MOVING FORWARD WITH GOD'S PLAN ...

Hi Friends!

I started this morning with an early (8:30 a.m.) appointment with Dr. Cohen. So, I got up early, which tends to be very hard for me. But I did it -- and after taking Cameron and Molly to school, Annie and I went to my appointment. Annie had sweetly offered to drive me as I am a bit dizzy due to the new fibro meds! I do OK with short drives, but the drive to T.O. was probably not a good idea for me. Because she was nice enough to take me, Bill was able to stay home with the boys and do some work from home at the same time!

We stopped at Jamba Juice and got our breakfast. We took a Jamba Juice for Dr. Cohen as well. He really feels like family at this point. My appointment with him went well. It was kind of funny, though -- he seemed quite overprotective of me! When I told him that Dr. Karpouzas felt strongly I needed to do 6 more rounds of chemo -- he was OK with it, but basically he left the choice up to me. Dr. Cohen feels I am doing really well, and he is just wanting to make sure that I am aware of all the risks (cancer, death, etc.) that go along with Cytoxan. I am, and I appreciate his concern -- but I am going with Dr. Karpouzas' treatment plan. I figure I should go with the most educated and knowledgeable opinion when it comes to CNS Lupus. And as Dr. Cohen has told me, Karpouzas is a "scholar" and he did write several of the chapters in the "Lupus Bible"-- the manual used by all rheumatologists in treating lupus. Also, I found it helpful that in prayer, God had told me to go with Dr. Karpuzas' plan, and that it was a gift for me!

So, all in all my appointment went well. Dr. Cohen says I am a real "success story!" I am down to taking only 6 meds on a daily basis. Considering that I used to take more than 20 -- I am thrilled. The new fibro meds seems to be helping, and Dr. Cohen says I should do even better as my body adjusts to all the medication changes. For example, I am now off Prednisone, which I took for more than one year. So, according to my doctors, my body is still craving the steroid high it grew accustomed to. Fun stuff like that!

After seeing Dr. Cohen (rheumatologist extraordinaire!), we went next door to see Dr. Menco (my favorite oncologist!). I paid him the $450 I still owed him from the last 6 rounds of chemo, so that we could restart with a balance of $0. I have an appointment with Dr. Menco on Monday, and I would imagine that after consulting with him -- we'll start chemo shortly after that.

I returned home and immediately lay down for a nap. After waking up, the boys and I did homeschooling. This afternoon the house cleaners came, which was nice. I took the boys to 7-11 and then to the park while they were here. I actually did some walking around the track at Lincoln Park. That was the first time in a while that I've walked! So, score 1 for me, o for lupus,fibro,etc. I had just been too fatigued and in too much foot pain to do it for the last while! Here's hoping I will be walking again soon! But I tried not to overdo today.

I then picked up the kids from school. Right now Cam and Molly are watching TV. And Nate and Isaac are playing in the backyard with Heather and Will. I'm going to sign off and work on laundry and making dinner!

Much Love,
Michele