I hate this book!

Ugh! Though I had been doing my own gentle stretches until now .... today I started doing the "official" exercises as prescribed - and ouch! Goes to show just how restricted my arm movement is {sigh}

I mean, I can do all that I need to do .... but apparently I've come up with ways to compensate for my lack of mobility :) Which is probably why my shoulders (muscles) hurt when I go to bed at night. Working on my posture, working on my stretching ..... I'll be a good patient ..... really ..... I will!

On a brighter note - I also prepared some fresh green beans today. Given to me by Daddy and Aggie yesterday, I cooked them a good long while with a bit of onion, some bacon and vinegar (we like 'em a little tart) and they were good! (See, I'm even eating my veggies! :)



I got a message from Britt, saying her prayers have been answered as far as where she'll be living in the months ahead. When she moved, she knew she'd only be at Mallory's until the first of August, when their baby is due. But she had every confidence that the next right place would come up ... and apparently it has! She was absolutely thrilled and is loving her time in KC. I have been viewing their church's live streaming on the web, and catch site of Brittany quite often ~ that is always fun for me.

Sabrina and I went to see Dr. Rowland (my oncologist) on Friday and he confirmed that I am ready to start chemo on Tuesday morning. I will have to have blood work done, the day before each treatment, so this Monday I will have that done, then go in at 9 on Tuesday, expecting to stay at least 3 hours. I also need to go for a follow-up shot the day after each treatment - thus making it a 3/day ordeal each time! So I go this week, and then again on the 27th (and every other Tuesday for eight weeks after - assuming my blood counts are good on all of those Mondays) Then I believe it changes to once a week for twelve weeks. Sabrina said she has dibs on taking me to the first treatment - and I said of course - you've earned that! And I think my friend Beth wants to come from Elkhart again, to take me for my second round.

The doctor says I will have my hair for about four weeks once I start ..... and after that it'll be gone :) I'm fine w/that. I'm ready. Let's go!

nervous and excited!

I just got the call from my oncologists office...... and I am on the chemo schedule for next Tuesday, the 13th at 9 a.m.!

Sabrina and I will go in to see him tomorrow afternoon, so he can check my port and confirm the rest of my treatment schedule / go over details with me ..... but we are set to start on Tuesday ..... and I am both nervous and excited!

took my port ....

to the beach today!

My friend Marca has been doing Wednesday mornings at the Clinton Lake Beach for a long while now. I've not been able to go, first because I was working and then because I'd just had surgery and then I had follow-up appointments on Wednesdays! So today was my first opportunity to go - yes - 24 hours after having had another surgery :) But hey, why not?! It was fun. And warm And sunny! It was great to visit with Marca, Valerie and Lisa, plus two new gals I'd not met before. I did not envy those younger moms who were constantly scanning the water to keep an eye on their children! There are definite advantages to being "older" and having no responsibilities (for the moment anyway!)

Here's a picture of me and my port at the beach - and yes - the bandage made for an odd tan line but I don't care :)

family and friends

I have the best - that's for sure!

My dad took me to have my port put in today. I thought maybe he'd had his fill of hospitals, after Aggie's heart surgery, then mine and most recently his sisters surgery & complications afterwards. But nope .... he said he'd be happy to help out and glad to take me! So we left here at 6:20 this morning for my 7:00 appointment. As I sat in bed awaiting the procedure (minor surgery - which I had to be put under for) I smiled as I thought how much quieter is was this time - than before my mastectomy. That really was a fun morning and the best send off for me to have had that day!

Todays was a fairly quick process. I think they took me back around 8:45 and I was in recovery, starting to wake up by 10. Had my graham crackers and juice while chatting with Daddy and waiting to be released. I have a bump and a bandage just below the collarbone on my left side now. I can feel a little pressure but it's not hurting.

Unfortunately they prescribed a generic for Vicodin and already called it in to the pharmacy before I could ask for something else. I deterred them from that one after my first surgery, as I thought it had made me ill before. But knowing I had Darvocet left at home ..... I picked this one up and thought I'd try it. Bad idea. I came home and had some soup, then took a two hour nap on the couch. By then it was time for a pain pill so I looked at each bottle and decided to try the generic/vicodin. Ugh! Even though I was munching animal crackers and sipping water, I could feel myself becoming more and more nauseous; eventually losing my cookies (literally - ha).

Before that, while just feeling queazy, I picked up my phone and considered the "phone a friend" option :D Telling myself "just do it Stephanie, people have asked to help out" and so I did. I called my girlfriend Sheila, who has pointed out she lives just down the street from me. I got her voicemail around 5:40 saying if convenient .... I could sure use a Sprite or something like that. By 6:00 she'd called me back and was asking which apartment number I was! She was right outside and greeted me with a liter of Coke, one of Sierra Mist and one of Sprite!

Now THAT is service! Thank you girlfriend! I guess asking for assistance when I need it isn't really all that bad. Just not something I'm used to.

And obviously for tonight's dose of pain meds, I will switch to the Darvocet! Feeling better now though. And grateful for my family and friends!

happy 4th of July!

In my never ending quest to stay busy and have fun (ha - just kidding ..... sort of :) I had a funtastic Saturday and thought I'd share.

In the morning, I had a daybed delivered. I bought it from a friend for my guest room, then her hubby and son were kind enough to deliver & haul it upstairs for me. It's an attempt to make my spare room less bedroom-like. The daybed will provide sleeping space for guests, but acting as a couch, it will be a nice place for naps and watching movies.

Britt is home for the weekend, so we went to Champaign for pedicures and then to the twins 1st birthday party. I've watched these girls (Addison and Mikaela) since they were 3 months old, so it's been amazing to see them grow and develop! Mikaela even showed us how she's starting to walk on her own .... very exciting!





It felt pretty good when someone (who's had a mastectomy herself) asked me if I'd had my surgery yet :D I was happy to say yes .... it'll just be three weeks ago on Monday!

In celebration of Independence Day, I found this quote and picture I liked:

As U.S. citizens we celebrate our freedom on Independence Day and pay tribute to those who fight to preserve that freedom; thanking our founding fathers for giving us our liberty. As Christians we also celebrate our freedom in Christ and the sacrifice he made to set us free from sin and death.

went windmilling

Another great day in the record books!

My friend Paul builds, restores and maintains old farm windmills. I've been on several outings with him and it's really fascinating work. When he asked earlier in the week if I'd like to go today . . . . of course I said yes. He had already taken the old beat-up wheel down from this one (on a previous visit) so he started todays work by removing the deteriorated platform and putting up this new one.






Here is another windmill on the property - I liked the moons shadow just to the left of it.



I didn't get to help much this time, although I did fetch a few tools and put some things away as he's done with them. But mostly I alternated between sitting in the sun ..... and under a nice shade tree. It was a little warmer than yesterday, probably low 80's but a gentle breeze and no humidity - very nice!



In these pics you can see the ropes attached to the new wheel. As Paul slowly cranks it up with a gin pole (it's more than 300 lbs!) two guys who work for the farm hold ropes out to the right to gently guide it and keep it from hitting the tower as it goes up.






All done . . . .



So I've had a fabulous week! Lunching with girlfriends and outings with guy friends - keeping just busy enough and feeling very thankful!

took a road trip

For those that don't see me on Facebook or SJ .... I thought I'd share some pics of my fantastic Thursday! I've been keeping busy with great friends and doing fun stuff! A guy friend of mine has a Harley and was off work this week. A few days ago, I asked about going for a ride and we began making plans. Couldn't have asked for more perfect weather! It was 70's and sunny, with no humidity. We left around 10 a.m. and rode an hour and a half north (through the country) to Mattheissen State Park. It's located just south of Utica - neither of us had ever been. We did a fair amount of hiking, some on trails, some on rock, some bridges and many steps - it was beautiful!







We went a little farther up the road to Starved Rock Lodge and had a great lunch there. This picture looking down on all the trees is from there. Then a few more pics from our ride home. We stopped for ice cream along the way and got back around 4. It was a fantastic way to spend the day!