Dan stopped by the hospital with the boys this morning.  Their next stop was breakfast with Santa at church. Whereas 95% of the children will be wearing their Christmas best, my boys are in disheveled athletic pants, tee shirts and sneakers. (When they visited me, both had underwear scrunched up over the top of their pants and one had his tee partially tucked into his underwear. Which wasn’t actually underwear but pajama shorts that his dad thought was underwear.)[...]

A nurse asked me around 2am how my appetite was. I laughed. The only thing that reduces my appetite is a stomach virus, food poisoning or first trimester (although the pregnancy effect was minimal). [...]

Lucky me!  I get to spend a night at an all inclusive facility that comes with some sweet narcotics!

Unfortunately my fever kept going up. When it reached 102.2, we asked a neighbor to come sleep on our couch and stay with the boys. And we headed to the ER. Tests are still pending but it looks like some kind of infection and I get to stay the night. [...]

Yesterday was a good day. Today not so much. For a day with no appointments and no obligations, I was exhausted. I took a long morning nap even after two coffees. Now I know why. By 5pm, I had a low fever 🤒.  It’s below the benchmark for panic or for calling the doc, but I’m in bed grumpy and miserable.[...]

I had my PET scan yesterday.  My doc called first thing this morning to let me know that it was clear.  It did not find cancer anywhere else in my body.  Therefore, the plan remains the same - it was designed based on the assumption that the cancer had not spread further.  [...]

I like to think of myself as relatively healthy and strong. Multiple doctors have recently puffed up that self-image by describing me as young (in the world of cancer, 42 is still young!!) and healthy (other than that pesky cancer thing). In preparation for my surgery, I just kind of assumed I would be on the speedier end of the normal range of recovery. Apparently I was overly confident. Tomorrow will be three weeks from surgery. I still have all three drains (can’t start easing back to running and biking until those are out). I am still needing my regular Percocet (which means no driving). And I still seem to need long naps (not the worst part, especially today’s 2.5 hour nap 😴). The doc is not concerned, but I am not pleased.[...]

There is one part of Christmas prep that I should not have a problem with this year - the shopping for gifts (thanks to Amazon Prime)!  

But seeing as I’m married to Hurricane Scrooge, I generally do 99% of the decorating, including the unpacking, repacking and storing of the Christmas decorations boxes. I convinced the husband to take them out this morning (under my close supervision). But even with them out there is only so much I can do. Therefore I’ve decided to take a Christmas tree “shortcut” this year. I say “shortcut” because I’m not sure it will save a lot of time and effort, but it seems minimalist.  And minimalist will be good when it’s time to take down decorations when my hair is falling out and I’m reeling from my second chemo treatment on December 28![...]

Not only do I have a freezer full of Omaha Steaks’ Crock Pot meals and a fridge full of Thanksgiving leftovers, in just one day I received four books and two Amazon gift cards from friends, family and a VP in my office. Looks like I have some good reading material for my hours ahead at chemo!  Thank you ❤️[...]

I think this should be pretty evident but the obvious should stated every so often. I am grateful for my husband, my two crazy boys, my side of our family near and far, my husband’s side of our family, my friends also near and far, my doctors and nurses, my job and modern science. I love you and I am glad you are in my life. Except maybe my doctors, I would rather not need you, but as long as I do need you, I am thankful for you. [...]

I was being silly and testing out my bald with scarf look. And then I noticed my mom cracking jokes in the background. Pretty sure she is about to roll her eyes here and say something sarcastic. ❤️[...]