October 12, 2017 Thursday
I didn’t get to sleep til two a.m.but my alarms started going off at 7:30. I got to hit the snooze buttons several times but I had to finally get up and at ’em. I put the dishwasher on, got packed for the time in Roswell, took the trash out and then left for the lab appointment.
I told the lab girl that since this was My last lab visit for a while, it was like we were breaking up!! We agreed that it was for the best!! Hahahaha. My numbers were very good and she declared me a free woman!
So then I headed home because the lawn mower repairman can’t get to pick up my mower til early next week and I didn’t want it sitting outside til then. So I cranked it up and moved it to the carport. I hope no one steals it.
Then I went to Mr Biscuit and got a serving of bacon for breakfast! Yum, yum, yum, 👅!!! As I munched bacon I drove to the surgeon’s office and got there a little early. So I sat and relaxed and enjoyed my bacon. At the right time Sue and I went in to meet with the surgeon. He examined my incisions and said they looked really good. He said I had a “complete pathological response” which I think means that chemo did a complete job of killing the cancer. He said it also killed any other cancer growing in my body that we didn’t know about. That’s good news. He also said that I had a nasty kind of aggressive cancer but since the chemo did such a good job that my outlook is very good. More good news. He did say that I will need radiation, probably every weekday for seven weeks, 35 treatments. He said the radiation oncologist will make the final determination as to how many treatments. I will start radiation about six weeks after surgery, so about mid-November and finish up in early January, probably. That is just in time to pay another large out-of-pocket deductible but he said the oncologist will be having me get lots of x-rays along and I will be very glad I have good insurance!! Thats about all I can remember from that appointment.
Then I went to the feed and seed store and bought grass seed and fertilizer for Frank’s back yard – that will get put down Saturday evening after he gets off work. Then I stopped at Wendy’s for lunch and talked to a man in Roswell about putting down sod in Frank’s front yard. He was at their house when I got there and we discussed prices and times and I think the sod will go down next week. I hope. Grass planting time is about over for the year so the timing is good.
Then I got to play with grandkids, push them on the swings and all kinds of good things. Soon it was time for Zoe’s’ gymnastics class. While we waited on her to finish class, Rachel and I talked to one of the parents who had cancer a few years ago and we compared situations. Her case was very similar to mine and she has had very good results. I’m just so surprised at how many people have gone through this!!!
Then we came home and I mowed much of the backyard while Zoë rode in the wagon (sitting on several pillows) being pulled behind the lawn mower, while Coen sat sometimes on my lap and sometimes in the wagon with Zoë. Not long after we put the mower up, we got back on the swings to play more. Then I heard a rushing of water and found water coming out of a pipe under the house right in front of the door to the crawl space. Rachel and I decided to call Frank who told me how to cut off the water supply. After lots of careful walking low under the house with a flashlight, I found the valve and turned off the Niagara River that had been flowing. Then Frank and a friend who has been a plumber came over and worked on it for a while and got it going again. Luckily the leak was in the best possible place it could have been and I found it within a couple minutes of it starting. We figure the septic tank people had knocked up again that connection while they were working here and that it was already a bad connection just waiting to explode. At least it picked a good time to do it since I was in the backyard near it at the time.
Then Rachel and I had dinner, we put the kids to bed and now it my turn to go to bed soon. What a day.
This will be the last blog entry for a while since I am at a standstill in my journey while waiting on radiation to begin. I will try to post about once a week or so just to let you know that I am still doing well and I will begin again when radiation begins. That should also be an interesting part of the journey. It has really helped my frame of mind to know that people have gone on this journey with me!! I really, really appreciate your help with it. Talk to you Later!!
Melanie's Journey Through Cancer 