Here we go again

Well at least I am coming off a really good week before starting chemo today. I have been out to both lunch and dinner a couple of times and even cooked a couple of meals myself. I got to ride in Jill's great convertible (Solara) to lunch, albeit a95 degree temp, but it was great and I still really want one when this is all over! I got about an hour of shopping in on Friday -- needed new chemo clothes. Now that I have a PICC line instead of a port I no longer needed tops with zippers to access the port, but sleveless shirts with sweaters so they could get to the PICC line. Because of the wound vac, I needed only dresses or skirts because of the tubing that runs down my leg. Who knew that chemo has special clothing attire? Or I just needed an excuse to buy a new outfit.

I had pretty decent work days this week too. Kendra, my boss, was here on Thursday, and she came over and we worked in the sunporch for a couple of hours. I was able to sit in the chairs at the table there without getting too uncomfortable. It was good to see her, and we got to work on somethings I am really excited about. Boy I miss work! It won't be long now.

I went against nurses orders on Saturday and drove 2 miles to my manicure appmt. I knew Susan, my manicurist would not have time to come out this week, and I really wanted to get my nails done before chemo. I did ok but I was really tired when I got home. It is a bit awkward driving with all the tubes and having to sit on one of them, but I was fine really since it was such a short distance. Saturday night we met Syd, Jim and Zola halfway from Gainesville and went to dinner with them for their birthday. This was really a bid deal for me. We could not get booth, which is usually easier for me as I can lean away from the tubing, but we managed just fine. We had a fun time and a good dinner, and I almost felt like a normal human -- the haircut and wound vac gave me away however.

About 4am Sunday morning, the wound vac alarm went off. The error message was on we'd never seen before so we knew we would have to call the technicians. They said they local guy would call us about coming out and replacing the equipment within an hour or so. I knew if the machine was off more than 2 hours Kathy would have to come out and replace the sponge. By 8am we still had not heard from about the equipment replacement. I called Kathy who was camping with her husband at Stone Mountain just so she would be on notice that she would need to see my some time on Sunday. She told me to go ahead and disconnect from the wound vacc and bandage up. That was like music to my ears and gave me real freedom for a few hours. After 3 or 4 calls to the wound vac folks it did show up before 1pm. Kathy came about 3. In the meantime, I got to go to Publix (drove myself!) without my machine, tail etc and it was great. My leg hurts a lot less when the wound vac is not connected, not to mention I can move around a whole lot better! I even took a shower (yea) before Kathy arrived. It is the little things in life that can make you happy some times!

We had dinner at Susan and Karl's which was delicious and sort of the last real meal I will probably have the appetite to eat for a while. Luckily Susan sent us away with leftovers so if I can eat Bob is off the hook for cooking for tonight.

So, here I am back in chemo where I started in February. Dr. Saba says my scans are all good so all systems are go. I am ready to get this over with. Bob just left (noon) after getting me settled in and Gloria will be here this afternoon to get me home. I feel pretty good and will do what I can to keep my appetite good and drink a lot. I did discover Ensure and I don't mind drinking it, so I will try to have at least 2 of those a day. They do have Protein and Potassium which is something I really need.

I am going to try to go and get some work done. Thanks for all your good wishes. We are down for the count now, and I am going to be good as new (maybe better with my svelte (sp) body and bionic leg parts) soon!