Challenge Accepted: February 25, 2011

Thursday 2/24/11

I saw my Oncologist today - Dr. Ramshesh (who by the way is an awesome doctor). She said my blood levels look good - although I am a little anemic - she will add iron to my chemo cocktail next week. She also explained a little about what tests to expect in the near future. I should have an ultra-sound between the 4th and 5th chemo treatments to check on tumor size. She also explained that at that time I will also go back to the surgeon to talk about my options. She has also ordered the genetic test to be run at the next blood draw. The results of this test will help planning next steps - more to come when additional details are available. Below are some pictures of the shenanigans that took place at the doctors office.

I was freezing at the doctor's office

Seriously - how big is this gown?

Today Tommy Fuchs stopped by to say hello. Tommy really seems to care about how Matt and I are doing and we really appreciate it!! For those of you who know Tommy you may not believe this story, but he was wearing slacks and a button down shirt. He didn’t disclose exactly why he was dressed this way -- I wonder if he dressed up because he planned to stop by for a visit ... have we had that profound of an impact on Tommy? Nah ... I don’t think so.

I have been receiving extremely thoughtful cards from everyone and some come with little gifts. Today I received a very nice card with some buttons from my father and mother in law and they are so cute -- pictured below.

Buttons from The Jordans :)

I also recently received something called “The healing scarf” from Lori and Rick Sanders. It is a scarf that has psalms from the bible and healing messages written on it. It is a very cool pink scarf - I LOVE IT!!

Due to illness I haven’t had a chance to run or exercise - but I hope to get out again soon.

Sunday 2/20/11 - Tuesday 2/22/11

The hot water with honey and lemon started to help my voice by Sunday. By Monday I called my oncologists’ office again to find a medicine that would help me sleep and they advised that I use Nyquil – and wouldn’t you know it Nyquil was the best thing EVER for me. I have sleep 2 nights now and it was AWESOME!!

I know most of us have heard advice about how to recover from illness. A while back, one of our friends (Mo Farrow) told us a story – that when she was little and would get sick. She thought if she wished that someone else got sick she would get better, like passing a hot potato. At the time I had never heard anything quite so innovative. But honestly, I didn’t start feeling better until about Monday – which was the exact time that Matt started feeling sick. So maybe there is some truth to Mo’s theory, that you get better only when someone else gets sick?!

Saturday 2/19/11

Saturday I showed no signs of improvement and seemed to actually be getting worse. After a very negative reaction to over the counter medication, Matt called the doctor and they advised that I go into the clinic to see an Internal Medicine Doctor. She prescribed an anti-biotic, but didn’t prescribe anything to help alleviate my cough / help me sleep. She gave me a very limited list of over the counter medicine I could use – which I found out later was way too limited.

A note about scales: So today I was weighed at the doctors’ office and guess what? I am not as heavy as I was told. They weigh me each chemo treatment and I was much lighter at this doctors’ visit. I think those scales in the infusion clinic need to be re-calibrated. I am happy to report that I am only a little chunkier then when I started all of this. :)

Friday 2/18/11

So remember how Chemo makes you lose all your hair? And remember how I shaved my head – buzz cut at the party? Well it has been falling out ever since and I have been finding hair everywhere, on my sheets, on my clothes, on my face and even on my husband. So this weekend I decided to shave my head with a straight razor. So now I don’t even have a buzz – it is pretty wild walking around with no hair. I have to say I get a lot more looks now then I did with the buzz cut. My head is a lot shinier then I expected and the look itself takes some getting used to. I have surprised myself more then once in the mirror - when I have forgotten about my new cut.

Thursday 2/17/11

During Chemo your immunity is down and they advise you to do all sorts of things to avoid getting sick. But, I got sick. I started feeling a little sick Tuesday night after our run and by Wednesday I was definitely sick. I put up a good fight but I lost. Thursday I lost my voice and Friday was no better.

Sad to say that while I was sick Gusta (our German Shepherd) was also feeling ill. Matt took her to the vet and came back with medication. Matt cooked up some white rice for her, which was a little easier on her tummy. The good news is that she is all better now – picture of her with rice on her nose below, she looked so cute I couldn’t resist taking a picture of her.