Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve

Well, it's Christmas Eve and for the first time in.....ever, I'm not going to Phil's for the annual family get-together. It's just too much for me right now. It would take too much out of me and I need to work on getting strong for the chemo that is on the horizon.

It kills me to not be there....mostly because I always wonder if this Christmas will be the last Christmas that we will have with Bob Miller. I am almost positive that this is the last year that he will know who we are. His memory is going faster and faster. He is 89 years old after all...it is to be expected. He loves his life and he loves Wini and that's all that matters. He's happy.

I'm doing much better now. My bowels are about 60% back to normal. I was able to eat some filet mignon and baked stuffed potato for dinner last night. I can go for longer periods of time between pain meds now. I am sleeping better....not so many trips to the bathroom to interrupt my sleep.

It feels good.

Last night, after dinner, we were sitting talking and I felt something in my mouth, sticking to my tooth. I poked at it and out fell a good sized chunk of filling. This sent a chill through me. When you are getting the chemo I get, you can't have dental work done. I got scared that I wouldn't be able to get into the dentist before the chemo started and what if this turned out to be something bigger? Today I got the answer: the dentist will see me Monday. Hopefully he can fix this and maybe even get my teeth cleaned before chemo starts up again.

I find out Wednesday when I see Dr. McCourt when she plans to have me start getting the chemo. I hope that it doesn't interfere with the plans for Maine, I really am looking forward to that trip. I told Maria that even if I just laid around up there and slept, it would still be worth it to me to go. I do want to go to Remy's though, and that store near it where they have the great buys on clothes and shoes. I hope it's still open. Please be open!

So, we are having a quiet night tonight and tomorrow we'll "wrap off" and spend the day quietly with the pups. Of course there will be the usual chaos in the AM when the dogs open their gifts. I love watching that scene....I never get tired of watching them rip the wrapping paper off and pull the toys out. Then they run off to their respective "safe places" to tear the toy apart to get at the "squeaky" that is inside. Some toys last longer than others...some don't get torn apart at all, and some don't last more than two minutes. It's good that Sandy finds toys at cheap prices!

These dogs have so many toys. We have a toy basket in the living room and another one in the bedroom. These get washed every few months and there is a big box in the basement filled with toys that replace the ones being cleaned. The cleaned ones go into the basement box and so everything gets rotated.

That's how we roll here at 60 BMW.

I'm hoping that the President gets some kind of healthcare bill on his desk soon. If it isn't perfect, we'll figure that out and fix it. Nothing is written in stone. At least get something going and we'll take it from there! PLEASE! Get 'er done!

Nighty Night and MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Lately I've had that old ditty that you used to see posted on pay toilet walls (back when they had pay toilets)..."here I sit broken-hearted, paid to shit, but only farted."

I've been broken-hearted plenty of times in the past two weeks. Those of you who were reading this blog last year are familiar with my bowel "difficulties." I don't know if it's the anesthesia, the pain meds or the fact that they had to remove a section of my bowel (this time around) that has made having a BM such a challenge, but it has been.

Finally! After 13 days (a new record for me) my bowels are moving. The past three days have been particularly trying and exhausting. Something is causing me to have tremendous cramps that won't quit. I told the nurse Friday that it's like menstrual cramps gone horribly wrong.

I have had the heating pad pasted to my abdomen for the last two days. It has helped a bit but the pain meds help even more.

A weird thing I've noticed. A good portion of the upper part of my thigh is numb. I don't know why, and Sandy can't figure it out either. I'm going to mention it to the doctor Wewhen I see her next week. Maybe they hit a nerve or something.
We got about 18 inches of snow here Saturday night. Sandy had to work and she said the trip to the hospital that night was "gnarly." She said it was almost white-out conditions. She made it home all right in the AM. She didn't go right out and run the snowblower as she had planned, she was too tired...so she went to bed. In the afternoon, as she was getting ready to go out to clear the snow, she looks out and sees someone running their snowblower, clearing our driveway. She thought it was Mark, but it turned out to be Mike Sullivan. His wife said that he got in a groove and couldn't stop! It was so nice of him.

We recorded the Survivor finale and didn't watch the conclusion until this AM. I can't believe Russell did not win. We started out hating him and ended up rooting for him to make it all the way. He did play a masterful game and I don't think that what'shername deserved it at all. See, I can't even remember her name! What does that tell you?

Sandy is off with Truman and Rocky...they have their physical therapy sessions today. Rocky broke a nail, so he won't be able to go on the treadmill. Poor guy. She took him to the vet's today to have the nail checked. They cut it off, put stuff on it to keep it from bleeding and he was a perfect patient. When the same thing happened to Truman, she had to muzzle him and wrap him up in a towel so they could work on him!

I realized today that I don't have any stocking stuffers for Sandy...and she realized that she doesn't have any for me...so we are going to leave it that way. I can't go out and get stuff and she doesn't have the time, so we aren't going to stress about it.

I don't know if I'll be able to go to Phil's for Christmas Eve. I'll have to see how I feel. I've been so tired lately. I can sleep until 10:30, come downstairs, fall asleep in the chair around 1pm, go upstairs and take a nap from 4-7 come back downstairs, eat and watch tv...go upstairs to bed at 10 and start the whole thing over again. I am up multiple times in the night, but I fall asleep quite easily after each of these episodes. I'm a sleep machine.

Speaking of sleep machines. Sandy bought a new sound machine to replace our old one which was breaking down. We've had it for about 10 years I'd say...it runs every night. Well, we don't like the "waves" sound on this one...they have sea gull sounds in it...and they don't sound like sea gulls and whatever they are is not relaxing! I prefer the "Sleep Machine" and "Silent Island" programs that I downloaded on my iPhone for a fraction of what she paid for the sound machine! When she's working, or when I'm taking my naps, I put my iPhone on and use that to sleep. Otherwise we play the "waterfall" sound on the sound machine, which to me sounds more like white noise...which I don't mind at all.

That iPhone is wonderful, I'll tell you what! I lie in bed, check my mail, Facebook, read the NY Times, check the weather forecast and play some Bejeweled Blitz as I sip my morning protein drink and wait for the bathroom to warm up before I get out of bed and take my shower. I wonder if they'll come up with an app that turns your iPhone into a handwarmer? I just thought of that one!

Tomorrow is a big day. Taylor is driving Ryan up to the house at 3pm. First time she's driving here. Jean and Frank are coming up too. We'll be having dinner (steak for them, hamburg and gravy for me) and then opening our gifts. I'll see how I feel after that to help me decide about going to Phil's the next night.

Christmas Day will be quiet here. Sandy has not made plans for her folks to come up again. She has to work Christmas night, and it looks like another storm will be hitting then, figures! I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet and sleeping! Maybe Maria can come down for a visit from Phil's on the weekend. That would be nice.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. Time to head back to the bathroom where I am no longer "broken-hearted." That's my early Christmas present!

Later....