I'M DONE WITH CHEMO, I'M DONE WITH CHEMO :-)

Hi Friends,

It's been a busy week, and I guess I haven't got around to blogging. So, let me catch you up on what we've been doing. Bill went to China Lake for work on Monday and Tuesday. Both days he caught a flight on base to and from there. It's a 20 minute flight from one base to the other! He left early in the morning and got home late both nights, leaving me on Cam's school drop-off and pick-up.

Monday we did school with the highlight being watching the Left Behind II: Tribulation Force. We've been learning about the Book of Revelation in Bible class. We also took Itty Bitty Kitty to get her shots on Monday.

Tuesday we had the day from HELL at Western Dental here in Oxnard. I had made appointments for cleanings/check-ups for Molly and Isaac at 9:30 a.m. After 3 hours of waiting, we had only gotten xrays done, and the kids had been laying in dental chairs for over an hour waiting for a dentist to see them. We finally just left without even exams or cleanings. It was truly horrible. I called my dentist in Simi Valley and made appointments with him for all the kids next month. I'd rather drive to Simi, visit friends, and have a nice dentist -- instead of dealing with such a long wait and terrible customer service.

The good thing about Tuesday was that we hired a cleaning service. Starting in October, we will have weekly cleaners coming on Mondays. And that will make me VERY happy.

Annie came last night after dinner and brought me a Big Gulp. I hadn't had one since the last time she was here. So, that was very nice. She stayed with the kids this morning and took Cameron to school this morning while Bill took me to UCLA.

I had an 8:30 appointment with Dr. Karpouzas this morning. We had to leave our house at 6:45, which was way too early! My appointment went very well. Dr. Karpouzas OK'd me to stop chemo after the 9 cycles that I've already done. He is going to manage my lupus with CellCept (oral medication) instead to keep the CNS lupus from attacking my organs again. I'll be on it for at least one year and we'll have to do bloodwork every 2 weeks to make sure my blood counts are OK. He was happy that my fibromyalgia meds are working well and that the steroids controlled my last flare. But he doesn't want to keep using pulse steroids on me, since they're so hard on the body. According to him, most people with lupus have a flare about every 16 months -- but it generally doesn't attack organs. So, with the Cytoxan done and on the CellCept, we should be able to control the beast a bit better. I feel confident in his plan. I will continue to see him every 3 months and Dr. Cohen every 2-4 weeks. I definitely have a good team.

By the time Bill and I got back from UCLA, it was almost noon. Annie and I took the kids to McDonald's for lunch, and then we went to a Children's Museum here in town. There were a lot of hands-on exhibits and the kids had a very good time. We stayed all afternoon until it was time to pick up Cameron from school.

After picking up Cam from school and getting home at about 4 p.m. -- I was very tired, so I lay down for about an hour. I got up at 5 p.m. in order to break up a fight between Nate and Isaac. We ate left-overs for dinner and have just been hanging out. The kids are thrilled to have Annie here, because we all have missed her.

Bill is in Simi Valley. He drove there after work to give the new owners of the Fletcher house their keys. And then he was going to his Men's Group. So, hopefully he'll be home soon. Right now the kids are off to bed, and I think I'll be following soon. I have a bladder infection. YUCK! Just when I thought I was doing so well -- my bladder rebels! Oh well! My doctors let me keep meds on hand for that as I get them so frequently.

Have a great night :-)

Much Love,
Michele