Another quiet day.  I was able to spend a bit more time online, but I’m still not working through more than a couple of hours at a time.  (Of course, this is Sunday.  I don’t have to be working at all, but I’m trying to catch up a little.)

My sweetie has procured me a bed tray to use when I get my laptop (expected Tuesday).

Beyond that, I’ve read, napped, and watched junk TV.  (This should begin to sound familiar.)  I’m not sure what, if anything, I’ll have for supper.  I’ve skipped the anti-nausea meds today, and I think I feel somewhat better for it, but I’m a little afraid to push.

Still here I am, and not feeling too bad.  Happy Thanksgiving!

I’ve spent today very quietly.  I’m feeling considerably less weak, but I am still coming off the pump, and I don’t feel much like being active.  Besides, the second anti-nausea medicine tends to make me a little woozy.  I’m not really sure I need it, but I don’t want to go through another siege like the other day.

I spent a lot of the morning on the phone with my brother and then my sister, and that was very nice.  My sweetie has managed to find another pair of compression stockings for me, so I can change off, but it appears that Maalox and Mylanta are no longer available; we don’t know why.

So it’s been a quiet day, but a pleasant one.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was really something.  My sweetie had a therapy appointment early, but I had friends (my goddaughter and her mother) coming to escort me to the hospital.  I’m glad they were there because it was really hard for me to convey myself from the taxi to the infusion suite.

My weight was down a lot (after a day of not eating), but my blood pressure and temp were okay.  It wasn’t long before they had me in a chair and started the infusion.  I had my favorite nurse.  She said later that I looked pretty scary when I came in.  I can believe that.  She also adjusted the tape on the pump so it didn’t pull my skin, and showed me how to ask them to place the other bits of plastic so they wouldn’t get in my way so much when I try to sleep.

Just as we started, my sweetie came in from his appointment, and greeted our friends.  He was raw from his session, and the nurse chased our friends so he could collect himself.  I reported the nausea from yesterday, so the infusion nurse called in my nurse practitioner and she gave me a prescriptions for another anti-nausea drug that I can take in between doses of the first one.

Over the course of the transfusion (not quite five hours), I always had someone for company.  My sweetie went out to fill the prescription and came back with soup from the cafeteria (which I finished!).  They gave me Benadryl to minimize problems with the transfusion, warning me that it would knock me out so I wouldn’t really feel the effects of the blood until tomorrow (that is, today).  I did fade in and out a bit, but I didn’t ever actually fall asleep.

The timing was really excellent.  The pump came off just after 3:00 and the blood finished not ten minutes later.  They pumped some water into me and observed me for another twenty minutes or so and then we left.

We all came back to our apartment, but just for long enough to exchange lots of hugs, including large hugs for absent spouses.  Then our friends were on their way, and I lay down on the bed where I stayed for the rest of the day.

I should note that when we waited for a cab to come back from the hospital, I had no trouble standng on the curb for the five minutes or so it took to find one.  That wouldn’t have been possible in the morning.

I didn’t sleep well last night.  I was a little febrile, and I’d pretty much slept since getting back from the hospital.  Today I’m tired.  I’m much stronger than I was, but weak enough that we didn’t do our monthly mattress flip and I asked my sweetie to help me change the sheets.  He’s perfectly willing, but I wonder whether I’ll be able to pick that up again later.  We may want to get some household help; we’ll see.

But here I am.  I hope to have a visitor (my college friend from the West Coast) this afternoon.  I’ll call her later this morning and see what we can set up.  Day by day.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Today was rough.  I felt queasy in the morning so I took an anti-nausea pill.  I seemed to keep breakfast down okay, but I haven’t been able to hold anything else all day– not that I’ve tried that much.  I gave up my mid-morning drink, and I didn’t try to have anything else (not even water, that I recall) until my afternoon fiber supplement.  That didn’t stay down.  I waited an hour for my innards to settle and tried another anti-nausea pill, but I didn’t keep that down.

Tomorrow I have my infusion and disconnect.  I’m really weak from anemia and lack of nourishment.  It will be fun.

But I’m here, and I have compression stockings on my mildly swollen feet.  Happy Thanksgiving.

I’m going to do today now before I get too tired.

There’s good news and bad news.  The bad news is that I’m anemic enough that they want to give me a transfusion (2 units).  The less-bad part of that news is that I’m doing well enough that they were able to do today’s infusion, and I’ll get the blood on Thursday, before the pump disconnect.  I’m actually relieved to know that I’m anemic because I’ve lost so much stamina.  The anemia is from the chemo, not from the disease, so, in a sense, that’s a relief.  Let’s see what the transfusion does for me.

The good news (handed along to me in passing by my sweetie; I didn’t hear it during the exam and I’m not sure the nurse actually mentioned it there) is that my liver is smaller.  So the chemo is doing something for me as well as to me.  Happy Thanksgiving!

That’s pretty much how I spent my day.  I’m going to take a rest now.  Oh, by the way, our landline is working again.

Let’s talk about yesterday before the infusion knocks me out to I don’t have the strength.

First, there was saying goody-bye to my parents.  That was very hard.  We left for the airport at about 10:15 with our bags and my heavy jacket in the trunk.  We got to the airport at about 11:00 and my sweetie removed our bags from the trunk while my mother and I embraced on the pavement.  (She always rides in the back with me, leaving the front to the long-legged men, so she gets out to switch places at the airport.)  We went into the airport, up to check-in, and I realize I don’t have my winter jacket.  I try calling the cell phone, but their number isn’t accepting calls.  (I figure they probably didn’t even take the phone with them.)  I leave voicemail at the house.  Meanwhile, the agent checking us in lets us know that our flight has an hour delay because of a mechanica problem.  Happy Thanksgiving notwithstanding, this is not turning out to be my favorite day.

We get a wheelchair and (with another couple, she in the chair) are rolled to the gate where we both give up the wheelchairs.  We sit.  Eventually I reach Mom, who found my message and realized my house keys are in my pocket, and how desperate am I?  (Not very; I have spares.  I need the jacket, though.)  And (as we should already have departed by this time, I report the delay.)

The plane comes in about when they say, but it turns out the particular mechanical issue involved meant replacing a part, and the first ten flights after part replacement need a mechanic to sign off on them, and it’s forty-five minutes more before we board and another longish wait (I lost track) before we’re actually in the air.  The flight itself was okay, but we don’t land until nearly five.  We are the last ones off the plane.  I’m halfway up the aisle before I realize my pocket book is still safely stowed under the seat in front of mine and I go back for it, which completely knocks me out and I’m delighted to collapse into the wheelchair.

We retrieve our bags.  The best part about the trip is that there is a line-up of cabs and no people waiting, so we’re on our way immediately, about two hours after hour scheduled landing time.  I am exhausted.  I pick up the phone to report our arrival to my parents and discover that I have no dialtone.  As I have DSL on that line, I try the computer; that– thank heavens!– works.  I get to the Verizon page and report the problem.  I should be fixed by 11pm today.  (Goody.  I asked for notification by email; I sure hope they don’t call.)

My sweetie, who had already used his cell phone to call the restaurant, was out getting the (Chinese) food for dinner.  (I just had wonton soup, but I realized I’d had very little to eat all day, which wasn’t adding anything to my strength.)

We went through the mail.  My sweetie unpacked, but, except for setting up his computer and taking a couple of things out of the carry-on bag, I didn’t have the strength, so I’ll have to do that this morning.

We go to sleep.  We wake up to 26 degrees F.  This is cruel and unusual.  Nonetheless, we are here.  We made it home.  We are together.  Happy Thanksgiving!

We’re packed.  I don’t like that part of it at all, and it’s taken a lot out of me to do it.

Yesterday we didn’t get to swim because it was raining and very windy, and that was disappointing.  I used heat on my shoulder and that relieved it a little.  (I can’t stand icing it.)

I read and rested and watched junk TV and rested and– well, you get the idea.  I had leftover chicken for lunch, and that was good.  I felt reasonably energetic, and (when Dad and my sweetie started discussing politics) I asked Mom if she felt like playing, and we did, actually play together again.  It’s a really good feeling for both of us.

Mom had made fish for dinner, but after the chicken I didn’t want that much food.  As it happened, Dad’s stomach was a little upset, and he asked for poached eggs, so I asked Mom to put on on for me, too, and she did.  It was perfect.

After supper I checked in online and (successfully!) printed our boarding passes.  My back was pretty uncomfortable, so we retired a little early (because it’s less uncomfortable when I can sprawl out on the bed), and I slept pretty well.

It’s chilly here this morning, and it won’t be all that warm when we get to NY. I have a “silk” turtleneck shirt that I figure on putting on in the airport here, to add a layer to what’s available when we get off in NY and have to get a cab. JetBlue says they have a wheelchair for me.

So that’s it.  It’s been a glorious trip, and I’m really glad I was able to make it. Happy Thanksgiving.

After a slow start, yesterday turned out to be a pretty good day.  I had my swim, and that was wonderful.  The day was quiet, and I spent a fair amount of time with the heating pad on my shoulder, feeling it was doing no good at all until I gave up and turned it off and did feel a bit better.

When my brother and sister were here, they stayed at my aunt’s condo, and they brought their bed linens over before they left.  Mom (who had plenty of laundry of her own to do) was unhappy at the prospect, especially, of folding the fitted king-size sheets.  I’d told her that we could do them together, as long as I could sit down.  So yesterday afternoon I actually managed to do something useful, and the two of us folded linens together.  It’s a strange highlight for the day, but there you are.

We had rotisserie chicken for dinner last night, and I ate very well.  It’s obviously an excellent meal for me.  We fell asleep to Some Like it Hot, which is a movie I’d normally prefer to stay awake for, but I was out like a light. But then I woke up at 1:35 and had a bit of trouble soothing my shoulder enough to fall asleep again.  I did, and woke up a bit before four, and I fell asleep again and didn’t wake up until six.

I skipped the walk.  My sweetie is making breakfast now.  It’s supposed to be rainy today, but we should still be able to take our swim this morning.  It’s our last day here, alas.  Happy Thanksgiving.

I skipped the walk this morning.  I could have pushed myself, but I really didn’t want to.  I didn’t sleep well, largely because my neck and shoulder are sore again, and my gut is unsettled– not too badly, but just enough that I’d rather have a convenient bathroom.

Yesterday we had our swim and showered and put ourselves together.  My neck was really bad, and Mom suggested that I try heat.  I did, and about an hour and a half with the heating pad on it helped a lot.  (I’ll do that again later.)  We sat on the lanai, and the tanager showed up again, but that was early.  Friday is landscaping day, and the machines are too noisy for the birds.

We did our laundry, which is to say that my sweetie took care of most of it, but I guided him through the use of Mom’s consumer machines, because he’s used to the big commercial ones in our laundry room.

I used my phone to browse the web some; I don’t do that much because I’m usually at the computer, but I could do this while I was connected to the heating pad or otherwise just vegging out.  I do have to explore the phone further.  It’s got a bazillion features I haven’t even considered looking at.

I had a large lunch– the leftover shrimp from Thursday turned into a salad, and I had ginger ale with the salad (instead of water, which is all I normally drink).

All in all an unexciting day.  That’s not such a bad thing.  I hope today will be quiet as well.  Happy Thanksgiving.

I had my swim, and realized how much I enjoy swimming.  My parents are both excellent swimmers, and my father taught me to swim when I was about five, in Lake George.  At this point, I don’t have much strength or stamina, but I have an easy, confident crawl stroke, and the water supports parts of my body that might otherwise lean painfully against each other.  I’m not doing a lot of swimming, but I’m loving every stroke.

Then came the long-haired visitors from not-quite-afar, bearing mysterious fruits of the tropics:  mamey, black (but still green) sapote, and “mango cheese” with cheese (so we could eat it Cuban style).  It is always such a pleasure to see them.  I didn’t know how much energy I would have to focus on conversation, but everything worked well.  A little after noon I suggested it was time for them to procure lunch, which they did at the same seafood restaurant (Swan River) we’d taken out from last Friday night.  We were all quite satisfied with our meals, although the fries that came with the cod cake didn’t manage to stay crisp on the ride home.

After lunch I sent the boys off to the beach so I could rest (and they could do something fun).  That’s especially good for my sweetie, who has been pretty much held captive by my immobility.  I rested for most of the afternoon, but when I realized that my father had gone back to his computer I decided I’d go in and see what he was up to.  On other trips, I’ve spent much more time doing this, but between my fatigue and my disinclination to sit on a hard chair, this was the first time.  (Okay; I was smart.  I took a couple of pillows to soften the chair– and that worked very well.)

Dad was looking at family photos– stuff I’d scanned and didn’t realize had gone into folders on his machine.  (I put them onto a flash drive.)  But he didn’t have the actual folder of photos from the disk, so I put that there.  He was having a wonderful time looking at the pictures, and I felt good sitting there with him at the computer.

Then the boys came home, full of fresh air and shells and photos of the birds and the beach.  We talked for a little while and then, at about six, I told them, regretfully, that it was time for them to leave.  Gracious as always, they said they were fading too, and agreed that it was time to go.

I didn’t have much supper– just a tapioca– but I’d had ice cream with chocolate sauce midway through the afternoon, and I wasn’t very hungry and it was almost bedtime.

We went to sleep at about 8:30 and slept pretty well.  We didn’t get up until after five, took our walk at about 6:15, and now my sweetie, back from his extended walk, is making breakfast for us.  Happy Thanksgiving!