UPDATE and breakfast today, plus the meds all lined up

UPDATE: This is known as Day Three, in the round of chemo lingo. Last time as the day progressed, this is when that I felt achy all over, like the flu, but with aches of a muscular kind settling in my knees, then the peripheral neuropathy started, what I describe as a high-speed humming feeling of the tissues inside my skin, from the top of my shins down into my ankles and feet. During that night, the knees continued to ache, the peripheral neuropathy spread up into my thighs, too. We'll see what happens today.

Yesterday the anti-nausea meds worked. They are Zofran and Compazine. I'm also taking Pepcid, Senna, and Docusate Sodium. Those last two are supposed to offset some of the "plumbing" difficulties brought on by the chemo and the Zofran. Compazine makes you drowsy--I can testify to that because I slept off and on all afternoon yesterday. Zofran can give you a headache, too. I had one at the Oncology Center Wednesday, not too long after they had me take two of them--Tylenol kicked it in the butt. Since I'm only taking one here as prescribed, I didn't get a headache yesterday. I hope that's the case today.

Yesterday around 10:30 a.m. I surprised myself when I was able to walk outside in the overcast for a couple of blocks. Since I slept sporadically last night and feel drowsy still, somewhat lethargic, I'm not going to try that today. Well, unless I perk up later on. Don't want to take a walk with nothing to hold onto as I go along, especially if my body isn't behaving itself.

Thank you for your continued prayers, love, and concern. I feel it all and need it all. Y'all inspire me to make my best effort throughout this whole process.



Here's the breakfast that I ate prior to taking the morning meds. Toasted King Hawaiian hamburger bun, with Land o'Lakes butter, green grapes, the last of the cherries until next season according to the produce guy at Fred Meyer, Twinings English Breakfast Tea, and water. Plus, those meds, lined up in the background.

Yea for me!

Good morning, y'all! Picture my face when I read this in an e-mail in my online Kaiser account yesterday, from the Anesthesia Care Provider Team for my surgery with Dr Steiner: You can have clear liquids until 2 HOURS BEFORE (9:30 AM) you check in. This includes water, clear apple juice, 7-up, tea, or black coffee.

Here's how the emotions went yesterday as I processed that statement. First, disbelief. Huh? I can? Then, joy. Oh, boy! I can have some tea when I wake up in the morning! I'm going to be so empty after my pre-op routine's success that this is spectacular news! I sat here in my chair, excited to even think about drinking some tea Thursday morning!

Now it's Thursday morning. I took this photo while the tea cooled in the mug which I gave to my little Mama years ago; it's so fine to drink from it as she used to do. I have sipped half of it. That's all I needed to make me feel somewhat normal, y'all. I know, what's normal mean for a never-dull-and-boring gal like me? Let's just say that I feel as if I could get dressed and go to work after that half a cup of Twinings English Breakfast Tea, even though the only thing I've had to eat since Tuesday evening has been Jell-o and Popsicles. Yea for me!

About my pedometer. I'm not wearing it again until I get home tomorrow, at the earliest. If I were to wear it today and somehow forget to put it into my purse (which Lamont will be in charge of at the hospital) and then never see it again, devastated would be too small a word to describe my emotions. That little device packs a motivation wallop way out of proportion to its size. Yea for me!

About the robot. My surgery is labeled as robot surgery. Dr. Steiner explained, "The robot has a 3-D camera and little hands that I will use during the surgery." She herself has small hands, so to me that says that the robot's hands will serve as a natural extension of hers. Sort of like a hockey stick serves as an extension of their arms and hands for those wild folks who zoom headlong across the rink. I'm in awe of professionals whose skills transfer from themselves into their tools. Yea for me!

Lamont will be here in not quite three hours to take me to the hospital. Once I brush my teeth and get dressed, I'll be ready. Mama's recliner. That's where I'll wait. Yea for me!

Sights I'll miss until I am about out and about again, No. 4 - no biopsy results yet, not expected until later this week

Steps inside bus front doors, almost completely gone in my experience over the past eight plus years. And, even without undergoing a laproscopic hysterectomy last Friday, this is a sight I do not want to see when the bus door opens. In fact, if I'm not in a hurry and notice these steps through the bus door windows, I sometimes take a chance and wait for the next bus, especially at stops where I have several bus line options.

While the kneeling bus helps in getting from the sidewalk to that first step, the rest of the steps are higher than normal and not easy to maneuver.

RECOVERY UPDATE: After watching on TV the Trail Blazers win over the Grizzlies with Leland last night, I felt good enough to send him on home--I knew he was just a phone call and less than two miles away. (It was Lamont's turn to go to the game. What a fine one to witness, stopping a sweep by Memphis!) I slept very well, waking up twice during the night, but went right back to sleep. Woke up Tuesday morning, April 28, at 4:30 a.m., ate some warmed up leftover plain rice and drank some Twinings English Breakfast Tea. Washed those few dishes. Washed my face and brushed my teeth. No need for pain medication. Much less discomfort in the abdominal area today which I take the mean that the tissues severed at the four small incisions are getting back together satisfactorily. I will not go overboard with activity. I will walk around in the apartment, in the apartment hallway where there is a chair rail at a good height for helping to balance one if one feels tilty. I am happy to have one window open completely, another one open a few inches, because it is 57 now. However, it's supposed to only get to 61, so I may have to close that wide open one some, if it gets breezy.

Thanks for every single prayer, all the love and concern.