What a wacky, hair-loss Halloween!!
My day started out fine, then seemed to get worse as the afternoon and evening went on! I felt well in the morning, but got some nausea around 11 AM. That was ok, since my new friend Shirline invited me over to her house to watch a movie. She fed me delicious orange julius, popcorn and even some soup. I still felt ok, and I really enjoyed watching the movie Enchanted, which was really cute. She took me to the store to get some Halloween candy for me to give out tonight. I got pretty tired at the store, so I had to rest after the kids got home. Actually, just the two older boys were here. They wanted to watch a movie, so I tried to convince them to do some chores before starting it, but one of them wanted to be lazy, I guess.
David got home around 4 PM and had just gotten a haircut. He convinced me that his hair stylist would give me a mohawk for free, since my hair is falling out anyway. I'm glad she buzzed the sides of my hair, but when we went to put green color gel on the spiky part, more hair started to pull out again. David took a photo, too, so I must post it up on this blog so you can see me Halloween 4 hour hairdo! I got to show it off to a few people and some kids in the neighborhood.
I don't know if it was the holiday or the candy or both, but my kids were really wild today. They all wanted to do different activities and were trying to decide when to trick or treat and who to go out with. Brenton was planning to attend one friend's party, but when that fell through he had to find someone else's party to crash. Fortunately he found one and a trusted mom was the driver to and from, so I let him go. Jonny has been acting really weird lately, so we found a few things he has been up to on the sly. Goodness, you sure have to be vigilant as a parent, as the kids always seem to be one step ahead of you!
Between the kids and my hair, I had a good cry tonight and now I'm feeling better. I have a soft knit cap that I got last year from the donation box at the cancer center. Maybe I'll pick out a few more, now that I have bald spots all over, so the caps can keep my head warm and comfortable. At least I already have a wig to wear, so I'll survive. Also, I know I have friends who have also gone through the hair loss, so that makes it easier to bear. I think I'll spend tomorrow wrapped in a warm blanket with a good book. I even have some treats to eat while I'm there.
Emilee
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thursday October 30th
I got to go out to lunch with friends today, for the first time in weeks. I may also get to go out tomorrow to visit my new friend Shirline, assuming my health cooperates. Speaking of which, the children were both surprised and awed when I told them at dinner that my hair is starting to come out. For now, it is staying on my head, but as soon as you pull on a piece of it, it comes out in your hand. I thought the boys might be interested turning my hair into a weird Halloween type hairdo, right in time for the holiday tomorrow. Imagine tomorrow night when I open the door and the trick or treaters aren't sure if I have a wig or real hair. Brenton seemed worried about the idea, but Jonny was all for it.
As expected, I am feeling a little better each day during this week off from treatment. It is a joy to feel somewhat normal again, though I still have some fatigue and nausea. Happy Halloween everyone! Come by my house if you want to see my half-bald head. It might be the only time I show it off before I start wearing my wig full time again.
Emilee
As expected, I am feeling a little better each day during this week off from treatment. It is a joy to feel somewhat normal again, though I still have some fatigue and nausea. Happy Halloween everyone! Come by my house if you want to see my half-bald head. It might be the only time I show it off before I start wearing my wig full time again.
Emilee
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
P.S.
I almost forgot to offer "tk" my email address, so they can contact me. It is emileeellis@comcast.net. Hope to hear from you soon. Emilee
Wednesday October 29th
Today I am looking for "tk", the person who posted a comment to my Saturday entry, who has a standby ticket for Jet Blue. This afternoon, my brother-in-law offered me a buddy pass on Jet Blue, that must be used by this weekend, so I thought that between the two of you, it might be cover the cost of one round trip. I might feel well enough to go somewhere for a weekend, or I might be able to fly a family member out here to visit and help with the kids.
Today is my first day without Xeloda in 2 weeks. I can already tell that a lot of my nausea is gone. I have been getting a lot of visitors lately, so this morning I had my next door neighbor, Christi, who helped in the kitchen plus another neighbor, Suzanne, who brought me a wealth of scrapbooking supplies. That made me excited about scrapbooking again. Then, this afternoon, Elaine came to help with the boys after school. They did some chores and a bit of homework and now they are at Target, looking for a few "accessories" to their Halloween costumes, as Brenton and Jonny still are going to dress up for school on Friday, even though I won't allow Brenton to go trick or treating.
David is going through some changes at his work. Security National is shutting down the Reverse Mortgage division, but David will continue doing loans through another division of the same company. The market has been up and down with interest rates, but David seems to be holding on to some loans that should be going through soon. I don't like the uncertainty of his job right now, but we are blessed that he has a place to work.
Emilee
Today is my first day without Xeloda in 2 weeks. I can already tell that a lot of my nausea is gone. I have been getting a lot of visitors lately, so this morning I had my next door neighbor, Christi, who helped in the kitchen plus another neighbor, Suzanne, who brought me a wealth of scrapbooking supplies. That made me excited about scrapbooking again. Then, this afternoon, Elaine came to help with the boys after school. They did some chores and a bit of homework and now they are at Target, looking for a few "accessories" to their Halloween costumes, as Brenton and Jonny still are going to dress up for school on Friday, even though I won't allow Brenton to go trick or treating.
David is going through some changes at his work. Security National is shutting down the Reverse Mortgage division, but David will continue doing loans through another division of the same company. The market has been up and down with interest rates, but David seems to be holding on to some loans that should be going through soon. I don't like the uncertainty of his job right now, but we are blessed that he has a place to work.
Emilee
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday October 28th
Today was busy, and I think I overdid it, as I felt sick this afternoon and evening. I enjoyed making a new friend this morning, who is also a breast cancer survivor. The biggest headache today came from the man who came to fix the crack in my countertop. Because he was there, I didn't get much rest, plus he left our kitchen (2 hours later) full of dust all over the floor, table, cupboards and appliances. I was able to get help from two Relief Society sisters, so my kitchen was clean when the boys got home.
It always keeps me busy to have the kids home from school, as I help them with various things. Jonny's friend came over in need of some more props for his "nerd" costume. I made some homemade bread using the breadmaker and also made some dinner for the kids, so by then, I think I was pretty worn out. I also supervised Nathan in his homework and encouraged the other boys to finish their chores. I'm looking forward to having Elaine over tomorrow afternoon to help when the boys get home from school.
Tonight they had a Halloween carnival at the church for the primary kids, and the young men and women were helping run the games. Nathan wore his jaguar costume and David took him over to church. Brenton and Jonny are still over there helping. The Relief Society wants me to list a few other things that they could help with. One is to organize the bookcases in my bedroom. The other is to sort through my prescriptions so I can apply to a cancer care program which can reimburse my prescription co-pays. Once those are done, I'll list a few more things, but that's all for now.
Emilee
P.S. I'd like to get to know Christi, my next door neighbor, so I want to have her over to chat this week.
It always keeps me busy to have the kids home from school, as I help them with various things. Jonny's friend came over in need of some more props for his "nerd" costume. I made some homemade bread using the breadmaker and also made some dinner for the kids, so by then, I think I was pretty worn out. I also supervised Nathan in his homework and encouraged the other boys to finish their chores. I'm looking forward to having Elaine over tomorrow afternoon to help when the boys get home from school.
Tonight they had a Halloween carnival at the church for the primary kids, and the young men and women were helping run the games. Nathan wore his jaguar costume and David took him over to church. Brenton and Jonny are still over there helping. The Relief Society wants me to list a few other things that they could help with. One is to organize the bookcases in my bedroom. The other is to sort through my prescriptions so I can apply to a cancer care program which can reimburse my prescription co-pays. Once those are done, I'll list a few more things, but that's all for now.
Emilee
P.S. I'd like to get to know Christi, my next door neighbor, so I want to have her over to chat this week.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday October 27th
It has been fun to receive messages and phone calls in response to Sunday's article. It looks like the paper is running new stories each day about different breast cancer patients, so I don't think I'll get any more coverage. I could ask Ashley, though. I like Susan's idea of having "breast buddies." Up until now, I haven't even attended a support group, though I have been to see the counselor at the clinic. Now that I have a new oncologist, I'll have to find out more of the programs they have in Salt Lake.
Basically, up until now, I was too busy living my life and working and juggling my family responsibilities and telling myself that I could do everything if I just tried hard enough. The time has come, because of the dangerous liver tumors and because of the severity of the chemo drugs, that I need to let others take care of the business around me. I need to concentrate on myself and on making it through each day.
Today, my sister in law, Jennie, came to help. She drove me to the lab for a blood test. I wanted to find out if I need a blood transfusion, as I've been feeling short of breath. She also took me to the store, where I rode the cart around and got some groceries. When we got home, I got a call from Dr. Shehadeh. I like the fact that he calls me himself, instead of having his staff do it every time. He said that I don't need a transfusion at this time. He said he wants me to have one more 3 week cycle of the Ixempra/Xeloda before I get a scan to see the results. He asked about my pain level and I told him it has been getting better, then he told me "Happy Halloween!" He must be pretty Americanized by now to be getting in the spirit of this American holiday.
Tomorrow is my last day of taking Xeloda. I am glad to be feeling better and to be up and around more. Sometimes, little things don't get done unless I am there to mind them. For example, in my pile of clean laundry were two badly stained white shirts of Nathan's. They had gone through the washer and the dryer and the stains were pretty set. When I asked David about it, he said he didn't have any bleach. Well, I walked out in the garage and came back with a gallon of it in my hand. "Oh," was his reaction. I guess it is mostly moms who worry about these things, like having their child wear a clean-looking shirt to school. (My kids wear uniforms to their charter school, so Nathan can only wear a navy or white shirt each day.)
I feel grateful for even more offers of help with the children, a friend to visit with, a flight for a caregiver, and more support because of the publicity of the news article. Every one of those helpers is a hero in my eyes, because they are literally coming to my rescue when I cannot do everything myself. Thank you today to all you heroes out there!
Emilee
Basically, up until now, I was too busy living my life and working and juggling my family responsibilities and telling myself that I could do everything if I just tried hard enough. The time has come, because of the dangerous liver tumors and because of the severity of the chemo drugs, that I need to let others take care of the business around me. I need to concentrate on myself and on making it through each day.
Today, my sister in law, Jennie, came to help. She drove me to the lab for a blood test. I wanted to find out if I need a blood transfusion, as I've been feeling short of breath. She also took me to the store, where I rode the cart around and got some groceries. When we got home, I got a call from Dr. Shehadeh. I like the fact that he calls me himself, instead of having his staff do it every time. He said that I don't need a transfusion at this time. He said he wants me to have one more 3 week cycle of the Ixempra/Xeloda before I get a scan to see the results. He asked about my pain level and I told him it has been getting better, then he told me "Happy Halloween!" He must be pretty Americanized by now to be getting in the spirit of this American holiday.
Tomorrow is my last day of taking Xeloda. I am glad to be feeling better and to be up and around more. Sometimes, little things don't get done unless I am there to mind them. For example, in my pile of clean laundry were two badly stained white shirts of Nathan's. They had gone through the washer and the dryer and the stains were pretty set. When I asked David about it, he said he didn't have any bleach. Well, I walked out in the garage and came back with a gallon of it in my hand. "Oh," was his reaction. I guess it is mostly moms who worry about these things, like having their child wear a clean-looking shirt to school. (My kids wear uniforms to their charter school, so Nathan can only wear a navy or white shirt each day.)
I feel grateful for even more offers of help with the children, a friend to visit with, a flight for a caregiver, and more support because of the publicity of the news article. Every one of those helpers is a hero in my eyes, because they are literally coming to my rescue when I cannot do everything myself. Thank you today to all you heroes out there!
Emilee
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday October 26th
Our family was excited this morning to see our article on the front page of our local Utah County paper. Nathan, especially, was thrilled that his photo was also on the front, and again several pages back. Here is the link to Daily Herald article: http://www.heraldextra.com/breastcancer/
There are several links on the website that connect to a letter and a recording that I made. We expect another smaller article each day for the next couple of days, as the paper continues to cover this topic.
I felt very grateful to be able to attend sacrament meeting this afternoon. I have been feeling tired, probably because of the low red blood cell count. Fortunately I rested right before church and my stomach didn't hurt, so I got to attend. It felt good to get out, if only for an hour and a half.
It is fun to see how excited the children are for Halloween. Tonight we talked about their ideas for costumes and for the activities Friday night. We also played a family game and ate ice cream, just like the photo in the newspaper. The kids ran around with the dog in the back yard for a while. David got out his big ladder and was able to retrieve over ten different balls and dog toys that have been stuck on the roof for the past year.
I'm expecting a better week, since my "week off" from treatment begins on Wednesday!
Emilee
There are several links on the website that connect to a letter and a recording that I made. We expect another smaller article each day for the next couple of days, as the paper continues to cover this topic.
I felt very grateful to be able to attend sacrament meeting this afternoon. I have been feeling tired, probably because of the low red blood cell count. Fortunately I rested right before church and my stomach didn't hurt, so I got to attend. It felt good to get out, if only for an hour and a half.
It is fun to see how excited the children are for Halloween. Tonight we talked about their ideas for costumes and for the activities Friday night. We also played a family game and ate ice cream, just like the photo in the newspaper. The kids ran around with the dog in the back yard for a while. David got out his big ladder and was able to retrieve over ten different balls and dog toys that have been stuck on the roof for the past year.
I'm expecting a better week, since my "week off" from treatment begins on Wednesday!
Emilee
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