Black Friday

For the past 9 years, I have worked on what the retail world calls "Black Friday."  I don't remember much except for all the chaos & crowds.  I don't know about you, but the simple thought of looking for parking makes me want to stay in bed all day & eat Thanksgiving leftovers. But, there are a lot of people out there looking for bargains.  And they are crazy enough to wake up at 3 in the morning to get a decent parking at the mall by 4:30 am because the mall opens at 5am.  That's power shopping to me...anyway, I think I am done with my Christmas shopping with only my immediate family to shop for.  Can you believe that I did the majority of my Christmas shopping online?  It was easy, quick, & painless.  And now, whenever I go to the mall, I don't have to think about gifts.  I can go shopping for ME!!!  I love shopping, especially when it's for me.  I know, I'm terrible, but at least I'm honest.  Thank God I don't have to work today!

I miss Texas....

Okay, so I miss Texas...weird!  I think I miss the shuttle & the ease of going to the doctor, I miss the "queen" treatment, I miss the doctor & her team,  & I miss the ono filipino food on the weekends at Aunty Sylvia's.  I don't miss being hospitalized, I don't miss missing my husband, & I don't miss the crazy drivers.  

I just recently had a"lightbulb" moment concerning my treatment & made an attempt to email the patient advocate at Queen's Medical Center.  I got the response I wanted & they promised that they will forward my email to the doctor, as well as partner with her to make sure my concerns are addressed & resolved.  Their only concern for me is that they hope I don't get treated differently by the doctor or her staff.  Gee, if that happens, the doc doesn't know who she's messing with & will be sorry.  My next appointment to see the doctor is on the 30th...I will let all of you know what happens, if anything.

My last treatment was on the 16th & usually for 10 days after that my taste buds disappear & I don't have much of an appetite.  I do eat though, but small portions & sometimes I skip a meal here & there.  It's hard to chew something that tastes like cardboard.  Also, my muscles ache, especially the ones in my legs, & my feet hurt.  My feet & hands are discolored, they're dry & sometimes they peel.  That's where "ped-egg" comes to the rescue.  If you haven't tried ped-egg yet, what are you waiting for, the thing works!  Anyway, I use cetaphil, bath & body sleep, or aloe vera lotion every night with socks to ease the dryness.

Anyway, my next treatment is on the 8th, & I've requested it to be at the Queen's Cancer Center rather than in her small, stuffy office.  Fingers crossed for a bigger, more private room & trained oncology nurses that don't make me bruise when drawing blood from my port.  Until then, thank you all for your kind words, prayers, & support. 

Home Sweet Home...

We are finally home!!!  We arrived to Honolulu on November 6 at about 10 pm.  We had a long flight with 2 layovers in between & I think altogether we spent an entire 15 hours traveling...but it didn’t really matter, as long as we were coming home.  I’d like to thank all of you for your continued support, prayers, & goodies we received while we were on our journey in Texas.

The doctors in Texas are wonderful & extraordinary!  I definitely will miss the “queen” treatment I received while there.  Until you go, you will never know just how many people around the world that are affected by this disease.  It is shocking, but somewhat comforting to know that I am not alone.  And thanks to Kanoe’s outgoing personality, we have met many people that have touched our lives.

Anyway, I receive my first chemo treatment in Hawaii on November 16 at my doctor’s office.  I am praying that everything goes as smoothly as it did in Texas.  My doctor is smart though, so I’m sure there is nothing to worry about.

Ten things that I learned from my trip:  1) just when you think your situation is bad, God introduces you to someone who’s situation is worse, 2) just when you think you can’t take it any more, God picks you up & moves you forward, 3) there IS power in prayer, 4) patience, 5) I AM a lot like my mother, 6) my daughter IS extremely creative, smart, & talented, 7) my husband DOES love me, 8) there is more to life than just work, 9) despite the baldness, I am still beautiful, & lastly...10) there are so many wonderful people in this world.

So, yes...we are finally home & I am finally “back!”  I feel really good, strong, confident, & full of life.  This cancer doesn’t know who he’s messing with, but I guarantee he will regret messing with me!  Thank you all again for your prayers & support. 

CT Scans are not fun!!!

I most recently had a CT scan last Wednesday & it really sucked! First of all, the person who developed that "barium" should check theirself. Anything you do to that milky concoction is NOT gonna make it taste any better, in fact, I think the berry smoothie flavored barium still tastes pretty bad. What's worse, is that I had no idea there was such a thing as a "rectal" barium...yes, it is what you think...they put barium up there too. As if drinking three cups of that stuff isn't enough, they find a way to put it up there.

Okay, bitching aside, my test results came back with positive results. According to the doctor, there is no new growth. Which means that the chemo treatment is keeping the cancer at bay - YAY!!! And then, we were given the news we have been waiting so long to hear, the green light to go home - YAY!!! So, goodbye Texas....it was definitely a journey & well worth it, but get me the heck outta here & back to paradise where I belong.

So, yes...I'm going home! After a long two months. I'm going to continue my chemo treatments in Hawaii though, & I'll have another check up in another nine weeks. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers & support. You cannot imagine how much it's meant to me to know how many of you are praying for me & my family. The power of prayer - you just gotta believe.

Halfway to losing my mind...

I'm done with chemo #2 & am on my way actually to getting chemo #3. I guess I was so drugged out during chemo #1 that I don't remember any of the side effects. So, this time around, I really felt the side effects. It included nausea, itchiness, dizziness, the soles of my feet hurt, & loss of appetite. It lasted about 10 days! Can you imagine feeling sick for 10 days?
It wasn't fun at all, but as soon as it passed I was able to eat. Thank God!

Anyway, we've been here about a month & a half so far...& I am really looking forward to this week. Let's see, on Wednesday I have a bone scan, CT scan, & ultrasound scheduled with the results read the next day. This will determine when we'll be able to go home. I'm excited...cause I miss home, I miss my husband, I miss my own bed, I miss everything there is to miss about Hawaii. It's lonely & boring here in Texas especially when you rely on the hotel shuttle to take you places & the most exciting place it can take you is to Super Target. Thank God for weekends & thank God for my Aunty Sylvia & Uncle Greg. We spend our weekends at their house in Katy. Aunty takes us to the mall, to the grocery store, anywhere we want to go...& we're not confined to our hotel room.

H1N1 is a huge deal here & the hospital I go to just announced that they are not allowing children under the age of 12 on the premises. Which means that Kanoe can no longer come with me when I have doctor's appointments. I hope that this flu thing passes quickly. I just want to be able to go home & let Kanoe get her flu shots from her regular doctor. Here in Texas, we don't have a pediatrician & we have no way of getting around & I'm not familiar with what's nearby, so it would be hard for me to get a doctor for Kanoe. Anyone have any suggestions?

No More Fog...

It's been awhile, but boy am I glad that I'm finally out of the fog! By fog I mean, there are some parts of this trip that I don't remember because I was so doped up on morphine. I was hospitalized from the 8th thru the 16th. During that time, they discovered a bloodclot in my arm, got my pain under control, & even gave me my first round of chemo. I am so glad to be out of the hospital, the food was the worst. I did lose a lot of weight while in there, but I've been eating well, so I'm sure I gained some of it back. So, now I take methadone & neurontin for my pain & my mom gives me shots for the bloodclot. I am going to rehab also for the lymphedema, but my poor arm is so swollen & I really can't move it, plus we have to consider the bloodclot when exercising the arm - nothing too strenuous.

My next round of chemo is on the 1st. We're hoping that after this round, the doctor will be able to reassess me & tell us that the chemo is killing the cancer. when that happens, then we can coordinate with the Hawaii doctors so we can come home & I can receive treatment there. I miss home, I miss my husband, I miss Hawaii.

Houston can you hear me?

We made it to Houston! Praise the Lord! Got to see the doctor today & had to do some tests - a bone scan, those are not too bad, but trying to keep still for 20 minutes. The doctor was very optimistic but also very blunt, which is completely fine with me. I mean ain't I the queen of bluntness? Anyway tomorrow is more tests - a CT scan & an ultrasound, I should be done by 12:30. I don't know, there's something about this place that I like. And it's not the guys!


Anyway, so I didn't get to finish the last blog cause I was just so irked from traveling. Today is no different. Woke up so darn early again so that we could catch a ride from my mom's friend to the hospital. Had some breakfast and then realized that I needed to no t eat anything for the test that they were administering to me that morning. I had a chest/abdomen/pelvis CT scan & later I had an ultrasound on the one I had removed.

Today I was a bit emotional, partly due to the pain in my arm. Gee, I'm hoping that someone on either end will find me a doctor that will prescribe me a sleeve. I don't know how much more I can take this pain, swelling, or the inability to do this blog thing with one normal hand & one "swollen" one.

Anyway, time for bed. I have a new mini net book, so mini that it's taking me so long to write this stupid sentence!