Winter Olympics

The Olympics start tonight. I'm out of it...I forgot that the Summer Olympics wasn't that long ago...in China, wasn't it?

Anyway, we like the winter Olympics as much as the summer ones. Maybe more, since we are stuck inside anyway. I don't like that a luger has already died at a practice session. The track is too fast they say. I always said that if I were to compete in the Olympics, it would be as a luger.

However, I have never even been on a luge. I have been on sleds in my life though.

I'm sure riding a luge would scare the shit out of me. But the sound of it is very intriguing to me.

Yesterday we went to see Ryan play at NFA. In the early minutes of the game he was going for a lay-up, was fouled (not called) and fell to the floor with two guys on top of him. His head (temple) smacked the floor and I could tell he went unconscious.

I was hollering for them to take him out, but play continued and he got up within seconds and ran down the court, holding his head briefly. I kept hollering for them to stop the game. He got to the top of the key and then his right leg buckled and I thought he would go down again. He righted himself somehow and the coach called a timeout. He walked to the bench and sat down, looking bad.

I told Sandy to go over and identify herself and let them know she's a nurse. Sandy, who will always let anything stop her from doing the right thing in a medical emergency, hesitated, listening to people in the stands who were saying "he's all right." I hollered at her to "GO!"

She went over and came back shortly. A sports trainer was with Ryan and was checking him out. I asked her if Ryan knew who she was....she said she didn't ask him! DUH!

Anyway, they checked Ryan very thoroughly. I saw the trainer doing the eye tests (H-pattern, etc) on him. She talked to him a lot and then let him talk a lot. By half time, they conferred and recommended that he go to the hospital. They said his vision was off.

We already knew that. We took him to L&M. He couldn't remember what he had done the day before. He couldn't remember who won the Super Bowl. I got a plastic bag out in case he felt nauseous. I know that sometimes riding in the car can do that.

He had a CT scan and the doctor is taking this very seriously. He has to be out of commission for a week. He can't watch more than a half hour of tv, no texting, video games, etc. Can't stimulate the brain. They say it's like poking at a bad bruise on your thigh or arm...it keeps aggravating the injury. I never thought of it that way.

So, no more basketball...the season ends in two weeks anyway. He's okay with that, as he wants to be able to play lacrosse, where he got another (milder) concussion last fall. One more and he has to sit for a year. I think that's the rule, three concussions in a year....you have to rest a year. It makes sense.

It reminded me of when I had a concussion. I was in my early 20's and was playing softball in the city league. I was running from second to third when the shortstop ran into me...her head hit my temple. I went down like a shot and passed out. As I was coming to, I heard the third baseman saying "give me the ball, give me the ball." Then she tagged me and said, "you're out, now are you okay?" I came up off the ground with fist clenched ready to beat the shit out of her.

I had a headache for three days. In these days, I would go to the ER. In those days, you sucked it up and went to work.

After we dropped him off at the ER (his mother was there waiting for him) we called Frank and Jean and met them at 99 in Groton. We had a great meal and used our coupons to make it even better! I got the country fried chicken (I love that) and could only eat half of that...so I had the other half for lunch today....YUM!

Sandy went for a job interview today at the hospital. It's for a Nurse Informationist job. There are three positions open. Sounds like she did really good in both interviews and they may not be hiring her for the current positions, but may have her in mind for one they know is opening up soon. I think that may be the best fit for her. She really likes the sound of what this job is all about and so do I. It is the future of nursing and she would be right there on the forefront. It's all about technical stuff, trouble shooting, dealing with computers and other things she likes.

I hope she gets it. She's worried because it's a 40 hour M-F first shift position. She's worried that she won't be there if I need her. I reminded her that she has FMLA she can use if it's really really necessary and that I haven't begun to tap into the friends I can call on if I need a ride, etc.
Of course I had to tell her this about 'leventy billion times because that's how many times she asked me....she's a Libra.

Oh, Taylor passed her state EMT exam. So proud of her...she hasn't even graduated high school and she has already accomplished this. Not bad for someone who isn't even 18!!

Now I enter the part of my treatment when my counts will be down and I can't go out in public. That means we spend Valentine's Day at home, we'll celebrate tomorrow (Sandy has to work Sunday) and we are planning a nice steak dinner. Then we'll watch the Olympics!

U S A! U S A! U S A!!!! Or Canada....I root for them too. Or Sweden...them too.

I languished in bed this AM, reading the paper and drinking my protein shake. Sometime after 11 am I heard a sound, "WHOOOMP!" and it felt like something had fallen (a tree?) or some other thing had happened. The dogs immediately went nuts, barking and racing all over the house, looking for the culprit.

Sandy thought it was up stairs, I thought something happened downstairs. She looked around in the yard and saw nothing out of the ordinary. We forgot about it.

Later on we realize that what we heard was from the explosion of the energy plant that blew up today in Middletown. Unbelieveable that we would feel it all the way over here! Sandy asked Jean if they heard it and they said no....but then again, they are old! HA HA!

I think we are more sensitive here because of the amount of ledge that we sit on.

Those poor people at that power plant....five dead so far and more injured. They are searching the rubble now for more bodies.

And I know someone who works there! Drew Schneider (Erin's Dad) is an engineer there. They live in Portland. Thankfully, he wasn't there today.....but he knows these guys.

I haven't felt well all day. I may have a cold or something. Last night I got a headache from the Zofran...the drug I take for nausea. Every time I take it, the headache gets a little worse. Fortunately, I can handle just about any kind of headache...due to years of practice. I'd rather have a headache than be the least bit nauseous!

Anyway, I couldn't sleep too good last night. So, I slept a bit today. I watched the Huskies dispatch the Louisville Cardinals from the bed, then rolled over and slept some more. Oh, and I listened to my police scanner on my iPhone...my latest addiction.

I listen to the scanner all the time now. Yesterday I heard them do a routine traffic stop on someone I know! She got a warning for headlight violation. I also heard some heavy duty stuff, like a girl in our old neighborhood fighting with her family, taking a knife to them. They got the knife away from her and her brother was sitting on her, holding her down until the police got there. That was a mental health case.

It's very interesting. I can't imagine how the police can do that stuff day after day. Too much excitement!

We're watching the Super Bowl now. Don't know why, really. My team was over long ago. Maybe next year.

The ads can be fun though.

Nighty night!

I got a call last night that my bloodwork came back and I was low in white blood cells. I had to come in an hour earlier to have the blood test done again. UGH! I lay in bed last night and visualized a factory with pipettes dropping down from above, squirting white blood cells into test tubes and then somehow the test tubes squirted the cells into my body. I kept up that factory work for some time, until I fell asleep and every time I awoke last night I started the production line up again. I have no idea what white blood cells really look like, but in the dream they looked kind of like sperm squirting from the ceiling! WHAT??!!!

We got to Providence at 8:30 and I had the blood drawn. Then we went back to the treatment room and waited. The news came back pretty soon, not only was I good to go, but I had way more than what I needed to pass! YAY!

So I got my second treatment today, two down, four more to go.

I really didn't want to have to delay my treatments. I want to go to Sweden later this year and I want to be in shape to go. That means I have to stick as close to my projected schedule for chemo (finishing up at the end of April if all goes according to plan) as possible.

Oh, I'm watching a show on Michael Jackson (don't ask me why) and they just talked about him getting propofol. That's what the anesthesiologist gave for my surgery. As a matter of fact he actually said to me as he administered it, "now I'm going to Michael Jackson you...." And the last thing I said to him was "okay, just make sure you remember to wake me up!" OUT!

Some day I will relate here some of the "intereting experiences" I have had with my nurse at chemo. Suffice it to say she is scatterbrained, not good at multi-tasking and sometimes borders on dangerous. Lynne thinks she is burned out...she maybe right.

When I'm all done with treatment I'm going to insist on meeting with the head of the program to give my feedback and suggestions for improvement. I'm going to have to address the concerns I have about this nurse.

In the meantime, I have to stay on my toes and pay attention at crucial times. Today the benadryl hit me hard and I couldn't stay awake all morning. Usually it makes me dopey and I feel kind of sick, but I don't sleep more than a few minutes. Today I almost fell asleep on the toilet about mid-morning. I really had to use all my strength to fight it and get up and back to the treatment room.

Sandy was there for the crucial times to make sure things were done right. I am so lucky I have her. Today they were having trouble drawing blood from my port after my treatment, it wasn't flowing right. The nurse tried some things, including having me cough, which I really didn't want to do because I didn't want to contaminate the area by coughing near it. Finally, Sandy said, "take a deep breath." I did and the blood just flowed. I kept taking deep breaths and they got all the blood I needed.

Later Sandy told me that the most common cause of poor blood draw is repositioning...the needle has moved and is resting against the wall....the easiest thing to do to get it to move is to have the person take a deep breath. My nurse had me leaning forward, coughing, dancing and rocking in the seat....never suggested I take a deep breath.

As I said, I'm so lucky I have Sandy there.

Came home and I was able to enjoy the shrimp scampi and angel hair pasta meal Jean made. About an hour later my taste buds went south. Lucky!

Now I'm operating off the steroids apparently. Hopefully the effect will wear off soon so I can sleep tonight.

In the meantime, nighty night!

I'm slipping....

about posting here. I have to get better. Even if what I have to write is mundane, trivial, garbage...

Well...mundane, trivial garbage has been happening. Done.

Actually, I've been having a different kind of week. Actually got out two days so far. Yesterday I had to take the car to Toyota and have it serviced. I hadn't gotten a recall notice, so I wasn't sure if my Camry was one of the ones effected by the gas pedal problem. They did the service and reassured me that my car was NOT one of the ones with the problem! YAY!

In the afternoon Sandy and I went down to Waterford to watch Ryan play on the freshman basketball team. He is really good, they are really good and they won. I was happy to be able to see him--haven't seen him play yet this year. Then Ryan had been asked to play on the JV team that night. So, after the freshman game, we schlepped over to the other gym (remember, this is rich Waterford) and watched the JV get whupped by New London. Ryan didn't get to play much and when he did, he had turnovers...poor kid. He was playing sick, probably shouldn't have gone to school, but you know kids. I can remember playing basketball in high school with a high fever, etc. Ryan won't let these mistakes stop him. He's a very determined, hard-working, NICE kid. I think we are going to be going to a lot of basketball games in the years to come.

After the game we went over to Frank and Jean's and had dinner. They stopped at Wendy's on the way home and treated us. I had a taco salad. Good. Then I crashed on the couch. Sandy took me home. It was the longest I've gone since my surgery.

Today we left early to have my bloodwork done at Backus; then down to L&M to see Dr. McCourt. We had to wait for awhile down there, so we got to chat with my favorite NL nurse, Heidi. She is so funny and we always enjoy yacking with her.

Then I saw Dr. McCourt. She is very happy with how I'm healing and appalled about my bowel
situation. But there isn't anything more she can do about it. Just make the appropriate sympathetic faces when she talked to me about it.

I was hoping to get my last CA 125 results...they hadn't been entered in the computer for some reason. Dang.

Afterwards we stopped at Chester's Barbecue. You know me and chemo...I get the barbecue cravings and we went right by the place....so.....of course I went in. I got pulled pork sandwiches for me, Jean and Frank and something called "pulled chicken" for Sandy. I had been kidding her and said, "maybe they have pulled chicken for you!" Sure enough.

WELL! The pulled pork sandwich was EXCELLENT! They put about a half a pound of meat in each sandwich. I couldn't finish it of course. I also bought sides of cole slaw and baked beans, because it's not barbecue without slaw and beans.

WELL WELL WELL....of course I spent the next hour and a half in the bathroom.

Good barbecue.

Came home and crashed for about two and a half hours, with my little doggies snuggled up next to me.

Tomorrow night we go out to 99 Restaurant with Lynne and David. A new, night-before-chemo tradition. Dinner with Lynne and David. Right now the thought of food makes me ill...I'm sure I'll be hungry by tomorrow night!

Nighty night!

Watching the Huskies today. The guy's team disgusts me now. They are ridiculous...lots of showboating and lacking in the fundementals. The women's team on the other hand....well, night and day.

Tina Charles just went over 2000 career points. Unbelievable! I remember when he had to BEG her to shoot! Now she is a scoring machine, probably will be Player of the Year and the #1 pick in the draft.

I'm looking forward to seeing her play for the Sun next year.

Sandy said Five Guys was great. The hamburgers are huge and the fries are like the ones we love to get at the Woodstock Fair. I'm looking forward to going there someday! They had a good time last night, went back to Jean's and played Phase 10 (a type of Rummy) for awhile, and texted me. It was nice, I felt included.

As for me, well, I snuggled in the bed with Bubbles and watched "Along Came Polly." I remember that this was the in flight movie when we were coming back from Italy. My father loved the movie and Sandy says that's one of the things she remembers about the trip...Bob Miller laughing at the movie. I think that's a nice memory to have.

I had another "up and down" night last night, finally settling in around 4:30...but then I slept like a log until around 10am. I felt energetic when I got up...something new I'm trying.

Okay, it's time for me to eat my warmed-up egg foo young. I got it the other day from the take-out place in town...they make the BEST egg foo young....this time I got shrimp instead of pork. No matter...it's all good!

GO HUSKIES!!! They are winning 59-34. What else is new?

Nighty night!

It's GONE!

Darlene came over for a visit yesterday. We got Chinese take-out, had a nice lunch and then settled down to the real business...the head shave.

Sandy did the deed, Darlene videoed it and gave Sandy good advice on how to shave my head properly.

It came out great. My head looks good and this time there were no nicks!

It is so cold out there now and the wind is terrible. The doggies don't like the drop in temperature. They go out to do their business and come flying back in immediately. I don't blame them one bit!

I was going to go with Sandy to Frank's birthday party at Five Guys, but at the last minute felt woozy and decided it's best I stay home. I could just imagine myself feeling exhausted at dinner and having to leave. I don't want to wreck it for everyone....so the doggies and I are home, snug and warm.

I slept until two today as I was up again most of the night, until around 3:30, when I finally "resolved" things in the bathroom and was able to get to sleep. I wonder how long this new "ritual" is going to go on?

Heard from my favorite nurse at W & I, Marcia. She will be working next Friday, and wants me to come for a visit. I'll go after my chemo session...hope she will still be on duty. I haven't seen her in a long time. I miss her!

Okay, time to watch the news and then make my supper. I'm not eating enough. Have only had one meal so far today: bacon an egg and a piece of multi-grain toast. I have to start getting up sooner or something, to get more food into me!

Whoever would have thought that getting enough food would be a problem for me?!!???

Nighty night.

Hair today....Gone Tomorrow?

Well...I've been wondering when it would happen and yesterday I felt the tell-tale first sign. A little sore spot on the top of my head. This morning when I washed my hair, more hair hurt.

When I got out of the shower I tugged gently at my hair, sure enough, a couple of strands came out. The other day when I did that, nothing came out.

So, my first thought was that I would have Sandy shave my head Saturday. We're taking Frank out for his birthday Friday night and I didn't want to be bald for that.

But now I'm rethinking this decision. Tomorrow Darlene is coming over for a visit. I'm thinking that maybe I'll have Sandy shave my head and have Darlene video it for me. Or vice versa. Either way, I'll be the one getting the head shaved.

We went to see Avatar for the 12:30 showing today. First they came in and told us the movie would be five to ten minutes late. Then they came in and said that the projector was fixed but we couldn't see the movie. We had to come back for the 2:15 show. They offered us an opportunity to see another movie while we waited. We turned that down and went to Home Depot and checked out kitchen cabinetry, countertops, bathroom cabinetry, countertops, sinks, tubs, tile flooring, you name it--we looked at it.

Then we went back to the theater and chilled out waiting for the show to start.

We loved Avatar. I mean REALLY loved it. I'm glad I went

Now I look forward to going out to Five Guys hamburg joint for Frank's birthday. Just found out it's switched to Saturday, so I'm glad I decided to get shaved tomorrow.

I wait to hear the President's State of the Union address.

Nighty night.