by Jennifer | Dec 24, 2015 | Blog |
It’s Christmas Eve! The girls slept late (which I’m sure will not happen tomorrow morning) and we are enjoying a lazy morning/day around the house. There is a light dusting of snow on the ground which makes everything look beautiful!
Tonight we’ll go to the Christmas Eve service at church and grab some hot chocolate from Starbucks as we drive around and look at Christmas lights.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours. I pray it will be a wonderful couple days as you spend time with family and friends and as you celebrate the birth of our Savior.
(more…)
by Jennifer | Dec 23, 2015 | Blog |
I’m sitting here in the Infusion Center, waiting for my pre-chemo drugs. My port was stubborn this morning, so instead of starting at 9, we’ll be starting around 11:45 (hopefully). I’ve been able to spend time praying for people as I scroll through prayer needs on my computer. My friend Kim stopped by and we chatted for a bit. And of course, my handsome husband is here and as I speak is getting me lunch from Baja Fresh.
As I chatted with Kim this morning, instead of asking how I was doing today, she asked me what had brought me joy this week. What a great thing to think about as I sit here waiting to be poisoned. It’s so easy to let circumstances rob me of my joy. But that’s really a choice, and honestly, not a good one.
(more…)
by Jennifer | Dec 16, 2015 | Blog |
{This post contains Affiliate links. Thanks for helping me keep this blog online.}
If you have to get poison pumped into you each week, you might as well dress cute and comfy for it, right?
Last month I went on line and was going to reschedule my 8th Stitch Fix, which was set to come in December. (More details from my past fixes can be found here.) I don’t go out of the house much and just wear comfy clothes around the house most of the time. Because of that, I really didn’t need anything new. But instead of canceling, I decided to write a note to my stylist, letting her know I was going through chemo and asking her to select really comfy and soft clothes for this next fix.
I’m so glad I did!
(more…)
by Jennifer | Dec 15, 2015 | Blog |
It has been pretty uneventful, health wise, since my last post. I was feeling really good on Saturday morning, so we booked a hotel in Portland last minute and drove down for the weekend. We had fun looking around at some Christmas decorations and enjoyed eating at one of Tom’s restaurants. The girls’ behavior was GREAT, which made it a vacation for all of us! Woohoo!
(more…)
by Jennifer | Dec 2, 2015 | Blog |
Yesterday I went in for my labs and my port worked on the first try! Woohoo!! So thankful for that!
After my labs were drawn, we (Tom, my Dad and I) went over to see Dr. Leung, my oncologist. He feels the tumors are softening around the edges still, but they have not decreased in size yet.
He asked about new side effects and I told him about the peripheral neuropathy (tingling in my fingers and toes and one day in my right arm). He is concerned about this, as it is not a very common side effect for the meds I’m on right now, but when we switch meds in a few weeks, it is a very common side effect. So he mentioned the possibility of slowing down those treatments/doses (once a week for 12 weeks instead of every other week for 8 weeks). He said that could lessen the chance of permanent nerve damage from the medicine. So we are waiting to see what my body does this round of treatment and then will decide in the next two weeks which route to go.
That’s about it from yesterday . . .
(more…)
by Jennifer | Nov 19, 2015 | Blog |
It’s really discouraging when you wake up in the morning feeling great, but know you are headed to the infusion center to get medicine which you know will make you sick. 🙁
But I went anyways! Bring on the poison and the date with my husband. (Thanks Christy for that text asking me how were enjoying our date – Hahahahahahaha!)
Jayme, my sweet nurse who cracks me up the entire time we are there, makes the time pass quickly. More on her later . . .
As the chemo is going in, things are pretty uneventful until about 20 minutes before we are done. Then I started to get chemo head, or what feels like a fog in/around my head and I started to feel a little tired. Right now (4 pm) my stomach is not sure what’s going on and is gurgling a lot. So I’ll keep an eye on that with the nausea meds ready. So tonight we sit and wait. Fun . . .
(more…)
by Jennifer | Nov 18, 2015 | Blog |
Quick update from today . . .
My port was stubborn again today, but they got it working before we left. 🙂
I met with the oncologist today. He feels the tumor has softened on the top and the bottom, but it has not shrunk in size. He felt around for the lymph node that we know is infected and larger, but couldn’t find it. So it’s either hiding from us or has shrunk. We hope it’s the latter.
There is no plan to do a scan until after surgery, unless the surgeon wants it. We’ll know more about that as time gets closer.
(more…)
by Jennifer | Nov 10, 2015 | Blog |
My fabulous head shaving party on Friday has come and gone. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to seeing my bald head in the mirror, even if people say I don’t look as different as they thought I would.
While I’m not ready to go out in public without a hat or wig, beware . . . if you scroll down I’m posting pictures of my newly shaved head.
This cancer journey definitely seems more real with this new look I’m sporting. I know it’s just hair. If I stop treatment long enough, it will grow back. I know that. It’s just strange. It’s a new normal that I’m not used to yet.
But back to the shaving party . . .
(more…)
