A busy week......

This has been such a busy week, if I don’t start writing at some point, I’ll never catch up.

Back in December and January, when things looked so bleak for me, physically, I asked the Lord to please just let me live until June 7 and be able to celebrate our 50^th  anniversary.  Well, He has more than answered that prayer.  A week ago Saturday, June 16, we had a big anniversary celebration. This was as soon as the kids could be here.  We had a cake, punch, nuts, mints, balloons, beautiful cards and notes, and most of all family and friends.  Some people that I thought might come, did not, but others came that I had no clue would come!  There were lots of delightful surprises.  The grandkids did the serving, and we just visited and visited.  I wished I could have been more than one person in order to adequately visit with everyone.  Mark set my iPhone up to record the event live for FB.  This was mostly for my sister, Colleen, who wanted in the worst way to be there, but could not.  I was so thankful that I felt good and withstood the day well.  I’m sure the adrenalin flowing helped.  I received so many beautiful cards and sweet notes that I was able to sit and leisurely enjoy later in the evening.  Here are a few pictures from the event.

Flowers Colleen sent to us.

The cake

Mark, Amy, Dylan, Christian

Jeannine and Maya

Mark and Jeannine and the grandkids were able to be here all this last week.  Mark had to take Dylan back to KC to go with his team to a soccer tournament in Indianapolis – Regionals.  In the 2^ndgame, Dy scored the only goal in overtime to win the game, but today (Sunday) they lost and were eliminated from the tournament.  😒 Mark and Chris had to return home this afternoon, but Jeannine and the girls are here for most of the summer.  They will be in and out a bit, and so will Mark, but it is always nice to have your family together.

Sunday, after the celebration, I really felt pretty good, but on Monday, I bottomed out!  My legs felt like noodles, and as soon as I stood up, I needed to sit down again.  My BP was under 100, so I knew I needed fluids. I knew I had not been drinking water over the weekend as I usually do. It was time to have my port flushed anyway, so I called the infusion center, and they told me to come on in. After a liter of fluids, I felt like a new person.  This is the 1^sttime in a long time I had to have fluids.  The IV chemo dehydrated me on a regular basis, but this pill I’m on does not affect me like that – thankfully.

For several months now, my left knee has been bothering me, particularly when I would first stand up and start to walk on it. I had asked my PCP to recommend someone for me.  I knew there was no way I wanted – or could even have – another total knee replacement. But this knee was acting just like the right knee I had replaced in 2010 – arthritis.  UGH!  So, Tuesday, I saw Dr. Larimore in Hutch.  My PCP had already taken x-rays.  Dr. Larimore said I had “grade 2” arthritis.  I’m not up on my arthritis grades, but he said it was not bad. Whew!  He said he would inject it with a steroid, and if that did not help, I should come back for an MRI to see if it was a torn meniscus.  Oh, boy!  I dreaded that injection!  I had had two different ones in the right knee before having it replaced and it was NOTfun!  I’m such a pansy when it comes to needles.  😖  The other two times, the doctor shot lidocaine in the knee, waited a bit, then injected the steroid.  I said to Dr. Larimore, “You’re going to numb it, aren’t you?”  And he said, “Yes, I’ll take care of you.”  He just had me sit on the edge of the bed, and I didn’t see any 2^ndneedle.  I folded my arms tightly, shut my eyes tightly, and felt something cold on my knee.  I kept waiting for it to hurt on the inside, but suddenly he was done!  I said, “That’s it?”  “Yep!”  Well, that was practically nothing!  Within a short period of time – and ever since – I could walk without pain – like magic! BOY, I hope this lasts a long time!

After that, I felt like a new person!!  

Thursday, when I went to bed I had a couple hive-looking spots on my anterior thighs.  And my left underarm had been itching during the evening.  I didn’t think too much about it, because little “funny spots” appear and disappear on my skin from time to time.  “Rash” is a side effect of this pill.  In the night, my left arm, at the site of my flap scar began to itch.  It was enough that I woke up and decided to take a Benadryl.  I didn’t really even look at my arm – just took the pill and went back to bed.  I did go back to sleep, but when I woke up about 9:00, I was covered with hives!  It was all over my upper thighs, arms, and some on my trunk.  NOW WHAT??? I had no clue what had caused this. I had not eaten anything different, hadn’t changed the laundry soap or lotions.  I thought at first I would go to the urgent care unit in Hutch, but decided instead to call my pharmacist at KU.  I asked if there was any chance that the steroid given in my knee could have caused it.  He didn’t think so.  He said that 87% of the people on Mekinist have skin issues.  He said to take another Benadryl and call him back in the afternoon to let him know how I was doing.  He would shoot an email to Dr. Powers to let him know what was going on. It wasn’t long until Dr. Powers called me.  He pretty much concurred with the pharmacist.  He said to take the Benadryl and an Allegra.  If I had cortisone crème, I could use it, too.  If it was not better by the time I was to take the Mekinist (I take it at 4 pm), I should stop it until the hives were all gone and then start it up again.  He said I was on the maximum amount of that drug (2 mg), and I could go down to 1.5 or 1 without losing any efficiency if we needed to do so. At the time I was talking with him, the itching was not all that bad, and some of it had even started to fade a bit.

Earlier in the week, I had sent Dr. Powers an email to clarify when I was to see him again.  I knew I didn’t need a CT scan for about 3-4 months, but I wasn’t sure if I were to see him monthly still.  So, while I had him on the phone, I asked him if I could get my lab work here and send it to him rather than come up there monthly like I had been doing.  I really saw no need to continue to see him monthly since I was doing so well.  My appearance, visually, is not changing all that much - can still see a little darkened area on my cheek, and the stubborn little scab on my forehead.  I have a small dark spot just above the hairline, but it is not changing, and I’m watching it.  The little one by my eye disappeared some time ago.  He said that plan was fine.

 By 4:00 when it was time to take my pill, the hives were pretty much all gone.  By bedtime, there was only a little pink area on my arms.  I went ahead and took another Benadryl at bedtime, for good measure.  Tuesday and Wednesday nights I had not slept much due to the steroid in my knee that kept me awake.  You either have a painful knee or you take steroids and stay awake!  😀  Oh, well…..  

So, most of Thursday, I wanted to sleep all day with all that Benadryl.  One never knows how I’m going to feel on any given day, but I have to say that I have more good days than down days, and for that I’m very thankful.  I just wish I didn’t have to sleep so much to really feel good.  It seems to waste so much valuable time.

I’ll leave you tonight with this cuteness – 2 of Jeannine’s rescue dogs.  The bigger one is Willow, her therapy dog she trained.

And as always......I'm in His hands.......