Yes! Yesterday was my last day of Chemo, so to speak. I am wearing the fanny pack full of chemo until tomorrow afternoon. So technically speaking tomorrow afternoon will make it official with this last bag.. My sweet and wonderful kids were so excited and happy for me that they sent the balloons and the fun shirt which I showed off all day yesterday. :) The Dr. and nurses loved it! I actually had been feeling a little depressed knowing I still have the chemo cycle for a couple of weeks with accumulating side effects. They really lifted my spirits!!!!! I have a Pet Scan in a couple of weeks and then I will consult with doctors whether or not I will have surgery so we will see what is in the summer future. Don't mistake me I truly am grateful this is the end! Hooray! I have such a wonderful family! I love you all so much!!!!! Thank you all!!!!!! And God bless Adrienne as
she goes through her struggles!
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Count Your Blessings
My cancer antigen numbers stayed the same this time. Although that is a little disappointing the nurse confirmed that those are really good numbers anyway. It is when the number goes up twice that you need to worry. Everyone has cancer cells in them. (Disturbing, I know) so we don't really know what my numbers were before it really started to grow. We will take the good news.
I feel a little badly about posting all my side effects when I know that
there are so many people out there suffering from so many different things. One of my daughters is so sick and in the hospital for the fourth time, as we speak, due to her second pregnancy. It breaks my heart. I think she feels much worse than I do. At least I can eat whether I can taste it or not. She has taught me though that we don't compare. We don't compare green grass to green grass and so we don't compare brown grass to brown grass either. Food for thought. I have another daughter whose entire family has had and is finally recovering from whooping cough and a son and family who had a nightmare vacation to Illinois including hitting a deer, totaling their van all while they had the stomach flu. I have another daughter who has so far escaped the McNeil curse of 2015. :):):) We all have our issues, yes, some more serious than others but we all have our own adversity. We all have to make it through our own troubles. And we all have them, or at least will at sometime in our lives. I think it might have been Neal A Maxwell who pointed out that some may not have adversity at the time so that they can be of service to those who do. Oh how I have been the recipient of so much love and service. I guess the point is to count our blessings and be so grateful for what we have regardless of our troubles. The blessings usually outweigh the troubles.
I feel a little badly about posting all my side effects when I know that
there are so many people out there suffering from so many different things. One of my daughters is so sick and in the hospital for the fourth time, as we speak, due to her second pregnancy. It breaks my heart. I think she feels much worse than I do. At least I can eat whether I can taste it or not. She has taught me though that we don't compare. We don't compare green grass to green grass and so we don't compare brown grass to brown grass either. Food for thought. I have another daughter whose entire family has had and is finally recovering from whooping cough and a son and family who had a nightmare vacation to Illinois including hitting a deer, totaling their van all while they had the stomach flu. I have another daughter who has so far escaped the McNeil curse of 2015. :):):) We all have our issues, yes, some more serious than others but we all have our own adversity. We all have to make it through our own troubles. And we all have them, or at least will at sometime in our lives. I think it might have been Neal A Maxwell who pointed out that some may not have adversity at the time so that they can be of service to those who do. Oh how I have been the recipient of so much love and service. I guess the point is to count our blessings and be so grateful for what we have regardless of our troubles. The blessings usually outweigh the troubles.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Am I complanin' or explainin'?
Side Effects
I never thought I'd have a "comb over" :) I am very close and maybe it is already there and I just can't admit it. :) I am more like a little old man than I knew. :):) I have one eye of eyelashes that is long and nice and one eye that is about 1/8th of an inch long and curly. What is up with that? It is very attractive. :) Sometimes I have sticky stuff leak from my eyes. My toes feel like hobbit toes (I assume their toes feel fat, spongy, and stingy-like :):)). (Thank you chemo induced neuropathy.) Reaching in the fridge or freezer often requires gloves since effects of the sensation of cold is seriously heightened. It is hard to explain really how my hands and mouth and tongue feel. Sort of like my feet only not quite as hobbit-like I guess. I lose my balance a lot but the Dr. says I just need more hydration to fix that. Places on my skin have turned grey. The Vietnamese girl who gave me a pedicure this week tried to scrub the discoloration off the bottom of my feet, thinking it was dirt ground in. Luckily she spoke enough English so I could explain. I have the discoloration even on parts of my face. Age spots are part of the fun as well. Thank goodness for make-up. My sense of taste is distorted much of the time or I can't really taste at all. The nurse promised me the sense of taste issue is one side effect that will eventually permanently go away. Others might as well. Some of these things start to remedy themselves as the second non chemo week rolls around. Even the extreme fatigue lightens up a bit a few days before the next treatment. I have been so blessed I suppose I should not be comp...., I mean explainin' so much. :) I only have one more chemo after today and then I can start to heal from these things.
I think I need a good bike ride after that. :):)
I never thought I'd have a "comb over" :) I am very close and maybe it is already there and I just can't admit it. :) I am more like a little old man than I knew. :):) I have one eye of eyelashes that is long and nice and one eye that is about 1/8th of an inch long and curly. What is up with that? It is very attractive. :) Sometimes I have sticky stuff leak from my eyes. My toes feel like hobbit toes (I assume their toes feel fat, spongy, and stingy-like :):)). (Thank you chemo induced neuropathy.) Reaching in the fridge or freezer often requires gloves since effects of the sensation of cold is seriously heightened. It is hard to explain really how my hands and mouth and tongue feel. Sort of like my feet only not quite as hobbit-like I guess. I lose my balance a lot but the Dr. says I just need more hydration to fix that. Places on my skin have turned grey. The Vietnamese girl who gave me a pedicure this week tried to scrub the discoloration off the bottom of my feet, thinking it was dirt ground in. Luckily she spoke enough English so I could explain. I have the discoloration even on parts of my face. Age spots are part of the fun as well. Thank goodness for make-up. My sense of taste is distorted much of the time or I can't really taste at all. The nurse promised me the sense of taste issue is one side effect that will eventually permanently go away. Others might as well. Some of these things start to remedy themselves as the second non chemo week rolls around. Even the extreme fatigue lightens up a bit a few days before the next treatment. I have been so blessed I suppose I should not be comp...., I mean explainin' so much. :) I only have one more chemo after today and then I can start to heal from these things.
I think I need a good bike ride after that. :):)
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Do Talk to Strangers
Now that we are grownups I guess we can "talk to strangers".
People from all walks of life have incredible faith. It never ceases to amaze me. Dell loves to talk to strangers. Me, not so much. He loves to tell people about my tumors, usually when I'm not around. He told a car rental lady in Minnesota and she immediately said "that's the Lord" and then she hugged him three times. People do ask to hug you when you tell them the story. He told a business owner at an upholstery shop and the man acknowledged that it is the Lord and proceeded to tell his own miraculous story. Dell told a co-worker the story and she too immediately acknowledged the Lords hand and then hugged him also. I told a lady at the health food store and she asked to hug me also and agreed the Lords hand had a part in it all. I have more faith in the human race and their faith than ever before.
I love the faith they have in God. Whoever their God is. He is the Father of us all. I am so grateful for Him and His plan for us.
People from all walks of life have incredible faith. It never ceases to amaze me. Dell loves to talk to strangers. Me, not so much. He loves to tell people about my tumors, usually when I'm not around. He told a car rental lady in Minnesota and she immediately said "that's the Lord" and then she hugged him three times. People do ask to hug you when you tell them the story. He told a business owner at an upholstery shop and the man acknowledged that it is the Lord and proceeded to tell his own miraculous story. Dell told a co-worker the story and she too immediately acknowledged the Lords hand and then hugged him also. I told a lady at the health food store and she asked to hug me also and agreed the Lords hand had a part in it all. I have more faith in the human race and their faith than ever before.
I love the faith they have in God. Whoever their God is. He is the Father of us all. I am so grateful for Him and His plan for us.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Good Times
Dell took me to Lincoln Park Zoo this morning. He pushed me around in a wheel chair. There weren't many animals out but it was just a lovely morning to be out at the side of Lake Michigan and in the city. We weren't there too long well (long enough for the City of Chicago to charge $30.. for parking) and I got very tired (even though I wasn't the one pushing the wheel chair). Anyway it was great...
Two chemo to go.... Three year old Greta prayed on her own "thank you mumsie can come back from chemo." Sweet. They all pray for me. It is such a sweet blessing.
Cancer antigen 109.
Two chemo to go.... Three year old Greta prayed on her own "thank you mumsie can come back from chemo." Sweet. They all pray for me. It is such a sweet blessing.
Cancer antigen 109.
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