June 30th, 2008

Last night when my husband came home from work he gave me my Neupogen shots to raise my white blood count. The last time I had him give it to me in the arm but it was causing bruising so we tried my hip last night. An hour before he came home from work I took my nausea medication. Two weeks ago I had a lot of stomach problems from it. This morning I was up at 5:00 a.m. feeling pretty good.

I just got done with my hour walk on the treadmill and I'm feeling great this morning. I'm going to try some dried cereal today and take my greens plus and see how my stomach does today.

I do have a little hair loss this morning. It is o.k. God is going to carrying me through all of this. He is my ROCK!

June 28, 29th

I had a pretty good day yesterday. I'm trying to rest as much as possible but it is very hard being on steroids. I really don't know how people do it long term.

I did work this morning and I think I did o.k. I'm still not able to eat anything yet. My stomach feels very full. If I try to eat anything I get really bad cramps.

I did feel up to going to church today. I just really need to be able to sit and worship and be under the Word right now. The Lord has been very good to me in that area. I have really only missed the two weeks after my surgeries.

I get the shot again tonight to raise my WBC. I pray it will do o.k. on the stomach. We shall see.

Second Chemo

Lord, it belongs not to my care whether I die or live; To love and serve Thee is my share, and this Thy grace must give.

If life be long, I will be glad, that I may long obey; If short-then why should I be sad to soar to endless day?


I'm feeling o.k. after my second Chemo. I had just about an hour of a really bad stomach last night. Vomited a few times and I was then good to go. I'm on steroid so it is keeping me pretty hyper. Our lawn takes about 1 1/2 hours to mow so with all of my extra energy I mowed it last night. Hubby told me to leave it for him and the boy's but I needed to release some energy. Bo and I went to the church and cleaned the Chapel building last night too. There is a baby shower there today.

They almost didn't let me have the Chemo yesterday. I lost 11 pounds since my last chemo two weeks ago. They said that was to much weight to lose. I needed to keep it between five percent. I'm eating so I don't know really what else to do. I really can't eat much that first week with vomiting. The second week I eat as much as I can.

Another reason they almost didn't let me take Chemo is my WBC and PMN numbers are very low. WBC was 3.2 it is suppose to be between 4.0 and 10 and my pmn number was 1.4 it is suppose to be between 1.7 and 7.6. I've been drinking all the herbal things I can get my hands on. I've been eating the dark leafty salads plus lots of veggies. They said, I had to be very careful to not be around anyone that is sick.

My husband has to give me Neupogen shots; this is suppose to raise my WBC. He has to give it to me, starting the third day after Chemo for six days. I'm just wondering if I can get one everyday up until my next Chemo? I'm going to call my Oncologist on Monday and ask.

I'm going to try and write in this little journal everyday so I can remember how I felt and any updates I get on my health.

It's never to Late!

God is truly answering your prayers. I woke up this morning at 4:30 a.m. and I felt human again. I wasn't sure there for a few days how all of this was going to work out. I didn't really know how I could keep working and doing the little bit I do now. Today, Praise God, I feel good. I was even hungry this morning.

My life has changed so much in the last few months. I no longer take for grated, that I will just be able to "DO" anything. The things that I once thought were so important, well, are really nothing now. Everything I do seems different. Serving God, caring for my family, working. I HAVE to, no longer comes to my mind when I do things. Now, I get to, or do I feel up to it, is more like it. God is allowing me to grow in areas I didn't even realize I needed to. "Open my eyes, that I may see."

Example:

I trained a fellow on one of my routes before my surgeries so he could sub for me. I know his wife but really not him. Since that time he has called me many times and asked if he could learn my other route. I trained him Tuesday! The whole way through the route, I was telling him of little things I do for some of my customers so their paper wouldn't get wet or blown away or some people who are elderly, I drive up their drive and toss the paper on the porch. I have a group of boxes that are metal. The papers get really wet when it rains so I told him I always bag these customers when it rains because their paper gets wet if I don't. He looked at me and said, "Well, is that our fault their paper gets wet." I didn't really blame him for feeling this way. I have felt this way at times myself. I had to tell him that I see things different now that I have been ill. I want my customers to know I care if they get a dry paper or I could just go about my business and do what is easy for me. I praise God that He is changing me. He is opening my eyes to what is and what isn't important.

Oh, that is enough of me rambling on today. I am grateful that I have another day on earth to serve God and show others that it is never to late to change. I want to shine for Jesus each and every day.

Shining For Jesus

Shining for Jesus everywhere I go,
Shining for Jesus in this world of woe;
Shining for Jesus, more like Him I grow;
Shining all the time for Jesus.

Shining all the time, shining all the time;
Shining for Jesus, beams of love divine;
Glorifying Him every day and hour;
Shining all the time for Jesus.

Shining for Jesus when the way is bright;
Shining for Jesus in the darkest night;
Shining for Jesus, making burdens light;
Shining all the time for Jesus

Shining all the time, shining all the time;
Shining for Jesus, beams of love divine;
Glorifying Him every day and hour;
Shining all the time for Jesus.

I am one step closer to my last chemo Treatment

Little update:

I'm doing really well today. The port being put in was like a really bad dentist appointment. {I've blogged about how much I love going to the dentist} I had that put in at 7:00 a.m. and my first Chemo at 9:00 a.m. They first put in all the Anti nausea and vomiting medication. I then had to chew on ice to help my mouth from the sores that would form. It is funny they actually have to make up the Chemo after they check your blog (My blood not my blog, ROFL, thanks gregc for pointing my typo out) and get you check in. I'm sure the Chemo is costly. The AC {Really hard Chemo} took 20 minutes going in. The nurse has to put that through the IV because it could burn the skin. The last Chemo took about 1 1/2 hours to go through my IV. We were at the hospital until 2:00 p.m. It took a bit of time for my first section.

It all really did seem to go smoothly. Besides sores in my mouth and of course my chest is sore where they put the port. I was a little nauseated and I did wake up with a really bad headache and stomach ache this morning. I took my meds like a good girl and after I laid back down for a few hours, I was good to go. I'm doing pretty good now. The meds make me more hyper than I already am. I couldn't get to sleep until midnight the night of my chemo. I thought if I worked the night before I would be calmer and could fall asleep when I got home. I only got two hours of sleep that night so I should have been tired.

Keep praying for me, I know your prayers are working. BTW-Thank you for being such faithful prayer partners and some mighty good blogging friends.


Lori

My schedule for the next Year

This blog is not for the purpose of bringing everyone down when they come to visit me. I just wanted to let my family, friends and blogging friends know dates to pray for me. If you know anyone that has taken these Chemo drugs, I would love to know how they did on them. Please leave me a comment or email me at lorihouseholder@gmail.com.

I need prayer for my vanity! I'm a tough woman and I'm not really afraid of getting sick or being tired. The unknown is a bit scary. Losing all my hair is freaking me out. I laugh and joke about it but I really don't want to lose my hair. Please pray also that I will be able to keep working and singing on our Worship team. I'm just afraid I won't want to leave the house if I don't have somewhere to be.

I called Thursday to get my port rescheduled and my echo cardiogram. It will be sometime in the next two weeks, before Chemo anyway.

I had to rescheduled everything to do with my chemo because my husband got sick and had to have surgery. He had to have a gallstone surgically removed and he had to have his gallbladder out. Like I said, it has been crazy around my house. I still have to write about our (not just mine anymore) wonderful surgeon. I promise it is an unbelievable story. You will be able to see how God's hand was directing us to find a Godly Surgeon, through blogging mind you. I'll tell you all the story soon but I want you to meet this dear woman right now. She is one of our dear blogging friends. You can visit SJ here

I have a Chemo teaching class June 5th

I Met with Dr. Chottiner get blood work June 10th

Update as of the mail today, June 2nd.

I will have my echo cardiogram at 2:30 p.m. on June 10th.

I get my port put in at 7:00 a.m. on Friday June 13th and my first Chemo will the same morning at 9:00 a.m.

Chemo June 13th-Friday the 13 how appropriate LOL
Chemo June 27
Chemo July 11
Chemo July 25th

This is the Chemo I will be taking: Adriamycin & Cytoxan I will be having this together IV once every 2 weeks for four times.

I then will have Neupogen shots to raise my white blood count back up.

After that Taxol Weekly for 12 weeks

Radiation will start after Chemo is finished for 38 visits Monday thru Friday

I then will be on Tamoxifen for the rest of my life.