A quick update

Things have been going along okay. On one hand time is flying by and on the other hand it is going at a snail’s pace!

The kids are with John’s parents on a weekend trip to Mackinac. They are having a great time. John and I are enjoying some quiet time without the kids. We had planned on going to the races tonight with some old friends that we haven’t seen in awhile. I think that the races will be canceled due to the weather though.

Today John and I are going to a 50th wedding anniversary party for a friend from High schools’ parents. (does that make sense?) I am so excited to see my friend from high school. I haven’t seen him since 1996. He moved away after we graduated and then came home 10 years later to celebrate his graduation from college!

Radiation is going okay. It started out really tough. I was a nervous wreck. My knees were knocking I was so scared the first time that I had to go into the machine. The 20 minute treatments seemed to last hours. Now it is going better. I am getting used to the whole routine. I have to go every day Mon-Fri for radiation. I have completed 9 treatments and have 23 left to go.

This week Dale didn’t have to work (he is a nanny for a family 3 days a week) so I took he and Tara to the water park one day and to the beach another day. It was nice to just hang out with the kids and enjoy their company. He has his driver’s permit so he has been driving me to the cancer center every day for treatments. It’s nice not to have to drive!

I haven’t started the cancer journal yet. I am just feeling a bit overwhelmed. The last 3 weeks of chemo were really really tough. It wiped me out.  I took a couple weeks off of treatments before starting radiation. We went up north and stayed in a cottage. We also went camping again. It was nice to have some time off. It sure did fly by.

On Monday July 6th I had outpatient surgery to remove my port (no more chemo!) and I started my preliminary radiation stuff. I will be completely done with all treatments around August 16th. I will take another month off of work before returning around September 17th. Depending if my doctor releases me to work.

My medical oncologist put me on Ritalin to treat chronic fatigue. I was having these 15 or 16 hour sleep marathons. I just didn’t have any energy. (and he was careful to rule out depression) I started two days ago and it seems to be helping.

It’s hard when all you want to do is sleep all day. The worse part about it is fighting off depression. The ritalin will help my life be more normal and I can do normal things without being so tired all the time.

Well, I need to go now. Hopefully I will be back on soon to update again. Thanks for all of your prayers, love and support.