Shedding and Bedding or Napping and Balding or Snoozing and Losing

I have had a hard time the past few days staying up late enough to write on the blog. I hear this chemo stuff can make you a little tired. My days of staying up 'till 2 getting my little jobs like e-mailing and bill paying done may be a thing of the past. Perhaps I'm like Sampson and will completely lose my strength with my hair.
Looking back to Monday, treatment day, it was a good time as usual. Lovely Tammee Fulghum came as my companion, but I got called in so quickly we were able to do very little of the puzzle. I got in only TWO pieces--Tammee did much better. Things went very smoothly with the treatment despite the utter failure in puzzle building. My port was accessed on the very first try for the first time ever! My white blood cell count was the highest it's been since treatment began (that's good they tell me) and all other indicators in my blood tests were positive. I'm a little anemic, but that's just something they expect to start at this point and to get a little worse each week of treatment. Unfortunately I have no little quips from Dr. Montgomery because he was away from the office, but I'm sure he'll offer extra personality next week to make up for his absence. The infusion was very efficient this week. I got some juice and a warm blanket and Tammee knitted a dish cloth and it was over. I ordered lunch but it didn't even get there before I left, so Tammee and I were forced to GO to lunch at Spaghetti Factory. We got to sit in the caboose table and ordered off the half price menu and felt very satisfied with our lunch. Then on the way back to my house we noticed the sushi cooking class was still in session so we HAD to stop in and try some of the sushi. Dave and Rich came through with some great tasting tidbits, a nice little supplement to our Italian lunch. My great friend Melissa was entertaining Tadman while I was leisurely making my way home. Thank you Melissa and Tammee for enhancing my treatment day and making it leisurely and delightful again.
When my kids got home there was a weekend atmosphere at the house because the older kids didn't have school Tuesday because of senior projects. Therefore we were a little lax on the homework and school preparation for the little kids, and we ended up running out of time to cook dinner and grabbing a pizza late to feed the kids before we put them to bed. We had a very busy family life already, and although I have relinquished a lot of my responsibilities to other people, it's very hard to fit cancer into an already busy family schedule. So all of you helping with meals and cleaning and washing are really making it possible for us to maintain a little of the order we had before my diagnosis, and we appreciate immensely the time it provides for us to do other things we need to do.
Tuesday was a sleep in day for me after I got the younger kids off to school. On the days I don't have something scheduled I kind of like climbing back into bed with Tadman and letting him watch Sesame Street while I get another hour of sleep. My bed is way too comfortable to me now. I try to get back in it every chance I get. Rachel managed to rouse me out of bed and we went to Costa Vida where we were delighted to see the Bishop, Brother Ableman, and Brother Smith, and the Millers. It was a little unofficial ward party. Lunch was good, and we followed it up with some cherry limeades from Sonic happy hour before I had to be to the dentist with Parker who got sealants and 2 fillings. (He's not the most religious brusher). Then I had a football boosters meeting at Centennial to go to. The meetings are heating up as we get closer to football season, and everyone knows football season begins the day school gets out. They plan camps, summer workouts, scrimmages, and meetings throughout the summer. They're trying to decide where to go to camp this summer and which players to take to camp, so this was a much more heavily attended meeting than most, and it ended up being a 2 hour meeting, so I missed walking with Alaine Buckley because it was too late to go when I returned. Alaine promised to get me out some other time. I've got to start walking if I'm going to make it to the finish line at the Koman for the Cure walk coming up next month.
Today I was such a good girl and got up and worked out at the Y. I did the 10:15 water aerobics workout that's kind of more intense and lap oriented than the earlier water aerobics class. Only 2 ladies were in the class, including me, so it was more of an individual self guided workout, but it felt good to excercise and then stretch and relax in the water. Brother Stott was putting in a few laps in the lane right next to me and making me look bad.
It's the first time Tadman has been in the nursery at the Y, or at least the first time since he was an infant, and he wasn't too sure he wanted to stay even after I showed him all their cool "hucks". Finally I had to ask one of the child watch staff to take him by the hand and lead him away from me--he didn't want to let go of his kung fu grip on my hand. He did seem fine and happy when I picked him up to take him back home.
After lunch and some trike riding in the back yard for Tadman it was back to bed for us. As you can see I am slowly spending more and more time in bed. Tadman so far has been kind enough to accomodate me by either napping with me or playing with trucks on the floor next to my bed while I nap. What an especially sweet child he is.
Somehow while I slept away all my kids got to dance festival practice, scouts and orchestra and everywhere else they needed to be. If you got them those places, thank you.
Since I'm feeling very down about the inevitable loss of my hair and resultant baldness today, I want to take a minute to count my blessings. I am thankful for my home, and that it is comfortable and warm and that it is a good place to recuperate and rest and be with my family. I am thankful for nausea medicines that keep me just hating food and not throwing up. I am thankful I have not picked up any of the illnesses that have gone through my family so I can be at home instead of in the hospital. I am thankful for my friends, for their notes, their phone calls, and their hat parties in my honor. I am thankful for the concern and help of friends who are cancer survivors who give me hope for the future. I am thankful that my husband is able to work to support our family and pay my medical bills, and that he does so willingly, and I am thankful for my kids because I find my greatest contentment in their company. I promise to try to continue to count my blessings even when every single hair has fallen out of my head, probably tomorrow.