Coming Out of the Tunnel

Don and I had a wonderful week last week. We went out to dinner with Barry and Lana on Friday night, Sunday night Jeanni and Colt came over and brought aspargus quiche, asparagus soup, and chicken noodle soup. I HAVE to have those recipes! Colt enjoyed the pool, and it was so much fun watching him have fun. Margaret came by Monday morning and brought a delicious pound cake. Mary Gail brought by some of Bob's famous chicken soup on Monday night. I had lunch out with Alice on Thursday, and Stephanie and Carla came by for a visit that afternoon. On Friday, I went to the shop, and helped with some funeral work. I actually got to work on two easels. It was good to be back. Nancy worked me in for a hair appointment, isn't it funny how good the beauty shop makes you feel? Maybe it's a girl thing. She is so funny. She has refilled my freezer with peas!!!! Yes, they are still very yummy, and I'm still going through them at a pretty good clip. Connie brought a big pot of vegetable soup in, and then made us some broccoli cheese soup. I walked three miles only once this past week. It was just too hot! I did swim quite a bit. Sunday afternoon Hazel brought her two grandbabies over to swim. They really had fun and it was entertaining just watching them enjoy the water.

On Monday Stephanie drove me to Paris for my third treatment. I've lost another pound. I don't get it. I have been eating more than I ever have and I just can't seem to keep the weight on. Believe me, my friends are keeping us well fed! I was glad to have the opportunity to visit with Stephanie. We had lost touch when I was going in to work everyday. She is lots of fun. The treatment went well. Dr Wilcox added some benadryl to the infusion so that I wouldn't break out in another rash. That seemed to help some. I only had two little places come through on my left arm this Thursday.

My red counts were low, but because I seemed to be in otherwise pretty good shape, and my white counts were normal, Dr. Wilcox went ahead with the treatment. I know now why you don't want to get chemo when your red counts are low. I couldn't get out of bed on Tuesday. Don cooked a steak and I was a little better on Wednesday, but I didn't truly rebound until this morning.

A funny new side effect hit me last Monday night. I HAD to have a milk shake. I talked Don into going into town for one, against his better judgement. I knew I needed to drink tiny sips, and do it slowly. It was good! When I went to tell Don good night, I couldn't talk. My tongue was frozen. I sounded like Sylvester the cat. It was so funny, that I had to try to say every word I could think of that started with an "s".

Sarah, Lee and Bryan will all be here this weekend. I haven't seen Lee since I was in the hospital. I hope we don't scare him off. I think Don and Bryan are planning to take him hunting. Welcome to East Texas Lee!

Sarah will get to stay until Wednesday, then it's back to Florida for her. Wish I could go with her. We are going to try to do some shopping, and other than that just hang out at the pool.

If I don't post much this next week, please forgive me again. I'm going to try to enjoy life as much as I can, and that might not include sitting in front of this computer. The sun is supposed to be out every day this next week!! I'm feeling strong, and continue to thank the Lord for all the blessings he has given me. Keep us in your prayers.

Round 2

So far I'm making it through round 2. The infusion on Tuesday took about 4 hours. The doctor was running behind, and the chemo room was almost full. I got my full dose of Folfox, and it was followed with a 1 1/2 hour infusion of Avastin. I'm still wearing the pump with an IV of Fluorauracil. It will come off tomorrow at 12:30.
I felt pretty good yesterday, but woke up nauseated this morning. I just couldn't get going today. Late this afternoon I broke out in an itchy rash on both of my arms. The neuropathy is back. I'm drinking lukewarm liquids, eating lukewarm fruit, and wearing my leather gloves in the kitchen. Thank goodness it will probably be gone in a few days.
So now everyone knows that I'm really a closet whiner. Sorry. Tomorrow will be a better day.
Thank you all for your continued prayers, cards, and e-mails.

What a wonderful day it has been. I rejoice and am glad in it.

Plans were to stay at home all day, and get caught up on my correspondence. I almost met that goal. I still have three letters to write, and I'll be up to date:). Now, if I can just get to the post office in the morning, I'll be doing all the good.

The weather is absolutely beautiful, the sky is blue. What more could anyone ask for? I didn't walk tonight, our friends Barry and Lana dropped by, and I was glad for the diversion. We are going to get together this weekend, so that's something to look forward to.

Connie will be here in the morning to help me with bookwork, and thank goodness Mom is still here to help me in the kitchen. I should be all set for next week, with a freezer full of Magic Mineral Broth, (thank you Lisa) and purple hull peas(thank you Debi)!

I am so grateful for a wonderful day like today.

Catch up

I am so sorry I do not post more often than I do. I seem to get wrapped up in all I want to get done, and before I know it the day is gone! I am going to try to do better, but let me warn you--I don't really lead a very interesting life, so please bear with me, and I hope you don't get too bored!!!! ---
First of all I need to thank everyone who has posted, called, sent cards, or e-mailed us. You will never know what that small gesture on your part has meant to me and Don. It is such a joy to pick up the mail, check the blog or e-mail, and receive a note. The small things you all continue to do have sustained us. We are amazed and humbled at the outpouring of love that is being shown to us. ---
Now, let me make this perfectly clear. My first round of chemo was wretched. That about sums it up. The tingling in my fingers lingered until Monday of this week. Today is the first day I have been able to drink anything with ice in it comfortably. Enough of my whining. ---
I started feeling a little better by Friday afternoon last week. Saturday was a little better than Friday, and Bryan came home! Don and Bryan had guys night out and went to see the Bourne Ultimatum. They both gave the movie two thumbs up. I'm so glad Don got to go do something fun for a change. It seems that his life is all about taking care of everyone else. He is absolutely the best husband, and son anyone could ever hope for. I am so fortunate. ---
Sunday morning I woke up and felt like a human being is supposed to feel. It was wonderful! I put my suit on and got in the pool for the first time in two years. Marvelous!!!!!! I had floated around for about an hour and a half, when I got a sympathy call from the funeral home. Only another florist can appreciate what that really means. I had to go! I had no idea what we had in stock, I'm officially out of the loop. I took care of the family, and was greening up their order, when Felecia came in and rescued me. The neuropathy in my hands was still giving me some trouble, so everytime I picked up a piece of greenery I felt like electric shocks were running through my fingers. ---
When I got home Mom had lunch ready. I ate like a farm hand. Pot roast, with all the trimmings, and fresh peas, absolutely yummm!!!!!! I don't think I've told many people about this, but, I discovered last week that whenever peas are cooking my mouth starts watering. I can't eat them fast enough, or often enough. Thank goodness they are in season now.
Sunday was good. ---
Monday, Don, Mom, and I went to Dallas to see Dr. Crim, the colon surgeon. He did his final post op exam, and cleared me for six months, or the end of chemo, which ever comes first. I always feel so much better after seeing him. His attitude is so positive. ---
After the appointment, we stopped by Central Market and did a little shopping. My friend Lisa McDaniel gave me a wonderful cookbook for cancer survivors called "One Bite at Time". I couldn't wait to try the recipes, but some of the ingredients are hard to find in Mt. Pleasant. We got everything we need to make "Magic Mineral Broth", and that's on my to do list for Wednesday. ---
Today, Tuesday August 7, has been a blessing I won't take lightly. I started out at 7:00 this morning by making my to do list. Unfortunately, I didn't get it all done, but it will carry over. Mom ran errands with me this morning, and we got everything done by 11:15. I put my suit back on, and rested by the pool for a while this afternoon, until my friend Debbie Newman came over bearing a whole bushel of peas!!!! We got to catch up, and celebrate her good news. Her husband, Hollis, who was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) is now officially in remission!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!! He is such an inspiration. He picked all those peas this morning, what a guy! ---
Mom, Hazel, and I shelled peas until late this afternoon. My mouth started watering while I was doing that too. I think I must be pea obsessed. When Don got home we walked a mile, and I felt like I could have gone more, but our friend Ronnie dropped by and we stopped, grateful for the company. I'm slowly working back to 2 miles. We finished the evening off with another quick swim which was really refreshing!---
I am so grateful for today. God has truly blessed me. I have not felt this good since February! I can't wait till tomorrow. I'm gonna finish that list and start a new one!

Feeling a bit better

First round of chemo was Monday. I received a 3 hour IV, of what the Dr. calls "Folfax". It is a recipe of 3 different types of chemo drugs. When the office infusion finished, they hooked me up to a portable pump, and I came home with a 42 hour dose attached to me. It wasn't quite the piece of cake I thought it might be.
By that afternoon I was already feeling some of the side effects. I couldn't eat or drink anything the least bit cold, and I could not reach into the fridge without gloves on. Didn't I look a sight, 90 degrees outside, and I'm wearing black leather gloves! The nausea held off until Wed. morning when we were able to go to the local hospital and have the pump removed. I guess it was a delayed reaction, but by Thursday, I couldn't get out of bed, and could barely open my eyes.
Now it's Friday :) I feel much better! Bryan is coming in for the weekend and Mom is here watching over us. I'm looking forward to visiting with friends, and just enjoying the sunshine!
I will be going in for the next treatment on Tuesday, August 14., so I will have a week of feeling good ahead.

Before Ports, We Have Airports...

This is an interactive blog. Some of the words in the blog are links... click the link and an associated picture will pop up in a new window.

I have been so pleased with the resurgence of Mom's energy as she recovers from the surgery. Over the past week, she has seemed as though she were going stir crazy from lack of activity. Since her port was not scheduled to be installed until Tuesday (the 24th), I suggested that she make a quick trip to Florida for a little R&R. To my excitement she accepted the invite!

On Friday, I had to work a little bit, so Mom got acquainted with my building. She especially loved the meditation garden on the 6th floor. There is a gazebo overlooking the New River, and Mom adored the purple flowers that covered it. She also liked watching the boats out front... and the view. She said that she can see how the view causes me to reflect and think about things. It's very theraputic.

After I finished my work, we went for a little tour of the area, and ended up back at my favorite restaurant on Ft. Lauderdale Beach. It is called Spazio, and we were able to snag a table on the sidewalk, and enjoy the weather, the beach and the people watching. There were sailors in town this weekend, so we got a kick out of talking to them. How DO YOU keep those pants to incredibly white?!

On Saturday, we drove up to Palm Beach and checked out Donald Trump's house. Even though we weren't able to drive up to the gates, we could tell that it was quite garish, but that was to be expected. Apparently it's not a house at all, but a private club.

After Palm Beach, we cruised back down South to Hollywood and visited the Hard Rock Casino. That was a real treat. Mom had asked several times how close I was to the casino, especially after all of the circus with Anna Nicole had started. The weather wasn't great, so it was a perfect time to check out an indoor attraction. Something really funny happened as we walked in, but I don't think I could do it justice on a blog. It's the kind of story that needs to be told in person. Ask Mom about it when you see her next.

On Sunday, we had the most active day yet. We spent the afternoon in South Beach. That's right, Mom went to South Beach. :-) The weather was still pretty dreary, so we were really lucky to get a great parking spot. We walked up and down the main drag and ranked our favorite buildings. The Tides Hotel was magnificent. Then we got to see Versace's pad. Wow.

When we got back to Ft. Lauderdale, we had just enough time to take a boat tour before dinner. It was the perfect way to end the day. The tour took us from the dock near my apartment, through downtown, then a residential area, then the beach area, then Port Everglades. We got to see more boats, big houses, 2 battleships, an aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine. I'd say it was a full tour. lol.

On the last night, I cooked dinner for Mom, Matt (my roommate) and Bohdan (my neighbor and best friend's husband). Of course, Mom being a mom, she needed a picture of the three of us at the dinner table... to show my dad that we are a respectable lot. lol. We sure fooled her... or something.

Without a doubt, this trip was a great decision for all of us. I was amazed at Mom's energy... we had a blast... it was a great bonding experience... and now Mom knows that the quicker she gets better the quicker she can come back. :-) I'm really looking forward to the next visit.

Since her return to Texas, she has had her port installed in her chest. She was lucky enough to get just a single port, so that it wouldn't be so intrusive. I see that as a good sign. The treatments will begin next week, and we're all really nervous about how she will respond to them. I sure hope that they don't make her too terribly ill. I know that she loves hearing from everyone, so maybe if we band together and send her lots of lovely messages she will not get so sick off of the chemo. It's worth a shot! :-) Thanks again for all of your support... and a BIG SPECIAL thank you to Lenice. I don't know if I could have gotten Mom here without your help.

Don drove me to Paris, TX this morning to meet with Dr. Celeste Wilcox. She is my oncologist, and I think we'll be a good fit. The game plan is as follows: I'll be going to Titus Regional for one more CT Scan, so that she will know my "architecture". Next Tuesday, the 24th, I'll have my port installed. After that I'll be going to Paris every 2 weeks for treatments.

Right now, we are looking at 6 rounds of 4 treatments each. I probably won't loose my hair, most don't on these particular drugs, so that's good news. There is medication for nausea, so I won't be worrying about that. I will probably be pretty fatigued, but that will only mean that the medicine is working.

The people who are closest to our family will remember Useless. She was Joey's dog, a bull dog mix who someone dropped at our driveway, a complete stray, who befriended our family, and ended up living the Life of Riley!

She had her own chair in every room. She really was a wonderful dog. She hated snakes, and protected our family many times over from water mocassins, and copperheads. The first time she was bitten, the snake got her on her face. She swelled up like a hippopotamus. We took her to the vet for a shot and she ended up looking like a pelican.

She chased the cows one time too many, and Don hit her on her head with a fence tool. It just bounced off. Another time she chewed up a plastic bottle of finger nail polish remover, and chased it down with a steel wool pad, it didn't even slow her down.

She was famous for sneaking food off the counter, or wherever she could find it. Chocolate cakes and brownies were favorites, but she couldn't resist Williams Fried Chicken. She could down a whole bucket in under 30 seconds.

I think I must be like Useless. I keep bouncing back. I don't know if a purebred could be quite as resilient. Useless lived to be about 15 years old. She was one lucky dog!

I am so humbled by the concern of my friends and neighbors. The cards received have been greatly appreciated. Your prayers continue to make me strong.

We are now walking a mile every evening - weather permitting! I'm beginning to get bored with staying home so much, but don't really have a choice since my girls have "laid me off". Monday afternoon, I was told to go home from the shop, they had it covered and did not need my help. Can a boss be laid off? I am trying to make myself useful by helping with bookwork here at home. I also have piles of correspondence that I am working on.


Dr. Crim's visit went well. I will be going to the oncologist on Monday. Hopefully this will start the ball rolling, and we can move forward with treatment. It seems that cancer is a hurry up and wait disease. Anyone who knows me, knows that patience is not one of my gifts. Could this be God's way of showing me how to wait?

Just got back from Dallas, and thanks to Dr. Clifford I'm now staple free! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!! He said the tissue surrounding the tumor on my liver looked clear, really good news.
Will go back on Monday to see Dr. Crim, then we'll deal with whatever comes next. I'm ready for whatever gets thrown at me.

So, I've been thinking for the past two weeks about how very fortunate I am. I grew up in a tiny town. There were less than 2,000 people in my town. That meant that I went to school with about 73-75 people, from the time I was 9 or 10 years old, all the way through high school. When you know people for that long, you generally feel a bit closer to them, you know their families, their grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. I always thought I had 73+ brothers and sisters.

I moved to Mt. Pleasant in 1976. That's 31 years ago. I was the first "Nelson Granddaughter" to leave Chambers County. No small feat! Anyway, I've now been in Titus County, longer than I ever lived in Chambers County. Don and I have raised our family here. I have two hometowns.

The first visitors I had while in the hospital were Anahuac "Sisters and Brothers". Mike and Dale came in, and Cheryle, whom I had not seen in over 30 years came by. I am so fortunate. They made me laugh, and forget all about everything. It was like we were back in high school without a care in the world. The next day I think it was, 2 more Anahuac Sisters, Loy and Veggie came by. They both live in the Austin/Temple area now, but drove up for the day. I have seen Loy and Veggie several times over the years, but my heart always feels lighter when they are around, they have known me too long for me to be anything other than Annaleisa.
Since I've been home, I've received calls from Lee, another Anahuac Brother, who now lives in Huntsville, AL., and Debbie, who is in Anahuac. We are making plans to try to all get together in Anahuac at the Gator Fest this fall. Every time I talk to any of these special people, I feel a bit stronger.

I have also had the luxury of a large extended family. Cousins! My favorite "partner in crime", as a child was my cousin Lynn. I guess it was because of all my cousins, we were the closest in age, I don't know, maybe it was just devious minds!! As we grew older, Lynn and her family moved overseas, and I did not get to spend as much time with the Ashby cousins as I would have liked. They were always so much fun, a mob! Then there was Page. Page is my "baby" cousin. She grew up in Houston, which isn't far from Anahuac, so we got to spend quality time with her, and her family while we were all growing up. Page showed up at the hospital. She now lives near the Dallas area. Isn't it funny how God puts people in our paths. She is such a comfort. I received an e-mail from Lynn last night, I'm hoping that we can re-connect soon.

When I returned home from the hospital, I was over-whelmed with the number of cards that were waiting for us. I say us because at this point, my whole family is involved in this fight. Friends and acquaintances from all over the country, flower industry friends, old family friends, people I barely know. The wonderful people in Mt. Pleasant, brought in food to nourish us, and we can feel the prayers that surround us. When I think about all of the good wishes that continue to flow our way, I truly feel stronger.