Skipping Treatment

I have had a good week. Bryan and Joe came in briefly on Thursday night. It might have been Friday morning, I'm really not sure. I got up at 5:00 am, and visited with them until 6:00 am, when they left on another road trip. Plans were to start out @ Graceland in Memphis, TN, then end up @ Wrigley Field for the last game of the season on Sun. night. They had other stops planned on the way. I'm not really sure where exactly they are now, I just know they will be back here Tuesday morning.

Saturday night Don and I had dinner at Luigi's. It was our first circle meeting for the year. It was good to see everyone again. It was a nice night.

Lana and I drove over to Paris for treatment this morning. My appointment was at 10:00. I finally got to see the Dr. about 11:15, and she told me I would not get chemo this week. It seems my white count is vera, vera, off! News to me, I've never felt better! The good news is that my red counts were good, and I've finally managed to gain a little weight. The Chemo Nazi says "NO CHEMO FOR YOU!"

Dr.'s orders for this week are for me to have a good time. I'm not in isolation or anything, I can go out to eat, or go shopping, whatever. I don't need to get on a plane, bus or, where everyone is crowded in, or be around anyone who is in the least bit sick, but I can get out, so I guess I'll just sit back and enjoy a second week in a row with no pump following me around!

My wonderful sister in law, Lenice is planning a trip up this weekend, and I hear that Johnny Rodriquez is performing at the fair this weekend. Talk about a blast from the past. Don and I used to dance to him back in our college days. Might have to go have a listen.

Please keep us in your prayers, we are going to get through this with God's help!!!

Annaleisa

Week 3 September 14-17

Friday the 14th started off with a special surprise. A call from "Cousin" Lynn. It was wonderful to hear her happy voice again. You don't realize how much a voice, or tone can effect people until you hear them after a long absence. That might be why I prefer to call people rather than write or e-mail. I like to hear voices. She's planning a visit for October. She'll be driving in with Page. I'm so glad I'll be able to see them again. We'll have lots of catching up to do.
Friday afternoon I drove the 5 hour drive to Anahuac, TX. My hometown. Southeast Texas. The Alligator capital of Texas, and not published, but I've alway thought it might also be the mosquito capital of Texas. I went down for a mini class reunion, and the "Gatorfest".
Don decided it would be best if he stayed here, and in spite of all of my pleading he wouldn't be budged.
I'm going to try to add some pictures to this post later, but I need to find out from the kids how to add them. Computers really aren't my thing.
Bryan and Roddy Simpson met me down there, and we spent the day with Loy, Veggie, her precious Adrian, Cheryle and her family, Carol, Carolyn, Kathy, Dawn,Lee, Dee, Rusty,and Jim. I got to see David and Debbie, Donna and Donnie, Wayne and Elizabeth, Becky, Niki (one of my baby cousins, who has grown into a beautiful young lady) Aunt Joby, and Aunt Biddy. I'm sure I've left someone out. I don't mean too but it really was an overwhelming day.
The girls took a boat ride up the Trinity river. I had never seen the river from the bay up. Didn't realize there were so many cabins along the west bank. We spotted one alligator, but were told that most of them hide during the gatorfest. They might be smarter than we give them credit for!
The most fun part of the day was an airboat ride I took with Bryan and Roddy. We spun around, hit and flew over a mud bank, hit more water, spun some more, and it was over before I wanted it to be. It was a BLAST! I want to learn to drive one of those things. I kept yelling "make it go faster!"
We ate corny dogs, barbecue, drank lemonaide, had snow cones, and more or less grazed all day.
That night there was a concert "under the hill". I don't remember ever seeing that many people in Anahuac before. John A. Miller showed up, Mike Fountain was there, and I didn't recognize Curtis Smith. I'm sure I've left someone out. We all stayed in the back of a tent in the beer garden, so we didn't have to fight the crowd. I think everyone had a good time, I know I did. It was just so much fun seeing all of my old friends, and catching up after so many years.
Sunday morning I met my wonderful Carol Gary in Beaumont for lunch. She's celebrating a new career! Executive Director of the Beaumont Fire Museum. After lunch I was treated to a private tour of the museum, then a driving tour of downtown Beaumont. It sure looks different than I remembered. Of course I haven't been down there since probably the early '70's! We drove out to her house and I had a chance to see Wade, and meet Michael. We all had a fun visit, I haven't gotten to spend as much time with her as I would like, she has a sunshine personality, and can make any situation funny. She is really a special friend.
I got back to Mt. Pleasant around 10:00 Sunday night. Don met me with sad news. Our youngest dog, Ray Price, had been run over. We had planned on sending him up to Indiana, to champion him out. I think Don is more upset than he is trying to show. It is sad sitting on the deck and not hearing Ray constantly bark.
My Mom was a gracious hostess this weekend, she had dinner, breakfast, and lunch ready whenever anyone was ready. She put up with all the comings and goings patiently. Thanks Mom, and thanks for sharing your kitty with me for 2 nights.

Sept 10-13 Week 2

The last time I had a treatment, my red counts were low. I couldn't get out of bed for most of that week. Don decided we'd try an experiment and I'd eat red meat before the next treatment. On Sunday night he grilled sirloin strips, medium rare. They were delicious!
I drove myself to Titus Regional Hospital here in Mt. Pleasant on Monday morning for my appointment with Dr. Wilcox. Believe it or not after the lab reports came back in we found out that my red count was normal! Don is really onto something, but I always knew he was highly intelligent!
I slept through most of the infusion, then drove myself home. The only side effect I had this time was being uncomfortably cold. I layered on the clothes, and gloves until I looked like a bag lady wearing everything she owns. I spent most of Tuesday in the bed, then it was steak time again. This time we tried rib-eyes, yum!
I went back to TRMC on Wednesday to have the pump removed. The chemo never really knocked me down this time. I was able to run errands on Thursday. It felt good to not loose a day this week. I'm pretty sure Don must be onto something with the red meat. We'll be trying it again next treatment week.

Sept.1-9 Week 1

I'm going to have to break September into three posts. So much has been happening, I'm having a hard time keeping it all straight!
Sarah, Lee, and Bryan came in for Labor Day weekend. We didn't scare Lee off!!! It was a hoot. On Sunday, Danielle and her Brian came in for the day to swim and visit. They ended up staying the night. The boys all went hunting and the girls hung out on the deck. It was so much fun seeing Sarah and Danielle get all caught up.
The house cleared out Monday, and Tuesday Sarah and I went to Longview to do some shopping and have lunch. We had a really fun day, but I got a little sick on the way home that afternoon. I'm going to learn someday that just because a rueben sandwich sounds good, it's not necessarily such a good idea.
Tuesday was Don and my 31st anniversary. Imagine that! Sarah cooked shrimp scampi for us that night, while we had a little "date" on the deck.
On Wednesday, we had to take our little girl back to Dallas to catch her flight. I didn't cry this time, we'll be seeing her at Thanksgiving, and that will be here before we know it.
Stephanie and Alice came over Thursday night. It's always good to see friends, and we had a nice vistit. Don and I went to dinner on Saturday night with Barry and Lana. The Carson House is as good as I remembered it. I think the last time we were there was New Years Eve 2001.
So much for week 1, I'll continue with week 2 in the next post.