Round Seven

Yesterday was round seven so I officially only have one more round to go! Very exciting!

Round six wasn't bad. I was really tired the day after which was odd. Today is the day after and I'm doing just fine. The Friday after round six was marked with major skin aches, followed by bone aches Saturday through Monday. All of that was very manageable.

I'm really hoping that the aches will be less this time around. Taxol side effects don't seem to be cumulative like A/C side effects so I may have a chance that it will get better this round. If not, I'm sure Christmas will help me forget about it.

My left eye is still holding on to a few eyelashes and my right eye still has decent coverage on top. My eyebrows are still there so it seems I got my Christmas wish!

Before I know it, this part of my cancer journey will be over. I'm anxious to find out how major or minor of a surgery I'm going to have. But, I'll have to be patient for that since I don't meet with the surgeon until January 20th. One slow step at a time! In the meantime, I'm looking forward to growing some hair. It certainly is cold outside without insulation!

Round Six

Well, it serves me right... I got a little ahead of myself and requested less Benadryl today hoping I could stay awake and get out a bit quicker. I'm not enjoying the 4 hour drip after the trip downtown to the hospital for blood work and a check-in with the doctor. They said they could cut the Benadryl in half since I didn't have a reaction last time. Unfortunately after a few minutes on the drip I started to have intense throbbing in my lower back. The nurses reacted very promptly stopping the drip, checking my vitals, flushing me out and giving me the rest of my Benadryl. Grr!! And, on top of it all, it added about 30 minutes to my time. I won't do that again!

Overall, I'm doing just fine now. I was exhausted while in the chair and on the way home, but I think the Benadryl is wearing off now.

Since I was there so late, I was one of the last to leave... which means it was the perfect time to take a couple of pictures. This is what a chemo chair looks like...



It reclines nicely and they give you a heated blanket. Very cozy! There is a pull-out TV and pop up table as well. I feel sorry for the guests who have to sit in the other chair. The IV pole is portable so I'm not totally stuck in the chair for 4 hours. I can take bio breaks.

The room itself is very open. It is rectangular with chairs all the way around the outside of the room. There is a large rectangular nursing station in the middle and the pharmacy is in one corner.

In case you were wondering as I was before my first round, you do get to wear your own clothes while in the chair as long as the neck hole in your shirt is large enough to access the port. Now that there is no way I can go to work after, I should consider wearing PJs!

Another chemo-related development is the significant loss of eyelashes. I have a large gap on the lower lid of my right eye and another large gap on the upper lid of my left eye. I don't think anybody can really notice it with my glasses. What I'm really worried about is losing my eyebrows. They are significantly thinner than they were pre-chemo, but they're still covering the necessary surface area. I know I'm going to lose them, but I'm really hoping it will be after Christmas. From what I read it isn't uncommon for them to go after chemo is over... one more kick in the pants. When it happens, I'll deal with it... but I won't enjoy it!

Here's the really good news... ONLY TWO MORE ROUNDS TO GO!! And, I'm 75% DONE.

The Party

This year Tyler's birthday party was at the Science Museum and Tyler chose the Mad Scientist theme. Check out this cake. Our cake lady really outdid herself this time... I've decided that she is truly an artist.


The museum did a really nice job. They has all the kids put on white lab coats and safety goggles. The first experiment was with the static ball... it lost most of its bang on Tyler since he has no hair to stand on end. But, he enjoyed it just the same and there were plenty of kids with more hair so he got to see what it did.

The next experiment involved blowing up a balloon with some chemicals in an empty water bottle... very cool!

Yay, it worked!

Whoa, that is a lot of kids!

The final experiment was creating some sort of goop. Unfortunately we haven't seen the last of this goop as the kids got to bring it home with them!

Not only did the cake look good, it tasted yummy as well.

Time for presents. Unfortunately having 18 guests means 18 presents! But, I was proud of Tyler. He did a really nice job of showing excitement about each gift. Truth be told, he put on a show all by himself, but I guess that isn't much of a surprise to anyone who knows Ty.

I am exhausted. Technically it was only a 2-hour party, but we invited everyone to tour the museum before hand so we actually left the house at 10:45am and didn't get home until 4:30pm. Phew!

You may be wondering where Ryan was during all of this chaos. Well, thank goodness for Aunt Debbie who offered to take Ryan for the day. That was the best idea of the day. He got to go play in a toy store, check out a local historic five and dime with all sorts of goodies, go to fisher-price, and eat at McDonalds! He may have had the best day of all of us... except Ty of course!

I have to remind myself to go back and read my blog regarding previous parties before I start planning the next one so that I won't repeat my own mistakes. I don't necessary detail all of my errors, but reading about the party will refresh my memory. This particular party was a bit out of control starting with the invitation list. Somehow I didn't write down all the names of the kids that were invited (chemo brain) and I thought that the percentage kids that wouldn't come from his kindergarten class would be high since we don't know any of the parents. Those two errors resulted in a total of 19 kids including Tyler at his party!! That is a LOT of kids. (Note to self in 2011... DON'T DO IT AGAIN!)

Decoding Ryan

Ryan's language has started to explode. He is now stringing words together and is starting to improve his pronunciation. But, he's still has his own unique dialect.

Pumpin = Pumpkin

Since Thanksgiving he's been asking for "Pumpin Pie." Too cute! I will always remember Ryan saying "pumpin" just as I remember Tyler saying "badoon" for "balloon."

Saucy Man = Frosty the Snowman

This one is my current favorite. "Saucy!"

Pad = Boo Boo Pad

Ryan is addicted to the boo boo pad. No matter how minor an injury, he's asking for a "pad." I find it funny when he falls on his bum, gets a "pad" and puts it on his head!

Nanen = Ryan

Last night we were out playing in the snow. Ryan was pretending to fall and then would say "Uh oh, Nanen fall."

Pipaw = Pizza

Ryan loves pizza and makes it known by yelling "pipaw" when he knows it is imminent.

Ryan is just the cutest kid. He is such a sweet little boy. I wish I could keep him just like he is now.

SIX

Tyler turned six years old today and chose going to the Museum of Play for his special treat.




So we picked up Aunt Donna and off we went. Dan and I have decided that it is nice to bring someone with us to play with the boys so we can hang out in the closest chair :)

Ryan is now old enough to enjoy himself. He LOVED the Sesame Street exhibit, although he's renamed it to "Elmo Street!"

This was neat. Tyler is really good at climbing buildings...

Ryan... not so much. He kind of lost the effect there.

I love the miniature grocery store. Tyler knows the drill so he completed his shopping and rang himself out taking his receipt with him. Ryan did his best and was very pleased to get his very own receipt.

This is one of our favorite places since it is so interactive.

They had some new things this time including a huge light-brite type thing. Very cool!

Good thing we now have a membership so we can go back soon.

Happy Birthday Ty!!

Dentist

Going to the dentist was not an event that I looked forward to as a child. I didn't think any child did until I met Tyler. He has been counting down to the appointment we had scheduled for yesterday morning for the two months since Dan's last appointment!! We were all ready to go when the phone rang. The dental hygienist called in sick so we had to reschedule. Tyler was crushed. I'm talking a full crying fit with tears kind of crushed. I was dumbfounded. Really?? It was a dentist appointment.

Luckily we were able to reschedule for this evening. The plan was for Dan to take both boys and I'd grab Ryan on my way home. Well, I called to let Dan know I was almost there and he said not to bother since they were finishing up so I continued home.

They arrived a while later and I was shown this picture.


That's right... Ryan's had his first dental visit... and I missed it!! This wasn't just a courtesy "let the little brother sit in the big chair" visit. He got fluoride and a full cleaning. And I wasn't there! I can't believe it. At least Dan took pictures.

Now I have two boys who have a strange love affair with the dentist. I'm told they both did great. (In case you are wondering... the sunglasses are so that the overhead lights don't get in their eyes)