Getting Caught Up

Ready to get caught up to speed? Here we go.

Tuesday, July 17 - Celebrated Camden's birthday by taking him to the free summer movie at Opry Mills theater Spy Kids All the Time in the World (absolutely the dumbest movie ever, but he's a big spy fan and ADORED it), lunch at Chuy's, then we let him shop at The Lego Store. Pretty much a 9 year old's dream. ;) Michael, Liz, Addison, my parents, Brian's parents and our family had supper, presents, and ice cream cake for his birthday. How did my sweet boy make it to 9 years old already? Next year he'll be in double digits! I also started pain meds for that stupid gall bladder pain. No fun.

Wednesday, July 18 - Liz had surgery; Mom and Addison spent the day with us. I continued to feel worse.

Thursday, July 19 - My scalp started tingling. Not a good sign. Ironically enough, I had a hair appointment that I decided to keep. Just in case it doesn't let loose. Chemo was canceled because I was too sick with the unexplained pain, and I saw Dr. T who promptly admitted me to the hospital, hooked me up to a morphine pump, and ordered every imaginable test.

I had a ton of bloodwork, dozens of x-rays and a more extensive CT scan than normal. As usual, my veins did not want to cooperate and at one point I literally had a CT tech on either side of me poking my arms trying to find veins. Needless to say, my arms currently look like I'm a drug addict based on all the bruises and needle marks. CT scans are always serious business because they're looking for cancer (not to mention that horrific contrast solution I have to drink), and during a scan is the closest I ever come to having a breakdown. Thursday night as I laid underneath that rotating tube with tears rolling down my cheeks, I kept praying over and over in my head, "God, why can't You just make this stop?" I had pretty much convinced myself that they were going to find a whole bunch of cancer. I'm assuming they didn't since no one informed me, but I was too chicken to ask.

I had not one, but two male nurses Thursday night. Brian slept through all the excitement of extra drugs and some vomiting sessions. Good times. I rarely enjoy thunderstorms but I have to admit that it was kind of fun to watch the lightning from the 8th floor hospital windows.

Friday, July 20 - I am feeling significantly better except for the vomiting. I had a new kind of MRI - the poor tech had to stop his instructions so that I could vomit. He was kind enough to send the basket of vomit back with me to my room. So not kidding. He also explained that this is one of the worst MRI's they do, and I really struggled not to feel claustrophobic!

All my tests came back just fine so Dr. T sent me home about 3:00. He thinks I probably had gallstones stuck in my bile duct, but because surgeries are an absolute no-no with this new chemo, here's hoping they'll stay gone.

We arrived home to no TV, cable, or Internet. After 24 hours in the hospital, this felt like adding insult to injury. Yes, it's clear I enjoy my TV/DVR and Internet a little too much.

Saturday, July 21 - The kids woke up about 6:30, made their beds, and were sitting on the edge of their beds waiting for us to tell them they could get up. Want to know why they were excited? Because they were heading to Illinois with my parents.

With no kids, no TV, no Internet, a house in the middle of nowhere, and nothing to talk about but our troubles, we spent Saturday and Sunday in kind of a wierd place emotionally. As Camden said to us on the phone, "it sounds like you are not having much fun at all, but we're having a BLAST!"

Sunday, July 22 - Church twice and I read The 500 all in one day. So quiet around here!

Monday, July 23 - Brian couldn't take it any more and got up super early to get some work done at Starbucks before his chiro appointment. I spent the morning babysitting Addison. Our friends Jon and Carrie rescued us from another boring evening, and we had a lovely dinner with them at Coco's. And surprise, surprise, TV and Internet are back! Clearly, we have no life because I can't even explain the joy I feel at having these two luxuries back. LOL

So there you have it. My hair is still on my head, and I've made it past that crucial Day 14. My scalp is doing some tingling, but not nearly as bad as when it fell out before; the texture is a bit like straw, but I still have to shave my legs so it's possible that I might fall on the positive side of the statistics this time. We'll see.

How about just a couple of pictures.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all the extra time I've spent with this girl the last week (and lots more pictures to come).

Rory reading to Addison.

Eating breakfast on the deck. These two are currently going through another good phase, which makes me incredibly happy.

Welcome to the world's worst family picture. I accidentally changed the settings when I used the timer for this, and not only are we out of focus, but I can't seem to get the white balance set to save my life. Most important is that I took the picture, right? Also. Totally high on pain killers here. Cute headband, though, right?