got my wig, finally, thanks to the special sweet employees at Pings Salon! They are too good to us! Star went with me and we didn't get to meet with my wig-dresser (is that what they're called) but another lady. She was okay but scared me to death when she started cutting it all up! lol. I was like, uhhhhh, is that what you do!?? I think Star freaked too, but in the end it looked great! It was a little "poofy" for me and my flat hair self, but a fun change. I wore it home and Skip I think, was questionable. He never said he didn't like it, but I think it was too-not-me for him :) Then the girls got home and they NEVER SAID A WORD! I was like, hm, did they forget i lost my hair??? I asked madison like an hour later and she goes, "ya, I think I'm used to you without hair now." SAY WHAT?!?!! She was the reason I GOT the wig! Girlllll.... Anyway. I did wear it that afternoon and I like it. I don't need it to feel secure or anything, but it was a fun change. I wore it out the first night to the 24 Hours of booty bar Crawl and loved dressing up! But after about 2 hours, I was done and off it went and onto other people it went! lol. Like I said, it's fun to dress up... The Crawl (a tour of the Woodstock restaurants) was top notch. I don't know how the Offenbergs pulled it off, but it was so good, people were signing up last minute that saw the signs!! It was AWESOME! There was one group that was a Pure, saw the poster and the girls friend had passed away from a brain tumor and that day was her heaven day. They looked for the group and asked to sign up as did 4 other people! That's a God thing... I know it says "Bar" Crawl and that's a little hard for some people to get past, but this event was prayed over as well as the fund raising. It was truly inspiring, exciting and you know what, its over a week later and we are STILL talking about how much fun we had. And the donations the restaurants and local merchants gave, the cover was WELL worth it. I'm so going back to ICE for Sushi now! I never knew they had that amazing sushi!! I'm literally craving it! So huge shout out to Firestone (appetizers and drink specials), Pure (20% off bill and bottomless cheese dip), Ice (sushi, edameme, hummus and drink special), and Cupcakalicious (free mini cupcakes to anyone who stopped by). All four places were extremely generous making this an event that could be pretty huge in years to come... Love our little town and the friends we have here!So good to hang out and laugh in the midst of all the crazy... It's a night I'll never forget.
One other fun thing to recap on! I TOTALLY road my bike up hills last weekend. Yep, I used gears and rode four miles through the neighborhood. It was beautiful. I was feeling wonderful. I couldn't crank it up a hill, that was too much. So I was definitely limited there and had to use my gears wisely, but overall went well. Even went up some big hills! So I am hoping I can get in a couple of laps at booty. Speaking of, I sent Skip a few links to build your own pedi cab and I SO want him to do it this weekend! We have an old bike trailer that the material fell apart on us, that would be PERFECT. We are getting close to the event, only 3 weeks away and I'm getting SUPER excited. We did the booty crawl, the annual school yard sale is in 2 weeks and we started an ipad mini raffle this month!! For $10 donations we enter you into the raffle to win!! some people are getting 5-10 at a time!! LiveStrong and Radioshack donated it and we are SO thankful. Good friends helping us be successful - truly heartwarming. (So if you haven't donated, you should, because right now, I think we only have 60 entries. GOOD odds! And we are going to draw the name at Booty... www.sweetridesga.org for instructions. You have to email your receipt to ipad@sweetridesga.org to qualify, so don't miss that step!)
Finally. Special thanks to my mom and Skip's mom and Warren for staying here when I was down and out. For the MANY meals we received that week. The cards, notes and letters... You all will never know how much they helped... we are so grateful!!
Okay... think that it it for now. I know a ton happened, but it's really hard to blog when i don't feel good, and then when I do feel good, I'm catching up on work. I promise to try to do better this time! Even if not for you, but for me! It's SUCH a good therapy and outlet, and I want to keep my story. Y'all know that I don't have chemo brain... I NEVER have a memory... so this is good :)
Thanks for reading and don't forget to enter to win that ipad and donate in honor of someone YOU know that's battled cancer!!!
LOVE YOU!
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