I've Lost 8 Pounds, Overnight!

Yes, I'm up but I'm draggin'.

Yesterday I weighed 192. One day later, I'm at 184. Who'd a figgurred?

Remember all that water I was sucking up? I guess it's not needed right now, so most of it came out last night. Up and down, all last night. I'm tired, folks!

And I think I doubled up on my overnight meds as well. That's OK, I don't think the Carafate is that big a deal and I had cut back on the Vicodin anyway. But my point is I'm going to have to figure out something, like my pill tray, to keep track of the liquid meds. Any suggestions? Something I don't have to think about too much at one AM. The meds I take at the alarms are probably OK; it's the stuff I might take "just because I'm up" that has me worried.

Well, I'm gonna go take my Vicodin--It's OK, it's my scheduled dose--and rest a little more. And push the fluids, I guess.

Hasta Luego!

Pump-less!!!!

You will never know how good it feels to get rid of that pump. Oh, the needles and the port were just fine; it was the "tethered" feeling all the time. Having to worry about where the hose was and everything that went with it.



I spoke of pictures, so I think it's time to show you. The first, actually the last photo taken, shows the implant site, with a little bruising from the needle and what's left over from the actual surgery. I hope that you can see the bump from the implant showing up. I can even feel the catheter running from the site up over the clavicle, the collarbone, and then back down into the chest. Incredible!








The next photo is the way the set up came home, the needle in the port and the dressing covering the site to reduce the chances of contamination. You can see the yellow clamp and the connector hanging down from the bandage covered needle.


Now, I don't have any pictures of the Duct Taped fun that I had the first night to try and keep things out of the way. But I do have photos of the way it eventually turned out with the surgical tape.







You can see the tubing hanging down from the needle in the center of the bandage. The tubing goes down through the yellow clamp, to the left back up to the connector, where that loop of the tubing was taped to my chest. The the tubing ran up to the hollow of the neck where it was taped to the shoulder with some cloth medical tape.



From there, the tubing ran out the top of my PJs and was attached to the pump itself, although in this photo it drops back down between the yellow clamp and my n...., my n....., can I say that word here?



All this just to get to sleep! I'll be able to turn over in bed tonight!



Oh, and just in the interest of accuracy, the tubing was six feet long; it just seemed like it was only two feet long trying to take a shower.



Grossed out, yet? Well, there are no more photos of this for you!



I have found out that drinking mineral water is a lot better than drinking the pure water for my purposes. It doesn't leave one quite as parched; something to remember. And I love mineral water anyway. I just drank the pure stuff cause it was supposed to be better for you.



I talked to one of the nurses--Ben, you remember Cate, the Irish lass--about my Carafate. It seems they want me to eat more than they want me to take that medication. So, I agreed to take it along with my pain meds in the middle of the night when I'm not eating anyway and to forgo the pleasure during the day. I'm sure I'll find out later why they want me taking it, but for right now, I'd rather eat.



Speaking of eating, I stopped at Taco Bell on the way home. The spicy chicken taco is off the menu, for now anyway. I tried the beef burrito and their new cheesy beef burrito. I couldn't eat much, it wasn't all that great, but it did go down and set pretty well on my stomach. it's not on my favorite list yet, but it's a change from Ensure, thank God!



And Amy, I promise to try your wonder yogurt tomorrow.

As for my banana smoothie this morning, I gave up and added ice cream like the recipes suggested.

I am feeling a lot better since the pump came off, but that could just be psychological. We'll see. Then I got another shot to help increase my WBC counts (white blood cells, :-) which may cause some discomfort in the larger bones where the body manufactures WBCs. I'll just have to wait and see.

I got a card from Aunt Lil today, letting me know that her prayers are with me, which I appreciated. She included an inspirational poem in her card that reminded me of one that I have liked since my college days, called Desiderata. It never hurts to be reminded of something that you believe in.

Now, most of you know that I don't often talk about my "feelings," although I have had some good discussions lately. But one portion of Desiderata has been something I've held on to for, oh, so many years when things get rough. It goes like this:

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Now, OK, I will grant I haven't gracefully surrendered the things of youth; I'm still a kid at heart. But it is great comfort to know that, whether or not it is clear to me, the universe is unfolding as it should.

Good night!

First New Post

First, I want to thank everyone who responded to my depressing posts yesterday. It was heartening to see all the email responses that I did receive. Somebody is reading these posts anyway.

I do apologize if I caused any worry; that was not my intent. I've gone through much worse without having to burden anyone else, but with my efforts to keep everyone up-to-date, I'm afraid that sometimes these days will slip through my self-censoring processes. Again, I apologize.

I'm down to 192 this AM; this eating based on my medication schedule is for the birds. I need to talk with my oncologist today, in addition to a few other people.

I'm drinking a banana smoothie this AM just to see how things go. I'd like to stay away from the ice cream as much as I can and still maintain my weight where it should be. After a while of sipping this thing, I'm not sure that my stomach is up to banana smoothies just yet. Maybe this is where the nausea issues comes in from. I'll let you know....

I'm going to go get some other things done this AM and get back to this later.

Break Time, sorry!

Although I slept in until almost 9:00AM, I'm up.

I read and responded to my emails, but haven't gotten around to posting here yet. So, while I'm taking a break from mowing the lawn, I thought that I'd let you know that I'm still around.

I'll update this more this afternoon. OK?

I'm sorry. Today, I'm in a really depressed mood; too many drugs, too many constraints because of the drugs, and hey, just plain feeling crappy to do much posting.

I've been out to get a few things; more drugs, for one. Stopped at Wendy's to get a salad and a Frosty. My taste buds are going; the salad and the Frosty both taste like they're off somehow. At least the raisin pudding tasted pretty much as I remembered it this morning. Thanks, Julie! At the rate I eat though, it'll take me a month to finish all that. Want some?

I guess I'm going to grab a movie and zone out for a while; see if things don't change for me. It's gotta be the chemo-.

And so many things I could comment on, too....

Hasta mañana!

Wednesday Night

Well, I didn’t get the lawn mowed. Didn’t feel up to it; maybe tomorrow I’ll feel stronger. I may sleep better tonight.

So, how do you get ready for bed with a two foot piece of tubing hooked up to a needle in your skin on one end and a portable pump on the other? Being a man, you know my method had to include duct tape from the Men’s Mall, Fleet Farm!

All my medical tape was so-o-o old; it wouldn’t even stick to hair, or even to bare skin for that matter. So I ran out to the garage and made do with duct tape. I ran the tubing out the neck hole of my PJs and placed the pump at the head of the bed under the pillows. It seemed to work last night.

Now, try to shower with the same set-up. Two feet—OK maybe a little more, I’ll measure it tonight—is hardly enough tubing to shower with. The pump is water-resistant, not waterproof like my watch. So the pump has to get hung outside the shower curtain while I try to keep the water off the injection site, again “water-resistant” although not as resistant as the pump.

Now try and juggle all this, wash your hair while you still have hair to wash, and still wash legs and feet and all those other parts in between. And I’m still fairly flexible. Imagine being older and not able to reach and stretch, etc.

Should I have placed a “spew-alert” on that description above? Only your responses will tell.

But I did buy some regular medical tape today and I’ll try to shave a little around where I need to tape.

Let’s talk symptoms; I started to yesterday.

The first big one was the dry mouth condition from the Cisplatin. I literally require a water bottle with me at all times to keep my mouth hydrated. (Robin, there will be NO worries about drooling showing up on the web cam, much less anything else!) I’m starting to think I might need a syringe at the bedside to get water into my mouth just to be able to open it to sip in the morning.

I just talked to a UnitedHealthCare nurse, part of the company benefits, about the dry mouth. She made several suggestions, rinsing often with salt water, holding water in my mouth to rehydrate the tissue, etc. Seems to help somewhat.

In my quest to relieve the dry mouth condition, I tried to drink some ginger ale today, which brought up another side effect, hiccups, apparently from the Aprepitant, one of the anti-nausea drugs. Two sips and I started ten minutes of hiccups. Two weeks ago this would have killed me. It’s still disconcerting, probably from the recent past history. So, despite the side effect, something has changed due to the pain meds or the anti-cancer meds, already, that allows me to survive the hiccups. Hey, I’m looking for the good news, too!

Speaking of good news, I’ve cut back on the Vicodin already. Monday night, I had my schedule increased considerably; Wednesday I’ve cut back by half from the Monday night /Tuesday levels.

More good news, I haven’t experienced any nausea side effects yet. But then I still have my hair, too. I always get a giggle when one of the side effects of anti-nausea medications is NAUSEA! Only in America!

It turns out that the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center at the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, just happens to be an In-Network Facility for my health insurance. Amy let me know about this hospital, one of the 10 best in the nation, shortly after I was diagnosed. Guess who lives in Tampa, or at least close by?

I’m going to look at this site as a second opinion type of option for right now. I’ll keep you folks from out-of-town posted. That’s what this blog is all about.

Reviewing my last post, I mentioned my memory is slipping again. I’d like to go over the reasons for that, but not tonight.

And Amy, I’ll try one of your wonder yogurts tomorrow.

Back in my post about the name at the top of the page, my dearest daughter brings up her boyfriend’s 4-year-old son’s name for me to distinguish between my son and I: Bobble Head Ben. Does this mean that I’ll have to change the name at the top of the page to Bobble H Ben’s Blog?

Zachary was a cutey. I miss playing with him, and right now I don’t think I could even keep up with him. Despite being "under the weather" (now we know why) I did enjoy our day at Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry's, Kid's in Charge Exhibit.

OK, I'm up.

I have an appointment today with the audiologist, so I wanted to get something posted before I had to leave. I could almost use a secretary to schedule all my events for me.

I'm 194 pounds today. That's up from a low of 177, so the ice cream must be helping. :-) But I really don't believe that I'm eating all that much to account for the weight gain. Personally, I'm not looking to gain weight, just to gain weight. I'd like to maintain my current weight; I just want to transfer those junk calories into healthy calories.

BP is high normal so the chemo hasn't started kicking my bp's butt yet.

Dry mouth is not quite so dry, but I'll still look into the slippery elm lozenges. Thanks for the heads up, Cuz.

Now, the "changes" in therapy. I don't know what to say. I had an email last night addressing this issue as well which I will reproduce my response here, in part:

You're confused? I'M CONFUSED!

I understand that there are all these options that may be taken given ideal circumstances. As more info is gathered, "things change!" Plans have to be revised, etc. Factor in a "fill-in doctor," apparently he's here from the Twin Cities, filling in for six weeks or so, and apparently he's mine for now. So all I can say is what I'm hearing for right now. Add in the fact that when this doctor bounces out of the room to check on something, comes back in, then bounces out again, back in again, then out......and never comes back, it's hard to get answers to questions that way.

I have to go back in for some lab work and a consultation on the 21rst. Maybe by then I'll have my list of questions, and he'll have a better understanding of what is going on. This was his second day in-house.

Then again, it may have something to do with the fact that they believe that I can't be cured, and my HealthCare Power of Attorney isn't looking for "heroic efforts," although I wouldn't consider such surgery "heroic efforts."

Hope that this helps. And if you have any questions that you would like answers to, let me know and I'll make special efforts to get answers for you.

For example, I still don't "know" my schedule, or gameplan, for my chemotherapy. Not well enough that I can take it to work to schedule my work there, barring unforseen complications due to "side-effects." I do know that October 3 I go back for another round of Chemo, October 8 to get the pump removed after it's 5-day run, and then I should go back for a PET scan shortly thereafter. I see I have an appointment for October 10 with the GI department, but don't really know what that is unless it's the GI Dept. follow-up. Too many bosses.... But, that's all I know; maybe that's all they know. They will play it by ear.

And, as I said somewhere, I started the day yesterday scheduled for only one drug for chemo and ended up with all three.

Well, I need to get going. Gotta have my ice cream and cookies to get my meds down, then run out to get some healthier choices in the house, look up some slippery elm, etc. Then come home, finish loading up my scheduler, research slippery elm and the drugs I'm on (they warn against a lot of herbal remedies) and I want to start a post about the side-effects I'm having to keep things in focus for me (my memory isn't working as well as I'd like) and to keep you guys up-to-date. You might see something I didn't think of.

As Ronny says:

TTFN

After Action Report

I suppose that I really should say something tonight. The lack of sleep the last couple of nights is catching up with me, as well as initial side-effects, I'm guessing.

I got home about 4:00 PM. Nancy had called while I was on my way home, so she and I talked for a while before she had to run off to her doctor. Then Ben called for a SitRep. Then I sat down for a quick nap that ran longer than I thought it would.

According to my latest oncologist, I've seen three so far, surgery is off the table. So, if you were planning to come to the party at my place, I guess I won't be out-of-town that date! And what is even stranger, it sounds like radiation therapy is back on the table!

Of course, this guy started out telling me that he was only going to administer one chemical. After talking with me, he bumps that up to two chemicals. And when he leaves to add that chemical to the orders, he comes back to tell me that he will add the third chemical to the mix; the chemical that requires me to wear a pump for five days. However, this first time around, I'll only have it for four days; Tuesday through Friday. I get only 2 mLs per hour from this bad boy!

These are the drugs being used to treat my cancer; Docetaxel, Cisplatin, and Fluorouracil. That last bad boy there is the guy that's being administered here at home via the Curlin Medical 4000 CMS. There were several more drugs administered IV which I don't have info on to try to prevent nausea . I did have to pick one up at their pharmacy for the same purpose called Aprepitant. I sure hope they work because I haven't vomited since maybe grade-school and am not looking forward to trying to push stomach contents up through a stomach tumor.

My doctor du jour got on my good side right away when I explained my problems with eating by using this morning's example: solid food sandwich gave problems so I resorted to ice cream and cookies. His response was a laugh and this comment, "Ice cream can be your best friend now!" I bring this up because of the good natured teasing I've been getting from my daughter concerning my food choices lately.

I also had a Nutrition Services consult while undergoing chemo. For folks in my condition, they recommend High Calorie and High Protein Beverages and Shakes, heavy on the milk, yogurt, ice cream, and tofu. Some of these are similar to potions I have used in the past so I will be trying some of them.

My first real challenge to overcome is one of the first side-effects to crop up, dry mouth. Despite all the liquids they were pumping into me today my body has lost the ability to make saliva. I've tried the hard candies, both regular and sugar-free and they don't seem to help. They just gum up the mouth, and I still have to drink water to be able to swallow. Any suggestions?

I have a hearing test scheduled for tomorrow. When I come back, I plan on mowing the lawn. We'll see how that goes.

Well I have nothing more right now, I'm fading fast. I may remember more after I figure out how to sleep with a needle attached to a tube attached to a pump stuck in me.

Hasta manana! I'm just going to have to figure out how to get the accents over the letters for my Spanish words. It's driving me crazy to see misspelled words.

Remember 9/11, I know I'm going to!

My horoscope for today: "Positive results may slow in coming in your life right now, but other people are getting behind you more and more. Your personal cheerleader squad is growing, so your spirits will be shiny and bright. Your ambition is also starting to burn a little brighter, but you should resist taking on any more challenging projects right now. Instead, just pick the path of least resistance and wait for everyone else to get on the same page as you. It won't take too long."

So, I'd like to give a big shout out to my cheerleader squad! I'm glad that you're there for me!

And "positive results" are slow in coming right now. I hadn't been feeling well the last couple of days; I couldn't seem to eat. But I've been there before, but I still don't have a "feel" to predict what's going on. It still seems like business as usual.

Yesterday I started taking the Dexamethasone with food; no idea how that will make me feel over the long term. On Sunday, I also finished my initial bottles of Carafate and Vicodin and started new ones.

I had trouble getting to sleep, if I ever did, Sunday night. The same last night, but with a big, big, difference. So why was I feeling so crappy?

Sometimes these feelings can be associated with food, like the hot and spicy Chinese food I had a few days back. Which is why I didn't try Julie's rice pudding just yet. I wanted to be in good shape before I give it a try. So, rest easy Julie, it wasn't your pudding. And I like rice pudding. I remember getting a great recipe for rice pudding from one of Cuz's friends, Shirley, I met in Nashville when I visited there during my recuperation from my gall bladder surgery back in '88. So, I really am looking forward to trying yours! I just want to give it a fair shake.

Back to last night, I was feeling so bad, I couldn't lay down with out pain in my stomach/ diaphragm area. No matter which way I tried to lay, it hurt. I took a melatonin to try and get to sleep, but it didn't work. So, after trying to get comfortable and get to sleep for several hours, I finally broke down and called for help. I got to talk to the oncologist on call and requested some advice.

I told him how, my stomach was hurting at 6:00 PM when I took my Vicodin. But it seemed like the dose was nothing but water; there was no reduction in pain at all. I was still on the 15 mLs every six hours. So, I requested upping my doses to 15 mLs every four hours. At least until this AM when I can talk to the doctor in the office.

He suggested that I "double up," that I change to 30 mLs every four hours. By this time it was already 10:00 PM, so I changed to a new bottle of Vicodin, and took the increased dosage. Within ten minutes most of the pain had diminished considerably. There still was some pain, but at least I could get to sleep!!!!!

There still is some pain this AM, and I'm kinda shaky, but I think I'll make it through today. I found out that since I'll be on the pump at the clinic today for 5 -6 hours, I may even get some sleep at the clinic, then. :-D

Since I'll be there so long, I have to actually pack a lunch along with my meds, so I can continue my dosing while away from home. So, I'm taking my briefcase along with my lunch box so I can write up all my insurance paperwork. I'll also be working on Nettie's chart along with the help of a couple of nurses.

Well, it appears that solid food, a breakfast sandwich, won't work this AM, so sorry Amy, it's back to some ice cream and a couple of cookies in addition to my Ensure, so I can get the Dexamethasone down. I'm hoping that something like Julie's rice pudding might be able to help in situations like this. Maybe later.

Thankfully I won't have to worry about the Dexamethasone again until after I get home this afternoon.

I am hoping, and will find out more today about it, that the chemotherapy, while shrinking the tumor will also reduce the pain and discomfort associated with eating. I hope, I hope, I hope.

So, I hope things are going better for you. I heard this morning that mom's tests have turned out OK and that she's getting some relief from the Physical Therapy she's been going to. So I know there is some good news out there.

Well, that's enough for now. I'll probably post something about today's experiences later today.

Hasta luego!

OK, I did screw up.

Since this was my first treatment, apparently the Dexamethasone is important to have in my system. Had it been a second, or later treatment, it wouldn't be as critical. So everything has backed off one day.

I can't believe that I forgot the darn pills; they were sitting out on the dresser. I guess I was too focused on Monday, the tenth. The day, my daughter said, I get to start fighting back. How's that for symbolism? Now this way I get to start "fighting back" on 9/11, against my very own internal terrorists.

Thanks for the visual, Amy!

Now, I think I'm gonna go back to bed for a while. I was up all night! ;-)

I've screwed up already!

I went to bed about 8:00PM last night. I read for a while trying to fall off to sleep but, for some reason, couldn't. :-) About 9:30 I turned out the light and tried harder to fall asleep. It wasn't working; too much on my mind. Then I was brought to full awareness at 11:10. I had been given medication that I was supposed to start the day before chemo and I'd completely forgotten it. I hadn't followed Nettie's advice and made up a big chart. Well that's gonna change.

So I'll call them at 7:30 when they open and see what they have to say. The medication, Dexamethasone, is meant to reduce the edema or swelling side-effects of the chemotherapy.

Just great! Maybe they'll hang a bag or two of EDTA to help improve my memory. I'll talk more about that later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My brother, Bill, and his wife, Julie, stopped by last night. Julie brought some food for when I'm able to eat again. The rice pudding might be just fine now; I'm looking forward to trying it later today. The Sausage Spaghetti Pie might be problematic, however. I've tried Beefaroni and wasn't able to eat that, but I've had the Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuit and was able to eat that. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

But thanks, Julie, for both the food and the thought.

We retired to the back yard for some conversation while Julie tried out the swing. I wish I had had my camera. Between Bill and I, we had her swinging way up there. The long arc makes the ride pretty enjoyable as well. Julie would swing by with the wind streaming her hair back looking for all the world just like a little kid! She'll be back.

My friend Teo reminds me quite often that I told him long ago that inside every old person is a young person asking the question, "What the heck happened?" When I see folks on that swing, I have to think of that question.

NAMES, Names, names.

Let's talk names since the name at the very top of this blog isn't one that you would normally expect to see.

My grandfather was born on the 23rd of the month. He was named Benjamin Lawrence. My father was also born on the 23rd. He was named Benjamin Beryl. He was not a junior! The name was completely different than his father's name

Then I came along on the 19th of the same month. Of course, my mother had slipped and fallen several days earlier getting water from their outdoor water pump which might account for why I was early.

But, as it turns out, I'm the only one in my immediate family born under my astrological sign. Both my father and grandfather are in the next sign over, as is my son, both my living sisters (one sister who died as a baby had a birthday seven months later), and my brother. No wonder why I feel like an outcast sometimes.

Now, according to stories told to me by my mother, my father didn't much care for being named after his father; he wasn't a junior, and yet he got called that a lot. As I recall, he didn't much like the diminutive, Benny, that everyone called him to distinguish him from his father. So when they named me, they wanted a name that had no nicknames. So, they named me after a friend of the family whose name wasn't supposed to have any nicknames. I believe that I have even met the guy many years ago.

But when it came to nicknames, boy, were they wrong. Big time! And I hated most of the nicknames I was called. I find it interesting that I have very little to no contact with anyone who remembers those nicknames. I wonder sometimes if that is intentional.

Bob and Tom had a female comedienne (am I repeating myself, there?) on the show who was going to have a baby. She had a friend who gave her advise on naming the child. His theory was that any name that he could make up a nickname for wasn't what she should name her child. He made up some terrible nicknames, but most weren't as bad as what I was called.

I've always thought it interesting that in French and Spanish, instead of saying, "My name is..." they say, "I call myself..." Only in English do we place that much importance on the moniker that our parents, or the state, bestows upon us.

I always liked the Indian tradition of giving baby names, and then having the child go on a name quest to determine their own adult name.

I also find it interesting that within my circle of siblings, three of the four have changed at least the spelling of their names.

Now, there was one "legitimate" nickname that I still answer to. But over the years, I've dated women who didn't like my name or my "legitimate" nicknames, so they called me by my middle name. And I liked it. This happened often enough that when I moved back to Wisconsin, I dropped all of my first name but the first initial and started using my middle name exclusively.

Whenever I get a call, I can tell the period of time in my life when I knew the person who is calling.

But there's a fly in the ointment.

Most people figure that I started using my first initial and middle name to drive computers and computer programmers crazy. Most systems aren't set up to handle J. Edgar Hoover; at best he becomes J E Hoover.

When my company has to deal with insurance companies and the like, interesting things happen. My insurance contract started out for Benjamin H. When I called the error to the attention of my HR contact, my name then got changed to Benjamin B (my father's name, BTW). Finally, I became H B which is as close to reality as the computer can get. Isn't that scary? If you don't fit into some programmer's vision of reality, you don't exist.

But that's not the fly I'm referring to.

Back when I was still using a nickname, my son was born on the 22nd of the same month as his great-grandfather, his grandfather, and his father. It seemed only natural that he be named after both his grandfathers, Benjamin and John, IE. Benjamin John. No junior! There was no way in hell I was going to saddle him with my first name. So he had a completely different name than all three of the preceding generations of sires.

But what do we call him, now? We're back to the same question that drove my father to do what he did. Will the outcomes remain the same?

Now, I have to apologize to my son. I really didn't give too much thought to how my using my middle name would affect him. My daughter gave me some grief about it, but my son keeps his own council. I still don't know how he feels about it. And I apologize for that.

I explained the name situation to one of my doctors recently when Ben was there. The doctor thought the situation was unique and wondered what there was going on nine months earlier to trigger four generations being born within four days of one another. But other than that, not a big deal.

And part of my point in the whole matter is that, as individuals, we are unique, each and every one of us. No matter what the name, no matter what order the initial is in. I get incensed when someone suggests that we have to fit a specific mold.

I've gone on scuba excursions with Ben and his friends. We simply told them to call one of us Benjamin and the other Ben. It worked out pretty well.

And it's not as if we won't look to see who the person is talking to when they call "Hey, Ben!" I find myself still turning when I hear a child calling for "Daddy!" Some habits are very hard to break.

So, in response to Cuz's comment about "Ben Jr.," let's not go there because he isn't a junior. How about just calling me H. Ben and calling my son Benjamin John, or maybe Benjamin J., or even Ben J if you can't type that much? Or maybe Ben, the younger as opposed to Ben, the elder. We'll get the idea without having to resort to "Junior."

Anyway, I hope that clears up any confusion about my family and the names we use.

Sunday, September 9

Well, well, well. The day before chemotherapy starts. I hate waiting around for anything, much less something as momentous as chemotherapy.

The port seems to be doing well. I've cleaned and re-bandaged it several times now. But still it itches. It is as if someone had taken the clear plastic bandage off both sites and then replaced the bandages. But, when they took the clear plastic bandage off, however, they scratched me with their fingernail. And the fingernail scratch itches. It's right at the corner of both bandages and it looks for all the world like a scratch, like someone had trouble getting the bandage loose from the skin. I know how that can be, because I've had to do it several times myself.

But it still itches. Otherwise I wouldn't hardly notice it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My party went well. Good food, good drinks, and good company. We had lots of fun, except for when I had to go and spoil the mood by telling my friends what was going on with me. But we recovered.

The girls loved the swing and the hammock. Angelina got quite a bit of attention in the swing. She's older, and let's see, how do I say this, she's not quite so light, she has more inertia, more momentum, so we were able to push her higher without risking having her fall out of the swing.





That's Angelina on the right. Look at how high we got her!>>>>>






Natalie, again on the right, however, was just too light to push very high at all. And, being younger, there was more of a concern about her staying in the seat.

Natalie loved the hammock on the other hand. She could climb in and out and totally hide in it. She would just disappear.







BTW, aren't they lovely little girls. *sigh* The gentleman in the swing is their "papi," my friend, Teofilo!







I'm glad I put the swing up. So many people have had so much fun in that swing. My thanks to my daughter for getting it for me.

I did notice that even Amelia got into the swing after I put the camera down and was involved in a discussion with Teo. I'm going to have to keep an eye on her next time.

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I've spent the morning cleaning up the basement. I'm ready for a nap. But I did want to post this before Noon, at least! Just made it!

Until later....



Edited 9/9/07 7:30 PM Added photos and minor comments.