August 26, 2009

• New Plan & Household Chores

  Yesterday we (Jesse, the girls, and I) met the radiology oncologist - a woman.  She patiently answered my questions, and mainly reassured me that fatigue would NOT be of the same magnitude as the fatigue caused by chemo therapy.  The burning the radiation causes on the skin will be treated with "special cream" - see?, I'm "special" now!!!

                                       
                                                     Chirper, playing with his birdie friend, Tango!

  She said she would hit 4 different vertebrae in my spine and I would probably have problems with reflux (I already do) and a tightness (like I can't swallow) or lump in my throat (because of T-2 vertebrae being so close to my throat).  She said the other probable reaction would be a tight spot in my stomach (because of T7 - T9 vertebrae) and I might possibly throw up (I already have that problem, too).  All of those spots of radiation treatment are close to my throat and diaphragm area.  She said she would give lots of medicine to counter the reaction of digestive upsets the radiation would most likely bring.

  I told her I fell in the 1% of weird people who react in unusual ways - and she said the digestive part would be my biggest battle.  The hair on my head will continue to grow and the hair on my back will be the only places there will be hair loss.  Jesse quipped, "Oh good!  Then I won't have to keep shaving her back anymore, right?"

  BUT . . .  the good AND BEST news was that I would have a short duration of radiation - only 3 weeks of 5 days a week.  I was glad to hear that.  I can't imagine driving there from where we live every day for 16 weeks!  I was beginning to picture us fighting snow and sleet in the dead of winter!  This doctor is moving quickly with this treatment and I'm scheduled to start next week.  I begin with a CT scan and they mark my skin where they will shoot the beam of radiation.  Since I can't easily reach my back to wash it, I guess their permanent marker markings will last a while!

  She said the side effects usually show up after the second week of radiation is completed and they go away the 3rd to 4th week AFTER radiation completely ends.  My take on the whole thing is that it sounds like a few months of more side effects and discomfort.  I'm hoping by the end of October, I'll see a turn around and a difference in my health.  You know?  Less discomfort and my energy level slowly beginning to return from where it is right now. 

  ===================

  I think I made a huge mistake.

  Yesterday, I straightened our inside and outside pantries.  I haven't organized anything since early last April.  I found repeated items where the count made me laugh.
          
  We have enough variety of canned beans to feed a soup kitchen!  Same with Spaghetti-Os!!!!!  Several times, I told Jesse to put them on the grocery list because I didn't see any on the shelves.  They must have been pushed to the back of the shelves because now we have more than an ample supply!

  I like having everything at my finger tips because I don't plan meals ahead.  I either take out ground beef, ground turkey, or chicken each morning and it becomes whatever it becomes when it's time to cook!
                        
  I cook a lot with "cream of" chicken & mushroom soups, and also use tomatoes and broth (ck or beef) in many of my dishes.  The girls and I love fruit and we eat canned fruit at lunch and fresh fruit as a snack during the day.  So, I'm breathing easier, now that the pantry is busting at the seams, again!

                         
                                      Even the cold cereals, chips, and paper napkins & paper plates
                                                      have had their shelves restocked.

  Redoing the food pantry shelves made me ambitious and I came inside and rearranged some of the pantry shelves in the utility room.  Food had to be removed from a bottom shelf.  Formerly, there was a plastic bin with snack food, Pop Tarts, etc. in it.  We accused the children of sneaking food (we were finding wrappers in different places through out the house) and, at one time, there was a Pop Tart with a small bite mark in it - but left in the snack bin on the bottom shelf.  Jesse came in through the garage door one morning to find Sushi standing up on one paw on the shelf and the other paw was pawing through all the goodies - like she couldn't decide which she wanted to eat!

  That lower shelf now holds my kitchen linens!
    
                                                                     And I also rearranged all of my big cookware, so I could pull
                                                                     something out without something else dropping on my toes!

  So why was this all a huge mistake?  Because it started late last night and I woke up this morning with no voice.  Just a whisper and a suspicious cough. 

  It didn't occur to me that those cans had been touched by 92 million hands before mine and were probably a breeding ground for germs.  I'll take it easy today and rest on the bed this afternoon.

  The girls are going to the dentist (without me) and have lazed around this morning.
                        

  I found a first grade activity book in the home school supply cupboard and I am making copies of some of the pages (times three!) to get them back in the swing of doing school work.  I will have chores for them tomorrow and activity book pages to keep them occupied.

        
                                                                    Luci and Annamarie

  By the way, the ChorePacks went much more smoothly today.  Annamarie told me she had brushed her hair and I said, "okay."

  BUT . . . I didn't actually run my fingers through her hair.  A minute ago, I tried to put it in a ponytail and it was a ratted mess.  Live and learn!  Now I know I'll have to run my fingers through hair to be sure it's been brushed!

        
                                                                        Rissy

  who hadn't brushed her hair, either!

  Be Blessed  ~

  • 1:58 pm
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