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So what’s next?
That’s the question I keep hearing these days. I finished radiation and chemo in early September and let me tell you, they took it out of me. I felt miserable. Honestly, it wasn’t the chemo that was so bad for me. It was the radiation. (Every doctor kept blaming the other thing – that was somewhat funny.) I ended up in the hospital over Labor Day weekend because of the side effects of radiation. I couldn’t quit vomiting. I hurt. I coudn’t breathe well. I was miserable. My time in the hospital was a definite mix of good and bad. I won’t go over the bad any further than to…
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Did you miss me? I missed you!
Hey everyone. I’m sorry that it seems I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. I really haven’t. I just fell into radiation and chemo. Wow, that can zap you a lot faster than you’d realize. Every morning I would go to my radiation treatments, come home, and crawl into bed for several hours. Then I’d get up long enough to set up meds and feeding, and go back to bed. It was rough. My last treatment was September 2nd – just after I spent three days in the hospital from the side effects of chemo and radiation. I am SO glad that it’s over. However, I’ve got to be…
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I’m Home…So What Now?
I had hoped to blog before now but I have not had the time or energy that I would have liked. I am at home but I still have a Tracheotomy and a feeding tube so I’m on a rigorous medicine and feeding schedule that leaves me short times to sleep and rest. My rebuilt tongue is still too swollen to allow me to eat or breathe without these implements right now. (And yes – I pulled out the fuzzy kitty pics again!) Doctors have said my recovery is way ahead of schedule. Two weeks out from surgery I was home. Most patients are still hospitalized. I need those encouragements…
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Questions Answered: How you can help?
I have been blessed with texts, emails, notes and messages of support. And also with people asking how they can help. My beautiful friend, Organized SAHM, has set up an online form that people can fill out if they are interested in helping with meals or babysitting, errands, etc. It just asks for name, phone number and email and we promise it won’t go anywhere but here. We both thought this would be an easy way to catalog the offers. (Hey – we have the technology – we may as well use it.) That form is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_Z-eTUdamFdKDcTtuPLX1xEJu8dUgwrGZz9OeCfOLPQ/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link My kids are going to stay with some family in Houston for the…
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The Good, The Not So Good, and the Ugly: Next Steps for Treatment
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3: 5,6 I know that a lot of people have been waiting for updates since my surgery on Monday. I’ve been honestly trying to work through everything we learned and what it all means for me and I just wasn’t really ready to address it. Then we got close to Friday and that’s my daughter’s birthday. I determined that May 9th would be a cancer free (discussion wise) day for her if I could make that happen at all. So, not wanting to overshadow her…
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The Wheat and the Chaff: What do I need to take away from all of this?
So I’ve been on this journey for a little over a week and it’s amazing how much my world has changed. New language (oncologists, stage 1, endoscopy…), new people (doctors, nurses, techs…) and new goals (surgery Monday, bloodwork, rest) have completely immersed me in this foreign world. I don’t want to get comfortable here. I plan to just visit for a while and move on as quickly as possible. When I first got my diagnosis, I called a small handful of people. Tish Tucker was one of those. Tish is an amazing lady who listens, can still make me laugh in the middle of everything, has a deep and abiding…
