I lost a dear friend yesterday

Got the call this morning, my dear friend Melissa died yesterday after a heroic battle with colon cancer. I HATE THIS DISEASE!!!! Fortunately she passed peacefully in her sleep. Melissa has always been my hero, even through the way she handled this biggest challenge. Two years ago the doctors gave up on her and told her to go be with her family. She refused to give in and had another two years with her family that no one thought she would. Melissa, I am going to miss you so much!

no news

went for chemo today and to try to figure out why I still can't keep food down. My onco thinks that perhaps my stomach and intestines are moving food along as fast as they could, so trying more of a medicine that I have been taking, Reglan. Now instead of twice a day I will be doing it before meals and see if that will work. It was pretty depressing today since I was in quite a bit of pain and couldn't keep my dinner down.

update

well, I've had all the tests and they can't find anything, considering some of the things that could have been wrong I guess I am lucky. They are saying that the cause of all the nausea and vomiting is probably the chemo and radiation. I was having a fairly good week, ate and kept everything down, until this morning when I woke up at 4 am with terrible nausea and dry heaves. It really gets to me sometimes. I can't say I'm not happy with my present weight, I haven't been this thin in some years, but I don't like the cause and I don't want to lose anymore. Cancer just sucks.

Still losing weight

seven pounds just this week! So, today I have a barium swallow, yippee, I get to drink chalk!, and on Friday an EGD with is a fancy way of saying that they will be putting a tube down my throat for a look see. There are all sorts of possibilities, some major, some minor, I just want the nausea and vomiting to stop!

Went to IKEA yesterday with my sister and her friend. 2 1/2 hours in a wheelchair on my now bony butt, painful! but it was fun, next time I'm bringing a pillow!

Old friends

my friend Alice and her daughter Liann just left after a 4 day visit. Alice is an old Navy friend who I have known for nearly 25 years. They didn't care if I just laid on the couch all day, they just wanted to see me and help out where there could. And they did! They cleaned out my refrigeratior, how embarrassing, there was probably stuff in there from the first Bush era (just kidding)! They entertained Luis and we had some great talks. Liann and Luis got along great, there were some pretty fierce battles on the Wii!

I know I am repeating myself, but I am so lucky to have such good friends. I think often times we tend to take friendship for granted, take it from me, true friendship is a blessing.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Hope the Easter Bunny was good to everyone. I have had a busy several days, Luis's godfather was visiting from California and we went to Great Wolf Lodge for Luis's birthday (11!! they grow so fast!). Had a great time, the place is amazing. Luis and Bruce got the gloves out and tried out Luis's pitching arm, 40 mph! not bad for this early in the season and the weather being cold. His coach says he'll get him up to 50!

Today is Easter and we had a nice family dinner at my sister's and also celebrated Luis's and my niece's birthdays. Luis got his favorite color (green) and is plotting what to do with his newly found riches. He also was outfitted by his generous godfather with a new glove and cleats so he is all ready for the baseball season. He is also playing volleyball and they have their first game of the season a week from tomorrow.

I have had a rough patch physically, still losing weight and have a hard time keeping anything down. Needless to say my energy is sapped and I don't have much of an appetite. Had my CT scan last week and get the results tomorrow when I go in for chemo. And through all this I still have my hair so I count my blessings!

Once again thank you doesn't quite cover it

So, it's been raining cats and dogs and last night my neighbor knocked on my door and said "you know your sump pump isn't working" which of course means my basement could flood. I called my brother in law and God bless him he was out until 8:30 in mud and a cold rain installing a new sump pump, with my 82 years young neighbor supervising and giving running commentary and fortunately providing all the tools. I am not surprised that Ray would do this, he is that kind of guy, but it still overwhelms me how lucky I am.

On the health front I am still feeling fatigued and having a hard time keeping things down. I had a CT scan today so we will see what that shows when I go to chemo on Monday. I could find out tomorrow but we are going to Great Wolf Lodge (a waterpark resort) and my friend Bruce is flying out, so if it's bad news I don't want to put a pall on the trip. I am hoping for good news especially from the sirspheres, so keep those prayers coming and fingers crossed!