UNCOOPERATIVE KIDNEYS...

Hi Friends,

I woke up this morning with the familiar signs of unhappy kidneys. The lupus has been especially hard on my kidneys -- attacking them most often. Why can we all just get along? So, I am starting the usual oral antibiotics (Levaquin) today and will hope and pray that they work. Because I have these type of infections so often, I have developed resistance to most of the oral antibiotics. So, often we have to treat the infections with IV antibiotics through my port. Here's hoping we don't have to go there. Bill is at work, but on his way home he'll stop to pick up the Levaquin as well as more Percocet, and for now I'll go on with my day to the best of my abilities.

I've been volunteering at VBS this week, working with the preschoolers on crafts. It's been a fun and rewarding experience for me. Molly and Cameron and Nate are also helping with the preschoolers as crew leaders. And Isaac is doing VBS. Bill is enjoying a well-deserved break for 2 hours every evening when we go. However, he does have to chauffeur us back and forth each evening since my driving privileges have been revoked.

Molly tripped and fell yesterday, spraining her ankle. It's still pretty swollen and sore. She has to use my cane to walk on it. So, she's mostly laying around on the sofa and the boys are waiting on her. Isaac is especially sweet to her! Molly has already decided that being sick is awful -- she's not one who enjoys being still. I know the feeling.

I'm going to sign off and rest a bit before the kids and I meet at chore time (4 p.m.). Bill has promised to be home by 5 p.m. with meds and to make dinner as I'm not feeling well. We have to be to church by 6 p.m. for VBS all week.

We are also excited as we've secured a rental house to move into next month. It's in the right school district for Cam and Molly to continue at Channel Island High School. And the rent is considerably cheaper, it's on one level, and is large enough for our family. So, once again -- we are blessed. We hope to stay there until we have completed building our house on the land.

Much Love,
Michele

QUICK UPDATE...

Hi Friends,

Sorry about my blogging absence. We enjoyed a nice visit from Bill's brother, Ken, and his family. So, I used all of my energy for visiting with the relatives. We spent the 4th of July with them at our house, and on the 5th we took them out to the land. On the 6th, we went to see Toy Story 3 with them, which was a real treat. And on the 7th, they stopped by in the morning to say good-bye. I spent a few days afterwards resting from all of that activity, but it was definitely worth it:-)

I've seen Dr. Cohen twice in the last 2 weeks. It's been 3 months since my last Rituxan (chemo) infusion, and the lupus symptoms are starting to come back. Last week I failed the neurological exam, which meant I lost my driving privileges yet again. My headache is back with a vengeance as well, but for now I am able to handle the pain by taking large doses of Percocet. You know it's bad when your doctor says he's never prescribed that much percocet to anyone else before, but "I'm just glad we found something to help you." At least it's not morphine or dilaudid right now:-) I have an appointment to see Dr Karpouzas at UCLA in the beginning of August -- so we'll see what he thinks. Dr. Cohen and I would like to hold off on the next chemo until it's been at least 6 months if at all possible. I'm thankful that the Rituxan helps with the lupus -- but it's never pleasant to kill your entire immune system. I'm in no hurry to start catching infections, pneumonia, etc. until the chemo is absolutely necessary.

My kids and husband continue to be supportive and loving. I feel very content and loved. And the lazy days of summer are the perfect time for being ill.

Much Love,
Michele

COUNTDOWN TO THE FL BLANDS...

Hi Friends,

Well, this will be short...still feeling headachey and doped up on Percocet. Our big excitement is tomorrow's visit from Ken and Hitomi and the 3 FL Bland boys.(Ken is Bill's brother) I am so glad to have family visiting...it's been TOO long since we last saw them. The kids are looking forward to meeting up with their Florida cousins. And I'm going to take advantage of the visit by making my kids clean their rooms up in preparation.

I just posted pictures from our Father's Day trip to the land on FB. I'll be sure to post a bunch of pictures after Ken and Hitomi's visit, too.

Happy 4th of July and Much Love,
Michele

P.S. -- A veteran is someone who at one point in his/her life wrote a blank check payable to the "United States of America" for the amount of "up to and including my life." Special thanks to all the veterans in my life:-) Your sacrifice means everything to me.

IT'S A HEADACHEY DAY...

Hi Friends!

My headache is getting worse...was trying to not focus on what that means...just got off the phone with Dr. Cohen who suggested we move my Rituxan infusion to this weekend. I told him I want to get in a few more weeks, so back I go on the nasty narcotics...percocet is making it slightly more tolerable. I'm laying down...may not post for a while. If I can stay off the Dilaudid -- it would be a good thing:-)

Much Love,
Michele

THE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS ARE HERE DOING CHORES...

Hi Friends,

Let me start with a funny story...During the summer, my kids have chosen to play all day and have free time with the stipulation that they're home by 5 p.m. to do their chores. That way the house is ready and chores are done before Bill gets home from work. I keep hearing from the other Moms in the neighborhood that their "kids won't do chores." Well, today Nate and Isaac came home at 5 p.m. with their friends, Mason and Matthew. The four of them begged me to let them all do chores together. I had to laugh. I now have 6 children (rather than my usual 4) cleaning up my house. And they're all very happy, because I told them they can go out to play while they're finished. Nate is reminding me a bit of Tom Sawyer today -- he can truly make anything seem fun:-)

Other than that -- I'm dealing with a headache today. I'm hoping it's not the lupus headache coming back. I tried several different meds to deal with it, but I am not having much luck. So, I elected to stay busy today and cleaned the dining room and kitchen. At first I thought I was making a bigger mess by cleaning -- because it just seemed like I was stirring up more animal fur. But now that I'm done, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. I can even walk on my freshly mopped kitchen floor barefoot without my feet sticking to food on the floor.

Bill is due home soon, and there are church activities tonight for Nate and Molly. I'm going to take it easy and do some reading. I did manage to get out of my PJs and get dressed after the cleaning -- so I'm golden!

Have a great day!

Much Love,
Michele

TUESDAY WITH ANNIE AND FRIENDS...

Hi Friends,

I had a lovely day today. Annie drove over from Simi Valley and brought two friends along for the kids. Regina is Molly's age, and Jesse is Nate's age. They all had a great afternoon together. Nate and Jesse spent hours at the park skateboarding, and Molly and Regina spent the afternoon hanging out and being girls in Molly's room. Isaac seemed to enjoy the quiet and having Nate entertained by Jesse. And Cameron hung out with me and Annie for a large part of the day.

Annie supported my Double Big Gulp habit today -- so I got my caffeine fix. And she brought us a lovely McDonald's dinner of chicken nuggets and fries, so my kids were in fast food heaven:-) Bill got home right before the Simi Valley friends went home at 8 p.m. It was a wonderful day spent relaxing and hanging out with good friends. Couldn't have been better, in fact!!! Now I am just playing around on the computer. And soon, I'm planning on heading off to bed...

More tomorrow!
Much Love,
Michele

SPEND THE AFTERNOON...

"because you can't take it with you..." --Annie Dillard

Hi Friends!

I had the perfect Sunday, which is why I was left with no time to blog yesterday. Our whole family made it to church together. Then when we came home...Nate and Isaac went to a birthday party for their friend Mason...Cam and Molly tidied up the house and then did whatever teenagers do...Bill went out to the land...and I took a long, lazy Sunday afternoon nap. We all met back up in the evening for pizza from Little Caesar's and I had some Scotch with Bill. Then after dark, I convinced Bill to take his vampire wife out for a walk around the neighborhood. It would have been prettier without clouds, because we couldn't see the moon or stars...but it was still nice:-)

Today I slept in and recovered from the Scotch and the walk. Bit of a headache after only 2 shots (WAH!!!). I can feel my leg muscles after the walk, so that is a good thing. I did a trip to 7-11 for some Monday energy in the form of a Big Gulp, and other than that -- just did a few things around the house. I cleaned up our master bedroom and the living room and then just hung out with the kids.

Bill got home late, but still made us a lovely dinner. We had linguini with roasted peppers and salad and broccoli. And then he cut my hair, which is in an interesting growing-out phase from the chemo. But he did a good job considering what he had to work with...he still flies as SuperMan!

I'm off to bed...more tomorrow!!!
Much Love,
Michele