Didn't feel too good yesterday, Ok pretty lousy actually, so I didn't blog. My main focus was on not loosing my lunch and perhaps even not spending my night next to the toilet... Ah the joys of the chemo drug, Oxiliplatin! As bad as it was, it was NOWHERE near as bad as last time thank you very much and my veins all stayed in tact. I am thankful for that much at least. I still have the pins and needles feelings as well as the owies up and down my arm at the sight of the infusion, but ll in all I think I weathered this pretty good. Dr Van Scoy Mosher,  (my oncologist), said that I "have tolerated treatment very well". Then he added " Within reason, I think that is because you decided to tolerate it well.". Well I was pretty proud of myself thank you very much! Then I thought of the alternative to "tolerating " the treatment and figured, yeah, If I would have refused treatment I think I could have kissed my bottom goodbye and never be a huge embarrassment to my beautiful boys as they go through puberty, or been able to be a pain in the butt to my wonderful husband when he got old and crotchety, or even get old and join the Red Hat Society,  ~ all of which I look forward to with great gusto.

Well, I am feeling a bit "peaked' as they say, so I will fill the rest of this day with pics I took before I started feeling so nasty...

 views of the walk I get to enjoy on the way to the hospital

This one is my favorite :)

Ok, to make up for yesterday, I will write a very long and boring update today. Ok I'll try to keep it not too boring...

Easter was wonderful. A really adorable Easter bunny named Haley brought the boys Easter baskets with some really cool stuff in them. Then an amazing Easter bunny from my radiation group and my Easter bunny oldest sister added to them. Those boys had some amazing loot let me tell you! Then, if that wasn't enough, my dear and sweet neighbor Easter bunny hid eggs in the front yard and the boys had an Easter egg hunt! Then, a wonderful ward member Easter bunny brought us Easter dinner complete with ham and  cupcakes!  We have had quite a few bunnies come 'round this year and we are amazingly grateful to each and every one.  My boys had a wonderful day because of them and ONLY because of them.Thank you Easter bunnies. You know who you are. :)

The move is progressing nicely. Bub and Cary have been slowly but surely taking loads over to the new house and they have most all the big stuff done now. It was really helpful to have Haley take the kids for as many hours as she did! The boys had a blast with her and it kept the little munchkins out from under the workin' men's feet.  The guys still have the family room and appliances, as well as day to day clothes and dishes to take over, but as I said the bulk part is pretty much finished. And I haven't done squat.

Haley and Brian (Haley's boyfriend) took me back to LA and it was nice to be able to spend time with them. They are such amazing kids. I guess Carly Sue is in New York now and Aaron is on his way back to Bakersfield. I always keep a prayer in my heart for them, but when they are far away it seems all that much more important. I just love my family so much.

Ok now to the part as to what they don't tell you about cancer and its treatments and meds... First, the gastric flip flops ~ already wrote about THAT subject, next, I was told I might get a really sore throat from the radiation. How 'bout raw, open wound sore throat where the radiation hits and ONLY where the radiation hits and heartburn that would make a grown man fall down and cry.  Tired, fatigue, nausea, all expected and warned of.

After each infusion I can have NOTHING cold. Even room temp seems to set off  "pins and needles" in my fingers and hands. I get really cold when I take the infusion, and because cold = pain,  I wear gloves and my blanket. I need to warm up even water to drink, but not too hot or it could do more damage, hence no heating pads or electric blankets.  I have found that everything luke-warm is perfect. On top of all that, I get violently ill for about the next 24 to 36 hours and just feel lousy for about the whole next week after the infusions. Zofran doesn't seem to help all that much, so I will be asking about a drug called Emends. Its costly, but other patients swear by it. Of course one patient swears by young coconut milk and active manuka honey, but since those are both just a bit - ok  a LOT costly - and haven't been really tested or studied, I think I'll stick with the tried and true. If I get desperate I might be changing my tune on those...

I also need to watch to make sure my vein doesn't break during the infusion. That is what caused the swelling and pain at the top of my arm from the last one. Pain at the infusion sight and somewhat above it is apparently normal, but not all the way up to my arm pit.

Can not wait to find out what I don't know about the surgery!

quick entry just because I didn't write  all weekend. I was able to go home to enjoy Easter with my family. Haley Bug came down to help with the kids while Cary and Bub took loads over to the new house, and I was once again a lazy bum sitting on the couch. I was kinda disappointed that our cable company stopped carrying conference. I will watch it online this week instead though. will write more later, gotta run to appointments ...

I am so proud of myself! Even though I didn't feel good today, I walked to and from the hospital and to and from the grocery store! that's about 3 miles total. I needed to get out of the apartment as I was going a bit stir crazy. Anyone who daydreams about scrubbing carpets, needs a change of scenery.  I am just too much of a  social animal to be a solitary resident.

Living here in West Hollywood has given me a beautiful place to stay, a safe neighborhood to live in and nice sense of small community, even in the big city.  But it is also giving me some prejudices!  It is getting harder and harder for me to think of good looking, well dressed young men as straight! Most of these guys are impeccably groomed, most of the time have a really adorable dog, are dressed a HECK of a lot better than I am~ and are in much better shape. I'm a little jealous! OK a lot jealous...

ewwwwww........Not jealous of THAT!!!!

tired and kinda beat up today but I did get laundry and housekeeping done. Not that either of those are hard with just me in the apartment. The boys left fingerprints all over every mirror when they were here on Monday. I didn't clean those up. I just smile when I see them and feel closer to my babies. I think I mopped the floor today just because I was bored, not because it needed it. I do wish I had the carpet cleaner here though. Man I must be really desperate! Maybe I can get out of here tomorrow and go for a walk before I take my vicodin...

I am such a dim bulb sometimes.... I packed the camera this week so I could take a few pics of the neighborhood, the house with the flowers, all that, and my sweet hubby reminded me to make sure I charge and pack the battery. Well, I charged it....

Saw the Oncologist yesterday and the Radiologist today. As far as my treatment and progress goes I was told today that I am "perfect". (a- hem pardon me while I blush).

Well, on the home front I had a lovely weekend, and my arms feel all empty now that I am back in LA. Since it is spring break my boys got to come with their dad to drop me off. They got to see where I as staying and were SO well behaved when I took them down to see the koi pond!  Maybe now Ben will stop telling people I am dead.

The boys are all sick now, and poor Daniel even has a nasty fever. I just told Cary to watch out for rashes as Ben just got over scarlet fever.

Cary and Bub gave the 3 little the boys hair cuts, I am anxious to see how they turned out.

My owies been keeping me awake at nights and since I am at the max of every medication I can take to help with the stomach acid,  the doc prescribed me the good stuff. Actually I opted for Vicadin instead of bigger stuff because I knew I would most likely REALLY need it after the surgery. It still makes me plenty loopy. Cary has warned me not to take it and go walking. I wonder if that is a problem here... Walking Under the Influence...made me kinda wonder if this sign is really real or just some one else who needs to be issued a W.U.I.

Well, the pain is back with a vengeance,  But Cary's dad suggested I sleep in the recliner and that seems to help a lot with the really hurty heartburn.

I am having a wonderful weekend. I totally enjoy my boys (big and little) and it was really nice to see Bub, Cary's dad.  He is here helping take care of the boys as well as packing and cleaning like a madman! My house hasn't ever been so clean. I kept trying to say it hasn't been that clean since before I got sick, but then I stopped fooling myself. It has never been this clean!

Mostly I am being a lazy bum sitting on the couch and they (Cary and Bub) have packed up the guest room, the homework room and believe it or not most of the kitchen - just while I have been here.I am so thankful let me tell you!

I am also so grateful to the ward as well. They have been bringing in meals, making sure our yard stays taken care of and just watching over my sweet family.

I feel very blessed :)

Well, at least I had a couple of good days where I was almost eating normal food. I can still eat really runny eggs, but the rest is back to soups and purees. *sigh*, it was nice while it lasted.I guess I will just bring that gingerbread I made home to the boys.

think I'll muster enough energy to go for a walk up to the store. just cant wait until Friday to see my boys...

Got laundry and basic housekeeping done today. Feeling pretty good, but I think the radiation is finally making my throat swell. Not a big deal, and I can still eat semi solid foods, just kinda have to slow it back down a bit to a bit softer and squishier foods.

so tired tonight. Think my dyslexia is kicking in...

home and here

First, on the home front, Bub, Cary's dad came up  last week end to help with the boys and such. I guess the very first night he was there the boys got soda! Since we RARELY let them have it, they were in 7th heaven. I guess he made a pot of spaghetti too and Ben ate so much his little round belly looked like one of those starving kids in Ethiopia!  
Tomorrow is the day Daniels book report is due, so I went to the library a couple days ago, got a copy of the book he needed to finish reading and we read it together over the phone. It was just a tiny taste of home for me, and he got his book read!

On to LA: I wrote this on my facebook page,

Dear Person who Lives on the Corner of San Vicente and Sherboure in LA,
Thank you SO much for your beautiful yard! I look forward to passing it each time I walk to and from the hospital. It smells amazing!
love, me.

The walk to the hospital is really beautiful and I just LOVE that fore mentioned house. It has a purple wrought iron fence with flowers just streaming down it. It is smothered in trees and greenery, so much so that the color of the house and indeed almost the house itself is nearly undecernable! It is truly breath taking.
I also get to walk past the Museum of Modern Art, the Sheriff's station, the library, a park, a community swimming pool and if I veer off to the side a bit, a community garden. Oh, and Jerry's World Famous Deli. I haven't been able to eat there yet, but it is supposed to be - well - world famous. Something else to look forward to I guess...

Nowhere did I see any keep off the grass signs, which is very friendly. I have just casually noticed that even when "keep off the grass" signs try to be nice, or witty - they just come off sounding ~ well ~ judge for yourself...