Time Off for Good Behavior

That's what Dr. Rafesky told me when I went in for my first post chemo visit this past Monday.  I don't have to go back and see. him for 6 weeks.  For the next 6 weeks, I don't plan to go to any farther then Mt. Juliet if I can help it. 

The visit went well.  He just checked me over and talked about some of the things that I will be doing.  I will get another CT scan on February 2 just as a precaution and he was not too concerned about finding anything.  He talked about some hormonal therapy that he will want me to do in the future.  That will involve some oral medication.  Also, because of the trial that I signed up for, I will be taking a drug called lapitnib which is an oral drug.  I won't start that till I see him next time. 

The chemo was very hard on my skin.  My face, arms and chest have broken out something awful.  That was the first thing he noticed when he came into the room.  He gave me a prescription for an antibiotic.  I hope that with the antibiotic and me switching to soap and laundry detergent for sensitive skin, it will clear up soon.

Monday was so wonderful not having to go and get chemo.  I felt so good.  The kids are happy that I am not getting chemo also.  Even though they have been so good during these past months, I knew it had bothered them to see mommy tired or not feeling good.  Things will start getting back to a better routine around here and I will feel like doing more.  I will be going back to teaching at Mother's Day Out next week and I know John Derrick will be glad about that.  I have to lose the weight that I gained during chemo and I will be glad about that.  Now if I can just start sleeping better at night, things will be good.

The End

I am finished!! Enough said!  (Besides the fact that Kevin took me to my final treatment and we went out to eat a Red Lobster for lunch as a mini celebration)

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods (Psalms 95:1-3)


...I will trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you forever for what you have done; In your name I will hope, for your name is good. (Psalm 52:8-9)


Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)


Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (Ephesians 6:10)

A Merry Christmas, a New Year and Closer to the End

I have been very behind in blogging about my treatments.  I finished treatment # 11 yesterday so I have only ONE MORE TREATMENT TO GO!! (Can you tell that I am a little excited?)  I am still feeling good.  The side effects that I experience are very minor and don't affect my everyday activities.

We had a very merry Christmas this year.  I am very thankful that my treatments didn't interfer with the time I spend with my family.  Christmas Eve was spent at my parents house with my brothers and their families.  I was thankful that my younger brother Lane and his wife Kristen and daughter Josie were able to drive up from Houston to be with us.  I was sad that my sister-in-law, Penny, had thryoid surgery just a few days before Christmas Eve.  She didn't get out of the hospital till Christmas Eve so she had to stay at home and rest (which she needed to do anyway).  My older brother, Marty, did come and bring his kids, Emilynne, Nathaniel and Susannah.  Christmas morning was spent at home and we ate Christmas dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's home with the extended family where we had a fun Dirty Santa exchange.  Kevin and I along with Lane and Kristen went to the Titans game Christmas night where we were very cold and the Titans lost.

We spent New Year's Eve at home and I made a pot of homemade chili and attempted homemade cinnamon rolls which turned out delicious.  On New Years Day we drove to Memphis to spend the weekend with some of our dear friends, Jeremy and Laura Tolleson and their son Bradley.  Kevin and Jeremy went to the Liberty Bowl to see the Arkansas Razorback play.  They turned into ice cubes and Arkansas won in overtime.  Laura and I took the kids to a nice warm movie theater were we saw The Chipmunks, the Squeakquel.

A special thank you to Tammy Robertson who took me to my treatment, Monday December 21.  She is a very special friend who has wanted to do something but she works at Mother's Day Out on Mondays and Thursday.  Since school was out, I asked if she could take me and she did.  We enjoyed our time even together.  Thank you to Nicole Brashear who took me to my treatment yesterday and thank you to Jenny Leech who brought over supper yesterday.

I know I left a day out.  On Monday December 28, my dad took his turn to take me to the doctor.  He got to do a little extra because I had to see my breast surgeon Dr. Lawson that morning.  My appointment with her was at 9:45 downtown Nashville at Baptist and my treatment was at 1:00 in Hermitage at Summit.  We planned on doing lunch together in between.  Well I got done with Dr. Lawson fairly quickly and we had a some time to kill before lunch and my treatment so he drove me around Nashville.  He showed me the homes that lived in as a boy.  He drove me by the schools that he went to and told me the places that he remembered going to.  We also drove by one of the houses that lived in before we moved to Lebanon and drove by the house my mom lived in as a girl.  I wished that I had my camera with me because I want pictures of those houses.  I also wish I could see the insides of those houses.  I was very fascinated by this history lesson.  We went to lunch at Paneras in Hermitage and then off to the doctor.  They were busy because of the holidays so my dad was not able to come back and stay with me to keep me company but he waited in the waiting room and got some studying done.  I really enjoyed and appreciated the time I spent with him that day.

Thank you for keeping me in your prayers.  Remember to also pray for others who are battling cancer even if you don't know who they are because there are a lot of people who need those prayers.