Went to see Dr. Rohatgi this morning and although my numbers are high he wants to keep me on the Xeloda for a while longer to see how I do. He says that sometimes the tumor marker shows high before going back down. I told him about my pain levels and also about the issue I had with my arm last night, and he decided to put me on Morphine for the pain. I haven't taken it yet, I'm a bit scared, but he assured me that it's fast-acting and that I can administer it every 2 hours (if need be). He also ordered an x-ray on my arm and a Bone Scan for this Friday. He wants to know why my pain has increased so much and whether or not we've got to do more radiation. Remember, every time we do radiation we have to stop chemo, so although it's a quick fix for pain, is it worth it in the long run?
I'm about to try my Morphine for the first time...gulp.
Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Pain Sucks!...
I've been in a lot of pain lately and when I got my tumor marker test results it explained everything. Unfortunately, it's higher than ever before at a whopping 301.2. If you recall, last month was 191.9 and I was freaking out. I go to see Dr. Rohatgi tomorrow and who knows what the game plan will be. Maybe this oral chemo isn't working either, I don't know! All I can think is that when I was having chemo infusions, my numbers were looking pretty good, now they're off the charts :(
Tonight I had a HUGE scare. I took 2 percocet and decided to take a nice warm bath. When I was ready to get out, I got to my knees and then baring all of my weight on both of my arms, I knelt up to get out of the tub, only problem was that my right arm almost gave way as the most excruciating pain I've ever felt tore through my arm. I thought for a moment that I'd broken it this time, I wailed out in pain. Jordan came running to help me as I stood there crying, helpless. Jordan insisted that I call John although I knew he couldn't do anything from work. He was, however, able to calm me down and suggest that I put my arm in a sling so that I could rest it. Johnny was also working tonight, otherwise we might have ended up in the ER. I'm glad we didn't though because now it's much better and at least I know for sure it's not broken. Since I go to the doctors in the morning, I should be fine for the night. I guess I won't be taking any baths in the near future w/out John being home to help me. We've talked about installing a bar to make things easier for me, that would be great.
Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tonight I had a HUGE scare. I took 2 percocet and decided to take a nice warm bath. When I was ready to get out, I got to my knees and then baring all of my weight on both of my arms, I knelt up to get out of the tub, only problem was that my right arm almost gave way as the most excruciating pain I've ever felt tore through my arm. I thought for a moment that I'd broken it this time, I wailed out in pain. Jordan came running to help me as I stood there crying, helpless. Jordan insisted that I call John although I knew he couldn't do anything from work. He was, however, able to calm me down and suggest that I put my arm in a sling so that I could rest it. Johnny was also working tonight, otherwise we might have ended up in the ER. I'm glad we didn't though because now it's much better and at least I know for sure it's not broken. Since I go to the doctors in the morning, I should be fine for the night. I guess I won't be taking any baths in the near future w/out John being home to help me. We've talked about installing a bar to make things easier for me, that would be great.
Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, August 19, 2011
Sitting on The Pitty Pot...
I couldn't find anyone to come with me to the doctors this morning, so I came alone. Usually it's no big deal, but this morning has been kind of hard. I'm here for my monthly Zometa treatment and after checking in they reminded me that I should have had had my blood work done already, so I went across the hall to do it. While waiting, I saw a gentleman with a huge part of the back of his head missing and staples in it's place. I started crying as I looked around at the different faces of cancer and how it has no boundaries, it doesn't discriminate, it just attacks whomever it wants to. I didn't ask to be a part of this club and I wish I could get out of it, but apparently I'm one of those unlucky ones who is in it for life. I'm now sitting in the cafeteria looking silly as I'm crying my head off, I told you it was a bad day :( They gave me a voucher to sit and eat in the cafeteria until my lab work was done, but of course I can't eat.
I hope my lab work is done soon because now I have a headache from crying :( life sucks sometimes.
Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I hope my lab work is done soon because now I have a headache from crying :( life sucks sometimes.
Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Terranea...
We returned home yesterday afternoon and boy was it bittersweet.
We were so happy to see the kids again, but returning to the "real world" wasn't too much fun after being in paradise for a few days. The Terranea Oceanfront Resort was amazing to say the least. We were greeted with champagne as we entered the resort and right away we recognized some basketball stars that were checking out from their stay. Rumor had it that Rashard Lewis had gotten married there the night before and he had a lot of teammates there as guests to the wedding. I'm sorry, he's the only name that I was given, otherwise I would have listed them too. After checking in, we went up to our room which was magnificent. From the ocean side view, to the incredible bed with a million pillows, I could have easily moved in :) We continued our stay with a day at Universal Studios on Monday and instead of a day at the beach on Tuesday, we decided to stay at the resort (because you literally didn't need to leave, they had everything there). Our day at Universal Studios was really fun and jam packed full of excitement. We were given VIP passes and we had our own tour guides. These guides brought us to the front of every line, treated us to a buffet lunch, and never left us alone at all. We went from one ride/attraction to the next without even a break. The 360/3D King Kong was the most incredible attraction we saw all day, just mind blowing how they do that. We were on the tram ride at the time and we thought we were going to be eaten alive by King Kong. At one point, King Kong is fighting with a dinosaur and there's apparently blood splatter, but they were really spraying us with water. I literally brought my hands to my face (in the dark) to see that it wasn't actually blood! I'm so gullible :) The only bummer about the trip was the drive to and from, it was about 45 minutes, which kinda sucked. However, that's the way it goes when you travel to a resort :) Another fun thing that happened was that I got to meet Jenni from the hit show Flipping Out on Bravo. I watch that show all the time, it's currently on my DVR, so when I met her I was the one who was flipping out :) We went to a dinner buffet the first night and were mingling with the other guests when I thought I saw somebody that looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. My actual first thought was that she looked like Julia Louis-Dreyfus a little (from Seinfeld). Then it dawned on me who she actually was, Jenni Pulos. I was then told that she was one of the Old Spaghetti Factory owner's cousin! OMG, now I remember! We were at a dinner with her several years ago when she mentioned that she was going to be on a new show coming up, but I completely forgot all about it. Now, I watch her show all the time because I love it and I had no idea that it was their cousin :)
how funny. Anyway, I had my picture taken with Jenni and it was really fun to sit and chat about the show with her. She's very nice and down to earth, a real sweet person.
We were so happy to see the kids again, but returning to the "real world" wasn't too much fun after being in paradise for a few days. The Terranea Oceanfront Resort was amazing to say the least. We were greeted with champagne as we entered the resort and right away we recognized some basketball stars that were checking out from their stay. Rumor had it that Rashard Lewis had gotten married there the night before and he had a lot of teammates there as guests to the wedding. I'm sorry, he's the only name that I was given, otherwise I would have listed them too. After checking in, we went up to our room which was magnificent. From the ocean side view, to the incredible bed with a million pillows, I could have easily moved in :) We continued our stay with a day at Universal Studios on Monday and instead of a day at the beach on Tuesday, we decided to stay at the resort (because you literally didn't need to leave, they had everything there). Our day at Universal Studios was really fun and jam packed full of excitement. We were given VIP passes and we had our own tour guides. These guides brought us to the front of every line, treated us to a buffet lunch, and never left us alone at all. We went from one ride/attraction to the next without even a break. The 360/3D King Kong was the most incredible attraction we saw all day, just mind blowing how they do that. We were on the tram ride at the time and we thought we were going to be eaten alive by King Kong. At one point, King Kong is fighting with a dinosaur and there's apparently blood splatter, but they were really spraying us with water. I literally brought my hands to my face (in the dark) to see that it wasn't actually blood! I'm so gullible :) The only bummer about the trip was the drive to and from, it was about 45 minutes, which kinda sucked. However, that's the way it goes when you travel to a resort :) Another fun thing that happened was that I got to meet Jenni from the hit show Flipping Out on Bravo. I watch that show all the time, it's currently on my DVR, so when I met her I was the one who was flipping out :) We went to a dinner buffet the first night and were mingling with the other guests when I thought I saw somebody that looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. My actual first thought was that she looked like Julia Louis-Dreyfus a little (from Seinfeld). Then it dawned on me who she actually was, Jenni Pulos. I was then told that she was one of the Old Spaghetti Factory owner's cousin! OMG, now I remember! We were at a dinner with her several years ago when she mentioned that she was going to be on a new show coming up, but I completely forgot all about it. Now, I watch her show all the time because I love it and I had no idea that it was their cousin :)
how funny. Anyway, I had my picture taken with Jenni and it was really fun to sit and chat about the show with her. She's very nice and down to earth, a real sweet person.
Wow I almost forgot to mention my day at the spa! I was greeted by a soft spoken gentleman by the name of Micah and he brought me back to the room. I was first going to have a therapeutic massage, but I was afraid it might be too rough on my bones, so I chose a clay wrap. He started with a salt scrub, then washed it off. Next, he applied a warm clay all over, wrapped me in warm blankets and after a little while, washed that off. Finally he applied what felt like a thousand pounds of moisturizer to my skin (it was so incredibly soft). I took a cart back to my room, I felt like I couldn't even walk, it was so relaxing :) I would highly recommend a clay wrap to anyone who is ever given the opportunity, it was quite incredible :)
Finally, we're back to our regular lives and John just kissed me goodbye as he went off to work :( I'm sorry that he has to hurry off, but at least he just returned from two well deserved vacations and should be nice and rested.
Peace to you all ♥ Love, Genie
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Just the Two of Us...
Tomorrow John and I leave for a couple days to Southern California, thanks to the Old Spaghetti Factory. The GM Conference is usually held in a beautiful resort and we are so excited that they invite the spouse to accompany the General Manager on these trips. We are extremely grateful that they're still considering this trip because the past couple years they've had to cancel due to the economy. The resort is called the Terranea Oceanfront Resort and you can check it out at www.terranea.com. Besides the activities that we can enjoy at the resort, we are also scheduled for some fun outside as well. We're going to Universal Studios on Monday and the beach on Tuesday. Of course John does have a meeting to attend Tuesday morning, while I'm off having a massage at the spa. Life is rough :(
In the past, we've had to have the kids stay with relatives or friends during our trip, but this time we felt that they were old enough to be responsible on their own. We've never had to worry about them fighting or not getting along, so that won't be a problem. Since Johnny has his license and is old enough, he'll take care of driving Jordan to and from school. I wrote a schedule of meals for them this morning and they both laughed at me and said, "oh mom, you're just being you", as if to mean, thanks, but we'll end up doing our own thing anyway.
Although it's just a couple days, I'll still miss my babies. And for those who may think they're a bit old, they'll ALWAYS be my babies.
Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
In the past, we've had to have the kids stay with relatives or friends during our trip, but this time we felt that they were old enough to be responsible on their own. We've never had to worry about them fighting or not getting along, so that won't be a problem. Since Johnny has his license and is old enough, he'll take care of driving Jordan to and from school. I wrote a schedule of meals for them this morning and they both laughed at me and said, "oh mom, you're just being you", as if to mean, thanks, but we'll end up doing our own thing anyway.
Although it's just a couple days, I'll still miss my babies. And for those who may think they're a bit old, they'll ALWAYS be my babies.
Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Michigan...
When John and I arrived, the rest of the family was already here. The cabin is as beautiful as I remember it being three years ago. We got here at midnight and the area was pitch black but alive with excitement, the party had just begun. We couldn't stop hugging the kids. Although it had only been a week since we'd seen them, it felt like a month. After finally settling down into our designated sleep areas, Jordan and I continued to whisper and giggle for at least another hour. Gosh I missed her so much!
The next day everyone started to catch us up on everything that had been happening at the lake during the week in which we missed. From fishing, paddle-boating, canoeing, swimming, sun-bathing, to checking out the island in the middle of the lake, it was adventurous. Later on that day extended family started to arrive for a "celebration of life" for my mother-in-law, Pauline. We had a nice get together and as we each felt comfortable enough, we took and spread some of her ashes. The next morning we planted a little spruce pine tree in her honor and gathered some rocks to form a rock wall around it. We then painted our special rocks to forever capture the spirit of Nana around her tree.
Unfortunately, my experience has been quite different than everyone else's here due to the fact that I've slept most of the time. When my bones start aching, the only real way for me to get some relief is to take a nap, which results in me missing out on a lot. However, I still managed to have a terrific time. Just being with family seems to make everything all better.
As the saying goes, time flies when you're having fun...it truly does. I'm now home and wishing I were still at the lake, taking in the beauty at least one more time. The dust has settled and we're adapting to the time change, still feeling kinda lazy from the trip. We celebrated Johnny's 18th birthday last night with a nice steak dinner at Cattlemen's. My baby has turned into a young adult, wow, now I feel old.
Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The next day everyone started to catch us up on everything that had been happening at the lake during the week in which we missed. From fishing, paddle-boating, canoeing, swimming, sun-bathing, to checking out the island in the middle of the lake, it was adventurous. Later on that day extended family started to arrive for a "celebration of life" for my mother-in-law, Pauline. We had a nice get together and as we each felt comfortable enough, we took and spread some of her ashes. The next morning we planted a little spruce pine tree in her honor and gathered some rocks to form a rock wall around it. We then painted our special rocks to forever capture the spirit of Nana around her tree.
Unfortunately, my experience has been quite different than everyone else's here due to the fact that I've slept most of the time. When my bones start aching, the only real way for me to get some relief is to take a nap, which results in me missing out on a lot. However, I still managed to have a terrific time. Just being with family seems to make everything all better.
As the saying goes, time flies when you're having fun...it truly does. I'm now home and wishing I were still at the lake, taking in the beauty at least one more time. The dust has settled and we're adapting to the time change, still feeling kinda lazy from the trip. We celebrated Johnny's 18th birthday last night with a nice steak dinner at Cattlemen's. My baby has turned into a young adult, wow, now I feel old.
Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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