First win!

Friday August 27th, 2010

This morning was another, "I had a rough night trying to sleep but now I'm hungry" feel to it. Yes hunger will keep me up even though I'm tired. I have to feed the beast. I'm still into my Malt-O-Meal phase, little did I know but I had dad pick up a box, not seeing the new box Jenny had bought. I'm set for a while now. I'm wondering if I'm getting constipated because of the chemo AND on the box it says it's that my breakfast of choice is a good source of iron. Could be? I am eating a lot of fruit too. I'm trying not to take many pills but those Colace tabs might have my name on them. Oh, the fun of it all.

After eating, I made plans with my sister, Cathy, to come get me. We had plans to visit my cats, she had to go grocery shopping, she was making dinner for us & her sister-in-law, who's visiting with her kids and I needed to run to the bank to make a house payment. Our niece was playing her 1st volleyball home game which I wanted to catch later in the day. It was about 9am & now sleep was calling me. I fed the animals and gave Widdo his am meds. I slept until noon when of course my appetite woke me again. By then, dad had left to spend more time with his girlfriend. I ate some leftovers for lunch and when Cathy arrived, I felt safe enough to shower. The bodyaches from chemo had come back and my legs were feeling a little heavy, so I used the shower stool. I'm all for any assistive devices that'll make life safer & easier. So many injuries occur in the bathroom. Keep the door unlocked in case someone has to come in & get you.

We got to the bank and when we finished, we were in the lot. Cathy got a phone call & was talking on her cell phone for a while. I gave her one important lesson, once you leave a bank, leave right away, verify everything inside the bank before you leave. My good friends parents didn't do that ONCE, their mom wanted to go and their dad wanted to make sure everything was in order when someone approached their car to rob them, right in front of the bank. The thieves got their money but they had their lives. Cathy soon hastened off the phone & we got going. You never know who's watching. Her car also doesn't have air conditioning. If anything should happen to me, I'd like her to get my car. Yeah you have to crank the A/C up to #3 for it to work, but it works. She needs the A/C, especially when our weather hits the 90's plus. Sweating out major electrolytes never did anyone any good. I know Marie's learning how to drive but I'm sure her parents will take care of her car needs when the time comes.

When we arrived to see my cats, boy Mr. Elston and Mr. Thumbalino would not stop bickering, it had been almost 2 weeks since I've seen them with all the appt.s the previous week and getting over my new chemo. It was a pleasure to see them. They had gotten mad @ me and had knocked down quite a few things off shelves and cat hair was rampant. I wanted to do laundry but there wasn't enough time to do it before Marie's game. I'll have to come back with more energy. I did manage to sweep up some major dust bunnies and use the rolling tape thing to clean off some furniture. I was feeling woosy so I had an Ensure and rested on the futon. Miss Cleo decided to come upstairs and I picked up her purring self. We went to the bedroom & I laid down with the 3 of them before it was time to go. Don't worry, my sister checks in on them for me, she feeds, gives them water and changes their litter boxes for me. She also waters my plants.

We left to go to the game. Jenny said she'd meet me in the lobby if I needed help climbing the stairs @ the school. I arrived first and let her know that I'd do it on my own. I had my pillow just in case my back or butt hurt from the stands. Slowly but surely, my heavy legs got me up there. The game was already in progress and our team was ahead. I made a mini-Flip video, since our cousin Viki gave me one @ the family picnic. Jenny soon arrived and then we were joined by our dad & Joan. They fought traffic tooth & nail to get there. Jenny was able to find a cold water bottle, I didn't care if it'd cause me throat cramps, I needed it. I took small cautious sips and nothing severe happened. It's the best of 3 sets and we won in 2. I was so happy because the balcony was HOT & HUMID = making me even more woosy, so we got to leave early. I'm so proud of Marie, she's on junior varsity and she had a lot of playing time. She made some great hits & serves. She had to stay for the varsity team to play but she came to us after her game & we were able to take pictures. Jenny stayed with her.

Dad, Joan & I went home to have Shepherd's Pie that Cathy made. Our version is cooked ground beef, layered with cooked mashed potatoes, green beans and tomato paste. I'm not sure how long or what temp. you bake it at afterwards, all I know is that I haven't had it in years. Of course Cathy made some with low salt and I snuck a little tomato paste. It was GOOD! It's a good thing we eat in shifts because by the time I finished, the guests arrived & they had room to eat. More family had come by too.

Paul helped me figure some things that Gabe had set up with my pictures on the computer and we hung out with the in-laws. I don't know if French Silk Pie is in my diet, but it was last night. I was pooped by 11pm and went to bed early. It took a while but I did fall asleep. Of course nature woke me several times during the night and a 4:30 am snack. I read a few more pages in my "Soup" book, my belly was aching so now I'm catching up on my blog. I'll finish up and hopefully get some shut eye. Insomnia is not fun. Good morning everyone, as you can see, it's now 0700 on Sat.

I know some of you want to contribute to this blog, I wrote to Ray, he'll need your e-mail addresses to add you to the contributor list and you can add your pictures and stories & they won't just end up in the comment section. If it's okay, let me know & I'll give your e-mail address to him. Thanks. :o)