Ray Dentist & Chemo #5

Ray had a dentist appointment in Blackfoot at 3pm in Blackfoot.  After the appointment we drove to Rexburg to stay overnight since my Chemo is early on Thursday.  Rachel asked me that evening if I was taking my steroids since I seemed to be talking a lot, not that I don't usually talk a lot. Funny girl.

Grandpa and Braxton

I guess if I can wear funny hats at Chemo, Terrance can wear his hat funny, too.

My Chemo appointment was at 9am.  I met with Dr. Dickson and he said I am doing very well. My white blood cell count was up to 22 so that was good news considering how low it was at my last Nadir appointment.  I am getting pretty emotionally tired at this point, but it's all good.  I have been a little more tired and nauseated this last round, but he said that's normal since there are cumulative effects from each round. 

I finished up around 2 pm.  It's always such a long day.  I was a little nauseated and very tired all evening but I got a really good night sleep.  I only had to get up once!  That's a miracle on any night.

   

Ray's VA Annual Check-up and Boise

Sunday we drove to Boise for Ray's annual VA check-up.  It was a very long day.  Monday morning we just went around to some second hand stores and lucked out on finding some things we needed (shower head for the apartment since the one in it sprays in every direction but down and I don't want to deal with maintenance on this one), shower curtain hooks, etc...

His appointment was at 1 pm which went pretty well until we discovered he hadn't gotten one of his refills in his big bag of meds.  We went back in and ended up waiting for about 3 more hours.  Ray had a little bit of a blow-up but it certainly got things moving.  They are usually pretty good there, so we can't complain too much.  Lack of food can cause things to escalate. 

We went to a Chinese restaurant called Golden Star.  They got my order wrong, didn't care, my food was very bland, and the cornstarch in the eggroll wasn't cooked out.  Yuck!  This was extremely disappointing to me since this is one of only a couple of days I can taste food before my next Chemo round. 

We tried to go to a movie but one side was blocked off so everyone was crowed in to one side making it crowded (not a situation I am supposed to be in right now) and I had to sit right in front of people which would have made me feel like I should remove my hat to the people behind me could see, and that wasn't going to happen.  Then I had a bit of a melt-down.  This on top of the long VA day and the tasteless dinner was enough for one day.  We went out to the lobby and they gave us passes to go another time.  

We stayed until Tuesday, went to some more second hand stores, found a meteorite at one of them (no info on origin, but cool none the less), and then headed home.  Another long drive. 

Smoke we could see to the North as we were heading out of Boise.

More smoke.

By the time we got home I had cankles from being in the car so long.  Not a pretty site.

PAC - Parkinson Annual Campout

We had our campout at Big Elk Creek this year from August 15 - 18.  We had a very good turnout.  Everyone but Matthew and Ethan made it.  LaChele and her family were even able to come up and stay with us.  We had fun games, great food, and amazing company.  No mosquitoes, just flies and hornet and bees.  I'll take them any day over mosquitoes. 

Just hanging out.

It was pretty cold (to me, anyway) in the mornings.

My eyes started weeping out of the outside corners which I have since found out is a result of the taxotere drug. It can cause your tear ducts to narrow and cause the tearing.  Who would have thought a new side effect would show up this late in the game.  He said if it doesn't clear up after treatments I can have them use a wire thing to clear out the ducts down in to the nasal cavity and that should clear it up. 

My brother Bob seemed to be doing pretty well.  His back was hurting and apparently he was experiencing vertigo.  Luckily he found out the vertigo is not cancer related. If you would like to follow up on his progress his blog site is  http://parkinsonfamilyjourney.blogspot.com/

Ray Has Returned and Our "New" Apartment

After taking a couple of "sick" days so he could visit with his sister Jacque and her family for a couple of days, Ray returned to the west on Sunday the 10th.  He said he really enjoyed the visit.

Ray was a little disappointed that there was to be no kissing ... especially since my white blood cell count was 1.  He has been exposed to different things from different regions and I can't take a chance that I might catch something.  I don't think it will be a deal breaker for our marriage although.  Just one more thing to add to the cancer train. 

On Tuesday we checked into our apartment at Ridge Crest.  It is ADA compatible because Ray's knee is so bad when he goes up stairs.  It is much smaller than the townhouse, but it will be better than going up and down the stairs all day.  After we checked in we were going through the apartment and it was filthy.  There was urine all down the toilet and caked around the base, there was soap scum on all of the fixtures in the shower, the kitchen floor hadn't been cleaned, the carpet was FILTHY, the stove hadn't been cleaned under, the kitchen sink hadn't been cleaned, and the list goes on and on.  The fridge had been cleaned out, the stove and oven had been cleaned, and the windows had been cleaned.  When I asked about the carpet he said it was cleaned and was just stained.  

I wish these pictures did justice as to just how filthy everything was.

At least they wiped around the top.

Caked on food.

More caked on food.

More soap scum.

Soap scum.

Spider webs and dead spiders.

Around foot of stove.

More behind the stove.

More spider webs.

More yuck and spider webs.

(Sorry about the picture arrangement.  I couldn't get them to line up at all.  Any suggestions would be welcome.)

I promptly hauled Ray and myself to the office.  The cleaning crew happened to be in a meeting with him at the time and I let them know precisely what was going on.  After their meeting they came down and I showed them what was not cleaned.  The supervisor said there were several cleaning crews over the summer so the apartment had somehow gotten missed.  The thing is, someone had to sign off on it and it was obvious it hadn't gotten checked.  Like I told the supervisor I usually go in and deep clean when I move in to an apartment because I am pretty high cleaning standards since I don't want to deal with other people's germs but that was ridiculous.  Besides the fact I'm not supposed to be dealing with other peoples germs while I'm undergoing Chemo.  There is no way I am paying any kind of cleaning fee.

They cleaned that apartment to almost sterile.  They said they would call the carpet cleaning crew but it would take 2 - 3 days unless I wanted to do it myself.  I said I would have to do it myself since we were moving our stuff out of storage Tuesday.  That required an extra drive up to Blackfoot and the entire evening to clean the carpets.  Then the drive back to Blackfoot to sleep since all of the floors were wet.

Very long and irritating day, but a very small thing in the long run.

Tuesday we rented a U-Haul truck.  $50+ for a couple of hours since that was all we needed. Crazy.  Matt came and helped since he had the day off.  Things went pretty smoothly.  

Chemo #4

I rode the Salt Lake Express ($13.00) to Rachel and Terrance’s house on Sunday evening.  Monday I was pretty much laying down most of the day.  I was so tired.  I felt so bad because Rachel was so excited that I could help with Braxton so she could clean and I could help her clean and rearrange furniture.  I couldn’t help much with the house or Braxton. 

Dr. Smith's office building in Idaho Falls.

Tuesday I was feeling pretty good.  I had an appointment with my surgeon Dr. Smith at 3 pm.  I had him do a thorough breast exam and let me know what all of the bumps and irregularities were so I could have a good base line to go by when doing my own exams.   

When I got back to Rachel’s we rearranged the living room and dining room and took pictures for a blog they are going to set up to sell their townhouse. 

Wednesday we put the couch back against the wall.  Terrance’s family was coming for MEP (their family campout acronym for Mary Lou and Earl's Prosperity) and there wouldn’t have been room for everyone to sit if it was dividing the room. LuJean, Conrad, Mallory, and Jake came to go shopping for the breakfast they are doing for everyone on Friday morning.  They have about 100 people planning on going to the campout.  That is amazing.

Nurse Gene giving me the really bad red chemical.

Thursday I went to Chemo at 9 am.  I met with Dr. Dickson for a few minutes.  He said on these next rounds people have reported that it takes a little longer to recover and they are more tired than on past rounds.  Then I went back had all of my Chemo.  My white blood counts are really good along with the rest of my blood work.  I finished about 3 pm.  I watched about 1 ½ movies.  I turn it off between drugs so I can listen to the Nurses so I can verify it is my name with each drug and follow any instructions they may have.  They did say that even though the Chemo is out of my system in 16 – 48 hours there is always a little left every time so it ends up adding up each time.  Good to know…I guess.  It is definitely a very long day each time I go in for Chemo.  Everyone else comes and goes before I’m done.  I’m always the first one there and the last one to leave.

Me trying to stay warm during Chemo, as usual.

Rachel picked me up and when I got to the house I found out while I was gone someone had called Terrance about stopping to look at the house while he was waiting at the front door.  Rachel was so embarrassed since she has been keeping the house clean for quite a while and today MEP supplies were all around the house, Mallory and Jake's blow up mattress was in the living room with their suitcases, my air mattress and all of my luggage was in Braxton’s room, and she had laundry on her bedroom floor waiting to be folded.  That seems to be the way it always is.  She is going to send them pictures of it cleaned up so his fiancé can see it the way it normally is.  Apparently he seemed really excited when he left and even called Terrance again after he left.  I hope it works out well for them.

I love being able to go visit with them.  Their home has such a wonderful atmosphere and it brings me a feeling of peace, which I definitely need right now.

I took the Salt Lake Express back to Blackfoot but since Monday they had raised the rates to $24.50!  That is crazy.  I was able to get a discount because the new site was glitching and I found out I can get a military discount.  Wish I had known that before.  I still ended up paying $19.00.  I don’t think I will be taking it anymore since the price will now far exceed gas prices.  I felt pretty good when I left my treatment but by the time I was about half way to Blackfoot I was falling asleep.  You can go downhill pretty fast.  I got to see Stephanie, Kylie, Mikayla, and Olivia for a little while when I got home before they headed back up to Challis.  
 

I am hurt but not slain;

I will lie down to bleed awhile and then I will rise up again and fight. - unknown