Winter's return

 The weather has been pretty mild since that deep freeze and blizzard just before Christmas.

As of this morning, though, we are back down to 20 degrees, and the forecasters keep changing their tunes for next week.

At first, it was supposed to be an ice storm on Monday, so I made arrangements to go to the office this past Friday to pick up work, just in case.

Then, they moved the ice to Tuesday. Then they moved it back to Monday afternoon. 
As of now, Monday is dry.

*shrug*

I am not going to go to the office tomorrow, because if they don't know, neither do I, and I am not wanting to get stuck having to stay at the office until Wednesday!

Sure, there's a shower room, and a bunk room, for the paramedics...but no.

Anyway, we went from 63 degrees yesterday, to where we are now, and won't be above freezing all week, with waves of sleet, ice, and snow expected before the weather breaks next weekend, and we are back up in the 60s.

I hate the Oklahoma weather roller coaster. Truly.

My second treatment went well, in and of itself. 

No headache the moment the Enhertu went into my veins. Felt fine during the whole 4-ish hours. 

 However, my reaction to the steroids this time was far worse.

I had hoped, since it was relatively mild last time, that it would continue to be so.

Nope.

I was awake almost all night the night of treatment, and had to work the next day, which was full of mood swings, exhaustion, and insatiable hunger.

My face was hot and pink by afternoon, and I had ONE beer on Friday night, and my face turned bright red - just from that tiny bit of alcohol.

Then, on Saturday morning, my face was still red, itchy, hot, and so puffy that I didn't recognize myself in the mirror.  The hunger started to ease off, and the moods calmed down, but the insomnia was still an issue part of Saturday night.

I finally slept after tossing and turning for almost 4 hours. 

Everything started to get fully back to normal about 48 hours after treatment, on Saturday afternoon.  

I was in bed at 9:30 last night, and did not get up until 9 this morning. 

What I don't understand is why my team has nothing to say about how to make this part of treatment less impactful.  Doc just says it's nothing to worry about.

Have you had to live through it every 3 weeks, Doc?  Isn't there SOMETHING to take the edge off?

Anyway, today, with the weather change, we are not planning on doing much of anything outside of the house.  I have some reading to work on for my course, and want to do some seasonal updates in my sacred space.

Since I don't have to work at the office this week, I can sleep until 6:45 every day...that will be a luxury.

Today's menu is Asian flavored meat loaf with roasted carrots and rice. 

I made Moroccan chicken last night, so between the two, we will have yummy, warming left overs for the week.

Dave filled the car's gas tank on Friday, and we got all of our errands done.  

Hopefully, the ice won't get so bad that we need to drag out the generator.  Fingers crossed, please!

Have a good week. 

Slow news week

 Not much to report for me this week.

Been taking it easy on the foot, and it feels pretty much pain free, most days.  Hurts a bit this morning, for some reason.

This past week was a short work week, with Monday having been a holiday.  

We had a lazy day yesterday, our plans to meet up with friends having been canceled, because they weren't feeling well.  

Best to stay away, I guess. Though my nurse reported that my bloodwork looks good, after round one. That's very encouraging! 

I will get another blood draw on Wednesday, in advance of my Thursday round two treatment. 

The weather forecast indicates that we could see anywhere from a dusting of snow to seven and a half inches by Wednesday.

Knowing Oklahoma, we will either get nothing, or twelve inches, hahah!

Either way, we are ready.  The gas tank is full, and we have plenty of groceries on hand.

The good thing is that there's no deep freeze associated with this storm.

Happy Chinese/Asian/Lunar new year to anyone out there who is celebrating this, and who doesn't find it offensive for me to wish you a happy one.

Fractured

 It's been 10 days since my first treatment, and I have had marked fatigue in the late afternoons, but am otherwise feeling okay.

Had blood drawn after work on Friday.  I am assuming that my nurse will call me if anything is amiss. 

Here's hoping that we don't have to quit this treatment, like we did the chemo we tried at the beginning of 2020.

This weekend marks the end of 8 years of treatment for stage 4 breast cancer.  My very first treatment was right before Martin Luther King Jr weekend, in 2015.

Saw the podiatrist on Thursday, after having to wait WEEKS to get in.  

They took xrays, and he confirmed that I DO INDEED have a minor stress fracture in my left foot, where I had them 20 years, or so, ago. 

Damn.  

FORTUNATELY, he indicated that I had been doing everything right since the pain started, weeks ago.  

I have been making sure to support the foot, and to baby it, taking fewer walks, gentler walks, and trying not to aggravate the pain by cutting activity short when it hurts.

It appears that the fracture is already healing, so he prescribed some "medical inserts" for my shoes.  

I am grateful that he did that, INSTEAD of putting me in a soft cast and walking boot, and ordered me to rest it as much as possible for a month, then call him.

When I broke the foot 20 years ago, I had to be in the soft cast and boot for TEN WEEKS, and then a surgical shoe for another two weeks. 

Unfortunately, resting it as much as possible means no dance class, and no strenuous activity (he specified doing a day of yard work in old sneakers, as an example...HAHA.  It's like he knows me).

The fact that it's a minor "greenstick" type of fracture, and appears to already be healing, is why it sometimes doesn't hurt at all any more.  

It was much more consistently painful when I called for the appointment.

So, I had not gone back to dance class after winter break because of the pain, and now I can't go back until about Valentine's Day.

Yesterday, when we did errands, I sat in the car for half of them, and, for weeks, have been very conscious of how I step on the foot when I do any walking.

Other than that, it's been a quiet week. This is a three day weekend, which is nice, so soon after the winter holidays.

A friend is having surgery next week, and I've promised her that I will make some meals for her to have on hand for her recovery days.  She's going to have a friend stay with her, so I will make sure to make enough for them both.

 Today and tomorrow will see Paula's Production Kitchen up and in action! Today, I am making a batch of bone broth for myself, as well as a pot of chicken rice soup to share with her.

Then, tomorrow, I am going to bake a huge batch of mostaccioli.  Half will go to her, and half will stay with us.

In the process, I also hope to clear out the pantry cabinets and re-organize them.  Not fun, but needed!

I can do that sitting down, with a folding table next to me to put stuff on.  I did this about a year ago, and it's already past due to be re done!  We have to little storage space, and it's really easy for it to get jumbled. 

It's chilly and brutally windy out, so no woods walk today. Maybe tomorrow.

One down

 Well, things went okay for my first treatment.

Dave walked back into the treatment room with me like he belonged there, and no one said a word about it.

AND, Markie, the treatment room nurse, said that Sara, the other nurse (who could NEVER find my port access) had switched to part time, and wouldn't be there. 

YAY!!

Then, Markie said I could have my treatment through an IV instead of through my port, so I went for that option, and all of my stress just -- vanished. 

I'd much rather get a poke in the arm than have my port accessed, as I've said before.

I'll do the port next time, because it will be time to flush it.  Markie has really good luck with getting the port on the first try.

So, I did okay with the treatment.  No weird or unexpected issues, other than a head ache for 24 hours, that started as soon as the Enhertu went into the IV. 

It's listed among the "less common" side effects, so it will be on my list when I see Doc on the 26th.

The steroids did NOT keep me up all night, and they made me angry, hungry, and hot the next day, but I was working from home, so it didn't effect anyone but me.  

Dave went out in the afternoon for a hair cut and an errand, so he missed the rage attack I had.

Good.

The steroids also made all of my pain go away for a day....which was lovely!

I did have to take the anti nausea medication on the night of treatment, and again once the next day, but have been fine since.

I have to go for a blood draw on Friday, and again the day before my next treatment, to make sure my immune system isn't tanking.

I also finally have my podiatrist appointment this coming Thursday.  The pain in my forefoot is still there, but it's intermittent, and better than it was when I made the appointment WEEKS ago.

In other news, I've been wasting so much produce lately, even with sharing my farm bag deliveries with a co worker (and sometimes a neighbor), that I have decided to cancel my subscription.  

I've had so much fun with it, but, over the past few weeks, it's been a total waste.

On the other hand, we were gifted some free deliveries of meal kits, which have been really good!  So I signed up for one of those services instead, to remove some of the stress of meal planning.

Yeah, that means more cardboard to recycle, but they've VASTLY improved their packaging since we first tried one of those services many years ago.  Everything in the box is recyclable.

I will probably cancel this subscription after a few boxes, but it will be nice for now, while I am adapting to being back in treatment.

The friend who recommended it said it's actually less expensive than grocery shopping, and the added bonus is that Dave is willing to learn how to cook dinner with these kits.  Easy, step by step instructions help him get some hands on practice!

We ended up being out for over 4 hours yesterday getting our errands done.... this delivery service will cut back on errands, as well.

Today should be an easy, stay at home day.  It was too cold this morning for a woods walk, but maybe next weekend.  

Here's hoping that you, gentle readers, had a good first week of 2023.

Happy New Year!

 We enjoyed our usual quiet New Year's Eve yesterday... with appetizers, and cool beer, and the hot tub, and watching "Harvey," with James Stewart.

Champagne at 10:30pm, because we were both too relaxed and sleepy to stay up.

While Dave snored through midnight, though, I was awake because of all of the usual fireworks and gun shots.

Someone on the back of our block had a semi-automatic weapon, and someone else on the back of our block called the cops on them, HAHAHA!!

I just hope that wasn't because the bullets rained down into someone's house.

Today is supposed to be a spectacular, 65 degree day, so we are headed out to the woods soon.

In other news, I have my first treatment scheduled.

After our day off tomorrow, I will work at the office on Tuesday, then Wednesday morning, I have to go get an echocardiogram done to establish a baseline.  I will also stop and get my blood draw completed.  Then, I will clock in and work however many hours are left of the day.

Thursday morning, I will clock in and work the first half of the day, and after I clock out for lunch, the rest of the afternoon will be spent in the chemo chair.

The nurse who called me said that the first treatment is the longest, at about 3 and a half hours.

She also said I am not allowed to have a visitor with me, but that she could make an exception for me and Dave.  

(this was not my usual nurse)

That's about all the news for today.  We are headed out.  Later, we will do the traditional cleaning out of the fridge, and a friend is coming over to help us finish off the appetizers we didn't get around to cooking  yesterday.

Happy New Year, gentle readers!  May 2023 bring you good health, security, and happiness.