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I can't believe it! It was so hot on the deck today that I had to come inside! Fortunately, the Sox were playing and there were basketball games on so I could flip channels.

Jerry Remy is back in the booth and it sounds SO GOOD! I am so happy to have him back, and in tip-top shape too!

I made hot dogs and ate out on the deck, before the heat got me. It felt like summer. The maple tree looks like it's about to burst into leaves any second. It was so nice.

Tomorrow the Huskies play (the women) at noon. I don't know what the weather is going to be like...but I know I'll be here watching them.

I have to figure out something to do for that deck to provide shade. I think I'll see if Frank can help me set up a "sail" out there to block the noon to afternoon shade. They aren't that expensive and I have seen them in use at other places. We would just have to put a post up on the deck to extend the sail up in the air. I think we can figure something out.

We have great minds, after all. I think I'll get a beige sail...or a green one...whichever...they filter the sun and it will look nice and let us enjoy the deck for more hours.

Looking forward to whiling away HOURS on the deck. He he...

Nighty Night and GO HUSKIES!!!

My apologies...

I realize I am remiss in not keeping up the blog. I should have posted yesterday, but didn't.

I keep forgetting that some people who read this blog are not on Facebook, or aren't my "friends" on Facebook, which is where I go now to update folks on what is going on.

I have to get in the habit of posting here after I post on FB. Or vice versa.

Anyway, to bring the rest of you up to speed. With apologies to my FB friends, who have already heard this and are bored to tears with it all.

I went to see Dr. McCourt yesterday. She showed me the CT scan report...which was VERY SHORT! That's great news. It said that no cancer was seen in the areas where there was cancer before! And, my CA 125 is down to THREE! That's only one point higher than my lowest score last year! Now, hopefully the chemo will go after any little bad boys that might be lurking in dark places and kill them off for good!

My counts were way down, so low that I couldn't have chemo today, it would have been too risky. So, they have scheduled me for next Friday and want me to get my bloodwork done early Thursday AM...to give me the best chance of my counts coming up. I don't know if it will work. Last year after the third round I had to wait three weeks before things got back to normal.

I don't know what it is about that third round...it really knocks you for a loop! I don't care, as long as it's the death knell for the bad guys.

Dr. McCourt is concerned that "we can't get a handle on the diarrhea" (which painted a very weird, and sick, picture in my mind, but I kept my mouth shut about it. I told her not to worry, it will do what it's going to do and nothing I do or don't do will have any effect on it. If it continues when the chemo is done, then I'll be concerned. And how bad can it be? I lose sleep, yes, but I gained three pounds! OUCH! Not what I wanted to hear.

We've been enjoying the weather out on the deck this week. I had my breakfast out there a couple of times. It was so nice today, I didn't miss the hospital at all.

We switched out the comforter on the bed today...out came the spring comforter. The winter one has to go to the laundromat and this time I will remember to bring the tennis balls to put in the dryer with the comforter...to get the down spread evenly. I forgot last year and it bunched up in the wrong places and was flat in the wrong places too.

I think I may have had an allergic reaction to the flowers Joyce brought Tuesday. My friend Joyce Kuusela, (Joyce Migneault) from high school came to visit and brought me flowers. Afterwards my throat started getting scratchy and I started sneezing. I had to sleep sitting up that night because the constant drip drip was making me cough. I thought I was coming down with a cold, but Sandy had a different idea.

Wednesday I had to cancel out on a dinner date with Bob and Wini....I was going to take them to the Mexican restaurant where the King's Inn is. I was really looking forward to it and was bummed when I had to cancel. I felt so achy and out of it. Sandy moved the flowers into one of the spare bedrooms and closed the door. I started feeling better.

When we found out my counts were low Sandy was convinced that it was the flowers, so they had to go. Interestingly, I have felt better and better since they were removed from where I was. Sandy is a brilliant diagnostician! She always has been.

I have started with the night sweats again. I have had hot flashes, but until I had chemo I had never had the sweats. Last night I had the worst one ever and can now relate to my friends who talk about soaking the sheets. The sweat was running down my neck and back and left a huge puddle in the bed. I couldn't believe the amount of sweat there was behind my knees! I lay there for a long time, half freezing and half over-heated while I worked up the courage to get out of bed.

Finally I got up and went into "my" bathroom and toweled myself off with my big terry cloth bathrobe, freezing all the while. We had two windows open in the bedroom last night, with fans running in both windows! This morning it was 46 degrees in there. No wonder I was freezing.

I'm hoping that having the ligher comforter on the bed with help with the sweats. Although part of me really doubts it. We'll see.

I'm not going to complain. I am officially in remission and almost done with treatments. I have my priorities straight!

Oh, they called Sandy to come for another interview with the hiring manager at Backus for that IT job. It really sounds that the job is hers for the asking. They told her to expect a call and they will make her a salary offer. We discussed it and we believe we have a figure that will work for her and for them. We are very excited...this will put her working M-F first shift, flexible hours, with very little weekend work required. We won't know how to act! No more going to bed at 7:30 and me having to be quiet downstairs or not have people over, etc. Perfect for all the agility trials she wants to do.

Now she wants to buy a motorhome with the extra money, so we can have it loaded for agility trials and I can come with her. Save on hotel and food expenses. She figures she would be able to afford payments on a motorhome with her new salary...but we aren't counting our chickens....because we don't HAVE chickens!

Nighty night!

I'm joining the Brave New World...again. As I type this, I'm downloading Skype on my iPhone. I already downloaded it on my computer. I'm hoping to have it mastered by the time we go to Sweden, so we can call home cheap or free.

It would be cool if Birgitta and Mats downloaded it, then we can talk for free...as I understand it. I figure if it's good enough for Oprah, it's good enough for me! I also think Gail is good enough for me, too! Just kidding.

Not much going on here. Just like clockwork, the diarrhea stopped last night and things are pretty much "normal"....until we start all over next Friday when I have the chemo again.

The Tasmanian Devil came to the house today and gave me an estimate on having the last cottonwood tree taken down and the elm tree in the back trimmed up. He will only charge me $925 to cut it all up, chip up the branches and haul away the wood! GOOD DEAL!

I lay in bed last night, listening to the wind howl, scared to death that the damned poplar cottonwood tree would fall down on the house. He said it is rotten in some spots. The faster it comes down the better, as far as I'm concerned. Sandy isn't too worried about it...she is primarily interested in getting the elm trimmed, so she can get more sun shining on the doggie pool. Here I am worried about basic safety and she has other priorities. He can't come and do the job until the ground dries up a bit.

The yard is quite squishy out there. You sink into the lawn in most spots. Out back, heading for the back fence, there is a river...and beyond the fence we have a huge pond. We are very happy that the house sits on a hill...rising above all the water.

I was listening on the scanner on my iPhone to all the emergency responses to the flooding going on all around this area. Right now I'm listening...apparently some dopes are ignoring the "road closed" signs and are traveling where they shouldn't. They've had to pull three cars out already! One officer just described the expanse of water covering the road in this way: "I'm not kidding, it's about a half mile wide!" YIKES!

I slept late again today. Got up early and had breakfast, then went back to bed when Sandy did. When I got up I felt really good and energetic. So I did laundry, vacuumed the upstairs and cleaned the bathrooms.

Then I rewarded myself by lounging on the chaise in the bedroom, reading my Ozzie Osbourne book. I love that book. Ozzie is hysterical. I love reading about his escapades...it's a wonder the guy is still alive!

I just ordered Steve Rushin's lastest book. Steve is married to Rebecca Lobo and the two of them are so funny. I loved his writings when he worked for Sports Illustrated. I also follow him on Twitter....his contributions are laugh aloud funny.

I can imagine what life is like at their house. Two wits living together with three kids who seem to be pretty bright and witty (unknowingly) themselves.

Oh, Sandy thinks I'm witty now. Anyway, she's been laughing at my antics lately. I'm sure to engage in antics every once in awhile for her amusement.

OH! And I am the proud owner of two beautiful cashmere sweaters. Dorothy had bought them and never wore them...she gave them to me. One had the tag still on it: $125! Both of them were the same price. Of course, Dorothy got them from Macy's where she worked, so she didn't pay full price for them...but still.....

I've never had cashmere ANYTHING...so I'm quite excited about this generous gift. I hope I have an occasion to wear one of them soon.

Oh...I'm listening to the scanner and the officer just said he's watching a car out in the middle of all that water...doesn't know if anyone is in it. He's waiting for the fire guys to get there with a boat to go out and do a rescue. Very exciting!

I hope I'm not up all night listening to this stuff. I worked today and now I'm tired...physically....and in a good way...not in a sick way. If you know what I mean.

Okay...I'm recording all the shows I want to watch. I'll watch them tomorrow. For now, I'll climb the stairs to bed.

Nighty night!

I am remiss in not posting here sooner. But, I am NOT as far behind as Cindy Vasko thinks I am.

I do believe I have already posted that my CA 125 level is down to nine....didn't I? I know I sent an email out about it...some time ago.

Anyway, if I didn't and Cindy is right, here it is...the good news is that my CA125 level is down to nine!

I get the results of Wednesday's CT scan next Thursday when I see Dr. McCourt. I'm hoping that she says I'm "clean as a whistle" down there!

The "lump" that appeared in my abdomen near my stomach area seems to have calmed down. I'm thinking it was more a pulled muscle. That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

Lynne was nice enough to take me to the CT scan on Wednesday. I was going to try to do it myself, but she was right. I had to take the "tincture of opium" the night before and my brain was not capable of handling the drive. I was very happy she drove.

On the way home, something wonderful happened. The traffic on our usual route was all backed up. Lynne wanted to turn left instead of our usual right and I didn't want to go that way. I wasn't sure of where it would go and didn't want to get lost in downtown Providence. Finally, it looked like we would be stuck in traffic for a long time, so I said, "go ahead.

It turns out this route was FAR better than the route that we have been taking. As a matter of fact, it's the route we took the first time we came to the hospital, the night I was admitted. On that night, it was very confusing to us and seemed very convoluted and out of the way. Later, while I was in the hospital, Sandy found another way to get there and that's the route we have been taking.

The original route (which is the way Lynne took us Wednesday) is actually not as busy as the "new route." I think that it just looked bad that first night because it was dark and rainy and we were a bit distracted, naturally.

So if you are riding or driving with Lynne and she says you should go a different way, you might want to try it. It just might be a better route than the way you want to go! I'm just saying.....

Last night the "Js" Janet, Jessica and Jeremy came over....and Janet's boyfriend Barry came along too. We had a nice dinner and then played Dance Dance Revolution...which I now want to get for the Wii and Rock Band. We had a great time. Barry told me that he works with these guys from Putnam and asked if I know them...Rick Adams, Bob (drawing a blank on the last name...senior moment) and his boss is Jimmy Shaw! Of course I knew all three of them! That thrilled Barry, no end.

I really like Barry and told him he has to come for breakfast some morning with Janet...we'll eat out on the deck and enjoy the nature.

Today I got up early and went with Sandy, Jean and Jean's friend Dorothy to Filomena's in Waterford for lunch. I had the bruschetta and the french onion soup. It was yummy. The others all enjoyed their meals and we said we will have to go again.

After lunch, Dorothy went home and got her West Highland terrier puppy, McGregor (Mac for short). She brought him up to Jean's where we introduced him to Rocky, who we had brought with us.

At first Rocky got his hackles up and snapped at Mac...but then they walked on leashes in the back yard and slowly introduced themselves. When they came in the house, they played all over the living room and chasing each other around down the hall to the bedrooms. They had a great time and both were pooped afterwards. Rocky usually cries in the car...not a peep out of him the whole ride home!

Tomorrow the Tasmanian Devil tree guy will be calling and maybe coming out to give me an estimate for taking down the cottonwood tree and trimming up a big maple in the back. That's my sole responsibility for the day. That, and recording the four UConn Tennessee games that they are replaying on ESPN Classic, starting at 1pm. It will be fun to see the games again...particularly the ones I attended at the time...especially the first 95 game and the championship game in 2000. Very very memorable.

Nighty night!

Basketball and other important things in life...

I haven't even checked the Huskies score from this afternoon, but let me guess....they lost, am I right?

I am speaking about the men's team now, of course....the women will be winning again tonight...taking home the Big East Championship.

Tina will be taking home the MVP of the tournament...although a case can be made for Kalana Green (one of my favs) who came up big last night. I am going to miss this crew next year...they are so great and such nice girls too.

I used to hate it when people called us "girls" when I was that age. Guess what? I've become one of those people who do things I used to hate. Deal with it.

Well, I have been taking that "special medicine" and it didn't work when I took it just once, so I'm taking it three times a day, as directed. I took it this AM and went back to bed...boy, were my dreams interesting...very colorful, creative and then they went to black and white! WOW!! I slept until 1:30...enjoying the movies in my head.

Last night Charmine came over to watch the game with me. She doesn't get ESPNU on her cable system. We went down to Joe D's and got a pizza to go....came home, ate it and enjoyed the game...right up to the point where CD went down with that mystery injury. I thought she had broken her eye socket, turns out she got slammed on the back of the neck with an elbow. She's cleared to play today.

Talked to Lynne today, she's back from North Carolina and is busy going for job interviews. Tomorrow she's going to take a break from that to take me to get my CT Scan. This is a big scan...we'll see if the CA 125 test is accurate...or if they still see cancer in there. We'll be hoping that I'm clean as a whistle in there!

I made contact with the Tasmanian Devil yesterday. He's going to come give me an estimate on how much it will cost to take down that Cottonwood tree on the side of the house and to trim a big tree out back. I lie awake at night when the wind is blowing, worrying about the cottownwood coming down on the bedroom. I'll sleep easier with it gone. After it comes down we will plant some "Christmas trees" over there to provide a "fence" to block us from the guy next door. Not that we see much of him...but still...if I have that "fence" I can lie out on the deck, topless! YAY!

Speaking of lying on the deck, I have been doing so that past three days because it has been so sunny out there. Finally! Today I found a big "cloth sail" that you can put up easily to block the sun from the deck. I think I'm going to get one....the sun is so strong on the deck from about 11am on until late afternoon that you can't stand being out there...and what's the sense of having a deck if you can't use it?

Can't wait until I'm fit enough and the weather is good enough for me to be working out in the yard. I want to work myself into a stinky sweat!

Pam has agreed to be my coach on my "comeback." She will know how to make me pace myself and build up gradually, instead of overdoing and hurting myself.

I may have already hurt myself...unintentionally....and I don't know how I did this, but I did do something to my abdomen...unless it's cancer. I have pain there and a big "lump"...at first I thought it was yet another hernia, but now I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it will show up on the CT scan.

Of course, I hope it's a hernia.

Okay, enough of that crap. Hey, how about Sarah Palin admitting that she and her family has gone into Canada to get health care? YIKES!!!! And now I guess NBC is trying to cover up for the fact that they used a laugh track for her "performance" on Leno's show the other night. They added laughs where there was uneasy silence. HA!

I could use a laugh track for my life. I think I am very funny, but Sandy says I'm not so funny. If I had a laugh track, I could hit it and it would reinforce my belief that I am funny. Or something like that.

Now I'm going to heat up my leftover tuna casserole (made with Annie's Pasta) and settle down to watch the Huskies.

Life is great! For tonight...tomorrow I have to drink that horrid stuff. I can't wait for them to get the new "tasteless" stuff that you can mix with anything you want.

Nighty night!

Don't know why, but I could not sleep last night. Stayed up until 3am, listening to the police band on my iPhone, eavesdropping on all the crime in Eastern CT.

I slept until 1pm this afternoon. Got up and had my breakfast on the deck, lounging in the sun...like I've wanted to do for what seems like ages! It was great, reading the paper out there, getting a little tan on my bald head!

Speaking of my head, Sandy told me yesterday that the back of my head has black fuzz on it. The top of my head and the sides (that I can see) is white fuzz. So, my hair looks like Bob Miller's hair. He is white on top and black on the sides and back. I held up a mirror and checked out the back last night in the big mirror. Sandy is absolutely right. I have black hair!b

I always did have black hair in the back, but you couldn't see it because it was underneath the blond. I hope the blond comes back to cover it this time too. I don't want to look like the Jack Russells!

I don't know if I've mentioned it here...I believe I have, but I have this "thing" that happens to me over the past few years. I will think about someone (usually in the middle of the night) someone who I haven't thought of in a long time. A few days later I find out that they have died...usually within hours before I had thought of them.

Well, Wednesday night, when I had to come downstairs in the middle of the night because I couldn't sleep, I dozed off for a little bit in the recliner. When I woke up, I suddenly thought of Norma Dallaire. This really scared me as I haven't thought of her for awhile. I had seen her house listed in the real estate magazine for sale last year and didn't know if she had sold the house and moved.

I told Sandy about it...so she would be my witness that I had had this thought about Norma.

Today I'm reading the obituaries and I grazed over this one woman's obit. Something told me to go back and read it....so I did. I noticed the name of her first husband, Joe Dallaire....she was Norma's mother-in-law!!! And guess when she died? Wednesday....hours before I thought of Norma! I am SO RELIEVED...but totally mystified as to why this happens with me. It has happened a few times already and I don't know what it's all about.

I had another (less important) thought the other day. I was trying to remember when was the last time we bought potatoes. It was last summer, when I bought them for Roxie to make potato salad for our Open House. And I can't remember the time before then that we bought them.

And yet, we never lack for potatoes. We have mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, stuffed potatoes, french fries, etc.

Why? Because we are related to Jean Brouwer, that's why.

She keeps us in a constant supply of all sorts of potatoes. And are they good! I love her twice baked potatoes, her mashed potatoes are devine (she puts sour cream in them) and her cheesy potatoes rival anything I've had at a restaurant.

I love potatoes.

I love Jean Brouwer.

Tomorrow, we go to Berlin to see Deanna and Lorraine. We're picking up Pat and Charmine and heading out there. Sandy hasn't seen their new house yet. I want her to see it, especially their shower, which I covet.

Deanna wrote an email last night, worried that Lorraine was coming down with a cold. If she has a cold I can't go. Can't afford germs...I'm in my "bad phase" this week. Today she said Lorraine seems to be doing fine...so we are a "Go" for tomorrow.

We're also watching the Huskies at 2pm tomorrow...they are playing on ESPNU. Fortunately we get that channel and so does Deanna and Lorraine.

Oh, and I heard from Birgitta. She and Mats will be happy to come to Stockholm with us. We will have FUN! YAY!!! Mats is going to go nuts putting up with us three women! Oh we are going to have fun.

Okay, another game coming up from the Big East tourney, I'm able to get it on SNYHD....I love our Direct TV!!! If I wanted to pay a little more for the special package, I could watch EVERY women's bball game that was on tv. Maybe when I'm old and infirm, I'll spring for that...spend my winters in front of the telly.

Not yet.

Nighty night!

Long night last night. I was up many times doing you-know-what. It's that time in my chemo cycle when I start getting the trots. I'm taking the medication BEFORE it gets too "trotty" so hopefully I won't need that tincture of opium stuff!

I was able to get up, take a shower, get dressed and drive to Norwich for my bloodwork. Actually, I had to turn around in Norwichtown and drive all the way back home as I had forgotten my bloodwork orders at home! And then, when I got to the lab, they tell me I didn't need to bring it. They could have done the blood draw based on my other orders! Oh well...all that sitting in the car rested me up for the rest of the activiities.

I went to Stop and Shop and got oranges to put out to attract the orioles and more finches (as if we need more finches!)....I got a half out into the yard when I got home.

I also went over to Doc's Barbecue that is right next to where the Phoenix cafe is...which used to b e Indian Leap Cafe. Anyway...I was hoping for pulled pork but they were all out of everything but chickens and pulled chicken. They said the fire dept had come down with a huge order and cleaned them out! I had a nice chat with the owner as he made my pulled chicken sandwich. I also got a side of cole slaw. I brought them home to eat them and liked them. However the barbecue was rather bland.

I don't know if it was my taste buds (most likely as my taste is still somewhat off), or the fault of the place. I will try it again...next time, pulled pork sandwich, or ribs...and I will go when my taste buds are at full-strength!

I like Doc...he is a former Navy guy and he told me "if anything is wrong, I would appreciate hearing about it, so I can make it I LOVE THAT ATTITUDE!!! I told him that was the way to do business.

I will be back there.

Carol asked what was the difference in me having my next chemo as an in-patient, instead of at the Oncology Center. Well, here is my understanding. They will push the med really slow---over a span of 9 hours for that one drug alone, plus three for the Taxol, plus an hour or more for the pre-meds I have to take. They can monitor me closely and if I have a reaction they have the equipment to monitor and to take care of the reaction. If my reaction worsens, I'm right in the hospital and have access to all their emergency response services.

I like it because I have a great chance of having a really competent nurse, maybe even Marcia, my favorite! I also won't freeze there, like I do at the Oncology Ctr. It is so freaking cold there! At least at the hospital, they have those blanket warmers and they aren't shy about using them!

I will also have my own room and there's lots of space for Sandy and me and both of our laptops, own television, etc. And good food for lunch and supper!

So, now it's time for me to climb the stairs....and off to bed!

Nighty Night!