Chemo Treatment No.3

Mom had her third chemo treatment today. They informed us that this is the last of this type of chemo. She will be given a different type of chemo next time and steriods will be added to the treatment. But unfortunatly her next chemo treatment is scheduled for Dec 21st. That is the Monday before Christmas. That means she will not be feeling well at Christmas.

Thanksgiving

This was a very relaxing day with plenty of food and the weather was great. We had a small group this year. Our family Thanksgiving consisted of my middle sister, Mom, step dad, son and us. We had way too much food for such a small group, but we all did our best to put away as much of it as possible.

We had an early evening meal and watched a little football.

Mom was feeling good except for a minor backache. Her appetite was good. Everyone loaded up plastic bowls and left at half time.The rest of the evening was spent just enjoying the recliner and a very full stomach.

Todays Blood Work Results

Mom's blood work reaults came back good. She is feeling good and ready for Thanksgiving. We are hoping she will continue to recieve good blood work results each time.

Another Garage Sale

That's Right, We had yet another garage sale today. We got up early and had everything set out by 8:00 A.M. Put out our signs at 8:30 and sat there for over an hour thanking we had wasted our time. The weather was cool and overcast. It is the last weekend before Thanksgiving and no one is interested in shopping at garage sales. But low and behold we suddenly got bombarded with people and sold a lot of stuff. We sold a lot of Christmas stuff we had dug out of storage earlier in the week.

We noticed a lot of repeat customers. We are really getting to know our neighbors too.

We packed it in about 1:00 P.M. We did have a successful day even though it got off to a slow start. We are hoping this weather continues so that we can have a few more before the years end.

Busy Week

This week has been really busy. Mom has been staying with us and she has done very well this week. She started off not feeling so well on Sunday. On Monday she was feeling better and by Tuesday she was doing great. Her appetite is back and she has been peddling around the house. This morning she was feeling a little tightness in her leg muscles. It could be the Neulasta shot she got last week just now catching up with her. This is a picture of Mom relaxing with all the kids

Day 7 Post Chemo Treatment No 2

Dawn took Mom to the doctor today for her weekly blood test and her blood work was good. She is feeling pretty good today so far.

Monster Truck Show

Today started out slow around our house. Mom was feeling a little queazy. The weather is beautiful out so we sat on the patio taking in some fresh air. This afternoon my sister came to stay with Mom so Dawn and I could go to the Monster Truck show in Allen, TX. My son was driving a monster truck. He did that for a living for a few years and has been working a more normal job!

The show was nice but it makes me so nervous I can't really enjoy myself. I don't just worry about him, I worry about all the drivers.

Day 2 Post Chemo No. 2

Mother went to bed at 8:00 last night wan woke up at 4:30 this morning. She said she had energy when she got up this morning. By 8:00 she had done several loads of laundry and was peddling around the house. She was queasy this morning and had a bit of a headache. She said she she going to stay as busy as possible in hopes that the after effects of this chemo won't kick her butt as bad as last time.

Day 1 Post Chemo Treatment No. 2

My sister took Mom in for her Neulasta shot today. Neulasta is a prescription medication that boost the white blood cells. This helps your body produce more white blood cells to reduce your risk of infection. This Shot is given in the fat of the arm or stomach. Mom gets hers in her stomach. She is given this shot the day after each chemo treatment. This is an expensive shot. The cost is approximately $2,200.00 each. Mom's insurance pays all but about $625.00. She has a prescription for Emend, this is an anti-nausea medication. There are three pills and the cost is $500.00 at one pharmacy and $300.00 at another. We have shopped around for the best deals on her prescriptions. Her insurance covers all but $29.95 of that.

I now understand why so many people without health insurance dies of cancer, they can not afford the cost of treatment.

Chemo Treatment No. 2

This is a picture of Mom with her new hairdo. She has lost most of her hair and has decided to try her new wig. She isn't crazy about it because the color is different from her natural color but I think it looks great on her. She did get a lot of compliments today.

Today was a long day. Mom had her second chemo treatment. We arrived at the cancer center at 9:15 this morning and left at 3:00 this afternoon. We checked in and waited to be called for her pre chemo blood work after that we waited for her visit with the doctor and then we waited for the chemo treatment. The treatment itself last about three to three and half hours. We visited with a another chemo patient and her friend while getting the chemo.

She was a little light headed and had hot flashes today when chemo was over. It could be from all the sitting she did today or it could be a combination of the sitting and chemo. She went to bed early and so did I. Thank God she still has a positive attitude.

Good Friends & Good Food

One of our favorite place to pig out  is Half Shell @ Snyder Plaza in Dallas. The crab legs are wonderful and the margerita's are great. I always try to save room for the key lime pie. I haven't had key lime pie this good since we were in Key West, FL. We had a wonderful afternoon with our bestest friends at the Half Shell this weekend.

Another Garage Sale

We have already started pulling stuff out for another garage sale. The weather is going to be nice on Saturday so we are gearing up. Last night we spent the evening pulling out boxes and more stuff to sale. We found boxes of stuff that were left over from our garage sales three or four years ago. We also made another trip to the dumpster. I am so glad we have my son here to help.

We live in the country so of course we have mice and snakes. I am terrified of snakes and Dawn is equally terrified of mice. My son is terrified of spiders. Dawn and I have really needed the help with the preparation of these garage sales. We have both lost a lot of the youthful strength we once had. He helps with the heavy lifting and has been able to repair things that we could not.

Loosing the Hair to Chemo

I talked to Mom this morning and she said her hair is starting to fall out. She said it started falling out a few days ago but it seems larger amounts are falling out today. We have talked about it and she understands this is a part of the chemo and that it will grow back when the chemo is over and out of her system. Mom is a real trooper!

She is feeling good today and has been doing some cooking and cleaning. She said it appears she will have one good week between chemo treatments that she feels good so she is making the best of it. Monday will be treatment number 2. Her chemo treatments are every three weeks.

Having chemo treatments is very time consuming, I am not just talking about the three and half hours it takes to receive the chemo. I am talking about everything that goes along with the chemo. there are appointments each week for blood work and or shots, there are doctors appointments when the blood counts are too low or too high, there are the trips to the pharmacy for medications that needed to be filled or picked up, there are medications taken daily, there are medications taken post chemo and sometimes there is the restricted diet due to blood counts, the list goes on and on.

We are Mom's support group! We take turns in driving her to the doctor, chemo and grocery store. We sit with her while she has chemo and we talk with her doctors. We cook meals, do laundry and run errands. She has not had to go to any appointments alone.

I have over heard her bragging to people that her girls are taking very good care of her and that she is "just along for the ride

Good Wishes Scarves

I have been doing a lot of research since my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and I have come across a lot of interesting things that I would like to share with others. One of the items I have come across is a company by the name of France Luxe. They have a wonderful program called "Good Wishes Scarves" this program is for woman or girl experiencing loss or thinning of hair as a result of illness or treatment. They will send a beautiful head scarf for free just for the asking.

I sent an email requesting a head wrap for my Mother and that same afternoon I received an email acknowledging my request. About a week later my Mother received a "It's A Wrap" scarf made of silk with beautiful fall colors. My mother was so delighted to receive such a beautiful gift.

Here is a the information I was given on the history on how the "Good Wishes Scarves" got started,

Laurie Erickson, CEO of a fashion accessory company located in Washington State. launched a program called Good Wishes scarves - a program where her company makes one, free of charge, silk scarf or head wrap for women experiencing hair loss. This program was born as a result of an email received from a loyal customer. Web site http://www.franceluxe.com/i/goodwishesscarves/Good+Wishes+Scarves.html

She asked that we pass the word, If you or someone you know would enjoy either a scarf or an It's a Wrap - please email her at laurie@franceluxe.com and she and her staff will work to get it done for. She has worked in the fashion accessories industry for over 20 years. She said It is an honor and a pleasure to put smiles on faces through sharing our work. I believe in the power of sending good wishes and perhaps send some comfort to women from women.

Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Time is for the birds. I have a really hard time each fall when we turn the clocks back an hour. My body thinks I should go to bed within a few hours of night fall. That is difficult when the sunsets at five-thirty now! I fight to stay awake until nine.

I wish they would just quit messing with the time and let us get use to the natural time change of the seasons.

Our garage sale on Saturday didn't do so well. The weather was great. But Saturday was Halloween. I think people might have had other things on their minds instead of shopping at garage sales. We did have a lot of repeat customers. We sold quite a bit of Christmas decorations. We still have a lot of stuff to drag out this week for the next sale. I have already started boxing up stuff that has has been in all the garage sales that no one seems interested in. I will donate it to a local nonprofit and she if they have a use for it.

We are hoping that next Saturday we will be blessed with great weather again.

Sunday we visited with Mom and took her to the grocery store. The weather was great and she needed to get out of the house for a little while. She looks good and is getting her energy back.