Starting Chemo in June 2005

Jen,
Oh the winking pirate rises again! lol
Hopefully you'll be better soon or you'll have to start learning some dirty sea shanties!

Watson

Jen what about a pirate joke?

Crap Jokes: Pub Jokes: The Pirate

Black Beard the infamous pirate and his crew came to port. They went
on shore leave in a bar near the docks.

While he was serving drinks, the barman got talking to the pirate.
"Where'd you get that peg leg from?"

"Well, Oi was thrown from me ship during gale force winds, and before
me mate could throw me a line, this big ol' shark came along and bit
me leg clean orf. Har."

Later the barman asked, "And where'd you get that hook, then?"

"Ah, me crew and I were fighting our way through to the treasury and
me arm got cut through the bone in a sword fight with the Captain of
the Guard."

Then the barman asked, "And where'd you get the eye patch from?"

"Har," the pirate said, "I was out on deck one day and a gull flew
over and crapped in me eye."

The barman was puzzled. "How would a gull crapping in your eye make
you wear an eye patch?"

"First day with the hook, har har."


OKAY not great but it is all I got. Plus have to imagine a bunch of drunk businessmen telling this joke and my husband waking me up at 1:00 am to tell it to me- slurring and all.LOL

guess who I saw yesterday. TOWANDA! We dropped dd off at the movies 40 minutes away (why do they never come this way ??) When I saw a bumpersticker with Towanda-and I thought I need that and then I looked at the license plate that read TOWANDA ! She was driving past the cancer center(not out of it) at the time-whooo! Way cool. My family thought I was nuts but then they think that daily so why not add to the mystery of my craziness.

Owen doing great. counts are back up. Had treatment last Monday and on Tuesday I got a call during my class that his temperature was 101 ! I am running through my building looking for a sub to come down so I can go get him RIGHT AWAY! Call Onco department as I am driving-lost signal when I went in to get him. Have to go back to my school because my sub was the secretary and no one else was in the office...crazy at this point. Take his temp again and it is 99.1. Class is finally over-go home take it again 99.1-take about 50 more times and it NEVER IS ABOVE 99.1. Call back the doctor- tell them the story and they are OK about it. So the next day I wrote a note about taking his temperature over snd over snd how GLAD I was that it was never 101 at home because I would have to call 911 and he would have to go to the hospital....they left us alone all week. Owen liked staying in school. I didn't get anymore phone calls....I think I will keep him home on Tuesday as he does seem tired after treatment-but tell me that please -not he has a fever. We are probably repeating first grade anyway so what is one more day.
Life is an adventure.
Love Bev and Owen

Jen
Owen is doing great this week. Thanks for asking. He feels good and looks good. Our Spring Break is next week so he can rest all next week. Not going anywhere now that hubby has set up out of town business meetings all next week. And since high school kids are not off I get to drive 30 minutes at 6:30am and 30 mins home at 6:30 pm-WHINE WHINE WHINE LOL Owen and I will manage to have fun during the day.
Jen you triggered a memory when you mentioned the rheumatoid doctor. 12 yrs ago I had a fine rash on my legs-and it think it felt like sandpaper with small spots (I think-don't remember the rash part as well anymore) I ignored it and a week later both legs were so swollen I could barely walk. I went to EM. room who then sent me to my doctor who took blood and then sent me to rheumatoid doctor who wanted to run more tests but husband refused because he felt it was too expensive and I was going to get better or not. Anyway went back to my doctor with my sad tale. He ran more blood work and it turned out I had had an allergic reaction to strep throat! Antibotic (which you've already had) and SIX WEEKS (which you've already went through) later the swelling finally went down and I could wear shoes and regular pants again. It was strange. But it made me paranoid of others with sore throats and kinder to older people that walk so slow at the store. It was strange. I hope everything turns out OK for you. You'll be in my prayers.
Bev

Just thought I'd check in to see how all were doing. I hate it when our group is not on the first page! lol

Happy to see that most are out living busy lives.

Jen, any more news?

Aye Aye, Captain! - SpongeBob


Watson

Oh, Bev! What a horrible way to spend spring break!

Glad to hear Owen is doing well and only has one more treatment. You guys are always in my prayers.

I still have no idea what's going on with this stupid vasculitis. The myriad of blood work all came back negative. The silly little nurse called me yesterday to tell me that, but nobody ever told me what we're going to do next. So right now I'm just ignoring it. I'm trying "The Secret". You know, "I do NOT have vasculitis. I do NOT itch. The blisters ARE going away." My body hasn't caught up with the mind yet, though.

And if it's not one thing it's another. I have an appointment with my plastic surgeon next Wednesday because I may have the beginnings of a hernia. Then again, it could just be a pulled and bulging muscle. And it's my own fault. I think I hurt it when I tried to shovel ice two weeks ago.

On a lighter note, next week is spring break here and Todd's brother and his wife are coming to visit from California. She's pregnant with twins and we're all so excited! The only thing I know for sure we'll be doing is going to see the King Tut exhibit next Tuesday and touring Lancaster County another day. Good times.

Hope you all had a nice Easter. Our's was good. Todd's brother and sister-in-law flew back to California late in the afternoon so we got to spend a special Easter with them.

We saw King Tut the other day. Guess how much we paid for parking. $301.00!!! I had Todd drop Rachel (sister-in-law) and myself off at the museum steps because she has a bladder the size of a thimble while they went to find parking. Went through the exhibit (fabulous, by the way), played in the museum for a little while and then walked out. Todd and his brother were quite pleased with themselves because they found a parking place so close. IDIOTS!!! They parked in a clearly marked NO PARKING zone on the street right next to the museum. My tongue still hurts from biting it so hard.

My cousin sent Todd an email called, "Stacy's Top Ten Things To Do In Hawaii For $301.00" LOL

We also went to Amish Country - in the snow - and up to the Poconos - in the snow - and had a great time.

EXCEPT - while I'm happy to report that I think my blisters really ARE clearing up, I am now covered with a rash from my neck to the tops of my feet. I'm absolutely miserable. The only time I don't itch is when I'm asleep. And you can't do a lot of that when you have company.

So it's back to the dermatologist on Tuesday. Which is after my appointment at the plastic surgeon's to see what's the deal with my sore stomach. I really think it's just a pulled muscle and not a hernia because it was feeling better and then I twisted just the wrong way and hurt it again.

CRIMENY!! Eventually all this stuff is going to clear up and I'm going to feel normal again. Well, my new normal anyway.

Oh Jen and Watson-all that sounds just like Jeff. But with Jeff he would swear they put the sign up while we were in the buliding.
We had a good Easter here, even if we had 6 inches of snow. Made me glad i didn't go to get new clothes for everyone. Just got out our old winter stuff for church.

I am declaring April 18 PINK DAY at preschool. That was the day I had my surgery. Yesterday the middle two were talking about how they felt at school that day and how they just went on like it was a normal day but it really wasn't. Finally they are talking about all this-after two years! Poor things.
Jen-hope that rash clears up soon. Too much is too much!
Hugs to all
Bev

Holy moly, Watson! That's some expensive toll roads! LOL

Bev - I love the Pink Day idea. And how nice for you to have a little girl for a couple hours. ) I'm going to have to rent that movie for me and Katie. She's only 12 so she's still more little girl than not, but I see it fleeting.

How is Owen doing?

Fi - Did you have a wonderful time on your vacation? We want to hear all about it!

I saw the nurse practioner yesterday. She said it could be a hernia, but there isn't any bulging. She also said she could write a script for a CT, but if it's just beginning it may not pick up anything. We both kind of think it's probably just a pulled muscle. She said she would be more than happy to write a note for my family that says I'm not to do ANYTHING! LOL I want it to go away because it's finally turning into a real spring and I want to get back to riding bikes and hiking with the family. Maybe in another week or two.

As for the rash, I saw the dermatologist yesterday. It looks like some kind of allergic reaction, but we don't know what it could be to. He did two more biopsies to make sure it's not the vasculitis in a different form. I'm putting Ultravate on the rash and taking Zyrtec in the morning. Hopefully this will get rid of all of it.

My next post is going to be that my rash is cleared, my side doesn't hurt and everything is FABULOUS! )

jenster...I too have a rash from neck to feet but not on my reconstructed areas! Nothing has changed in my life and the derm. is stumped! I didn't agree for biospies though. I wanted to try Zyrtec and ointment first but it seems to be spreading. How's your rash? Any advice?

Jen your life is never dull!
Owen had a MRI on Monday-they saw no change. This is good news because it isn't spreading anymore! Now he will keep getting treatments until they decide what to do next.
We will go in May to talk to the specialist.
Overall Owen feels great.
Saw my surgeon today for a six month check-up. Everything was great!
Hi Nancy-hope work is better-
Take care all
Bev

Bev...I can just imagine how you were feeling...I wish we all lived closer so that we could have a big group hug at times like these.

I'm glad Owen's MRI looked good! I hope your family is over the worst of the stress and heartache. Tell them I'm thinking positive thoughts for all of you!

And positive thoughts for Jen's Hawaii trip! You deserve to finally have a break from what you've been going through!

The NY Times will run the chemobrain story in the Sunday edition - front page!

Thank you Junesterettes!
I started my chemo on Wednesday and you know who I learned the most from to begin this chemo trip?

YOU!

All your experiences and how you worked them out with each other together taught this old dog a lot of new tricks!!

Thanks - you girls are the BEST!

RebeccaH...if you see this...I lost your email address! I was wondering if you are going to the Survivor Luncheon on Saturday?

Scout, I still don't know what I want to do, either! I decided not to let the job get to me and I'll just be proud of how hard I worked this year.

I hope you don't feel that you "should" do Komen or any other BC related event. I think it's a personal and individual choice. I've done 2 Komen health fairs and both times I felt really bummed out afterward. I'm looking forward to the race this year because my mom and sister are going for the first time, but I know that it will be hard as it comes the day after the second anniversary of my diagnosis. It just puts it right "in your face." Then I will be SICK of pink for a while!!!

Bev - How did Matt's MRI go? And how is Owen doing?

I'm sort of sad to say that we cancelled our Hawaii trip. My blisters continue to get worse and I can't get in to the specialist until August. I talked to the regular dermatologist's nurse today and they're calling me in another prednisone taper to try to at the very least slow things down. If it doesn't improve at all I'm going to ask my dermatologist if he'll talk to the specialist. I tried calling the specialist's nurse yesterday, but I guess since I haven't been seen yet she never called me back.

On the good side is we will reschedule Hawaii for next summer. The kids were so good about the news. They didn't complain one bit and understood why. AND this gives me 52+ more weeks to lose weight and get into a smaller swimsuit! LOL

I'll start a Yahoo Group tonight and come back with the particulars by tomorrow.

Jen

Here's the link for our new Yahoo group - 2005 Junesters -

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/2005junesters

Just click on it and then hit "Join Group". I've set it to private so it's just for us, but we can always change that later if you ladies want to. Since I started it I'm the moderator, but I'm certainly not opposed to making all of you moderators. Just let me know.

See ya there!!

Jen