Winter weather and escapes

Here is where I am. Brrrrrr.

The swans are congregating in the only open area of the lake.

This thing lies. The sun is shining on it, faking us out.

Here is where we should be...

...Spending the afternoon at the pool.

...Riding my bike to Mom's house.

... and terrorizing the animals at the zoo. Oops, I mean playing with the animals at the zoo.

And playing Texas Hold 'Em, taking the guys money!

and so it goes

After my last treatment, I did think to ask if these side effects (particularly the nausea) could get progressively worse each time. The answer - yes. And so it goes.

Unfortunately, the nausea isn't the only side effect that can get worse. I had chemo on Wednesday, but went back to the cancer center on Friday for more fluids - to "try to break the cycle" as my oncologist put it. It worked over the weekend, but then by Tuesday evening the nausea was back worse than ever. I couldn't keep the anti-nausea pills down. From about 4 a.m. on, I was vomiting every hour. (Sorry - that's probably more than most of you wanted to know). At 8, I called the cancer center and was on my way back in.

I was extremely dehydrated (again), and had a fever to go along with the low white blood count (0.3) They pumped me full of fluids and antibiotics "as fast as we can." I can't remember ever feeling so miserable. I was cold, shivering, and crying. I just felt so very tired. I told my oncologist to just shoot me and let me die. Dr. Liepman is a no nonsense, wonderful, caring doctor. She told me there would be no shooting, and I wasn't going to die.

After 8 hours of fluids, she transferred me to the hospital. My esophagus was so sore that I couldn't swallow anything - even water hurt. I spent three days in the hospital - Thanksgiving and all - getting more fluids, anti-nausea medicine, antibiotics, and daily Neupogen injections to bring my white blood cell count back up.

My red blood cells are also down, so a transfusion was suggested. I can't say why, but I wasn't comfortable with that, so I declined. They will regenerate themselves in a couple of months anyway. The result is that I will be "more tired than normal" (I don't know what "normal" is anymore), so I guess I can live with that. Charley pampers me by bringing me warm quilts from the dryer, and wraps me up in them. What a luxury!

The good news is that is going to be my last chemo treatment. Dr. Liepman said she thought suspending the last treatment would be best. Given the risk/benefit factor, I have to say that I am mostly relieved with that decision.

So, now I can start healing and feeling better. I am happy to be done with that phase of my treatment, and looking forward to moving on. Yipee!

What hit me?

I am not sure what happened, but this second treatment hit me hard. I was nauseated for 6 days, and it just kept getting worse. I couldn't even sit up without feeling like I would either vomit or faint. No food sounded good, and no liquid did either, leading to dehydration and more misery.
I finally worked up the energy to call the cancer center, and they told me to come in right away (as if that was going to be easy.) Charley - bless him! - warmed up the car, while I got dressed, and drove me into Kalamazoo, where he went inside and picked up a wheelchair for me. I would never have made it to the second floor without one.
They started fluids and potassium immediately, and ran my blood counts. My white blood count dropped to 1.1. I think a "normal range" is between 4 and 11. I had just talked them into reducing the Neulasta last week since my WBC was 10, and I felt terrific. What a difference a week can make.

Fortunately, the fluids, anti-nausea drugs, and the injection for WBC has made me feel much better. I feel almost normal tonight. What a relief!

Preparing for Chemotherapy

I seem to be obsessed with hair today.
In the theory that sometimes shorter hair doesn't fall out as fast, I had a couple of inches cut off my hair today. It is about chin length now. I am not sure if I like it. Which is ok, because I probably only have a couple of weeks to enjoy it.
Since the oncology nurse told me to count on losing my hair, I went to the cosmetology school today and looked at some wigs. Since the wigs there are donated (and free to chemo patients), the selection was very limited.

The wig thing today was depressing. I can't find anything that looks remotely like hair I would like - even on my worst hair days. So maybe the answer is hats. Ah well. It'll grow back sometime. I know I am going to cry when it falls out. And when I lose my eyelashes and eyebrows. The only possible compensation would be if I didn't have to shave my legs.

I am going to go enjoy my evening cup of hot cocoa. Since they told me to get in the habit of drinking lots of liquids for the chemotherapy, I bought cocoa, apple cider, and lots of sugar-free jello (I like to make it hot and drink it like a beverage before it sets. Weird, huh?)

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Breast Cancer

Since October is breast cancer awareness month, I thought I'd mention that I intend to be one of the survivors.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in mid-August. The lump was found during a mammogram - I can't stress the importance of that test! Because it was in both breasts, I had a bilateral mastectomy with sentinel node biopsies on September 19th, and tomorrow is my first visit with the oncologist. The good news is that the cancer had not reached my lymph nodes, and the margins were clear. For more information, the best site I have found is http://www.breastcancer.org/

The irony of breast cancer is that you do not feel bad until you begin treatment. I felt great and healthy. And other than sore and tired as I recover from surgery (to be expected), I still feel good.

The surgeon did not recommend genetic testing for first degree relatives, because there is no breast cancer history in my family. According to her, the BRAC gene is found only found in about 10% of the women tested. And most women with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.

These days, it seems that everyone knows someone with breast cancer. Although the cause is unknown, many of us want to know how to reduce our risk. To that end, I am including this web page link: http://www.breastcancer.org/risk

Jury Duty - a bust

To date, I have faithfully phoned my court system each Friday night as instructed. For the last four weeks, I get the same message, "Trial has been cancelled for the week of...". Do I live in a low crime area, or is the judge out sick? (You might note that I am assuming there is only one judge in this one-horse town.) Two more weeks to go.

No jury duty is not a problem. We are still working on the house. The windows and siding were a piece of cake, since the contractors did it all. Naive me, I thought the windows came finished on the inside; what do I know? So I spent weeks taping, and Charley stained. His reach is better than mine (ha), and he is fussier than I am , so it was a perfect distribution of work.

Next came the painting. The drywall was replaced on one wall completely, where we removed the fireplace, and alongside of each window. Alas, one cannot paint just the new drywall. So we repainted the ceilings white (boring us!), then picked a warm, creamy color for the walls. I t reminds me of the color of french vanilla ice cream, and works perfectly with the amount of morning sun coming through the new windows.

In the middle of this, Charley and I both came down with the dreaded summer cold. S o the work is on on hold for a week or so.

This has been a summer of lots of work, and too little play, but the rewards of our home improvement project will last longer than the work takes (I think.)

And, I still need a camera.

I must get a camera

I have returned Sara's camera (so all those tired of looking at construction photo's can breath a sigh of relief). Meanwhile, I am researching the best choice for my own digital camera. Any suggestions would be seriously considered, and greatly appreciated.

The trial court in my county is requesting my services.
The invitation reads:

YOUR TERM OF SERVICE IS FOR THE WEEKS OF:

MONDAY, JULY 2ND, 2007
MONDAY, JULY 9TH, 2007
MONDAY, JULY 16TH, 2007
MONDAY, JULY 23RD, 2007
MONDAY, JULY 30TH, 2007
MONDAY, AUGUST 6TH, 2007.

Yep, six weeks, and the capital letters are theirs. I have to call on the Friday before each session to see if my "panel" will convene.


I wonder if they would let me bring a camera?
Probably not.

A new look

We took a ride on the pontoon this afternoon, to check out the front of the house. The lighter color made it much easier to spot it along the shoreline.

A blue heron perches on our neighbor's raft. The carp are robbing the fish beds of the blue gill eggs. The muskrats make an occasional appearance, and a young leatherback turtle lives under the dock.

More construction

The siding is almost complete. I love the new look ,but the pink door has got to go!

Shaun uses a transit to level the siding. I never thought about how important that would be until I saw him set it up. There are transits in my metrology book (Fundamentals of Dimensional Metrology, 5th ed. ), so I took advantage of the photo opportunity to show how the equipment is used. The house is more visible from the lake. The dark brown hid the house prettily in the trees, but the lake view was the only place this was attractive - and then only from far away on the lake. I won't miss that dark color.





The last part of the house is the most difficult to finish. There is a lot of trim work to do, but the improvement will be most visible and the most rewarding.

Alisha graduates

Alisha celebrates her graduation.





Lisa and Ken host the best parties. Their home is perfect for families, fun, and celebration.



Lisa's yard and flowers are gorgeous.













Ken serves up the ball for his team. Volleyball games are a highly competitive sport at their house.

For the children, there was face paint...

and bubbles...

and the trampoline...

...good food...

and much laughter.

Some of us participated...

...and some of us observed

...

...but we all had a terrific time.

Congratulations, Alisha!

Ken and Lisa,

Thanks for a great time.

Charley's catch

Charley's northern pike catch.



Allison puts in our new screens. She is working with her dad this summer. I take her a coffee laced with vanilla syrup and lots of whipped cream every morning.

The soffits go up.

The insulation goes on.



Our talented construction crew.

A glimpse of the future.

Recycling

Michelle - this is for you and a "greener" earth.

Our neighborhood has its

own recycling operation.

Justin, John and Nario

collect scrap metal

(our old gutters)

and take it to a recycling center.

As they carry away scrap metal, another neighbor came by to pick up the old windows. Although they are probably 30 years old, they will be put to good use again. (Hmmm... 30 years doesn't really seem that old.)

The old view

The new version - waiting for siding.

No chimney!

Even better, a new window for better lake viewing.

The prize paddleboat

Here it is.





Mom - yours is on the left (hehe):

Construction - Day 2

Thanks to Sara, for loaning me her digital camera!

All the old windows have been replaced with new Anderson casement windows.

There goes the fireplace.