second round...

here i am, sitting in my chair, enjoying my chemo drip, a little bored, so i decided it was time for an update.

1-hailey's ankle is doing much better. she has a brace she wears to the gym with me, but she is taking the full two weeks off of soccer and p.e. mostly because our wards young men and young women are going to the temple on saturday, and it made it really easy to get out of the soccer game!

2- sadie came to town last wednesday evening as jon left town to go to san diego for our yearly mission president seminar. as she arrived, my hair started to come out. by friday evening after a shower, it felt like it was coming out in hand fulls. i definitely had a couple of bald spots and didn't really feel like i could hide it any more. so we put a #3 attachment on the clippers and away she went. her first experience of shaving hair and it had to be her mothers. she kept saying, "this is just sick and wrong." we would laugh and then cry and then laugh some more. i agree with her. no daughter should have to do that to her mother, but i'm sure glad that she could be here to do it for me! i now wear a wig or a hat every time i leave my house. (i think i am going to try a scarf tomorrow. i think they look pretty, i just need to try it around my house so i know it will stay on.) it is really surprising to me how quickly i got used to looking at myself this way. i still have a lot more hair than i thought i would! sort of a mohawk and hair in the back. i am doing a slow shedding thing...some day i may tire of that and take it off, but i think it helps keep some heat on the top. i am very happy to still have eyebrows and lashes!

3- hailey traveled with jon to woodland last sunday and was his speaking companion in stake conference. i am so proud of her! everyone keeps telling me how awesome she was...and most important she FINALLY got to meet cameron cuvelier. cameron has been on her mind since his parents had dinner at our house last november and they decided that cameron and hailey should get married. she is all for it! :) she is also speaking with her dad this week in the peterson lane ward. she is a trooper. one of these days i will have to get back out there and be a companion to my husband. i just never know what to expect about how i will be feeling when we get these invitations. i have decided i am just going to expect to be feeling well.

4- megan came in to town last night. she got today off of work and knew i was having my treatment, so i am glad she could come and be with hailey today and me the rest of the weekend. :) we got an earlier start this time, but it is still an all day affair. and having to be here at 9:30 had us driving in rush hour traffic and we will probably be leaving around 4:30-5:00, bad traffic again. we are going to have to figure this out better. we are excited to be with megs for the weekend.

5- i got a letter on friday that my oncologist here at stanford was leaving. she accepted a new job where she will just be working with research. i was a little shocked. today i met a new doctor. another woman. i liked her. i think she is a keeper. :)

6- kristen celebrated her birthday this week. she turned 28. she thinks she is old. what will she do when she is 49? i sort of missed tod's birthday on the blog altogether this year with my surgery and everything. he turned 26. i love my kids! they are pretty wonderful!


7- jon had a little get away this past weekend to san diego. i don't think it really helps because you spend all of your time in meetings and such, but he was away from our boundaries for a couple of days, with permission :), and got lots of great training! he got to see the larkin's. i know he loved that!


8- the end. i am finished with my drips...i get to go home now!

two on tuesday...

1- Hailey had a soccer game on Saturday. Things were going really well until she rolled her ankle.


When she came out for a rest, she was hurting pretty bad. She decided she wanted to keep playing. In the second half, she scored her first goal of the season. WOO-hoo! Pretty exciting!

At the end of the game, when she took off her cleats and socks, this is what her ankle looked like. YUCK! She's been pretty beastly though. Nothing stops this girl!




2- Pink Tie Tuesday...

In the California Santa Rosa Mission, our Assistants, Elder Eccles and Elder Abbott have instituted "Pink Tie Tuesday" in honor of Sister Bunker. Here are some of my handsome missionaries this morning, proudly wearing their pink ties!


Even my boys at home are sporting the pink on Tuesday. I love my boys!

Chemotherapy Report - Day 8

Today is Day 8 in a 21 day cycle. I am happy to report I am doing very well! I think I need to write a little about what has been going on for the last eight days...mostly so I never forget. :)

September 2, 2010-Day 1-Left home at 10:15.
Things I learned...
1) Stanford Cancer Center is very busy. Lots of cancer patients there...waiting. (I only saw two who were without hair.?) We waited to see Dr. Guardino for over two hours. It was rough. But I still feel like it is worth it, to be her patient, and to have her expertise! I really like her!
2) There are over 100 chemotherapy drugs.
3) I was finally told about some of the side effects I might experience. The worst information I was told though, was that most breast cancer patients gain 10 pounds during treatments. Are you kidding me? Ten more pounds and I will be too big for my fat clothes. :) I have a goal to do something physical every day! It should help both mentally and physically.
4) Nurses are angels!
5) The chemo didn't burn through my veins.
6) Jon takes good care of the sick and afflicted!
7) Left infusion center at 8 pm.
8) Slept well except for several trips to the potty, to drain the bladder.

September 3-Day 2
1) Wake up feeling good. Surprised that I don't really feel any different yet.
2) Go to gym with husband. It feels good to work up a sweat!
3) Do some missionary things I have been putting off. Catch up a little.
4) Waiting to feel bad, or lose my sense of taste.
5) Do the wash.
6) Sadie arrives for the weekend. She has such a tender touch.
7) Give myself neulasta shot. Almost mess it all up, but get the needle cover off after an hour.
8) Feel pretty sure I will feel it in the morning.

September 4-Day 3
1) Feel a little stiff and sore, but nothing too bad.
2) Go with Sadie to purchase wig. (big relief to get that accomplished)


3) Buy a new printer.
4) Take a walk.
5) Eat out for dinner. Have some frozen yogurt with strawberries and granola. Thinking it may be the last meal I taste for awhile.
5) Take it easy. Feeling a little worse all day. Still nothing advil can't help with.

September 5- Day 4
1) Go to church. Lots of talk about cancer and trials. It still feels good to be there.
2) Feel a little worse all day. Finally have the realization that I might feel sick during the next few months.
3) Sadie makes 8 meals to freeze for a later date. Good idea!.
4) Watch Freaky Friday with my daughters!

September 6-Day 5
1) Order hats and scarves. (last thing i feel like i need to accomplish before i become hairless)
2) Take a walk and have a nice lunch with my girls. (so grateful i can still taste food!)
3) Still a little stiff and sore. Mouth feeling really weird. Head feeling like my hair is growing the wrong way. Nothing that is too debilitating. Just moving a little slower.
4) Send Sadie back to Las Vegas.

September 7-Day 6
1) Go to district meeting! Need a missionary fix this morning.
2) Go to the gym with Hailey.
3) Feeling about the same. Try not to take any advil. Make it until dinnertime.

September 8-Day 7
1) Soreness and stiffness basically gone. A miracle.
2) Got a short hair cut.




3) Go to the gym with Hailey.

September 9-Day 8
1) Went for a walk. Santa Rosa is absolutely beautiful this time of year. The sun was out, the air was cool...I was in heaven!
2) Notes about having short hair. I don't particularly love my hair style, but I feel like a free woman with it. I am digging the freedom! I could shower 4 times a day now if I wanted! I lost .5% body fat this morning without it. :) It took me about 25 minutes to shower and be ready for the day! I washed my shoulders and neck for the first time in maybe forever! Hailey thinks I look younger...Jon agrees. My eyes might look a little bigger too. I wish I could keep it for more than a week and a half. It is hard to imagine I'm going to look like a cancer patient before I feel like one.
3) I feel so blessed. I am sure it is going to be worse next time, but I feel like I have been given three weeks I didn't know I would have. I can still taste food. (that is a big deal!) I can still wake up and make Hailey breakfast and her lunch before seminary, and drive her there. I can still exercise without ruining the rest of my day. I can still feel promptings of the spirit about things I can do for my missionaries and others around me. I can still be useful and helpful and not only dependent on others. I am so grateful.

My next post will not be about cancer, I promise! Thank you all for your sweet notes full of love and support. I am sure the reason I feel so well is because of all of your faith and prayers in my behalf. I know it is! I love you all!