Pit Bull Freak Out? Not Me!

As I was waiting for basement workmen to come to the house, a lady in an SUV came driving by. "Have you seen a dog running loose?" 
"No, what does he look like?" 
"Brown with a white face," then tentatively, hesitantly, tearfully, "He kind of looks like a pit bull....??" She's in tears, "He's our baby!" 
"I have lots of pittie friends, no worries!!! I've worked with the bullies before. Let me get my guys in here to work, and I'll help you look for him." I even tell the Spousal Unit to keep an eye out for a lost dog. The lady gives me her name and number. She's shaking and in tears; her kid is manfully holding back his tears. About 20 minutes later, she drives by. "We found him!! He was just down the street!" Thank goD! I felt kind of good that I wasn't one of the Freak Outs when I heard the words "Pit Bull...."

Brief Joyous Euphoria

Wednesday August 6th, my sibs and Spousal Unit met with the first oncology doctor, Dr K.  He's like a high functioning Asperger's person.  He was thorough, kind in a weird way and answered all my questions.

The great news (if great news can be had from the word "cancer") is it's NOT in my blood, it's not in my bone marrow, it's just (just??) Stage 2A lymphoma.  Highly treatable, high remission rate.  It's kind of just in my neck mostly.  They're prescribing chemo AND radiation (eeeuuuu to both). When he said where it wasn't, it was as though someone had let the air out of a balloon!  Phew!!  

What's fascinating to me is how people have heard this and say, "Oh, OK, you've got this; it's not that bad, you won't need that much help."  Etc.  Yeah, I will.  We'll see who shows up to the party, won't we?  Also interesting are reactions from old friends saying DON'T DO THAT SHIT, IT'S GOING TO KILL YOU!  IT'S GOING TO COME BACK AND BITE YOU IN THE ASS!  Now these people are admittedly freaking me out more than I can comprehend now because they have pretty decent powers.  I know they care and I know they've been through this before me.  I get that.  But can't you express this concern in a not-so vehement way.  I can unFriend those folks and for a few I've done just that.  Friends who also think "outside the box" metaphysically (so to speak) are saying more reassuring things.  I think I need a fair amount of protection and it's going to have to come from ME!  The Spousal Unit has too much on his plate to help.

Dragon's Blood #1 Etc. Etc. Etc. (3 Days Full of Fun & Games)

August 20th, 2014.

Dragon Blood #1 over and done.  I never have to go through the Big Unknown ever again. (Thanks Heather L. for that insight.)  It may be different but not how they do stuff.  It was strange and somewhat scary and surreal. My nurse was Kelly.  She was nice but never commented on the Grinch or my blanket.  The end nurse was Katie.  (She did comment on the Grinch!) Al was the volunteer, he seemed nice.

They stick you in a room by yourself.  I'm assuming this is so if it all goes south in a hurry you're not freaking other people out.  They "accessed my port" (stuck a needle in the damn wiggly thing), take blood (vampires) and give you shit for nausea.  Then you wait.  Then they give you prednisone and benadryl.  Which make you thirsty and dry as all get out.
The CHO (of the RCHOP) part begins.  I didn't feel any different.  They wait and watch you like a hawk. Nurse Kelly did say something about poison and I put the kibosh on that right away!

It's Dragon Blood~can be hard and challenging BUT, I'll be better, faster, stronger, more resilient when this is done.

"It's Dragon's Blood. It's RED!"  This is also the stuff that will (most likely) make me hair fall out.  That's ok.  I'm OK with that.  I have to be, honestly.  The damn stuff grows back.  Always has!

Then the R (Rituxan) shit is injected.  The part I was the most worried about.  It wasn't a walk in the park by any stretch but it could have been so much worse.  I flushed, itched some and kept them abreast as to how I felt.  I remember watching the count-down as that takes a long time, about 2-3 hours for the slow drip-drip.

I was really glad that my sister and Deb L. were there for part of this event. Even though my poor sister, who does NOT like closed in rooms at all, was pacing like a caged animal. I felt terrible for her.  Deb, of course, made fun of me.  But they were both dears to be there.

I had my Nulasta shot Tuesday. A prick in the arm.  I guess it's better than a prick in the arse.

Nulasta.  Why does that sound like it should be a condom?  "Nulasta...it'll last-ya all night long!" Or how about a name for pantihose?  Who thinks up this shit?

Afterwards, my sister took me to Moe's Restaurant in the Falls.  It was strange finding a dip I liked for my yummy potato puffs.   I kept switching.  Are my taste buds changing already??

All along I'm drinking water like it's my job!  Glug, glug, gulp!!

Earlier this morning (Tuesday August 21st) my brother's house I had breakfast on the veranda.....Yogurt, berries on some weird bran cereal with flux seed or oil in it, mango & aloe vera juice.  This is not my usual fare!

~~~~~~~~~~~

This was my view, which is pretty damn nice......

Not bad at all.  Que serene!!!

Wednesday was NOT a day I'd like repeated.  Marty had another damn arrhythmia episode at work and ended up at Ahuja Medical Center in the afternoon.  I didn't have my damn phone at my (basically useless) Wigs and Browns class.  When I came home the phone was off the hook ringing.  It was Marty at the ER.  Thank God for Al & Terry, who came BACK and picked me up.  Thank God for Laurie and Christ ScubaCook who came with pizza for poor Marty.  Otherwise, he wouldn't have had anything to eat at all.  

Doctor?  Patient?  Silliness?  

We waited for his room for SEVEN fkg hours.  Needless to say, I (like Queen Victoria) was NOT amused!  I had to wear a damn mask the whole time which makes me feel six shades of weird.  I felt so bad for my darling spousal unit, waiting in the stupid bed for another stupid bed.  Hopefully, that bed was more comfortable.  

It's Thursday, August 23rd.  It's a new day, another day, a better day.  God willing and the creek don't rise.  

(Yes Laurie, I said Crick not Creek.)

Wigs & Browns....Meh....

Well, Wigs and Brows "class" was a lovely idea BUT not all that and bag of chips.  Did meet a very nice lady, Sheila, an esthetician by trade at the "class."  She was very cool!  Otherwise, it was basically an advertisement to Wigs and Things, which is a very well stocked store and the people are very nice there.  But talk about sticker shock!!!????  A low-end wig for $179??  I am pretty sure my insurance covers one hairpiece but I could probably get about 3-4 wigs for that price.

Yeeee-ouch!

The higher-end micro-filament wigs (which are very nice) were (gasp) $379 and up. I discovered that light brown-red and reds look good on me, not the darker browns.  I think I could rock Reba Red!!

I did learn some rocking ways to tie a scarf thought.

I'm looking forward to the ACS "Look Good Feel Better" class. Hoping that's a bit more comprehensive and robust.  This one was disappointing.

Pre-Emptive Hair Strike

I hate cell phone selfies, just saying.....no matter what you do, you look like a friggin' chipmunk!

After talking to Linda Panda (my Utah Support System), and thinking about my hair....I decided to do a pre-emptive Hair Strike and get my hair cut short. I don't like myself with short hair.  Frankly I think it makes me face look chubby and harsh and you see (da-da-da-DUM!) The Jowls.  (Boo!)

If I keep my hair, it grows quickly.  If I lose it....it won't be quite as shocking! Even though I'm ok with the hair thing (not the eyebrows or eyelashes thing; that's a bit freaky, to be honest), I feel a bit more in control.  If you know what I mean.  I like me in longer hair but this will do.

Untethered

No land speed records. Average 8mph. 

No long distance.1.75 miles. 

No hills conquered. 

And it made me a bit tired so I'll rest now. 

But oh it felt nice to be untethered for a brief time.

Too Darn Hot

Holy Hot Flashes Batman, the refrigerator looks REALLY awesome at times.....

"Oh, if you were just big enough for a lounge chair, a bar, a TV set and a computer..."

I had such a bad one earlier that one of my band-aids from the port placement flew off my neck!  I mean melted like a Dali painting and THEN flew in desperation!

I look at that box of HRT patches with tearful longing, "I miss you guys, you kept my body temp normal and toned down my moodiness."

Can't decide which hurts more: my butt (from bone marrow), my chest top (from the port thingie) or where the ENT tried to extract stuff from my neck.

And nobody told me I'd be wearing a bra 24/7.  Hey, port radiology peeps, nobody told me I'd need that kind of support....