So, I keep thinking WHY am I so TIRED???

Well, duhh, Penny. You have leukemia.

You are getting chemo.

Both will make you TIRED. Really, really TIRED.

GET OVER IT! Understand it. Move on.

Or, so I keep telling myself.

Yesterday was another tired day, due to lack of sleep on Saturday night. I think I made up for that last night. I feel much better this a.m.

I rallied after some phenergan. Miracle stuff, that phenergan. So, by 4ish, I was feeling better.

Read for a little while. (A W.E.B. Griffin novel set in WWII, New Orleans, Argentina, spies, Germans, etc--one of my favorite kinds of "reads".)

I was especially interested in it because during the end of the war, my uncle, Jim Marlow, happened to be in New Orleans where they were having an auction of stuff that had been on its way to the ex-pat Germans in Argentina for Christmas.

I can't remember if the ship (submarine) had been captured but I don't think it would have been blown up or the items wouldn't have been intact.

He brought home pony cart that could be pedaled. The pony was a huge stuffed animal, I think a Steiff. We (my cousins, Rudd and Jimmy) and neighbors (Polly, Vicki, Ellen Newton) would pedal that thing all around 15th Avenue. The legs moved the pony like it was picking them up and putting them down. A magnificent toy.

I wish I knew what happened to it.

I wish I could pedal it right out of the hospital today...or at least up and down the halls!

Take care and have a wonderful Monday.

Love,

Penny

Sleepyhead jones day

I cannot wake up this morning! All I want to do is pull my mask down over my face and sleep some more.

I think I will!

I did have to have my groshong pulled yesterday and a "pik line" put in my upper arm. At least it is giving blood easily. SO FAR. I just have to figure out how to maneuver regular clothes over this thing so I won't have to revert to the awful gowns. UGH.

Maybe some reading before I shut down for my morning nap.

Don't be jealous. Remember, I'll be happy to trade places with you~

Love,

Penny

As for my health agenda, today......

LOW BLOOD, again. Probably two units later.

My magic Groshong port is acting up so I have to go down for a dye contrast on it to make sure it isn't leaking where it isn't supposed to be. May have to get another line in my upper arm. BUMMER.

Waiting for seven minutes before I can call for breaky. Really enjoying the eggs over easy. At least I know I'm starting the day with good protein.

Have been reading my Kindle a LOT since I couldn't get on computer until this a.m. Finished one David Robicheaux novel (main character) and also one book by Harlen Cohen. Thanks Pam, for suggesting those! Am now on second Harlen Cohen novel, as I got a deal on a "two-fer" from Amazon.

Off to look up one of our book club books, by Gin Phillips. Title escapes me at the moment. Susan McCarthy said she was Eudora Welty-like in her writing so that is intriguing to me!

Hopefully I can get on computer again later today so I can report in.

Love,

Penny

Pandora, pandora....send Mr. Jobim right over!

Ahhhh, yes. Pandora on my iPhone did make for a pleasant afternoon yesterday! Thanks, MK for helping Meme and me out!

I did a Diana Krall channel and caught lots of faves that way--Michael Buble, Ella Fitzgerald, Norah Jones all appeared on the DK station.

But....for total drifting away I put on my Carlos Jobim channel. Totally in love with this Brazilian composer. Anything he writes, sung by anyone, I love. For example, I just discovered this version of my favorite Jobim song, Corcovado (Quiet Nights) sung by Queen Latifah.

I LOVE Queen Latifah and this is a really nice version! After hearing her sing with Rod Stewart on his standards cds, I knew she would do great in this genre!

internet malfunction

The wireless at DCH is not allowing mom's laptop to connect...hence no blogs from her today...

I've encouraged her to post from her mini-laptop (iPhone) so hopefully she will. I downloaded Pandora on both Mom and Meme's iPhones today, so I imagine they are both lounging in room 221, feet kicked up, white cords from both ears, resting their eyes to Michael Buble, Diana Krall or even the Police*- as Meme requested.

still no net......

Sorry, folks, Short and sweet will have to for the moment.

Not awake enough to gauge how i'm feeling this morning. Waiting to get blood drawn
out of my Groshong port so we'll know the "lay of the land" today. Will probably need platelets for sure.

They just brought me some coffee so let me go get a sip or three.

Back later.

Love,
Penny

Love, Penny

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Vampires and chemo........

Got my blood yesterday but didn't take that walk. I will make up for it today and take two walks. I stayed in bed while I got my blood....my bed was very toasty and warm and felt very nice....and did get up to eat but crawled back in the bed for the rest of the evening.

Getting blood always makes me think of being a vampire....I understand them (fictional though they are) so much better now!

This might be TMI for some of you, others might be interested so I thought I would at least share (and clarify) what I'm facing chemo-wise for the next several months. Ummm, make that next couple of years.

My most intensive chemo, meaning I go to the Cancer Treatment Center, will run through the end of May. Some weeks, it is a couple of times, other weeks, four times a week. Those four day weeks usually involve just a couple of shots, so it isn't like I'm sitting there for some long infusion. Plus, once we discovered that scheduling the shots for 1:00 means easier parking, and more "in and out" and back home again, it isn't so bad to think about. The only thing that throws that off is if I need blood. THEN the fun begins! A short trip becomes a long afternoon.

In March I will have 12 days of radiation on my brain, a preventative sort of treatment.

I will have a period, in April, where I will go once a week for an infusion as well as a treatment I receive through my spine. The first time I had to do the spinal thing, I was a nervous WRECK. Now that I know what it is like, it won't be so bad. Plus, the room is really warm and feels good and the radiologist that did it the first time had a very soothing voice. It's the little things, folks, that can make a HUGE difference.

Then, starting in June, I go to a once a month visits at CTC. These will continue for two years after my initial diagnosis, so we're looking at December, 2012 as an ending date. This, of course, is assuming that I behave and that the chemo is kicking ass and that I haven't relapsed or something.

All of this is accompanied by oral chemo that I will be taking but at least I, and now you, know sort of how my life is scheduled out.

Also, got my sleeping meds an hour early and it made a HUGE difference to get an extra hour of good sleep before the shift change and the activities that surround that....temp, blood pressure, etc. I just keep my sleep mask on and hold out my arm now....it is great!

Peace out!

Love,

Penny