Chemo 8 - I'm done - how GREAT!

WOWEEEEEE! I can't belieeeeeeeve I am finished chemo! I'm very happy! Thank you for looking at my blog, and for your caring and support. It has meant the world to me, and knowing you were reading made me feel so much less alone....

Andrea was the big hero yesterday! She drove me down to Philly, we left at 8:30 a.m., we had the boys, Paulie & Eli. We got stuck in traffic, but somehow made it to the hospital by 10:03 a.m.!!! A huge miracle! My appt. with the plastic surgeon was at 10:00 a.m. We sure did have fun in the car, acting all crazy as usual and singing. She is just so much fun to be with, gotta love those Czechs! I don't know if they're all as free-spirited, "open" and funny as Andrea, but my guess is, they are! Anyway, Andrea took the kids to TWO museums! First The Academy of Natural Sciences, then the Franklin Institute. Boy did they have a blast and walked for miles, seeing many awesome wonders! THANK YOU Andrea for being such a GREAT friend to me!

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"                                                                 Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

                                                          CRAZY CAR RIDE:

 

 

Trudy came and we met with the plastic surgeon, Dr. Wu. "Is it really Dr. Wu?" (Steely Dan reference.) We decided that my best bet would be to get a double-mastectomy with saline implants put in, as well as get my ovaries removed (a twofer!) The operation will take 6 about hours, and it will be a two night hospital stay. It will be done in late February.

Then Trudy and I went up to meet w/nurses to take my vitals and blood sample and meet with Dr. Domcheck, my Harvard-taught oncologist, one of the nicest people I have ever met! Trudy knitted while we waited....

Trudy & Me & My Big Butt!

 

We had a nice meeting with Dr. Domcheck....

 

Nurse Jennifer in her pigtails! So cute!

 

Then we waited for chemo for 2 HOURS! UGGH!

 At least we had company! My brother Paul's partner Grace, who works at Penn, came by! She is so sweet, very calm and kind....She brought a generous gift for us, and one from her daughter. Caroline, a super-duper sweet and SMART young lady! Caroline made me this beautiful card, and it contained another generous gift...I FEEL SO LOVED AND SO BLESSED....

 

 

 

THANKS FOR BEING THERE FOR ME, Grace & Trudy!

 

And then my college roommate, Liz Farley, came! She is so fun & funny, we had a great  time chatting. She brought yummy fruit and honey Greek yogurt!

 

 

Grace and Trudy had to get back to work, so Lizzie stayed and waited until I got a hooked-up with the drugs. She set me all up with my fruit, yogurt, coffee, report cards, took me to the potty, and just got me all situated. Then she had to go get her little kids from school. Thanks, Lizzie for staying with me!

 

Chemo 8 went ok. Either the poop will hit the fan this Thursday/Friday, or it won't. Chemo 7 wasn't too bad! So I am hoping I'll be okay this weekend, but who knows.....it's a crap shoot I guess. I am thankful it's over though!

Some fuzzy hair is growing on my head and legs! WOO HOO! Now isn't that something to be thankful for?

 

                                   CHEMO 8 - I'M DONE! ALLELUIA! Fist pump for Jesus!

 

Praises be to God for getting me through these past four months!

God sent to me an abundance of angels to help get me through this: angels at school, angels at church, angels from Cub Scouts, angels from Eli's school, angels in the neighborhood, old/new friend angels.....lots and lots of ANGELS!

 

 

"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."

                                                Psalm 91:11
                                                                                                       

                                                    AND:

He sent His spirit to sustain me, especially in the dark times when no human could help. Usually this was when I was buried under the covers in bed too tired to move.

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Romans 8:26 

 

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5

 
Love & Big Hugs to you all! Stay Tuned! XO ~ Annie

Angels

Hi, Everyone,

Glad you could stop by! I don't know about where you are but it's been snowing like crazy where we are.... Thank you for caring! Chemo #7 was not too bad, thankfully! Achiness and tiredness were the most difficult things to deal with. I was so blessed by good help this time. My angels Trudy, Sue, Andrea, & Shay came through for me. I am so grateful to them.

Trudy came over on Saturday afternoon and ended up staying over night. We had a great time with her, especially Eli. Trudy took Eli swimming at the Y, made an awesome roast beef dinner and did various odd jobs such as dishes, organizing, floors, laundry, and touch-up painting. I am so fortunate for Trudy - she has given me/us so much of her time and energy since my diagnosis!

 

Eli adores his Aunt Trudy!
(She has known him since the minute he was born!)

 

 

AWESOME dinner made by Gert.

 

Pictures say more than words....

 

Looking through 200 handmade, inspirational
cards made by my niece, Katrina Voll.

 

An apple pie we baked together....

 

                                                                 Chip.....

After dinner on Saturday night, Shay & Pastor Brady dropped off a gazillion tons of fresh produce etc.! It was so generous, they filled our fridge with kale, blueberries, oranges, green beans, broccoli, avocados, eggs. half & half, probiotic yogurt, and other yummy stuff.....they are so caring of our health and so generous!

On Sunday Andrea called in the morning (I had forgotten we had set-up a previous play date, thank God she remembered) so Trudy & I dropped Eli off at her house in Lambertville. She ended up taking Eli the entire day, first  to the park then to the farm (see pics.) ....."AHN-DDDDDDREA's" so generous with her time!!! Thank you so much, Andrea!

 

 

While Andrea & Paulie & Eli were at the park & farm, Trudy took me up the road to get a load of firewood, which I'm so glad to have, as it's snowing madly out there today as I write this....and she unloaded it on our porch. *Chip was at church)

On Sunday afternoon, Sue came over. She helped me SSSSSOOOOOOO much! We took down 99% of our Christmas stuff, and cleaned/organized the basement. This was not an easy or fun job, it was a huge job, but Sue did it with a smile and we talked and laughed and reminisced about the old days much of the time, and also read more of Katrina's cards during breaks! Sue is so special to me, we've known each other for I think over 25 years, she probably knows me the best of anyone on this Earth. Poor Sue! Sue took me to pick-up Eli (he loves his Aunt Sue!) and we came home singing Barney parodies in the car...we had a great dinner of kale from Shay, soup brought from Glenn, and bread from my sister, Lisa! It was so great to have Sue here....

 

 

                                                Sue looking at Katrina's cards...

                                                          Kat's cards....

As if this all wasn't enough, our great friends Chris & Tim DiSalvio came over and Chris brought meatballs, sausage, and sauce, and we had delicious pasta that night. Chris & Tim also moved a treadmill for Chip from my truck to the basement, so now Chip can start getting all buff for the spring!

 

                                       Tim & Chris DiSalvio - Great guys......

 

So my LAST Chemo is on Monday, January 27th...Andrea will be driving Eli, Paulie & I down.....I am so glad it'll be my last....then my body can take a break and my hair may even start to grow on!

 

Love, Thanks, Hugs, Kisses, and Many Blessings to each of you! Annie

 

 

7 Down, 1 To Go!

Hi Everyone, Thank you for reading this blog. You are awesome!

Chemo Round #7 went well. It was a long day (9 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.) but a good one, as my awe-inspiring support team came through strong once more.

Andrea, my gorgeous Czech Republic friend, drove her adorable son Paulie, wild Eli and me down to Philly. We decided to make it an educational day for our sons, so after she dropped me off at H.U.P. she took the boys to the Camden Adventure Aquarium from 11:30 to 5:30! They had a great time! See photos below.

I arrived for chemo prep. at 10:15 a.m. I had a nice time by myself reading Mindy Kaling's book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) given to me by my fellow-chemo-goer Judy Abbott, the sweetest person on earth!
I got my vitals taken and met with Nurse-Practitioner Robin, and all that fun stuff. Then by 11:30 a.m. I was good to go to chemo! Unfortunately I had to  wait TWO HOURS to get into the chemo place, because there were, I was told, only two nurses working. It was disappointing, but I dealt with it, mostly because I had to. Fortunately my brother Paul's girlfriend, Grace, who works at Penn (she is actually very brilliant!) visited with me for about an hour, during her lunch break, maybe longer. We had a really nice chat and it was great to have her there. While she was there I got into the chemo room (it had a bed in it, which was nice) and the nurses got  me started right away.

Then my friend, Amy, showed up with "yummies!" Some glorious kind of cheese, some amazing crackers, blueberries, and her own-roasted Valley Green coffee. Wow, she is such a generous friend and sooooo darn pretty too! I had her coffee this a.m. and I have to say it was exceptional. Then her cute "little" sister, Susie, who is a Nurse-Practitioner at H.U.P. showed up too, followed by my faithful sister Trudy, all decked out in pretty pink! It was like a family reunion! We had fun talking, laughing, eating (Trudy brought me the hugest orange I have ever seen!) (Big enough to feed an army!) and trying not to disturb the nurses too much, though I'm sure we did a little - can't help that - when you gotta chat you gotta chat! All this activity made the 4-hour treatment fly by....Amy, Susie, and Grace had to go, so it was just me and "Gertrude" as I finished up the chemo.

We waited for Andrea and the boys to come back to the hospital and pick me up. They were a tiny bit late, but it was okay because they had been having such an amusing time at the aquarium! Trudy bought me some yummy black-eyed pea soup, and we watched the hospital scene, while a kindly old man played the piano in the lobby. The "scene" can be sad, all sorts of hurting folks.....really hard to take sometimes. It makes you think, and count your blessings, and pray and thank God for your own lot.

Isaiah 41:10 - Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

When I got home at 8:30 p.m., my friend Jen had brought a meal of pork chops, potatoes, and broccoli, and mac-n-cheese for Eli. And three friends had brought soup! Theresa from school made me some broccoli, cheddar, white bean soup, and Rose brought deelish butternut squash soup and Keith split pea with ham. All very scrumptious, esp. in this cold rainy January! I am so blessed!

There are many, many, many more things that people are doing for me, or have done for me since I got cancer, I want to dedicate a whole post to that...hopefully soon....

James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

This particular chemo's effects should kick in tomorrow and run for about three days - not looking forward to it.....I will try to get on computer to blog if I can, but if my head is plastered to the pillow you might not hear from me.

My next chemo is Monday, January 27th. I think Andrea will be driving me again. Eli has off that day, so we may do the museum thing again, different museum....Philly is so cool and Eli loves "the city" he thinks it's neat to go there...talks about it a lot. Before chemo that day, I meet with the surgeon who will do my reconstruction. This brings to mind a Beach Boy's song...."I'll have FUN FUN FUN 'til the doctor takes my boobies away!"

So, here are lotsa pics. from yesterday & some from the night before.....

THURSDAY NIGHT BEFORE CHEMO....
Our pal, Glenn, stopped by to bring us two humongous bags of Trader's Joe's Goodies!
What a nice guy! He even 'modeled' the foods! And Glenn out-talked me, which is really saying something! HA HA get it?????

 

 

DRIVING DOWN TO THE CITY...

 

 

TWO VERY LUCKY BOYS AT THE AQUARIUM......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOMMY GETTING CHEMO...

 

 

                                                    Me & Grace

 

Coolest Nurses ever...

 

Amy....

                                                   Trudy, Susie, Amy

Amy, Me, Gertrude

Susie & Amy, Pretty Sisters

Amy & me

CHEMO # 7...just about finished...

 

Love to you all, Annie