Hey there

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend. I had a great two days--lots of wonderful visitors, I did my 20 laps each day (or about 7,177 steps, according to my new pedometer), hung out with a cute therapy dog yesterday, played lots of Wii...the ski jump on the Wii fit is sooooo addictive! And I've discovered I'm a much more talented bowler on Wii than I am in real life...I'll have to practice once I'm allowed to go out in public again. :) I have decided that the Wii is a very rude machine though...the Wii fit calls you obese and estimates your age when you first register your character...well, it said my weight is normal, but my age is 45!!!!! What's up with that?! There was no extra button to click on that said "receiving chemo" so they could allow for that, or "leukemia patient" or anything. In fact, the Wii can't be that smart in general 'cause it said nothing about me having cancer! :) It was talking about what I could do to be healthier...too late for that!!!! hahahahaha
I'm feeling well...still have a bit of a sore throat and congestion, but the doctors say there's not much to do except wait it out. My neutrophils are 0, but I'm visualizing my white blood cells as cute little circles with top hats and canes jumping into my bloodstream, so hopefully that will help bring the count up soon!! In the meantime, I've developed some mouth sores, but they aren't hurting me (knock on wood!) I thought I had just bitten the inside of my cheek a couple times by accident, but one of my nurses said they were little blood blisters and they were one of the side effects of chemo. I didn't get these last go-round, and I'm very lucky they aren't hurting (toca madera again!) now. To help them, I use this stuff called "Magic Mouthwash"...it sounds like something happy and pleasant, right? WRONG! This stuff is nasty!!!! It's thick and creamy-looking and it just kind of coats your mouth, numbing it a little so you feel like you've been to the dentist. But if it helps, I'll do it!! Still, yuck!
Another annoying thing I have is a superitchy scalp. I think I overdid it with the scratching when my platelets were low because I have irritated red patches now. My doctor said there's not anything to put on it, so I'm just waiting it out. I haven't lost my hair yet, and there's always the possibility that I won't lose it 'cause not everyone does, so Laura, hang back with the shaving equipment!!! Don't worry...if I don't lose it with the high-dose Ara-C, I'll probably lose it with the Cytaxin. :) Honestly, if it's this itchy, I'd rather have it shaved. Everyone always told me I had a nicely-shaped head. :) Thank you to Kathy for bringing me the baby hairbrush and the gloves so I can soothe the itch without making it worse.
I had a nice visit with Tiso today and he made the good point that it must have been meant to be that the first bone marrow aspirate I had didn't have enough cells for my doctor to determine the leukemia was back (I had an aspirate just before we went to Seattle). That way, I was able to enjoy a trip with the whole family before being confined to the hospital and enduring the transplant process. I think he's definitely right because I felt good in Seattle and had a wonderful time--I was a little tired, but that was all. Somebody wanted to make sure I had a nice break before making me go through all this crap again. :)
Thank you, Katie, for all the pictures you brought! My room is even cheerier (if that's possible) now! I have to be honest though---the majority of pictures are of dogs so don't be offended anyone. I got to see my pups through an on-line chat yesterday and today, and they look cute and happy as always. They perked their ears up so I'm pretty sure they recognized my voice.
Let's see...what else? Not too much. I'm happy to report I think I'm the healthiest patient on this floor (knock on wood again!), which is good, but sometimes frustrating. OK, that sounds weird...let me explain: Everyone (nurses, docs, assistants) sees me doing my laps every day, they know I don't have any major complaints, I still have my hair, I shower and use the bathroom without assistance, I have lots of visitors and I'm always laughing and smiling (well, except for when I listen to the ocean and start crying over my oatmeal :) )...anyway, basically, I AM healthy, except for the leukemia that USED to be in my body (I need to remember to talk about it in the past tense because I believe the cancerous cells are gone now, although I won't know until they do a bone marrow). So they see me looking so good (in health terms, not in beauty terms...after all, I'm not allowed to pluck my eyebrows or wear makeup and now my hair will have to suffer too because of my scalp--no more fancy hair products!--not that it's important, but it's nice to fix my hair while I have it)...so as I was saying, they see me looking good, and sometimes I feel like they put me at the bottom of their list. My nurse during the day today told me they were really busy so I would be her "poor, neglected patient" today....I know what she meant by it, but it still got me to thinking: "Hey! I am still a cancer patient here!" I understand the job of a nurse is very difficult (after all, my mom was a nurse!), but I think no matter how sick a patient appears to be, you should at least make each one feel as important as the other. Some of my nurses do this, so it's not really a big deal, but it's something that was on my mind so I figured I'd share it with you. Personally, I'm really glad to be the best one on the block, and I sure hope it stays that way!!
I heard my parents received lots of yummy food today (and they brought me some deeelicious samosas--thank you to the Sethis!!!), and I want to thank my neighbors for that! It amazes me how everyone (not only my neighbors, but everyone I know) pulls together, and I feel like I have this gigantic support network. Knowing that makes my fight against this nasty disease feel a whole lot easier, and I thank all of you. I said (well, technically, I wrote :) ) it before, but thank you for your visits, your calls, your cards, balloons, food, e-mails (I'm still catching up on writing back, but I love reading them!), well wishes. Just know that I'm feeling well, I'm fighting hard, and I'm thinking positively. Thanks for helping me along through this crappy situation again (wow, that's poetic, huh?!) :)
Love ya.