7 Aug 12

Today was a good day, the weather was great. Katie, my nurse, called me to check on me. She wanted to know how my pain was and then she told me about all of the supplies that she has ordered for me. They should be delivered tomorrow. There is going to be a change in the prepared formula that I get. Due to that change she is asking me to keep a very close eye on my blood sugar numbers. They want to make sure that this does not cause a problem there. Knowing about her concern for me will make it easy to keep a check on that. 

I think that I have a great nurse. How wonderful to have a nurse that will call and go over all of this and make sure you are alright. She also made sure that I knew that I can call her anytime if I need anything. 

The morning started with a call from the Philippines, Mom and I were very glad to hear that my older brother is warm and dry even though the city of Manila is flooded. He says that they have all of the supplies that they need to get through this. I think this is a first for him.

Monday in August

Quiet Day

Compared to yesterday today was quiet and that is just what I needed. Yesterday was great it just took a lot out of me. So today was nice to rest. Brooke took the girls out and ran errands for us. She helps us so much by doing this for us. Mom and I count this has a great blessing.

Rita, a dear friend of mine has helped me by making a special belt with a bag attached to it. The bag was designed special to hold my PCA machine. That is the machine that keeps my pain medication flowing to me. Because of this new item I can keep my hands free to do other things, I don’t forget to pick it up and it doesn’t slide around from where I had put it. When I figure out how I will post a picture of it on this blog. Rita made it using an old art called netting. It is a great aid to my life. 

I have had a great day and look forward to another one tomorrow. May your tomorrow be good also.

PS. the heat wave has broke, thankfully.

5 Aug 12

Sunday

Today I pushed myself and went to Church in the Ludlow Ward and stayed for all three hours. I will admit that I came home very, very tired. But I knew I would be tired this afternoon no matter what I did. So why not go and spend some time with some very dear old friends. 

I did not get to visit with each of my friends this morning. But most of them at least got to see me and see how I am doing. The Bishop was so pleased to see me that he asked me to give the closing prayer in Sacrament so that everyone would know that I was there. I also bore my testimony today. I needed to thank the Lord for all my blessings, many of them came through these friends at Church. 

I also was able to get some important papers signed and my lawyer will notarize them this week and then I can rest. I will know that my legal stuff is in order so I now can concentrate on other things. 

I didn’t get a chance to take a nap until dinner time this afternoon. But I am okay with that. I am a very happy person and that is an important part of just living life.  

5th Heat Wave of 2012

We are in the 5^th heat wave of the summer, very uncommon for us here in New England. The heat and humidity are taking their toll on me. I am glad we have A/C on the first floor.

It is interesting to learn that the pain medication that I am taking for my cancer does not seem to do anything about the pain I have in my knees. My right knee use to be the bad one, but since this past spring it has been my left knee. Today I had a great deal of trouble trying to bend it when I woke up. The pain was so bad that it caused me to go into dry heaves. Thankfully I have medication for vomiting that I can take.

Today the visiting nurses called me to check on my pain medication pump and decided that it was too low to wait another day. About lunch time a nurse stopped by and changed the cassette so I should be all set for about a week. I really appreciate the things the nurses have taught me about how much the machine holds and when to call and request that the come and change the cassette. For me the important number is 15. If the machine only has 15mg of medication than I have enough for just 24 hours and I need to call. Today when they called it was at 11, I expected their call that is why I had not called them. Yesterday my nurse had set it up, however, if I had not had a call by noon I would have called them.

I am so blessed with having my Mom. I was discharged from the hospital with a book on how to eat before, during and after cancer treatment. I think she has read the entire book. She is using what she has read when she prepares my dinners. Not everything works but she sure is trying to help me. Today she made potato salad this book says I should have egg salad instead. So she made me a small bowl of egg salad. 

Over a year ago while working on one of my temp assignments I meet a young lady who’s sister is a very serious diabetic and her father won’t change any of his cooking to help her with this problem. While I was working with the sister, she learned that the other gal had woke up blind. But even that would not change their father’s outlook. I think it is very sad that their father won’t help his own daughter get better.

Knowing that there are parents like that in this world makes me more grateful for my Mom who is trying to help me. The sad part is all anyone can do for me is to make me comfortable.

3 Aug 2012

Friday

This has been a so so day. From mid-morning on my stomach has been upset. It is very hard to find foods with the right texture to eat.  My visiting nurse came over to see me today and she thinks I am fantastic. I told her that I get very tired very quickly for someone of my age. She says I do a great job of taking care of myself. The way I see it if I don’t take care of me who is going to?

Today one of my friends put a post on facebook that really surprised me. I am stunned by what she said about me. I have never thought of myself has someone other look up to. I am just a simple person who tries to quietly live the teachings that I believe in. I really do NOT want anyone to put me up on a pedestal. I have my faults just like everyone else. And when it comes to dealing with this cancer, I have my bad days, in fact today is one of those. 

I told my nurse, Katie, that I thought that my G Tube had moved so she checked it. It has not moved. Everything checked out just fine. I did remember to give her a list of supplies that I needed. She says they will be delivered on Monday.

A Quiet Thursday

Today has been better than yesterday. I tried to keep a little something in my stomach all day long and that seemed to keep things going the right way. 

I have started going on BYUTV.com and watching talks from Education Week in 2010. I have found the talks very interesting and uplifting. I was doing this before I went into the hospital this last time and it helped to keep my spirits up. I also was listening to light classical music to relax. 

I am enjoying watching the Olympics. I have always enjoyed them. I really like watching gymnastics and swimming.  I don’t understand everything about either sport but I still enjoy watching it. Also it is something Mom and I are doing together. Sometimes Jenny watches with us. But not unless gymnastics is on, she really isn’t interested in the rest of the sports.

Sadly every evening I have to deal with a rotten headache but I am getting used to it. But the headache does not keep me from living my life. I think tomorrow I will talk to my nurse about changing my morphine amount. I am having a lot of break through pain this week. I was hoping Monday that it was a just a bad day, but it was not. 

I supposed this was to be expected but I was hoping it would be longer before we needed to adjust my meds. I just pray that the adjustment can be done without me being admitted to the hospital again.

Just another Day

Yucky Wednesday

I would have to say that today was not a great day. I have had an upset stomach all day and I have only eaten a peanut butter sandwich and formula. You would think that other foods would stay down better than peanut butter, but the human body is very strange in my book. So I have to say I have had better days than today. 

I still know that I have blessing to count. I am very grateful for the way my family left me along when I needed to lay down. At one point a friend called to talk to me and just at that moment I started vomiting so my Mom very nicely talked to our friend and answering her questions about me. I am grateful to both of them.  Heather wanted to know if someone else in our Church family had been able to help me. Mom knew all about it and told Heather all about how well things worked out. I would have really liked to talk to Heather myself but I just couldn’t.

I have also been able to listen to a good talk from Education Week at BYU on the striving for continued learning. I really enjoyed the talk and there was a beautiful musical selection just before the talk. I found that the music helped me to relax and of course when you don’t feel good you need to relax. Starting the day with good thoughts and music always gives me a more positive outlook on my life regardless of what is going on.

If you are going through a tough time you might want to try doing this. I totally understand that each of us will want to listen to different music to relax and that is okay. I also find that listening to motivational speakers get my mind off of my problem. I hope these ideas help some of the younger people that I know are reading my blog.

Thank you to all of you that are following my blog and sending me messages. I really appreciate your concern and the time you take out of your busy days to keep in touch with me.  I love all of you.