I’ve been so darn busy I haven’t even had a chance to sit down and send an update. I had a pretty major week in the world of health. We flew to Tampa last Wednesday for our 3 month follow up with scans, blood work and the whole she-bang! I know exactly why I didn’t send an update sooner…because last week was so hectic that all I could manage was taking one day at a time, and some times one activity at a time. We all have those busy weeks, so everyone knows what I’m referring to. I felt like if I tried to look too far ahead or discuss too far ahead then a weird, emotional breakdown might happen, and only God knows who it would happen on, so in order to save everyone from an awkward moment I just kept my focus laser tight. Monday was the most relaxing day because it was work, practice, CFA weekly dinner play date, then gymnastics. Tuesday is when life picked up the pace. Tuesday was work, practice, then Open House for Fischer and Baker’s preschool…then come home, get them packed and ready to spend the night at DotDot and P’s, then I get home to pack myself for a big ole day in Tampa. Wednesday we were up by 3:40 in the am and in the car to fly to Tampa by 4:30. Ahhh Tampa. Fortunately, the Moffitt Center runs a tight ship, so after we got our rental car and milled around to waste some time, we got to Moffitt for lab work, immediately following CT scan prep, CT scan, then Dr. follow up appointment. Let me tell you, the CT prep ain’t a bucket of fun. They bring you this drink carrier with 3 cups in it full of this nasty drink. You have to drink 1 drink the first 30 minutes, the next in the next 30, then the last in the last 30 minutes. The CT scan is quick, but you get an IV that injects you with saline (eww- why does it give you a funny, gross taste in your mouth when they inject it into your arm??) then they inject the contrast. This fun little concoction makes you feel warm all over…I mean, ALL over…as in you feel like you’re going to pee yourself. What a fun fun feeling, huh?! Just lay still…don’t mind the pee sensation that’s happening- totally natural- just go with it! Once the CT scan was complete, then it was off to meet with my doctor to get the results. Fortunately, things are looking good! The tumors are shrinking (thank goodness!), the chemo is working, and I’m tolerating the side effects of the medicine well. I don’t have to return in 3 months for another scan; I can wait 4 months which will put us in Tampa the end of December sometime. The only con was that my white blood cell count was low, so I couldn’t start my round 7 of chemo last Saturday. I’m not TOTALLY sure this is a con though…woo hoo- one more week off of meds (yes, please!), but I guess the whole “low white blood cells” isn’t a good thing. I have to go back to Emory this week to get my blood rechecked in hopes they have had time to come up, so I can get back on the chemo train on Saturday.
So, after the good report at the doctor, it was time to swing through a drive thru and head back to the airport to fly home. Yep, fly down in the morning, fly back at night. I tried to sleep on the plane, but wasn’t super successful. Mike is better at cat naps than I am. He tells me, “just close your eyes and think about sleeping,” but that’s SO hard for me! I close my eyes and think about the 800 things I need to get done.
On to Thursday morning was Meet Your Teacher day at Fischer and Baker’s school, so I took them there, met their teachers quickly, dropped them at the sitter’s, raced to work, then worked, coached and then raced to Collins Hill to start my Gifted certification program…because I had 3 open hours in my week and thought, “Hey! Let’s get another type of certification because I have NOTHING else going on in my life!” Thank goodness my parents live close and could watch the kiddos (for the 10th time this week) for me. Friday was work, practice, then the Dacula vs. Mill Creek football game which there is no way we were going to miss that! After staying out late and watching the Hawks annihilate the Falcons, it was time to get the kids in bed, so I could get them up at a decent time to take them back to my parents (if you’re keeping a tally, this is the 11th time they have watched our boys this week) so I could get to my first cheerleading competition, and Mike could get to injury clinic before catching a flight to Chicago. After the competition (where we did amazingly well, I might add), I was able to hang out and snuggle with my boys (after watching film with Katie for 1.5 hours to know what needed to be done to our routine to make it even more amazing.) Somehow, I managed to stay up late enough to watch Bama kill USC. It was nice of my elephants to make it look like it was going to be a reasonable game in the first half…then they ran with it (literally and figuratively).
The rest of my weekend was spent crafting (because I needed to make at least 20 beaded bracelets), stitching shirts for mom and the boys for back to school, and turning Fischer’s room into Fischer and Baker’s room. For whatever reason, crafting and creating puts me in a happy place…better than drugs or alcohol, right?
Okay, so all good news over here. If you’re trying to keep up with me, don’t stress if you don’t see a post…it probably means I’m busy and feeling relatively normal. The fall is always busy for my family, and this chemo nonsense is trying it’s damnedest to get in the way, but I just don’t have time for that. It’s like an annoying fly that won’t stay away from your face! Shoo fly! You’re annoying, and I don’t really understand your purpose…cancer- you’re the exact same…what is your purpose?!