Just Me LMJ

I just feel awful. As of Saturday, all I want to do is lay around. No energy, no pep. Sunday was a little better but today, my stomach feels as though it is as big as a tire. My fingers are tingling, food doesn’t haven’t any taste, and I have a headache. It is not that I am sleeping…I just don’t have the energy to move. I feel awful. Every part of my body feels like it is a piece of lead…so heavy to move. I know that tomorrow should be a better day and then Wednesday it will be back to work.

I have one more bad treatment….but will the weekly treatments really be that much better? Right now, I can’t think past today….only one day at a time. Tomorrow will be a better day.

Love, Lori

Saw the doctor and had chemo on Wednesday. My sister, Sue, took me. While we were waiting for the doctor, she was pretty entertaining as she showed me how to tell if someone is low on Iron. If you take a ring (has to be over 10 kt) and run the ring band down your face, if you are low on iron it will leave a green mark. Sue must be low on iron because she was leaving green marks all over her face. It was quite funny and I’m sure the doctor would have wondered what was going on had he walked in.

Anyway, I did receive a little negative news….I am low on potassium and right now the doctor just wants me to increase fruits and vegatables intake to see if I can raise it that way. Also, my hemoglobin (red blood count) is below normal. Not low enough that I have to have a blood transfusion (thank goodness) but low enough that I now need to get a red blood count booster shot. After my experiences with Mom, I had a feeling I was low, some symptoms are fatique, shortness of breath, and light headedness. All of which I have been experiencing. Of course, the shot has to be approved by my insurance company so I wasn’t able to get it on Wednesday. Since Thanksgiving was yesterday, I will go today for my Neulasta shot and hopefully my Procrit shot (if it has been approved).

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I had a great, quiet day. I had the meal at my house with lots of help from my hubby and kids, and Sara (Jeremy’s girlfriend, Jason’s girlfriend, Lauren, wasn’t able to make it). We even took a walk after lunch (the weather here was beautiful).

Today, I am a little less perky but other than to go get my shots, I plan a quiet day. I am praying that Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, are better than the last two rounds have been. December 6th is my last round of the nasty drugs and then beginning December 20th, I begin my weekly treatments of Taxol.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know that I am very thankful for my wonderful family and the support you all have given me. When I am out and about, I receive lots of positive comments about how good I look and how well I must be doing (sometimes I do put on an act). But I know that I couldn’t be doing it without all of encouragement and support I have received. Thanks again for everything!

Love, Lori

Last Sunday I was feeling absolutely rotten, exhausted and took real effort to move. Here it is a week later and I am feeling pretty good. No queasiness, have some energy and able to do stuff around home. Today I actually went shopping (a little tired now) which is something I haven’t done for weeks. I will be working tomorrow and Tuesday and then on Wednesday another chemo treatment (not looking forward to that).

Tomorrow is my son, Jeremy’s birthday. He will be 24. It is also the birthdays of two of my sisters, Teri and Sue. I will be nice and not list their ages (but they are older than me). Happy Birthday Jeremy, Teri and Sue! Hope you all have good birthdays and that the coming year is a little less stressful for our family.

Thanks again to all of you.

Love, Lori

Well part of my help us help others, I have setup a site where people of all types of cancer can have a blog just like this.  www.wontstopme.com  That stands for Cancer wont stop me.  Go to that page and click “create a new blog”.  Answer a few questions and that’s it.  You will get an email with a password which you can change and then start posting.  It’s really easy but if you do have questions about it email me at wontstopme@gmail.com  If you know anyone with cancer please let them know about the site.  It’s not restricted to people that I know. 

Thanks to everyone that sent me links for the breast cancer search.  It is searching 41 sites now and provides some good information. 

Another big thing going on: I own www.search2cure.com.  I wanted to turn it into a site that searches Google but the money made off of the site is donated to cancer research.  It will look and feel just like google, and I know that most people in the world use google.  Plus the more the site spreads around the world the more money cancer research will get.  Let me know what you think of the idea.  It isn’t live yet but if I get a positive response I can have it live in a few days. 

So again thanks to everyone for your support.  I just want to help as many people as I can.    

Jeremy        

It’s not that the “love yous” weren’t there before the cancer started, they were just not spoken as much.  Cancer has made it easier to express the way I feel towards you.  Just like a mother that doesn’t want anything bad for her children, I feel the same towards you.  I wish I could take some of your pain away from you just to make you feel a little better.  I would even take the cancer for a week just so you would have a week of a normal life again.  I know this is not possible so I say to you “the treatments will be over before you know it.”  Just like anything in life, as you get older you realize how fast life really goes.  You will look back on this 6 months of treatment and realize that it’s just a small dot in your life as a whole.  Make everyday count.  I love you mom. 

Don’t think about how weak you are — think of how strong you’re going to be. — Michelle (Berry) Dougherty 

I purposely have not written because when I went to post, I saw my son’s, Jeremy, posting and I thought it was the perfect post. He summed it up so well how I had been feeling! Jeremy is my oldest (23, will be 24 next Monday) and reading that post made tears come to my eyes. In fact, two of my sisters told me the same thing. For him to capture and relate to you how I was doing was so intuitive of him. His concern for me really shows through in his postings. I want Jeremy to know how very proud of him I am, how much I appreciate all he has done, and how much his mom loves him.

As Jeremy posted, the chemo has been very exhausting for me. Each treatment, the exhaustion has been a little worse. The absolute bad days have been Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday following treatment. It takes a real effort to do anything. I was not as sick (queasy) this time but the tiredness was worse. I was able to work today but my stomach did bother me all day.

As if my family hasn’t been hit with enough, we found out last Thursday that my Dad has macular degeneration in both eyes. The doctor told him he was legally blind in the left eye and the right eye was almost there. He absolutely can not drive. So for now, Dad is getting injections in his eyes that will hopefully slow down the progression and may even give him a slight improvement in his vision.

One thing about my cancer experience, it has taught me, and I believe my family as well, that life can change at any given moment. First with my mom’s cancer battle, and death, my cancer and now my Dad. We must appreciate the many opportunities we are given and truly count the blessings in our lives. I receive (and give) a lot more hugs and “love yous” from my children (and family) than I did before my cancer diagnosis. Maybe when I am all done with treatment and life marches on with chemo and cancer in the past, we may slowly move back to the old ways, but for now I will continue to feel very blessed and keep receiving (and giving) hugs and “love yous”.

Again, I say thank you for all your prayers, support, and encouragement. I know I couldn’t do it without family and all of you.

Love, Lori

“Cancer fatigue is a crushing, all-encompassing, incapacitating fatigue that is indescribable other than to say that it is completely draining (Cancer Fitness).”

 Well that’s how my mom is feeling the last few days.  She has been trying to get up and keep moving.  Not letting it get the best of her.  She has been over at my brothers house doing some things, doing things around the house and running errands.  But tonight she is really tired and watching some TV in her chair, I don’t blame her.  If you want to know the meaning of strength it is a “cancer patient” that gets up everyday and keeps moving even though every step is so hard to take.  That’s strength that most of us don’t know about.  Stay strong mom, the treatments will be over before you know it.  WE are all here with you. 

 Love ya,

Jeremy   

The breast cancer search is now searching 41 sites.  I have been playing around with it and it provides some very good information.  Thanks to the people who have submitted links.  It will help others who want to access great information on breast cancer.

 Jeremy 

If you are looking to talk with people about a medical issue or if you want to share your story check out Daily Strength You can chat, leave messages, and post your own experiences.

Also if you know someone that is going through cancer or if you are going through cancer and would like a site like this for yourself let me know. I would be more than happy to set it all up for you. It is really easy to use just ask my mom. Just email me at jeremy@justmelmj.com

Also my mom has treatment again tomorrow. I might take another picture of her at her treatment.

Jeremy

Here it is a few days later and I am feeling better. I went to work on Wednesday feeling not great but okay. I was feeling the best on Thursday. This treatment was the hardest so far and I can’t believe that in 3 days I have to start the whole thing over again.

The holidays will soon be here and I have no idea what or how I will get shopping done. I only have 1 good week every other week and I spend the work days working and at night recuperating. I know my family will help me and I am thankful for that. It is hard to believe that I will have 4 more chemo treatments before Christmas even gets here.

For now I am going to enjoy the next few days and hope the next treatment will be side effect free (ha ha) or at least better than the other treatments.

Love ya, Lori