Chemo starts next Thursday

I am out of my funk. Rigdon went birding for three days, my friend Jo Ann stayed with me and took care of Bubba's walks and she was great company. We went on a road trip on Tuesday to deal with a driving ticket she had received in Sonoma County (not resolved) and went to Cottage Gardens as a treat at the end of the abortive Court of Sonoma visit.

I asked Mike Durrie to drive me to my appointment at Stanford on Wednesday early a.m. because Rigdon was on his sabbatical bird trip. Mike and I had a great drive down Highway 1 early in the morning (in his black Corvette) and experienced rain, fog, mist and arrived at the exact time for my appointment. On our way home through East Palo Alto,  I was astounded when he said he had never been to IKEA and wanted to visit the store. We went to the East Palo Alto Store, spent very little $$ but it was so much fun for me to introduce him to the Swedish manner of design, merchandising and pricing. I insisted we follow the arrows through the store so he had to see everything IKEA has to offer. We each bought wine glasses and he also bought candles for his guest house. BTW-Mike is cleaning and doing the changeovers at their cottage. It is booked a lot, sometimes double or triple booked if Mike doesn't really concentrate on his bookings.

Rigdon arrived home last night with a swollen knee from hiking almost 20 miles on his three day vacation from Trish's Cancer Center. He went to Yuba Pass with ten of his best friends.

We had a great day today visiting many health providers: oncologist, lab for blood draw, dermatologist (appointments for both of us), orthopedic assistant about Rig's knee, optician, and then cleaner, Trader Joe's, pharmacy, Radio Shack, etc. We arrived home to the delivery of a great meal from Betty Anne Carlin. I am feeling quite guilty about having meals delivered, but Rigdon loves it because he is the one who has to cook for us while I am feeling so tired a lot of the time.

The big news is I (and Rigdon) will be going to Chemo teach next Wednesday and then I will start chemo on Thursday. I will be going for four treatments over the period of nine weeks. I get to look forward to hair loss but not much nausea and the treatment may take longer if my blood counts don't stay high enough for the regimen. I have ITP (low platelets, lots of bruising) and that will be one of the counts to watch. My ITP is the result of my Sjogren's Syndrome, an auto-immune condition.

I am ready to get started on the next phase of my journey (Rig calls it our adventure) just to get over it. Dr. Lucas, the oncologist, says it will be a year out of my life. I can't lift more than five pounds with my right arm, I think raspberry picking is the perfect job for me. And we have a lot of raspberries! Dr. Lucas said lymphodema was always a possibility no matter what I do to avoid it. Blood poisoning is also a possibility and I should watch for fever and a red line on the underside of my right arm. ARRGGHH

If I see it I should go to the Emergency Room right away. How did I get myself into this situation? Genes, bad living, destructive behavior ???Who knows.

I feel strong and am ready to finish this battle. My underarm (right axillary lymphectomy area) is still sore and swollen. I use ice on it and Dr. Lucas (oncologist) says I can start on exercises to increase the range of movement on both arms. However, I am still limited to lift no more than five pounds with the right arm where over 20 lymph nodes were removed. Seems like over-kill to me (removing so many), but I feel a lot of procedures are trying to cover the possibility of law suits by not doing everything that can be done medically.

We have been the recipients of a dinner delivery every other day. I feel guilty getting meals, however Rigdon doesn't feel guilty at all. He is pleased he doesn't have to cook for us. Meal commitments end July 1, I feel I should drop out then. And that is not because the meals haven't been delicious. I just feel we can muddle through and leave people to enjoy their summer and perhaps take care of Eve Ann who is getting a new knee.

Love to you all, I have been trying to send out thank you notes, and I am sure I have overlooked many people. The community has been wonderful and I am ready to schedule short visits (maybe TEA). Rigdon bought oodles of cookies today to serve so I look forward to getting together with those of you who would like to visit. I do nap for two hours in the afternoon every day, part of the healing from the surgeries they say, so an early p.m. or later p.m. visit works for me. OR in the a.m., I guess we can have tea in the morning.

Rigdon has gone to sleep and I just want to say how much I appreciate the concern, caring, and love that has come from my community during my trials. I am happy to answer questions about breast cancer (1 in 6 in Marin), show what a double mastectomy and almost complete lymphoidectomy looks like and discuss the way breast cancer will change your life. I wish I had seen breast cancer and treatment as I can present it, awhile ago. I may have been more aggressive about the lump I found and would have dealt with it sooner, more likely immediately. Please do self exams or go to TINA CARES, a local cancer screening service.