Last week off my chemo was
sooooo nice. I got to where I actually
almost felt normal at times. Oh, to be “normal”
again……
This week did start off very
well – OUR HOUSE IN ALABAMA CLOSED without a hitch!! What a relief that is! Every now and then I think about strangers
living in “my house”, but try not to sad over that. The check was deposited in the bank, but it
will take 9 days to clear! That seems a
bit long to me, but I guess it is what it is.
The entire amount will be available next Wednesday, and that’s when our
house here will close – 1:00 pm. We are
planning to move in the following Friday – 6 days!!. The whole thing is just OVERWHEMING for
me. I’m not sure how it is going to
happen with me not being able to do much more than fix a meal now and
then. We have hired a local moving
company who will arrive at 8:00 am to move the furniture and the boxes that are
packed. Most of those are upstairs in
the floored attic – that we never had time to get unpacked after moving in here. I did have 3 large floor-to-ceiling bookcases
that I had filled with my quilt fabric, books, and notions shortly after moving
in here, back when we thought we would be staying here.
How I wish I had never done that! But today, Guy, bless his heart, helped me to
pack that all up. I would put a few
things in a box, rest a bit, put a few things in, and rest a bit. We filled up
12 boxes!
There are actually probably
twice that many that just never got unpacked – thank goodness!! Now the main thing left to pack is the
kitchen. Surely over the next 4-5 days,
we can manage that. It’s not like we
have to have every single thing in a box ready to go. Some things we can just take at our leisure,
once we get the bulk of it in. It’s only
a few blocks across town, so a lot of the clothes can be taken in our car. This current house is not going anywhere, and
no one is pushing us to move in, so we can take our time with cleaning up the
leftovers. About all I’ll be able to do
on the move-in day is point and direct traffic.
I just hope I’m up to THAT! There
are some days when I can do nothing but recline in my chair. I will be getting my fluids on Thursday of
that week, so that should help me for Friday.
I’m back to chemo on Tuesdays
and IV fluids on Friday now. I just took
my 1st infusion of my 4th month this week. I keep thinking – I could POSSIBLY have only
2 more treatments!! I’m trying not to
get my hopes up, but at the end of the month when I see all three doctors, I’ll
find out. I know they could say I have
to go for 2 more months, but I’m praying that they will say all the cancer is
GONE!!!!
I saw my oncologist here last
Tuesday, and she added a medication to help with the neuropathy. I really do think it might be working. Most of the time when I’m on my feet, I’m “aware”
of my numb feet, but the last couple of days, I haven’t been constantly
thinking about my feet – not that it’s gone, but I do believe, it is
helping. This week, for the 1st
time, I’m starting to feel some numbness in my fingers. OH! I
had SO hoped it would not affect my fingers!!!!! Our pastor asked me last Sunday if I could
play my keyboard the 13th of this month. I told him I thought I was ready to play
again. Then a couple of days ago, he
texted me and asked If I could play this Sunday since the lady that was going
to play is out of town with her mother who had a heart attack. I told him I would, and he came by to give me
a list of the songs. I needed to go in
to the church today to practice a little, but when I got up this morning, I
felt so weak and shaky. I couldn’t
understand why because I got the fluids yesterday, and I went to bed at 9:30
and slept until 5! I haven’t got that
much sleep forever. After eating
breakfast, I could barely wiggle, so I just lay back in my recliner and slept
some more. About 11, I got up and felt
pretty good. I went to the church and
practiced for a while – did fine, and then drove to the post office and got the
mail. I’m telling you – it’s just crazy –
I never know from one moment to the next how I’m going to feel. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever
experienced!! You just learn to go with
the flow….
The weather here had been
warm, but TERRIBLY windy!!! It was
gusting to over 45 mph today. Yesterday
when we went to Hutch to get my IV fluids, we could see that there was a large
fire between LR and Hutch – down in the sandhills.
Between LR and Hutch there are lots of very
large pastures of tall grass. They are
called the sandhills because the ground is very sandy. Every year when it is dry – and it is very
dry here right now – there will be fires in these areas, and they are very hard
to fight because of the spring winds. I
remember back to when I was a child, Carl and Dad were on the volunteer fire
department here, and when they would go out on those runs, they would be gone
for long hours – into the night, and it was always so scary for us – not knowing
if they were safe or not. Both fire
trucks from LR were out fighting this fire yesterday. We were hoping that we would not have to
detour as we went to Hutch.
We could see
the smoke not far from the road we were on, but we never saw any actual
flames. On the way home from Hutch,
however, we did have to detour – 4 miles to the east. We saw flames shooting into the air where we
had to turn off onto the detour. Those
flames were pretty near the road and not all that far from a farm house. This afternoon, as I let the dogs out, I could
still smell smoke. Guy learned from his
coffee buddies this morning, that crews were out all night fighting hot spots. Thankfully, it was not anywhere near our
farm.
Mark and Dylan arrived Thursday
evening on their way to a soccer tournament near Dallas. They stayed overnight and left the dogs here
for the week. Next weekend, Mark will
load up a UHaul and bring us the rest of our furniture. Our king size bedroom suite has been at his
house in Overland Park because we did not have room for it here. Now that we’ll have a master bedroom again,
we can use it. There are a few other
things that he has of ours that we can use now, so he will arrive with both
boys on Friday and be here for the weekend.
Then next week, Jeannine and
the girls will arrive during their spring break to help me unpack. I need her to help me organize and put my
kitchen together. You know, if your
kitchen is all together, it feels like your whole house is done.
I just hope I’m able to pull
this whole thing off. I guess I just
need to remember to take one day at a time and try not to look ahead too
far.
I decided to crochet this
cap. It is a very simple pattern – just double
crochet stitches – two rows of red, two rows of gray and repeat.
The first time I got nearly done, it was just
way too big, so I ripped it all out, and decided to use a smaller hook, because
I guess my tension is a little lose. This time, it was still too big. So I ripped it out again. Then I realized I was making the adult big
size, so I went to the adult medium size.
I ended up ripping it out a couple more times. I was determined to get this hat done and
wear it!! I think it is still a bit big,
but I’m NOT going to rip it out and start over.
I want to put a little scalloped edge on it, so I’ll need to rip out at
least one row or it will be down over my eyes. I crocheted Annie a little coat, and it was
too small – she growled at me when I tried to get it one her. 😀 I didn’t really like the plain worsted yarn I
was using – seemed too stiff, so I got some that was softer, and made another
one, thinking it was a little larger, but I don’t think it’s going to fit her
either. Oh, well, winter is nearly over
anyway! It never really got cold enough
here for her to need one anyway. I just
thought it would be fun to make one, but my luck in crocheting something that
actually fits is not going very well. It’s
been more just something to keep my hands busy, I guess. 😀
Since I have nothing
earth-shaking to share this week, I’ll end with this from Jesus Calling, which
I certainly need to remember:
“Refuse to worry! In this world, there will always be something
enticing you to worry. That is the
nature of a fallen, fractured planet.
Things are not as they should be.
So the temptation to be anxious is constantly with you, trying to worm
its way into your mind. The best defense
is continual communication with Me,
richly seasoned with thanksgiving. Awareness
of My Presence fills your mind with Light and Peace, leaving no room for
fear. This awareness lifts you up above
your circumstances, enabling you to see problems from My perspective. Live close to Me! Together we can keep the wolves of worry at bay.”
And as always……..I remain in
His hands…..
