Susan G. Komen Ribbon

Susan G. Komen Ribbon

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The New Do

Well, as you have probably seen by the pictures, I have had my hair cut off as of today, Weds., Feb. 26. Interestingly enough I started to lose my hair last night. Today, I was scheduled to get my wig. Teri Nelson was here with me since I was supposed to have chemo on Monday. The chemo got delayed until this coming Monday because as it turned out, I had radiation recall. The type of chemo had to be changed. Along with that, differents meds, etc. I will be getting cytoxin and taxater (not sure it is spelled right). I will still have hair loss. My treatments will be every 3 weeks and I will have 4 more treatments instead of 7 as planned. I should be done by May 5 unless my treatment gets delayed for some reason (like low blood counts). I am believing that will not happen. Right now I am feeling really good, and I am ready to get another treatment behind me!

Tonight it's the girls on American Idol and Teri and I are anxious to watch it! We have our pajamas on and are ready to tune in!! I will write more later. Love, Deb

New Pictures

Leave it to the men to get the work on my mom's blog done. My dad emailed me pictures of my mom's newest hairdo preparing for losing her real hair. As usual I have added these pictures to the slideshow in the upper right hand corner, unless you use your computer in the mirror then it will be in the upper left hand :). I am also putting the hair pictures here. Enjoy, and bug my mom for not updating her blog with the newest news.



Tuesday, February 19, 2008

It has been awhile!

I figured it was time to update my blog, when my son, Aaron, called and "scolded" me for not updating recently! So here goes: I felt great after chemo until Weds. eve. Kent has sent me a big beautiful bouquet of white tulips for anniversary/valentine's day. He made reservations to a really nice restaurant in Buckhead for 3, because Dawn was here. But I just did not feel like going.
As it turned out, we went to Taco Mac (sports bar), ate dinner, and he stayed to watch IU play. Dawn and I went to Barnes and Noble where I could sit comfortably in a chair. By Thursday, I felt pretty poopy! I slept most of the day. It was just tiredness, but I did not like it. Friday I felt good again, and we even went antiquing on Saturday!

Monday, I went in for my CBC blood count test. It showed my counts were low (91). But this is somewhat normal after chemo. The day after chemo I had a Neulasta shot which helps the platelets and white blood cell counts to go up. They said it should start kicking in soon. Hopefully, by Monday, my counts will be up to at least to 140 so I can have chemo, otherwise they delay it. The Neulasta shot really, really makes my bones hurt! I mean hurt BAD!! But this is good because that means it is working. Thank goodness for Advil and heating pads.

There was one other "setback". I have a redspot on my left breast right where the incision was for the radiation. I was told that after I start chemo, I might get something called Radiation Recall. They told me it would be a red spot and look and feel like a sunburn. Well, they are not sure if I have an infection or if it is RR. They put me on Cipro and Augmentin to see if it is an infection and goes away. If it does not, then my chemo treatment will be somewhat jeopardized, because I will not be able to get Ruby (Adriamycin). I really hope it is an infection. But, God knows what he is doing, and I have to trust this is all for my good. I really felt like a "cancer patient" on Monday. I was walking funny because my bones hurt, and my spirit was temporarily wounded. But, I am rallying, and hopefully everything will be just fine.

My visitors this past week have been Deanie Burge and Dawn Peach. It was fabulous to have them here. They both bring their special talents and gifts at just the right time! Dawn brought me a cute pink T-Shirt that says "Think Happy Stuff". I love wearing it because it makes me happy!!! Genia sent me some new Paige jeans because my other ones sagged to much in the rear! (I thought sagging was in!). The jeans are really cute. I also got a UPS package the other day. It was a Pajama Gram, from an old friend and neighbor in CT, Marcia White. I called her, and we talked like we have never been apart (but it has been almost 20 years). Deanie gave me a book about healing cancer thru the Lord's Prayer. It is a fabulous book and is full of hope.

Speaking of books, I just finished "The Other Boleyn Girl". It was soooooooooo good. Can't wait to see the movie. I am always looking for good suggestions on books, so if any of you have any recommendations, let me know.

I think I rambled on enough. Take care, and I will let ya know what happens Monday. Teri Nelson will be here then, and we are going to the wig place together and having a head shaving ceremony!! (on Weds.). We will post pictures. Wish me luck that chemo happens!!

Love Deb

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Anniversary

Happy anniversary to my parents. A day late actually but I figured better late than never. Is it 27th? I forget. Anyways way to go guys. Yall have been great parents and I am thankful that you have created a wonderful household to grow up in all these years.

aaron

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

First Chemo Trip Pictures

UPDATE: I just added a few more pictures to the slideshows.

I was going to just add this to my mom's previous post but decided that I wanted to keep the picture posts seperate from the other posts. Also I added these pictures to the ongoing slideshow in the top right corner of the site. Hope everyone enjoys.



Thanks,
Aaron


Monday, February 11, 2008

Meet Ruby and Roxanne!

You probably wonder who Ruby and Roxanne are. Well, they are two new "friends" at the chemo infusion center. Ruby is really Adriamycin. My friend Dawn gave her the name of Ruby because the drug normally is referred to as The Red Devil. Dawn suggested we come up with a new name for it -- Ruby (because it is red) and Roxanne (Cytoxan) may seem like ugly, mean girls, but in the long run they only want the best for you.

Dawn came down on Sunday and she said we were going to PARTY. S00000000000000, we went to the Buckhead Diner for dinner and she treated us to a fabulous dinner including their famous Blue Cheese Potato Chips. I even had 2 glasses of wine. It was a lovely evening!

The next day, we got ready to go to the chemo center and they drew blood from the port. Then Dr. Andrews came in and we had a great time with him. When he found out Dawn was a great cook (and I was her "right" arm, he showed us a menu for his Valentine Dinner at his house that he was hosting for his wife and 5 couples. So, we gave our opinions! We really wanted to be invited, but sounds like 10 people were about it!

He walked us over the the chemo place (where all the chairs are). First they asked if we wanted refreshments (another party)! They hooked me up, and we took pictures which you will see posted on this blog. There are pictures of Dawn, me, and the nurse along with Ruby and Roxanne! I wore my special gold charm bracelet that Genia gave me for good luck. This was all totally painless. The nurse, Carolyn, was very good at explaining what each drug was and how might feel when she administered the drug. She was very nice and nurturing (I think she really liked us) ! She stuck her head right in their to have her picture taken with us. Thankfully, I had no ill side effects during the chemo. Now, they did give me an anti-nausea pill before they started the drip, and I received another during treatment. I am feeling fine right now. Tomorrow, may be a different story. I did get really hungry during the 2 1/2 hours that we were there, so after we left, we went and had fish tacos (Dawn DID NOT suggest this, but you know me and Mexican food). Dawn did not even recommend it! She just wants it for the record that if I start puking fish tacos, it isn't her fault. What made it worse, we went to Krispey Kreme (which, again was NOT something she wanted to do), but she is feeling sorry for me and obliged anyway!! It all tasted good. I rewarded her with a trip to Sonic, so she could get a Sonic Diet Coke with Sonic ice! Yummy!

Tonight she is going to cook a meal for us and we are going to watch "What About Bob?", so we can laugh me well! Tomorrow, I go for a Neulasta shot at 10:00. This will help build bone marrow and white blood cells. The side effects of this are usually achy bones, but it beats going to the hospital to get blood transfusions when my count goes down.

Ta Ta for now!! Love ya, Deb

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Port Day

Today was the day I had been dreading -- getting the port put in. But, it actually was not too bad. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. Surgery was at 7:39. And, yes, they put me totally out. I did not know they would for sure. Everything went really well. Once I got home, I took a pain pill (because I think that where they attached the port to my vein hurts a little). I slept and slept all afternoon! Maybe it had something to do with us getting up really early 3 mornings in a row! OR this just affected me differently. My biggest complaint is that my legs feel a little shakey. I don't know what that is all about (even my hands seem kind of jello-y). Hopefully tomorrow I will feel a little better.

Saturday Kent and I went exploring. We found a couple of cute shops in Buckhead, one had antiques, one had gifty things, and one had clothes. Then we went to Roswell and found a good antique mall there. It was definitely the best one so far and fairly affordable. We stopped at Trader Joes and got wine (2 buck chuck) to take to the Nelson's Super Bowl Party on Sunday.
Speaking of the Super Bowl Party, we had a great time. It was so good seeing our old dinner group and just being with friends. The food was yummy!! And ya all know me, I did not watch much of the game -- until the last 11 minutes or so, and boy was it exciting! We were all screaming. I hope I don't offend anyone here, but I think everyone was for the Giants. We got up early early on Sunday to drive to church at Brentwood UMC, had lunch with Aaron and Audra, went to see Aaron's slipcover for his sofa, and went to the party. We had to get up early early the next day and drive back so I could get an echo cardiogram. So, we have had a few busy days.

Colleen sent me a darling hat that she knitted. It is just so cute. It has a leafy pattern that goes around the bottom part of the hat and it is done in the prettiest yarn of cashmere and silk in a beautiful silvery tealish color. Thanks Colleen. You are one amazing knitter!!

I am looking forward to Thursday, when Deanie comes to visit for a few days. Then, Dawn comes on Sunday to be here with me for the first chemo treatment. I am just so lucky to have this support.

I will let everyone know what I picked out for a wig on Friday.

Love, Deb

Port Day

accidental double post

Friday, February 1, 2008

Headcovers and Pictures

First of all I updated the slideshow for the blog, with some pictures from the trip Audra and I took to Atlanta, so check those out if you get a chance.

Also, here are some pictures of my mom showing off her new headcovers. One of the pictures is of pretty poor quality, I tried to fix it up a little but, it really just looks kind of scary. Know that it is not my mom that looks scary, but you could not see it all before I fixed up the picture. So my apologies, especially to my beautiful mom, because the picture is really weird looking. Also thanks to Teri Nelson for sending the headcovers, they will definitely come in handy later.

Aaron