Starting Chemo May 2008

One more to go. Hurray. Steroid happy and happy happy. It's like a poo poo poo platter instead of a poo poo platter.

Gracie, sorry about the long day. Mine ran from 9-4:30 so I just got home. On the kidney (Landon?)  My son, Adam, who is 11.5, has one kidney. He had a blockage either in the womb or at birth which is probably Landon's deal. We took out his non-functioning kidney at 5. Listen, Grace, tell you daughter the surgery is very, very, very easy. Tell her the docs do it all the time. Tell he the scare is during the surgery but Landon will be fine...very fine. We all have 200% of what we need. Landon's other kidney will go strong and well and right into an adult kidney as Adam's did. What he'll have to do is: no motorcycle riding; no jumping while horse back riding though regualr is oaky and nos wrestiling (as an organzied sprort in school). If he snowboards, suggest skiing instead. He will have to not drink lots of dark liquids as those are harder on kidneys so no coca cola now and less, less, less, coffee and red wine as he grows old ...no ibuprofen or other NSAIDS (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) Tylenol instead. What this means to your daughter is that he'll have to play lots of sports ...no select. The key for him is not to damage his joints as it won't be good for him to pop ibuprofens a lot in his 40's. This is easy stuff. Please remind your daughter this is NOT kidney disease...just a blockage...a fluke no BIG deal. Have her contact me on my blog if she wants to talk more. Adam lead a wildly normal life. He fell off a banister while in the play Oliver a couple of years ago and he fell on his arm and I sat in the audience relieve he didn't fall flat on his back. That's it. He plays baseball like a wildman, skiis, plays tennis, is into dance and drama and does climbing walls and everything else boys do. The secret is I am thrilled he'll never be able to wrestle. I have also outlawed football which suits him fine.

Sable do NOT NOT NOT pull that lip hair or I will have to Roseanne Rosana Danna you.  Congrats on the hair wherever it comes in. This can only mean god things. ONE MORE TO GO!  WOO HOOOOOOOOOO. Maybe we can photo shop our pole dances together.

Sue, woof, woof, woof. Sounds beautiful.

Adrienne, You dream weaver us and I will MacArthur Park you back...one day we can all put on our songs that get stuck in our heads.

Noelle, will get the washcloth in the tub for tomorrow's shower. Please keep ranting. It makes me  want to listen.

Rock and Otter stick around for a while....aren't you wanting to see our pole dances? We would miss you terribley.

Karin,

Congrats on completeing first radiation today.

Angels, Alps worked well for me though a very long hike. Welcome back to you too. 

too late hair is done gone... if you can't use the road map and come in the right spot out you go! LOL

Sable - Be careful with those tweezers!  And Eddie's threat of Roseanna Roseanna Danna...Wishing both of you no se's this weekend!

Randie - I have nothing for you and the numbness (haven't been there yet) but sorry it's irritating and putting you in a quandry.  Speaking of Olympics, I just watched our track stars (both men and women) drop the ball, er, stick in the relays.  Whazzup?!

Adrienne - When you said "numbies" I could only think of my sister breastfeeding.  Odd association, but her children called them (yes, I said called them, spoke it out loud, asked for it by name!) "nummies". 

Linda - Good to hear from you and WOOOO HOOOOO!  I will toast a Bailey's to you and Angels, speaking of, where are you and your pics? 

Roxi - Sorry you had problems with posting yours.  Do you have the photobucket instructions?

Karin - Did I miss you were starting rads today?  How was it??

Rock - Go out and enjoy yourself, girl.  We will be here when you get back - but you do have to come back every once in awhile!!

My 9 y.o. dd is having a sleepover with another girl from her team.  It's just the 3 of us (since I'm radioactive from the PET scan today the little one stayed at my mom's) so they have the CD player cranked up and are singing and dancing away!  It's hard to be depressed with them around.  But I may need that Bailey's in another hour...

I know how you feel Rock and your experience has made me question myself too about what I write & my participation on these boards.  It's a shame that it has to be this way, but I (& I am sure many others!) will miss you!  You have a way of reaching out to everyone with your sense of humor & kind words that are very encouraging!  Good luck!

Rock that sucks! I'm really gonna miss your humour in here :O(

Rock, I will miss you too, but totally understand where you are at, sometimes it good to take a break anyway and you can come back in awhile to check in feeling better about things. You have no reason to be sorry when dealing with other peoples actions that you have no control over, we all get that!  Where ever you are going next week hope you feel at peace and can enjoy

Well, i survived the Swiss Alps, thanks everyone for all the well wishes. It went all very smoothly, it was a full room yesterday and the nurses were running all day, so it was just a quick hug and i was out of there.  Steroids let me sleep till 2:00 am this morn then wide awake, only one more day of those thank goodness

Still bi weekly blood tests ahead and my onc wants me to start nuepogen this Sat. so maybe we can control my really low count i had last time wbc went down to 0.65 and neutrophils were at 0.09 so hope this will help starting a few days earlier. So business as usual for the next couple of weeks. He sent in a letter to rads that chemo was done so hope to hear from them in the near future, if not i will get on the phone and bug them. Want to keep the ball rolling. 

Hope everyone plows through the weekend with minimal SE's and can relax and enjoy !

                        DragonFlies And Destiny

               If you should see a dragonfly in vibrant

                              colour pass by,

             Dancing in the sun and carrying secrets

                              to the sky,

           Treasure the moment, for if upon your soul

                           it should alight,

           It will reveal your destiny to the stars and

                     let your dreams take flight!

 Sweet dreams everyone !

Rock, as much as your 'friends' may be nice and all. I actually hate them right now.... and I truly hope they are reading this!!!!!!!!!!!  I am so totally beyond understanding how they think reading this stuff could be helpful to you... and as your friends being helpful to you should be their main objective.

How completely sucky.

Rock and all y'all can privately email me anytime at ellenoire@ellenoire.com. Except of course, Rock's yucky friends, 'cause I hate them! 

  I know I sound like I am kidding, but I'm not.

 Here is my song of the day for everyone ( and baby Landan) and most especially my pal who is burying her son this morning. 

 The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord lift His countenance upon you,
And give you peace, and give you peace;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you,
And be gracious, and be gracious;
The Lord be gracious, gracious unto you. 

 http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=g1R590x9io8&feature=related 

  Going to have a good cry now, and then go for a run.

 Chemoooo to y'all.

 xoN 

Yaay Roxi!

Great pic!  

Roxi,

GUTS are more important than glamour any day of the week!  Congrats on your last chemo and your great noive! 

Too all - you didn't miss anything. I forgot I didn't post about my troubles with Rads on Monday on this board; I did it over on Rads board. 2 down now 30 something to go.

Adrienne yes it felt great.

Roxi love the pic.

Don't really feel like posting now. I am in mourning over the absence of Rock. She once said to me

<<< I love it that you, Karin, made a difference in people's lives that you didn't even know.  I love it when that happens. >>>

ROCK WE NEED YOU, you don't realize the difference you make in our lives.

To her stalkers on this board, you robbed something from us that is priceless and can not be replaced.

Enjoy the day, Karin

GREAT pole dance. I found it extremely glamorous and I can't wait to be up there with you, Roxi.

Rock, please reinvent yourself with a new name and let us know on our private blogs or e-mails. Then come back. I respect your setting boundaries and I will miss you terribly. Please, please pop in on my blog, but more important, please be in touch with us as a group somehow as we are all mourning your departure. If you depart because you need a break for you need to be done, I understand. If you are doing it because of those reading this, what a shame. If you are doing it for both, take a break then come back as another and I promise, we will know. Angels, I was up at five. Went to bed at midnight so steroids got me too. However, I was in very little pain. Had my second to last neulasta today. Karin,hope the rads get easier. Noelle, I used to sing that song in junior high...the Lord bless you and keep you... and btw, it is the priest's blessing Yivarech che cah adonai...you know the one we say over children on Friday nights and they say at Jewish weddings...it is also the basis for the song from Fiddler on the Roof...May the Lord protect and defend you. May He always shield you from shame . . . may God bless you and grant you long lives ....etc. Talk to you all soon and may your weekends be fabulous.

Just popping over from March 2008 chemo thread to say, I'M DONE!!! Had my last TAC today. Check out my "lap dance" (my version of the chemo pole dance that has been going around in this thread)  in Rock's The Road to Hell . . . (or "Laughter is the Best Medicine") thread.

And also note on exfoliating: If you are moving on to rads, don't exfoliate the field area while you are receiving radiation.