TREATMENT #10: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED :-)

Hi Friends,

This again will be short, but at least I have use of both arms to type today. My good vein held up, and they were able to use it for treatment today. Praise God! And I was cleared from doing the Cytoxan (chemo drug) for this round. I don't have to do anymore Cytoxan until Dr. Karpouzas sees me on Sept. 28th at UCLA. So, with just the steroids, my recovery time will be shorter -- and I'll be hungry instead of puking. My hands, feet, knees, and head already feel better, so I guess it really was a lupus flare! It'll probably just be a weekend of mood swings and monitoring my blood sugar, and I should be back to my somewhat abnormal, (but normal for me) normal. That's what I call the "new normal!"

I slept well last night with the help of tranquilizers and sleeping pills. (Don't worry -- prescribed by my doctor's!) And I wasn't feeling well this morning, so I just stayed in bed until about noon. The kids were really good and did projects on their own. Isaac brought me breakfast in bed, Molly brought my pills, and even Nate came and watched TV with me for a while. At noon, I got up -- we had the kids do their chores and have lunch. Then I put on some clothes to go to treatment. All I could do was get dressed and brush my teeth and hair! No shower due to the IV port in my arm, and I was beet red from the steroids -- so makeup would have been pointless! It was one of those days that appearances don't matter.

Annie and I left for Thousand Oaks at 1:45 and I had my treatment at 2:15. Dr. Cohen had called in more diabetic meds for me -- so we also picked them up at the pharmacy near my oncologist. My blood sugar numbers grow higher as the steroids accumulate in my body. It doesn't seem to matter how well I eat or if I exercise.

I did the steroids and became somewhat manic. Talked to a really nice man getting treatment for prostate cancer. Dr. Menco thought I had a lot of energy, and he wanted to know if I could clean his whole office. Too funny :-)

Bill came home at 1:45 when Annie and I left, and he took over with the kids. He picked up Cameron from school. Then Cam and Molly stayed home while Bill brought Isaac and Nate to pick me up from treatment. That way Annie could go back to Simi Valley to meet her boyfriend,Allan, as they had plans for the weekend. Remember, this treatment was not originally planned for this week so we were all caught off guard. Now we're all at home, and I'm going to go lay down. Bill has plans to unload a last load from our moving trailer and start organizing the garage. This weekend he just has to go to Simi one last time for some final clean up and to do a repair on the pool. The new owners take possession of the house on Monday -- unless that changes again!

I'll try to blog more tomorrow.

Much Love,
Michele