Ten Things I Need To Remember....

1. That I cannot change the outcome of my mammogram on Monday.(Please Pray!!!)

2. That it is o.k. to ask for a chair and sit down.

3. That I will probably cry everytime I get news that someone else has got diagnosed with breast cancer. Then cheer when I find out that it is not Inflammatory.

4. That I will get letters from people I have never met and the letters will make me cry.

5. That I love watching people make fools of themselves dancing on T.V. and it is o.k. to laugh out loud to yourself.

6. That people do really mean well and have wonderful spirits.

7. That sitting down and watching my kids play is o.k. and that I don't have to play with them every second of the day.

8. That is important to pray.

9. That Mary's Magic Mouthwash really does work on mouth sores and I need to use it every day. Not quit after the sores go away....

10. That brushing your teeth with a light up toothbrush is really cool even when you are 34. Especially when you turn out the lights in the bathroom.

The Little Things

Round #4 kicked my butt today...came home only after working 3 hours. Took way too much energy to even walk to the bathroom. Then I had to take some meds for the nausea.

Tonight my dad came over and helped out because Todd had to leave on official police business. I came out to the living room and my dad was letting Campbell serve him "strawberry juice and cookies". So the emotionally basket case that I am, I started to cry. I remember back in the day when Melinda and I used to serve him the same. It was so cute to listen to them interact with each other.

Halfway Done!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am halfway done with the really stong drugs. Round 5, 6, 7, and 8 will consist of taxotere and herceptin. Round eight should be December 14, 2009. Herceptin will be given to me through October 2010. I am excited and nervous. Mammagram scheduled on October 5, 2009. This will let us know if everything is working. I am scared....

What is Chemo?

I was talking to a friend of mine, she wanted to know what happened during chemo and what the day was like for me. So here it is a play by play of the day...

1. The nurse accesses your port. Which means the "stab" you in your port and draw your blood. The tube thing is only five inches long that stays with you until I am connect to the IV machine. The little tube gets taped to my chest.

2. Doctor's appointment. Dr. K checks everything out and makes sure I am doing ok.

3. They connect you to the iv drip. I get an inject of a steroid and a bag of steroids in my IV. This takes about an half an hour.

4. A nurse sits next to me and "pushes" one of the chemo drugs into my iv. Takes about 15 minutes.

5. I get another chemo drug by iv. It takes about 30 minutes to drip into my iv.

The day starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 12:00.

Melissa's Crusaders

Acts of Randomness!!!

Act #1 Tongue swelled up last night. O.k. only the right side of my tongue swelled up. When I told Todd that it swelled he told me it was probably a popcorn kernel; until he looked at it. Called the Doctor she prescribed Mary's Magic Mouthwash. I hope it is really magic.

Act #2 Cried at church on Sunday. I saw all these people with Melissa's Crusaders shirts on and lost it emotionally.

Act #3 Today I went to Bonnie's to drop off the kids. The little girl from yesterday, looked at me again. I took my hat and asked her if she wanted to touch my head. She said no! Then as I was leaving I heard her run to Bonnie and say, "she still doesn't have any hair!!"

Act #4 I went to the bathroom at the office on 629 North 6th (where only women work). I went to sit down and ended up in the toilet bowl. I yelped then started to laugh so hard my belly hurt. I came out and our Health Officer said, " That was my bad!". The poor man was so red faced.

Never Forget Your Hat..

I walked in the sitter's house to pick up the kids. After being there a few seconds I realized that the kids were staring at me. I thought to my self that is really odd. I then realized that I didn't have my hat on my head. OOPS!!!

One little girl was really staring. So I bent down to Taylor's level, and told her that the medicine I take makes me lose my hair. I asked her if she wanted to feel my head. She said yes and told me it felt rough. I asked her if I look like Campbell's daddy and she said yes. I think they were all shock and I hope that me making light of it won't give any of them nightmares.

Then tonight my step dad and mom came over. I told them that story. My step dad says, "Well when I pulled into your drive way, I thought it was Todd sitting in the chair. Then I looked closer and realized it was you" . .Again, they do say you start to look more like your spouse the longer you get married. I just thought it would take longer than seven years.