"FISHING DAY," BY NATE AND ISAAC

Hi Friends,

I'm feeling relatively normal and we're up and home-schooling and trying to have a "normal" today. The boys had a great time fishing yesterday, so they're dictating their experiences of yesterday for English class today. Enjoy :-)

Love,
Michele

First, we got up at 4 a.m. and took an hour-long ride to the ocean. We got on the boat. They passed out pieces of paper, and we each had a number. We used the numbers to get food.

After we got to the fishing spot, we each grabbed a fishing rod and started to fish. We caught 6 fish. They were barracuda bass. Then at the front of the boat, someone caught a fish that was 4 feet long!!! They paid $5 to get it cut up and put in a bag. We got our fish cut up, too.

There was a restaurant on the boat. I had a hamburger and a soda. I also had a Snickers bar.

Then they started to go to the harbor. Once they parked, we got out and drove home. We took our fish home, but only Dad wants to eat it. Really, we only caught it for him! I enjoyed my fishing trip, and I hope I get to go again soon.

--By Nathaniel R. Bland

We got up at 4 in the morning. We left our house and got to the place. We stopped at McDonald's for a little breakfast snack.

And then the boat arrived. We got on board and we got our numbers. Nate was #18, I was #19, and Dad was #20. Then we got to see the bait. We used live bait. We stabbed the bait on the foreheads because that's the hard spot and they can't get the hook off. So after a while, they give up and just try to swim away. Then you usually get a bite.

So after 2 hours, we arrived at the fishing area. We moved to deeper water so we could catch bigger fish. The deep water was about 2 miles deep, but the anchor could make it all the way to the bottom! But we caught all our fish in the shallow area.

When you get a fish, it pulls really hard and you have to use all your muscle. It was hard, but I liked it.

Then we ate some lunch at the restaurant on the ship. The cheeseburgers there were the best, and they had a real grill.

Then after a while we started to head home. It was a long drive home. But we got in the car and left for our real home. Mom was glad to see us! I had fun!

--by Isaac John Bland

LIFE HAS ITS UPS AND DOWNS...

Hi Friends,

I'm doing fairly well today after treatment -- just riding the highs and lows of my steroids and blood sugar. I got a good night's sleep and woke up at 7 a.m. I checked my blood sugar, which was super-high, and so took a glyburide to lower it. Something told me ( I'm not a novice anymore) to eat a banana at the same time so that I'm wouldn't drift off into a diabetic coma back in bed. Fast forward to 9 a.m., when I wake up for real for the morning -- take my meds, and test my blood sugar again. It's 81 -- good number, but definitely good I ate the banana. So, I'm filled with steroid energy and decide we all need breakfast. I decide to make cinnamon rolls and check e-mail while they're baking. Only about 1/2 later I realize I can't think and am shaking -- blood sugar in the 40s, not good. So, I drink 2 sodas and eat 2 cinnamon rolls to get it back up to the 80s again. Bill says no more glyburide for the day. Better to keep the numbers high, than low -- I'm less likely to die. And as the steroids leave my body, the numbers should get better! If it gets super-high again, I can always take half a pill.

My mood has been fairly good. I've resisted the urge to clean the house obsessively. Instead, I talked to friends on the phone. I also received a bunch of the kids' homeschooling books today, so I lay in bed reading and researching for this year's curriculum. The timing was good on that! It gave me something to do which didn't require a lot of energy. I even managed an afternoon nap.

Mostly I'm just trying to stay in my room and rest as the steroids make me jumpy, which makes it difficult to deal with the kids even when they're just being kids. And they are being good! So, Cam and Molly are babysitting the boys nicely. Bill is in Simi (for hopefully the last time)finishing up on the house. He should be back in a few hours.

Tomorrow, Bill, Nate, and Isaac are going on a deep-sea fishing trip on a chartered boat. It's through Cam's old Boy Scout trip in Simi, but it's really not Cam's type of thing. For, Bill, Nate, and Isaac, however, it's a dream come true! Hopefully, it will be a nice time of bonding, and I can even count it as a home-schooling field trip, since we were off to a slow start this week.

I am now going to go back to bed and rest some more. I am hoping to take it easy today and tomorrow, and then maybe be back to somewhat normal by Monday. Annie says she'll come back on Monday if I need her. I really do have the best friends EVER :-)

Much Love,
Michele

P.S. -- Hopefully, tomorrow Bill can post some deep-sea fishing pictures of him and the boys!

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

DAY TWO OF TREATMENT #1O

Hi Friends!

This will be short as I spent today as a human pincushion, and so I am forced to type one-handed. Annie took me to Dr. Menco's today for Day 2 of steroids by IV. My veins were more uncooperative than usual, and it took 3 tries to get one IV started. As a result, we want to keep that one nice vein for tomorrow's treatment. So, when I finished, after about 2 hours -- they left the needle in my vein, capped it off, and made it into a port for tomorrow. Not much fun as the vein is in the elbow of my right arm! It's very uncomfortable, and while I was very manic and happy earlier today, now I'm just alternating between steroid rage and weeping! YUCK!!!

After my treatment, Annie and I ate lunch. We then drove to Malibu to sign escrow papers on our Simi house. Bill met us there with the kids. Annie was kind enough to hang out with them in the air-conditioned truck watching DVDs and eating Jack in the Box while Bill and I signed the papers. Again, not good timing to be signing lots of papers, with a port in my right arm! But we got it done!

Then Bill took the kids home, and Annie and I went to pick up Cam from high school. She dropped me off at the way at a grocery store by his school so that I could do some shopping. The timing worked out well and I was done just as she showed up with Cam. Only one problem -- it was a Fresh and Easy store with only self-checkout and bagging. I guess I looked pretty pathetic with my cart of groceries and my heavily bandaged hand that I had to hold straight, because a nice manager came and helped me.

The kids and Annie helped with the groceries and we did some chores around home. I was starting to feel a bit obsessive and didn't want to go on a cleaning frenzy since I'm supposed to be keeping my arm straight -- so I decided to take the boys over to the fountain where there is a big walking/biking path. I did 4 rounds walking while they biked, and then I felt a bit better and came home.

Annie ordered Domino's for dinner -- surprising us all. So we had dinner and are now in the process of doing baths and bedtime. Bill and Isaac ran to the drugstore for me as I need more lancets for my diabetes meter. Can't wait to see what my numbers say! I tried to be good -- for breakfast an oatbran-blueberry muffin, for lunch a veggie sub on wheat, for dinner 2 slices of pizza and lots of carrots. But the steroids alone really elevate your blood sugar. So, more pricking tonight for the human pincushion! IVs, and lancets, and insulin! Oh my!

Annie took some pictures of me today, and she's going to add them for me. I need to go lay down.

Much Love,

Michele

P.S. -- Pictures of the plants are those potted by my sweet homeschoolers :-)

DAY ONE OF TREATMENT #10

Hi Friends!

I take no responsibility for the content of today's blog as I am as of today the "crazy steroid lady" I got up at 8 a.m. crying because my headache was so bad. Bill, of course, always tells me matter-0f-factly that crying will only make it worse. But it just hurt so badly that I felt like I could only lay in bed and try not to throw up. So, I took 2 narcotics and 2 anti-nausea drugs and it took the pain down a couple notches -- like from a 10 to an 8. So, I was able to bathe, take my regular meds, drink lots of water ( in hopes of a good IV stick) and then leave with Annie at 9:45 for my 10:15 appointment. Bill took Cameron to school and then came home to work and homeschool the kids. He had high hopes of making it back to work, but that never happened --

Good news, they got my vein on the first stick, but because of my uncooperative veins and because it was my first steroid treatment in a while they ran the drip super slow, and I didn't make it home until almost 3 p.m. By that time Bill was gone picking up Cameron from school. (Praise God, he got a locker today. He ran really fast to beat the mob and was 5th in line. Now that's my boy:-) Molly was babysitting the little boys when we got home.

Annie took good care of me at my treatment. She brought me Jamba Juice for breakfast and Subway for lunch. And she even picked up donuts for the kids for an after-school treat and breakfast tomorrow. What a sweetie!

When we got home, I sent Molly off with the boys to the park and they stayed and played for several hours. By this time the steroids had really kicked in and I was jazzed. So, I went on a cleaning frenzy -- swept all my floors, emptied garbages, tidied up, did all the laundry, cleaned the bathrooms, watered flower, etc. I even made (with Annie's help) pork chops, seasoned potatoes, and corn for dinner. It was our first real dinner here in a long time. With all the moving, we've been eating out too much!

Bill was wiped out due to all his moving. He's been at the Simi house every night after work until about midnight. So, we didn't let him go tonight. Instead, we made him take a nap, and he slept from 4-9 p.m. We sign the escrow papers on the Fletcher house tomorrow afternoon, but the closing -- when they take possession, as it turns out, isn't officially until Monday. So, he's almost done and has a few more days to finish up.

I'm going to go now. All the little ones are tucked into bed. I need to go plan out Thursday and Friday with Annie and Bill. Tomorrow I have treatment at 9:30 a.m, and we sign the escrow papers at 1 p.m. Friday I have treatment at 2 p.m. I'm not sure if I'll have Solumedrol (the steroid) and Cytoxan (the chemo) on that day or not. Two of my doctors (Cohen and Karpouzas) are still in conflict. But, they promise to come to a consensus by Friday and let me and the oncologist know. And at this point, I figure they are WAY more qualified than me to make the decisions.

On a good note -- the steroid today took my pain way down -- like to a 2 or 3 (that's good enough as it never ever goes away), and the relief lasted until about 8:30 p.m. At that point, I had to take more Darvocet to at least numb it to a tolerable level. Tomorrow and Friday should get better as far as pain levels. Only problem is I'll become diabetic and have to do insulin for the rest of the week. Also, as previously mentioned -- I get very emotional and cry a lot on steroids. It's a real roller coaster. But it's the journey that God is using to refine my character. The kids and I decided today -- I'm a fragile butterfly struggling to come out of my lupus cocoon. So treat me with love and care.

Much Love to all of you, too.
Your Prayers Mean So Much to me.

Love,
Michele

FIRST DAY OF HOMESCHOOLING/MEDICAL SURPRISES

Hi Friends!

Today did not turn out at all as I expected -- but then you know what they say about the "best laid plans!" Annie arrived early in the morning, and we left for my appointment with Dr. Cohen at 9 a.m. The good news is that I am actually closer to his new office from my new home. It takes about 20 minutes to get there rather than the 30 minutes it used to. I talked with Dr. Cohen about my worsening headaches and the pain is severe again in my joints. So, he decided we needed to start Solumedrol (high-dose IV steroids) again ASAP. He is not sure whether we will continue with the Cytoxan or not as he is not sure it's helping. He was calling Dr. Menco (the oncologist) and Dr. Karpouzas (from UCLA) to get a group consensus. So, he sent me off with orders to get more lab tests -- the usuals before they blast me with all the toxic stuff. We went to the lab to get that done. Isaac had come along as he tends to worry about me when I go to the doctor's. We hit 7-11 on the way home, and then went to Taco Bell to bring lunch home for the home-schoolers who had been patiently waiting for me. Bill had stayed with Nate and Molly for a while, and then went off to work, leaving them home alone.

We had a nice lunch, and worked on some plans and class rules for homeschooling. Then we went to Home Depot to buy plants for our science project. We discussed the plants and planted 8 plants for Nate/Isaac's room. They got really into it:-) And we planted the two window boxes in our upper windows -- the laundry room and Cameron's room. Also, we planted a pretty pot for our front porch and our patio. That took quite a bit of time. After that the kids did their reading and some more schoolwork.

And then -- I received a call from Bill. My doctors called him to tell him that Solumedrol ASAP means they have scheduled me for 10:15 a.m tomorrow morning. Wait a minute -- what about my planning and my nesting? How will everyone survive without me for 3 days? But, I am blessed because Dr. Menco has agreed to do it in his office, so I won't have to be admitted to the hospital. I will get all the details on it from the doctors tomorrow -- as far as whether I need to do the Cytoxan, too. Dr. Cohen is now talking about an experimental treatment for lupus that may work for me at UCLA -- but that's up to Dr. Karpouzas. I have an appointment at UCLA on Sept. 28th and then back to Dr. Cohen on Sept. 30th for the new master plan. I really do trust my doctors though -- they are all great. So, I took a tranquilizer to deal with my unexpected news and decided to trust God! He knows what I need and will give me the faith/grace to deal with it all.

Tonight Bill and Nate are at Simi Valley loading the last of the last of the stuff -- I hope. We sign papers and close escrow on Thursday of the week. So, all of our stuff needs to be out and the house needs to be ready by 11 p.m. I hope they will get most of it done tonight.

Annie is spending the night, and she will take me to my oncology appointment tomorrow. Bill will have the homeschoolers. And Cameron will be the only one having a normal day at Channel Islands High School. Lucky him!

Funny story: Cameron still doesn't have a locker at his high school. He bought a lock and got a receipt for it. And he was supposed to turn in the receipt and get assigned a locker. But he couldn't figure out how to do it. So, today after school, Bill went and helped him stand in the very long line after school with tons of other kids. After waiting 45 minutes, and with about 75 people left in the line --- the announcement was made --"We're out of lockers. Come back tomorrow!" Apparently they'll have more lockers tomorrow. I truly don't get it. But Cameron will be standing in that line every day after school until he gets one. We told him he needs to get there as quick as possible tomorrow now that he knows where to go. So, even poor Cameron has some stress these days!

I'll write more tomorrow after my treatment if I'm up for it. The steroids are bad. They give you frantic energy and make you very emotional. But Please God, I just need the headaches to go away!

Much Love,
Michele

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

Hi Friends!

Our internet just got hooked up, so I now am able to communicate via blog again. And the kids have their PRECIOUS TVs back. Cameron was counting the day, let me tell you :-) I'll try and get back to blogging daily again, but I just wanted to let you know we are all still alive and well.

We have been settling in and unpacking here, and we are making great progress. Bill has been back to Simi Valley each day -- usually bringing a kid or two along. They brought a big load from the garage last night. I am told that all that is left is what's in the backyard shed there. UGH!! And then Bill will do a final sweep of the house. I'm worried about him, because he's been putting in really long hours and doing a lot of the moving work on his own. I wish I could help more.

Cameron started school at Channel Island High School on Tuesday, and he is doing well. He has some interesting and challenging classes, including Marine Biology, Psychology, English Literature, Algebra, and US History. He seems to be adjusting well -- or as well as possible for Cameron. He is definitely enjoying having his own room!

The boys are enjoying their master suite, and they are cleaner than I ever thought was possible. They sometimes take 3 or more baths a day in the soaking tub. But, I'm fine with that! Now if I could just get Cameron to like bathing or even showering that much! The little boys love riding their bikes around the area. We have several parks nearby, so they have a lot of freedom here!

Molly continues to be my sweet little angel, and she has been lots of help with the unpacking and organizing. She, too, loves her new room, and she and Cam share a bathroom with double sinks
-- so having 3 full bathrooms (with 5 sinks -- Bill and I manage to share!) is a definite upgrade for all of us!

Tomorrow, Nate, Isaac, and Molly will begin homeschooling. We'll be using the ABeka curriculum again, and I think we're all excited to get started. I'm not sure if we'll get a ton accomplished tomorrow as I have a doctor's appointment with Dr. Cohen at 9:30 a.m. (Annie is going to come and take me. And Bill can work from home in the morning.) I have big plans for the afternoon though -- we're going to have a hands-on science day and plant gardens in our window planters. We will also set up school rules and guidelines and maybe explore the local library for reading material.

I need to sign off for now. Bill is going to take me grocery shopping. Also, I need to help the kids with final clean-up on their rooms, so that we're set and ready for our first week "Back to School."

Much Love,
Michele