I Need A Vacation!

I’ve only been off work for five and a half months; I need a vacation. You see, I’d rather be working than going through what I’m going through.

I decided to take a long hot bath this afternoon. My neuropathy is less intense today, but I found out that my feet really were cold; they just didn’t feel cold. So I wanted to soak them in the hot water.

I climbed into the tub, looked around, and realized that I was whiter than the tub! Except for a few moles, scars, and other pigmentation, I’m very white. Even the purple veins in my feet have gone away. I’m almost an albino! So I figure a couple weeks soaking up some Vitamin D in the sun in Florida might just be the thing I need.

I only have eight more days of radiation, and two weeks of chemo that I know of, then I’m assuming a PET scan (I know, I know), and then I just need to regain my strength before returning to work.

I pretty much stayed in bed today. I kept up my “riding the recliner” routine, so I feel pretty well, not quite so fatigued. I get fatigued quick if I move around too much, so I don’t move around much.

Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!

"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith

It Has To Be Hard…

…on my son, Ben. He gets to get up in the morning, see me feeling crappy and very fatigued, watches me leave driving myself to Radiation Therapy, and then goes to work himself, not knowing if I made it home, or if I did make it home, how I survived the day. He has to wait until he gets home to see if I survived my fatigue.

And considering I’m not in the best of moods lately, being fatigued, I haven’t played much with Mousebane, which has to bother Ben as well. M-b wants attention and I’m inconsiderate enough that I’m focusing on myself and trying to feel better, and don’t pay as much attention to him.

It’s gotta be hard.

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Speaking of feeling better, I haven’t heard back from the doctor on why I felt as good as I did on Monday and Tuesday. Or about my supplements. Maybe Monday.

And yes, I do have appointments scheduled for Monday. They kept me kinda late on Monday and the front desk folks were gone. Good thing they have computers to cover for their lack of attention to detail!!

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Speaking of foul moods, this week it apparently waited until the end of the week instead of happening right away. I’ve had several situations while driving that haven’t helped my mood. And they weren’t my fault.

Yesterday, I had one idio—oops, starting to sound like kd—one mentally-challenged driver turn left in front of me from the RIGHT lane. I had to lock ‘em up in the middle of the intersection, but I missed them quite nicely, thank you! I always expect the unexpected from the other driver. I watch to see how competently they drive and adjust my driving accordingly. I was waiting for something like this to happen from this driver. I wasn’t disappointed.

Then today, I was entering the highway on one of those entrance ramps that turns into a lane which then exits right away. I was ahead of the driver in the next lane and signaled my intentions to get out of the exiting lane and into their lane. She sped up. I was already doing the speed limit, which is 65, and she speeds up.

I’m running out of highway, she had no one along side of her, while I had folks behind me, and SHE SPEEDS UP to get in front of me! I was doing 80 before I finally got to pull in front of her.

THEN, when I went to make the turn into my drive, there was a bunch of traffic. It happens when you live on one of the main streets. So, some old guy thought he’d be nice and let me turn in front of him. The only problem was, there were folks behind him, wondering why he was stopping with no one in front of him, and preparing to drive around him in the other lane.

Had he not stopped, I would have been able to make it across the two lanes of traffic right behind him. But he slowed down and stopped, allowing the rest of the traffic to catch up with him.

This is how people get killed. He wants to be a nice guy and changes the rules of the road. No one else knows what the heck he is doing. Well, almost no one. With his SUV, only another one, like me, can see behind or around him to know that there is traffic coming up on the other side of him in “my” blind spot. And he didn’t think to check. Someone who is used to doing what someone else tells them to do would start to make the turn, only to get hit in the side.

Just follow the rules of the road folks, and we’ll all live a lot longer! And I won’t be in such a foul mood.

Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!

"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith

I’m So Sorry

I don’t have a lot to say tonight. This is what, week 4 of Radiation Therapy, and week 4 of the altered chemotherapy. The fatigue is getting worse. The peripheral neuropathy is making my feet and hands feel like they’re cold, but I guess I’m getting used to it.

I emailed the chemo oncologist. I actually felt pretty good after chemo and most of the next day. I wanted to know what had been done differently so we could duplicate it. I suspect that it might have been the shot of Atavan that they gave me. I felt less fatigue and was much more motivated. Had the feeling lasted through Tuesday, I might have actually done something to get a little exercise and to get some projects done. As it is, I feel like doing absolutely nothing.

I also asked if I could take a couple of new supplements.

I talked with one of the nurses when I went for radiation, but got no answers. I’ll have to let you know if I ever get an answer.

And I just realized that I don’t have an appointment set up for chemo next week. Gotta go!

Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!

"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith

Let’s Just See

Things are just getting interesting. Tuesday started out pretty good. I still have to find out what went right. But last night wasn’t much fun. It seems that my stomach is getting sensitive again. Not really pain, but more like muscle spasms.

Couple that with the gas from the chemo killing off the intestinal flora and fauna and the resulting pressure in the stomach makes for an interesting night. It almost feels like heart palpitations.

I talked with the Radiation doc today. He said that there shouldn’t be any particular problems, but since everyone is different, what I’m experiencing might need to be watched. He might recommend an anti-spasmodic drug or two.

So I am kinda dragging butt today.

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Since Cuz made a request that I post a link regarding Amy’s friend, I will do so. I just can’t believe that our police forces can totally disregard human rights and dignity like they did in this case. Here’s CNN’s report on the situation.

Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!

"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith

The Day Started Well…

…but eventually went down hill.

I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel as bad after chemo yesterday. I was given Lorazepam for the first time that I know of. Reading the side effects, I don’t know that this may have been the cause of my improved condition.

As I stated, I felt pretty good; my fatigue had abated somewhat. Even the nurses commented that I looked better.

I stopped at the store to pick up a few things, and noticed that I was getting fatigued. By the time I got home, I was pretty down. I ended up riding the recliner most of the rest of the day.

I talked with Amy tonight. It seems that a quadriplegic friend of hers was arrested. When the police asked him to stand (???) so that they could frisk him, he informed them that he was unable to do so. So they dumped him on the floor! They picked up the back of the wheelchair he was in and unceremoniously DUMPED THE GUY ON THE FLOOR! WTF????

What is the police force in this country coming to?

Keep the Faith!

"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith

“Rescheduled” Must Mean Something Else…

…’cause I had chemo today. Because my White Blood Cells were down slightly, they reduced my dose a little.

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I picked up my temporary handicap-parking placard. Of course, when I got to VLCC, the handicap spots were all full. I still had to park in the general lot! You’d figure that in front of a cancer clinic they might have more than three handicap spots.

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Talked to Dr. P. today. I asked him why he had asked about my sister, Cuz. He said he was just refreshing his recollection of the visit, seeing as how Cuz and Ronny were from out-of-country.

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I also asked if Dr. P. would supervise the use of the Maruyama vaccine that is currently a CAM (Complementary & Alternative Medicine) treatment for cancer. He said that he would. He said that he has no problems with treatments that don’t cause any harm and that may actually work.

I did find it slightly funny ‘cause the anti-cancer drugs may help but they definitely can cause harm. Remember my “cold” feet, my reduced hearing, and my extreme fatigue?

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Why would the name Pedro Infante be familiar to me? I was talking with una amiga and she brought his name up. He died when I was six, long before mi amiga was born. No se! Don’t know!

I’m waiting for her to bring her almost 5-month-old hija bonita over next week so I can play with her. The baby daughter, not the mamacita! Although, if the circumstances were different…… But the little girl is sick right now, and that might not be too good for me to catch something communicable.

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I started out the day pretty tired. I had to almost lie on the counter at the DMV ‘cause I was whooped! They don’t provide stools. But after sitting around the VLCC, I did feel less tired. But I did find out that they give me something to make me “feel better.” I need to find out what that is. It’s the only thing I can think of that can account for the change. It might be useful to get a prescription if the side effects aren’t too bad.

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I still have one more hospital complaint. When they did the CT scan with the high contrast dye media, they put in an antecubital large bore IV and left it in the entire time I was in the hospital. It actually leaked while they were forcing the dye into my arm.

Reading the card I carry in my wallet for my port, I found that they could have actually used my port; it was rated for what they did. But they said “no, can’t use that!” So I asked the nurses today. “Yeah, they could have used your port.”

Doesn’t it make you wonder, just a little bit?

Kunolunkwa, y te quireo!

"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith

Monday’s Chemo Rescheduled?

OK, I was going to get up and do something before starting this, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it was.

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While updating my Pocket PC I ran out to My Aurora dot org to check my schedule since they now have my appointments back up and running online. I found out that my labs and Dr. consult are still pending, but they list my chemo as being rescheduled. I wonder if they did that after my visit Friday and just didn’t bother to tell me, figuring I’d find out about it tomorrow.

While looking for a link to show you the MyAurora site, which I decided not to, I found this job posting for St. Luke’s Hospital. I wish I had the experience for a job like this at Aurora here in Green Bay. I probably wouldn’t last long, though; people who point out the truth rarely do. It’s an occupational hazard in QA/QC; nobody likes a nagging conscience.

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I was going to go to bed early tonight because I need to get up early tomorrow. But I forgot that I slept in until quite late this AM, so I’m not that sleepy despite having taken my sleep meds. So, we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!

"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith