Skip to main content

The Third Quarter

How fitting that the Doctor used a football analogy today during our appointment.  He basically said that during the first half of a game, the players are fresh and enthusiastic. Every bit of forward progress feeds that enthusiasm and motivates them to keep going. But by second half, the hits hurt, the players are tired, and fatigue sets in.

Well folks, I am in the third quarter. The chemo has successfully shrunk my lymph nodes (the doctor could not feel any of them today).  But the chemo is building up in my body and the side effects of chemo will be staying with me longer. I am fatigued. I am nauseated. Food no longer taste like food. (I tried to eat a Twizzler today and had to have Jacob come taste it because it had no taste to me. He declared it just fine.)
The scoreboard is in my favor but the next two quarters are going to be the hardest to get through.

Other good news from today's appointment, my blood counts are really high. Of course my white count is high, but my hemoglobin was high as well. So, I asked if we could do less Neupogen. The Doctor was not willing to decrease it by much but he did change it from 10 days straight to 8 days. Is it sad that I was excited about the two days??

To change gears just a bit... We all traveled north yesterday to attend the Herring Family Bon Fire/Weiner Roast at Aunt Fern's farm.  It was nice to see 60 some members of the extended family come out for some family bonding time. Unfortunately for me, because of the side effects listed below, I did not get to fully enjoy the wonderful food that was brought.  However, side effects aside, I still made the stroll to the rock and carved Olivia's name next to Jacob's and Mine.

Just a fun story to share for all those Herrings who read the blog and could not make it. The pinatas are a yearly tradition at the Bon Fire. One is for the kids and one is for the adults. Olivia was the first person to take a whack at the kid pinata, of course Grandma helped her. I think on her third attempt the entire pinata fell to the ground prematurely spilling candy everywhere (it actually came apart at the hook). Aunt Deloris was sitting next to me asking Braydon to pick her up a few pieces of candy cause she had no desire to run down and pilfer for herself.

The adults want the adult pinata, but no one wants the embarrassment of whacking at it. So the older younger kids get the pleasure. And since the first one was a bit of a dud, the adults made this one hard!  After many whacks on the pinata, chocolate candies came pouring down. And who should be one of the first adults running out of her seat to get candy.....my dear Aunt Deloris! What fun! Oh and if I am honest with you, I totally benefited too because Aunt Deloris and Cheryl both made sure I had a few pieces of chocolate!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My Weekend Project: A PVC Camping Lamp Post and Flag Holder

I have seen a few of these around campsites and I knew I would like to have one. The only problem that I had is The Husband. He already thinks we drag too much stuff with us when we go camping and if I had told him my desire to have a PVC Camping Light Pole he would have shut it down quickly! So, that leaves a girl with only one choice: Figure out how to do it by herself. I did some internet searching and found a few road maps on RV forums. They seemed easy enough! I visited the local hardware store for the supplies: An exterior post lantern light 2 inch PVC pipe (I used 5 feet but had to purchase a 10 foot piece) A 3 inch toilet flange A 3 inch to 2 inch Reducer PVC Glue A 12 foot electric cord kit 2 - 3/4 inch PVC Caps I also used a few supplies we already had on hand: White Spray Paint 3 1/2 foot - 3/4 inch PVC Pipe Drill Bits (1 inch and 1/2 inch) Tent Stakes The first step was preparing the lantern light. I could only find black i

Tonsillectomy (Warning Photos!)

The Short Chic came down with a pretty nasty case of strep throat back in April. So, when The Boy started complaining about his throat hurting about 12 days later, I was pretty confident that he had inherited his sister's strep. Instead, The Boy was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess growing on his right tonsil.  We had to immediately see an ENT  Physician who took a needle and drained the abscess. He removed about 5.5 cc of puss from The Boys throat.and then told us that once you have a peritonsillar abscess you were high risk to keep getting them. The Boy's tonsils were now compromised and needed to be removed.  We were told to plan for a two week recovery so we worked a surgery into our summer plans. Between family vacations, summer sports, and the beginning of school The Boy had his second surgery. A tonsillectomy.  Pre-surgery prepping went well. It must be nice to be young and have healthy veins for an IV! The Boy had lots of pre-surgery visitors. My

Liver Cheese: A Family Tradition

Today is an anniversary date. One of those dates you wish you did not have to remember but there is no way you can forget.  Fifteen years ago today,two days after his birthday, my father died of lung cancer. He was a lifelong smoker and his cancer was aggressive. His battle was short. He fought for six short months after his diagnosis. He knew the chemo was not working and that his time was limited. When he came to this realization he became the best dad in the world.                                                In the days before my father's passing, my family shared some memorable moments. One of those moments centers around the deli meat: Liver Cheese.I would not be surprised if you have never heard of it, or even never tasted it. But I was raised on it as it was one of my Dad's favorite things.  What is it? Well, it is a German food that is actually called Leberkase. It is bacon, corned beef, pork, and onion that is ground together and baked. It comes with a