From Marcus

Sherry has been very tired this week. Saturday she started to run a fever, by sunday morning it was 101.9. I insisted that we call the Cancer Center. They told her go to the ER. The Dr. there tried everything she could to keep here over night at least, but her oncologist said to release her. Also told her to wear a mask if she went anywhere. She told me to bring her back if she even looked funny. She also called on monday morning to see if all was ok. It is nice to know that the ER Dr. cared enough to follow up with her

Her Dr. called and had her come in to do some additional lab work on Monday afternoon. Her white cell count was extremely low, and red cell count had also dropped significantly. She also had lost 7 pounds in a week. They were unhappy about that, told her she must eat more so she doesn’t lose any more. They told her she isn’t to worry about her sugar levels but to take more insulin if she needs to.

God Bless, Marcus

Hi, Everybody!

Well, things didn’t go quite as planned over the last week as we’d all hoped. As Marcus said, my blood counts went down so low I was just sheerly exhausted all week. I couldn’t go anywhere besides the DR & hospital, and had been given a box of masks by the ER room to wear when I did go out. I did a lot of sleeping, and was only on here long enough to answer a few live help questions, and PMs and back to the chair I went.

I had my second treatment on Monday. And expect my hair to start falling out soon. They say the average person loses it about 18 days after 1st chemo. We will see shortly

I was going today to look at wigs, and probably get one, but the fitter isn’t in, so we changed the day to tomorrow. The insurance does pay for one, so my DiL and a good friend who is a beautician that knows wigs well, will be going with me to see what we find. I’d like something that looks natural one me. My sister got one that looks so natural on her, that some people didn’t realize she’d lost her hair when she first saw them after losing it and getting the wig. I hope I can be as lucky!

I’m having a little trouble with lymphadema (that’s excess fluid carried into the body, then normally retrieved by the lymphatic system) but it’s being a bit different than for most people. For most, it is the fluid that goes down into the arm and can’t then all be brought back up, because of the lymph nodes removed from the breast and armpit area. For me, it is building up in my upper chest and neck areas. My upper neck down, has more swelling and fluid retention than it should and while it doesn’t hurt as bad, it’s still a bit uncomfortable. Seems I always have to do things a little bit different!!!

I did come home from my chemo treatment on Monday and sleep a near comatose sleep for about 4 hours, then of course, was up half the night! I had more appts on Tuesday & Wednesday, and so was VERY tired last night. I ate a bit over a half bowl of soup, and went to bed at 5:30. I woke once to go to the bathroom, and then slept right on until 5:30 this AM. I would have hoped that meant I’d be better rested for the day, but it doesn’t seem to have helped!!! I’m just exhausted. I fixed a frozen breakfast for lunch, and am drinking a nice bottle of green tea. Krogers had it on sale the last two weeks, and green tea is supposed to be good for several reasons, so since it tastes good, and is diet sweetened, it’s a good thing for me.

I got a printer from a very wonderful gal on our bookswapping site that said it was just an extra she had sitting in the garage and she had only used it a very little, so I was welcome to it! How delightful to print my pages in color. I had scrunched the inspirational “You are Blessed” page I sent you a week or so ago, into 2 pages, but it just didn’t look very nice in B&W only. So, it was one of the first things I printed. Oh, my how it sparks up the book.

At my chemo session this week, I met with all my support people, and they each had things for me. The research nurse talked about my blood counts and said she would probably see if the DR wanted to have me come in for a mid session blood workup, since I had dropped so low. But that my counts were up enough that I didn’t have to have any blood units to be able to get my treatment.

The nutritionist and naturapathic, both had some good recipes for me, including an immune system soup recipe & several smoothies to add some protein powder to. The naturaphathic also recommended an amino acid that should give my digestive system a boost, and I do believe it is helping, tho I do have some constipation from the treatment, I think once that gets cleared, this will hopefully get my IBS under control. I haven’t felt any episodes from it since I started taking it on Monday, and that’s good, I usually don’t eat anything at all without having to run to the bathroom (sorry for the graphic details :)  She says this will also help in my mouth too, to prevent the blisters I got last week.

Oh, I didn’t tell you about those, did I? Man, talk about a triple pain from who knows where! They told me in my initial training for the chemo to take special care with my mouth because I might get blisters and sores, and to brush more and use an antiseptic mouth wash. Well, the gal didn’t exactly give me all the details, and I didn’t get the paperwork read on that section, so I didn’t get the part to NOT use any commercial mouthwashes from the store, since they all contain alcohol, and when I went to the store, the only mouthwash that said ‘antiseptic’ was Listerine! You can’t imagine how painful that stuff is when your mouth is full of blisters! Oh, my Lord!

I was going to talk to my DiL in Florida, but I didn’t want to bother her. She’s a Dental Hygenist, and has access to all kinds of things for me. I did finally call and talk to her, and she was upset that I hadn’t told Todd how bad it was. She said first thing the next morning she was going to buy me some special mouthwash, toothpaste, and a spray for my dry mouth. They should be here in a day or two now. Maybe I’ll get lucky and won’t even get the blisters this time, but if they do come with every treatment, at least I will be able to treat my mouth much better than asaulting it with Listerine! They all told me an antiseptic mouthwash can be as simple as salt water!!! D’oh! me! I knew that Amazing how dumb my brain has gotten lately!

I just checked mail and my care package arrived full of goodies for my mouth to keep it clean and safe, and happy should it break out again! Bless my darling son, for finding such a precious woman to be his sole mate!

Well, I’ve got a comfortable tummy, fluids to relax with, and a book that is getting to the good part of the plot. I have no more errands or appts today, so I think I’ll step over to the easy chair and just relax for a while.

I want to take a moment to pray for Lester and Marilyn, and their families. Some friends I know again, from the book swapping site. Lester had a stroke, and is in a coma, and probably will not recover. They have both been very supportive of me in these past few weeks and while I’m very sad for the coming loss to Marilyn and the families, when the Lord is ready for Lester, I believe that Lester is ready to go home. And home is a good place to be. God bless you, Lester, and may you be in His sweet arms soon. Marilyn, I pray for the strength that Lester expects of you to carry on as you have in the past. It will take some getting used to, but remember, you will be reunited with him, when the Lord has assigned His last task for you, too.

Trusting in the Lord to take care of all of us, may he grant you each the special need that you have from Him today. Whether it be wisdom, courage, compassion, trust, strength, faith, love, care, healing, mercy, forgivness, or just hope, may it be granted in abundance and in His will and in His time. Remember, all of our lives are built around a grand scheme of things, that the Lord has carefully laid out. And if we are just receptive to his guidance and directions, even the pain and trials that we go thru are for purposes. The devil may wage his war with the Lord for our souls, but God is always in control, even when we forget to let him have the steering wheel.

In this bout with cancer, it has been my firm belief that my complete submission to God’s will has been my biggest blessing. I have from day one of this whole event, had nothing but faith in His planning and guidance. Altho a few times, I wondered if he was going to be able to do anything with the insurance company, even that was worked out and carried according to His wishes, not those of man. He has blessed me in so many ways, I’ve met so many people, and had so many people caring for me during this time, it is truly been a curse with more silver linings than I would have ever thought possible. I don’t wish it upon anyone, but if you have to have something really bad happen to you, I pray that you will be able to trust in His guidance and let him take control. I know I plan to do a lot more of that with the smaller things in my life. I’ve found it to be such a blessing to know that He is taking care of me, that I wonder why I worry about so many things. Maybe this is the start of a new me? Who knows

God bless and keep each of you close to His heart, and know that I appreciate every prayer that goes up in my behalf. You are all so wonderful to care about me and it greatly inspires me to be a better person to live up to being cared for so much.

Have a great day, while I go have a great nap
Sherry

Bald is the theme for the day!

I’m really tired this week. Unbelievably tired. I had no idea it would get even more tiring than the first week. All I’m doing is resting and napping.

We went to look at wigs on Friday, and it I couldn’t believe how tired it made me! Just sitting there donning and doffing the headpieces while the others handed them to me, I wasn’t standing up and down or anything, just raising my arms while sitting. It really wore me out.

True to the timetable, my hair started coming out by the handfuls so we just took it all off. The hair started coming out in clumps already Thursday night, and was getting pretty thin yesterday. So, we just eliminated most of the mess. Marcus lovingly took the clippers and sheared me free of the falling locks. He’s asking me if I want to shave the stubble off, since it does feel kind a funny under my scarf, but I had some Nair and removed most of the stubble with it. He then turned the clippers on himself, but I don’t think it quite had the same effect on him that it had on me

My eyebrows are considerably lighter too, I noticed that Friday when we were trying on wigs. I’ve got some nice scarves, and Monday the fitter should be in so that we can actually order a wig for me. We cut off a ponytail of my hair to try and match it better on Monday. We looked on Friday, and really didn’t come up with a good match. But, the gal that was there, said they can try to custom match it when we actually order it. Getting the right amount of salt & pepper look is the hard part! hahahaha

My upper chest hurts a bunch. I’m having some fluid retention. Most of the time, it happens down the arm, but I’ve decided to be a bit different, and the fluid is building up in my neck and upper chest areas. Just makes me a bit more tender to the touch. I think it is easier than when it’s down the arm, because there is more room for the fluid to dissipatate, whereas when it builds up in the arm, gravity makes it even worse, by pooling it harder towards the bottom of the arm and into the hand.

I went out to visit my Dad again yesterday, and had a turban on. He asked what I did to my hair (this was before we buzzed it) and I pulled a few strands and said, “Nothing, just wanted to keep it out of my face.” I’m not sure what I’ll do next time, I won’t have any strands to pull. Maybe I should only visit him when I have my wig? As long as he doesn’t pop in at the house when I don’t have anything on.

Well, I guess that’s about all there is today. Just tired & bald. Mouth is getting a bit tender, but hopefully, thanks to my dear Daughter-in-law, it won’t be so bad if the sores do get serious. Just trying to keep my chin up and my feet one in front of the other is enough for today. Too much work for anything else

Have some fun for me, will ya, someone? I’m gonna take a nap!