Reflection of last year

I was thinking about what I was doing last year at this time. I was taking chemo and having a hard time keeping up with school with the boys. The boys were good about doing their school work but I was awful in taking the time to grade papers, especially essays, etc. This year I am more organzied and have been keeping up with their papers and school work. It is so nice not to be going off to the doctors and chemo clinic, etc every week. Seems like last year, I had somewhere to go at least once a week and sometimes more. Last year the boys couldn't drive but this year they can so it's nice that I am not going to town very much. I wish Christopher was driving last year but that didn't happen. It was hard to get that drivers ed done so that is something we aren't doing either this year. This year is just a smoother year. I am glad about that.

Another reflection that Larry had. My hair started to grow back at this time so what I have now is a year's worth of hair growth!!! Hard to believe. Since I've not had to use a blow dryer since May 2009, I can't find mine now. lol. I wanted to use it the other day but couldn't find it. I think I put it up somewhere but not sure. Need to do some more looking. Maybe I let my daughter have it but I don't think so.

I bought some medications over the counter to help with the joint stiffness but found out that it will interact with my blood thinner, Coumadin, so I can't take it. Bummer. Hopefully I will be off Coumadin by Novemeber so will save the medication until I can use it. Well, life is definitely much better for me this year!!!! I am looking forward to going to the mountains with my mom this weekend. What fun---just mom and daughter time. Love you all....

Coumadin check and flush

This past Thursday, I had a coumadin level done. It was 2.8 which is on the higher end of "normal" so all is great. I get to go another whole month before being tested again. This is great news. One thing I've done different to help my level is to quit drinking green tea. I didn't realize that can hurt your level. No problem, I've not had green tea since I learned about the effects of green tea on coumadin levels. I was only drinking it since I knew it was suppose to be good for you. lol..Oh, well, I'll start back on it when I quit taking the coumadin. After having my level checked, I went downstairs to the cancer center to have my port-a-cath flushed with heparin to keep it open in case I need it later. Was nice to walk in the chemo clinic knowing that I only had to stay for a few minutes. They weren't busy at all so the nurse had everything ready when I walked in. I think I was there for about 5-10 minutes. Luckily, the port was just fine. I will go again in a month to have the port flushed.

Everything is going pretty much the same. It 's kinda of weird but I seem to notice the numbness in my breast area more lately. Not sure why but I do. Seems that I am shaving my legs more too so guess my hair is growing better. lol. I bought a sticker for my car--one of the pink ribbon ones that says Breast Cancer Awareness. I saw one today at the store that says survivor. I would have liked that one better but it's okay. Hope everyone is doing fine. Thank you for continuing to check up on me. Love you all......by the way, I've not tried bowling lately...not sure I will for a long time. lol.

Bowling experience

Things are going fairly well. My hair is growing very slow but it's at a cute length so am happy with it. Not sure if I will grow it out long or not. Wish it would stay curly but I've heard that once it gets cut, that I will eventually lose the curls. My joint pain is less these days. Still have some trouble especially when I want to bend down to pick something up off the ground/floor. A couple of weeks ago, I took my kids bowling and decided I would bowl too. What a mistake.....I could hardly bowl. I like to bend down to roll the ball but I couldn't do it well at all. I was so sore the next couple of days. I guess bowling is out for me......just can't bend down low at all. It was the worse score I've done in years. I'm sure the kids wanted to laugh out loud but they were kind enough not to laugh or make remarks. I'm sure I looked funny trying to figure out how to bowl without bending much. lol. Hope you are all doing great. My brother in law who had the prostate cancer got a good report the other day....his PSA was less than 1 which is wonderful. He is cancer free!!!!! I will be getting a coumadin level check next week plus my port flushed with heparin. The only other complaint I have had is that there are times when my breast where I had the cancer feels heavy and painful in the morning when I wake up. During the day, I have no problems. Thanks for keeping up with me and I'm sorry I've not written in quite a while. Just not much to report on. Love you....