Going away party

Mackenzie got to have a going away party Sat night at my house...Hosted my Aunt Melissa. There were 8 girls and they all had a blast. The little girl that is sitting by me is the Daughter of Kristins's best friend since 5th grade. We were playing Truth or dare....

Last Get together

Kris and the kids will be leaving at the end of the week. My 3 kids and 7 Grandkids were all here today. We played on the slip-n-slide., the Jacuzzi, and went to the park and flew kites and played.The Kids Aunt Karen came over to see all of the Grandkids before they left. Grandpa bought KFC so no one had to cook. Baby Jake went to sleep shortly after getting here so he is not in the pictures. The kids had quiet a day. Michael is spending the night with me.

Friends

Next weekend Amanda will be moving to WA.....This little boy will miss her so much...

Chemo Again

Well I guess I will write a note and let everyone know what is going on here.

Thursday I had to start the nasty pills again and have blood drawn because I was to start chemo again Yesterday.

Now my veins are basically shot from bad veins and all of the chemo I have taken .For the last 6 months they have been able to draw blood from 1 vein in my right arm. Thank goodness that little sucker held out that long. But since they had to remove all of my lymph nods from the right side I can no longer draw blood from that side or it will cause some sort of disease. My left arm has been shot for months. You can hit a vein but then it just shuts down. So I decided to have blood started drawing from my port which people do all of the time. I had never done it because when my surgeon put it in he said the more you use it the more likely you will have problems with it…He was right..

So Thursday morning at 8 AM I went to the oncologist’s office to get blood drawn from my port. They could not get any even though a week ago they drew blood there. They pricked and prodded for 2 hours and then decided to send me to the hospital to have a port scan done. I was in total melt down by then. I went home. I called Dr. Cavelcants office and cancled all of my appointments. I had had it! Then after calming down I called them back in the afternoon and re scheduled my appointment with him on Friday and rescheduled my chemo and let them set me up with a port scan Friday at 8:44 I also went back to the popple that had been drawing my blood for the last 6 months and they were able to access it through my left arm, at least enough to get a sample.

Well sure enough when I got to the hospital Friday there was a problem was a problem with my port. At the end of my portal tube I had something like scar tissue. Now they were able to give me some stuff in a drip and it did dissolve and they said it may work for several more months we will just have to see. I was there until 11:30 because they tried several things before putting in this drip.

I then went to Dr. Cavalcant’s office. Of chores that morning I had had another total break down. I told Dr Cavalcant I thought I had made a big mistake starting all of this because I feel much worse now that I did a year ago. But now I had already gone through 6 months of treatments and had 2 surgeries, all of these blood problems. But I really needed to know if I was going to feel better soon.

He now has me on Cytoxan and Taxotrere he said since I will be getting these done every 3 weeks it is not as aggressive as the other ones I was on every week which was Taxitere and Herceptin ( which is a lot of steroid). He said I will still be sick the 1st 2nd weeks and then the 3rd week will feel much better just in time to start all over again. This is what I have heard from other patients that I sit with while having treatments. They could not believe I could make it every week.

Then Cavlalcant said after 6 treatments over 4 months I will then start Herceptin alone every 3 weeks and then I will feel GREAT….That was his exact word…I am holding him to that. He said I need to have my blood still taken every week even though I will only be having treatments every 3 weeks. I told him I could not do that. He said OK lets do it for these first 3 weeks and then we will go to once a week I agreed to that.

I also told him I had to have something to give me a little nerve because my nerves were just shot plain which they are. He actually asked me if I had other family problems besides just the chemo …By the time I told him all of my issue I could not clean my house, cook daily, make a bed, I hurt from having my breasts cut off, having half of my Grandkids move off in 2 weeks, a son that worries me to death, a Brother that just passed away and I could not go home, a husband I should have divorced 25 years ago, I am not able to work anymore, I can’t do house work, I can’t do yard work, and can hardly walk to the mail box, I can’t concentrate long enough to figure out a problem or read a book.. Besides I was bawling the whole time I was telling him all of this. He was sorry he had asked me anything at all. He gave me some more drugs! Maybe that will help. I am certainly not like Betty…I will take them..

Back Yard

I moved some things around in the back yard this morning. The second picture is of the plant Pat likes so well. Soon it will be covered with big orange flowers all over it and will be as tall as the fence. Notice how green the yard is. My yard guy commented how well it was looking and I was watering it much better. I told him I was really working on it. I tell Mike every day to get out there and drag that hose around and water it. Also I ran across Daddy's single tree which I sort of stuck up in the tree limbs. It will fall and hit one of the Grand Kids on the head the way it is in there. I will have to get someone to put it up in there better I still have a hard time reaching iver my head.

Momosa Trees

My 3 Momosa trees are just getting ready to bloom...The Humming Birds love them. I also moved a bench under one of my shade trees this morning. I am feeling much better today. No Pitty Pot today.

Asleep

They other day Mackenzie and I laid down for a nap. After I went to sleep she took this picture and then she got up and emptied and filled the dishwasher, cleaned all of the counnter tops , and cleaned the floors and dusted. I was so surprised when I got up. She is only 9 years old. So today I am doing all of her laundry and ironing it and hanging it nicely. Turn about fair play.

Austin

Austin is now 5 years old. For several years he lived here with me, Mike, and his Daddy. When Bill was between apartments he would move home for a while. Austin is the only Grand Kid that ever had his own room here. But for the last couple of years he has had his own home with his Daddy. He is jealous of how much time Kenzie gets to spend here with Granny. He comments on this a lot. Austin never wants to get the short end of the stick and he always speaks up for himself. So last night Austin, Benjamin, and Missy spent the night here. We went to the library and went to McDonalds to get something to eat. Kris stopped by this morning and picked him up for school. Austin is a very self sufficient boy and does many things for himself. I think this is because he had to grow up way too fast. He did not like the cereal I had to eat so he said he could eat at school not to worry. He also finished 5 pages of homework this morning before he went to school. He wakes up by himself and immediately gets dressed, no fuss no muss. He is my favorite CURLEY red headed grand boy. I tell him that all of the time. I hope this summer I will be able to keep him more. The problem is he always wants to GO places. It is hard for me to go all of the time. Sometimes I give Bill or Bettina money to take him places so I do not have to go. But that does not get me out of trouble.

Tuesday

OK Sisters...this picture may not look very good to you but trust me this is a big improvement. I have on no make up and I had just gotten out of the tub. But I was able to take a bath tonight instead of a shower and I was able to get in and out of the tub all by myself. I even was able to wrap myself with the ace bandage around my chest. It wraps around me almost 5 times but I was able to do it. I was even able to raise my arms and put on this PJ top. That made me feel a lot better. Missy took me to the library tonight and I picked up a few books. I have had a very stressful 2 days with Doctor appointments and tests so for the next few days I may just lay in bed and read. I have just been a basket case for the past few days. Maybe even a week. I am thinking about giving up the pain pills and having a few drinks instead. I remember when Daddy was so ill he wanted a bottle to drink, he said it gave him some grit. I tend to agree with that and I sure need some grit these days. I start Chemo next Friday...The Docktor said I will loose my hair again...

Petunias

My petunias were looking all straggly. Patsy said they needed to be cut back. She said cut about 2/3 off of them and they will come back and bloom. So this morning I went outside and cut them back. I am never sure if Pat and Fleta are telling me the truth when they tell me to do something like this. They sometimes tell me things to do just to see if I am stupid enough to do them. I usually am that stupid. So the petunias are cut back, let’s see if they come out of it.

Also I took a picture of my tall grass. The yard guy cut it back when he was here 2 weeks ago. It will bush out and look very pretty soon. Out back, my Momisa tree is starting to bloom. I will post a picture of that later.

Monday

Today I have to have a heart scan done. They have to put an IV into me. Now we have to use my left arm. The veins have been shot in that arm for awhile. We will see how it goes today. I go at 1:30 and Kimmie is going to take me. Tomorrow I go back and see the surgeon at 4. I guess he just wants to see me one more time.

I should be getting my car back today or tomorrow. I am not in any hurry because I will not be able to shift it at this time. I am sure it will not be long before I can shift it but all in all I guess I still need to keep my butt at home if no one is driving me.

I am still pretty sore. I keep thinking it would not have killed the surgeon to leave a little extra skin at that incision and maybe it would not be so tight. It sure is drawing. I do have on clothes today. This is not an every day event for me anymore but Kenzie spent the night and will be up soon. She will be glad to see me dressed.

School is almost out here. I think their last day is the 23rd. Kris and the kids will be moving at the end of this month. I am not in any hurry for that.

New couch

The rest of my couch got delivered this week. The material feels like a very soft micro blanket...The Grandkids love it.

Happy Birthday Patsy!!!

Today Patsy is 70 years old. Boy is that old! She didn't think she would live to be this old, but God has a sense of humor.

Debby's Birthday

Today is Debby's birthday. She was born in 1956 and would be 52 years old today. She was truely our sweetest Sister.I guess Richard is with her today. I'll bet he is telling her stories.

Saddle

Sister Fleta posted a picture of Brother Richard on Betty's ole red horse. This is the saddle he was in.

Brother

This picture was taken in 1959 this is my Brother Richard and his wife Barbara. At the time this picture was taken they were just dating. They were standing in the yard of Barbara’s parents. The farm they bought and now Barbara lives there alone. Brother’s funeral is today and I am unable to attend. It is sad for all of us but especially for his wife, Barbara, of almost 50 years. Fifty years is a long time to live with anyone I am sure she misses him a lot already. Hopefully when today is over she will start to get better.

Richard was almost grown by the time I was born. I have few memories of him when I was very small. It does seem he lived at home some when I was small. My earliest memories of Richard are when our cousins Donnie and Jimmy used to come over to see Richard. Donnie and Richard loved cars. They both drove very fast. Richard said Donnie was a wild driver. He told me a story about Donnie driving 100 miles an hour and cutting his left front tire in and out of the yellow stripped line in the middle of the road. He told another story when Donnie was driving really fast and Jimmy was sitting in the front seat and kept telling Donnie to slow down or he was going to kick the windshield out. Donnie would not slow down and Jimmy kicked the windshield out.

I remember Richard taking me to town in his black and white Ford he had when he and Barbara got married. I was sitting in the back seat behind Richard. Richard had bought me a vanilla ice cream cone and I dropped it in the floor board. Richard opened the door while driving down the dirt road and made me throw it out the car door.

I remember after Brenda was born Barb and Richard coming to visit us and Brenda always was dressed so pretty and always so clean. Barbara always was a good homemaker.

I remember staying with Barb and Richard on the Clint Powell’s old place when Gilbert was born. Richard was milking dairy cows for Clint at that time.

I remember Richard crawling around in the yard on his knees bracing Debby Lee’s little knees while Clayton and Fleta held her hands trying to get her to walk. She learned to walk so I guess it helped.

I think Brother's greatest accomplishment was he raised 4 good kids that were never in a bit of trouble and that is a hard thing to do in this day and age. He did not do this alone Barb was always right there helping all along the way.

Grandkids...Austin, Benjamin, & Amanda

The last time I looked after Amanda and Benjamin was about 3 weeks ago. They had been playing outside for quiet a while.
All of a sudden Amanda came running in the house yelling, “Grammy. Ben-ah-men has muddy sues!”
Benjamin was hot on her heals running in the house with mud all over his brand new shoes and he was also yelling but in a much plainer speech, “Grandma, Amanda turned the water on!”
To That Amanda quickly added, “But we not ‘posed to play in it!”

Wednesday

I went to see the surgeon yesterday. He removed the last drain tube and took out all of the staples. The staples did not hurt at all when he removed them. There were about 50 in me he sure did not want me to fall apart. I feel much better this morning. It must be all in my head. I go see Dr. Cavalcant tomorrow. I am sure he will want to do more chemo...Fun news!
Kimmy came over yesterday with the baby and she stayed all day. It was the first time I had got to see little Lexie since the day she was born. She was 2 weeks old on Monday. She is so pretty and such a good baby.
Kris stopped over with all of her kids in the afternoon and they all got to hold the baby. They all loved it.
I have a chicken boiling. I want to make noodles but I am not sure I can get them rolled out. If not we will just have boiled chicken….

Richard and his family some years ago...

My Brother Richard had a very dry sense of humor. I was speaking to Rhea today and she reminded me of what Richard said at the Family Reunion 2 years ago in September. I was standing in front of Richard and all of a sudden out of the blue he said, “I have worked mules with smaller asses than that!” I had kind of blocked that smart remark out of my mind but of course Rhea remembered it!

Richard called me a week ago Saturday to see how I was after the surgery. He said he had been thinking and this surgery was a good thing for me now I could dress up like a man and get a better paying job. He suggested I try running a bull dozer because there was good money in that. You could tell he was putting some thought into helping me!

He also said he had made up a sentence using all of his sister’s last names. It was…Renfroe go See Poor Aday… He said it took him a little while to think of that.

I remember several years ago Richard also called me on my 39th Birthday and said I was turning 39 and that same year he would be turning 54….I was born in 1954 and he was born in 1939….
We will all miss his stories...

Brother Richard

Brother Richard passed away last night. Now we are 6.