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spoke too soon

Guess I'm only human.  Thought my second round of chemo was going to be as "easy" as the first but....... NOOOO.  I'm experiencing way more nausea unfortunately.  I don't think the chemo got stronger but perhaps my body is a bit weaker.

However, I'm a fighter and will get continue to improve - for sure!

Thanks for all the compliments about my bald head.  :) Here's another picture from the barber shop.

Had my second round of chemo today.  It was fine and I feel ok tonight.  My uncle Eddie has been here since Tuesday.  This is a photo of us at taken yesterday at the barber shop.  Eddie leaves tomorrow.  It sure was wonderful being with him.

Time for bed!

Love to all of you.

No Words Necessary

New Look

Here I am with Ladi - the nicest hairdresser ever.  He came to my house for this big event and made me feel like it was all ok.  He even put on one of my hats!

Not ready to show any photos of me without a hat.... yet.

I'm doing ok and am really glad it's over!

Bad Hair Day

So today's the big day.  I'm shaving my head this afternoon!  My hair is falling out more each day so I might as well just do it. My hair guy (Ladi) is coming to the house - so sweet.I have a bunch of hats and scarves.  Will have to see which ones look ok.

This is going to be weird...

Back In Treatment

Hopefully some of you know about this show.  I just watched the first two new episodes with Theresa.  We are total groupies and sat here enjoying looking at Gabriel Byrne and listening to everyone else's problems!

FYI - the show is on HBO on Sundays and Mondays.  

News alert:  My hair is really starting to fall out.  Look for updated photos later this week.

Today has been a nice and relaxing day.   The weather is spectacular!  We sat by the pool, sat on our outdoor patio and pretty much did nothing!  So glad I was able to come here.  The pain is less than it was yesterday.   

More soon...

ojai

Every time I come here I love it.  Sometimes I come for workshops.  Sometimes I come for fancy spa treatments.  But not matter what- it's always perfect.  Even when it rains - like it did the last time I was here with Jessica, Katie, and Cathy.

This time I'm with Tracy and we're at the Emerald Iguana.  Some of you know it -because I've been here with you!  We have a two bedroom cottage w/ two patios, cozy living room and a kitchen.  On the agenda tonight:  dinner and movies.

Hope you all have a great weekend!  If you're still having trouble posting on my blog feel free to just email me instead.

More soon..

Answer

Well, thank you to Rachel  and Peggy  for at least trying to answer my question on the last post.

Here's the answer..... (drum roll please).......  The thing that's different is that I'm wearing a shirt that is NOT a button down shirt.   Might not seem like a big deal to you but it means that I could lift my arms up enough to get in and out of a pull-over shirt. PROGRESS!!  Baby steps - yay!!

Now that I'm going to physical therapy I should improve at a quicker speed. Action - I need it.  It's all about the solutions not the problems.

BTW I loved being at my Wed night AA meeting last night. It was wonderful to see everyone and be part of the meeting again.

I'll write to you next from beautiful Ojai.  BFN

Guessing Game

Had a great morning.  Do you notice anything different about me (not the movie star sunglasses)?  Check back later for the answer.

Night Time Blues

Nights are the hardest time usually for me.  Last night I was up from 2-4AM trying to get back to sleep but dealing with a busy head.  I was listening to Pink Martini (do you know about this fantastic band from Portland?) and the song "Hang on Little Tomato" came on.  I've heard this song so many times but last night I really heard the lyrics and found it to be a song of hope.

Click on the word TOMATO to see the lyrics.  Hopefully the link will work!

Tonight I'm going to my women's meeting for the first time in weeks.  Can't wait!

That's it for now.

I went to Century City with David this afternoon.  Only went to two stores:  The Apple Store (what was your first clue?!) and Gelsons.  

Life is good.

A Quickie

Thought I'd do a quick post before going to bed.  Had a really good day today.  Felt good yesterday too.  Looking forward to the week ahead.  Check back soon for more info!

xoox Amy

Blood Work

Today I went to Tower Oncology to do some blood work.  They pricked my finger (ow!) and filled up a few things of blood.  The results were back quickly.  My numbers are low and that is expected while being on chemo. For those of you interested in numbers and/or those that understand this - read on.

My WBC was 1.14 down from 7.9.   Biggest drop is the platelet count. It is 87,000 and before it was 256,000.  Yipes!

Mainly they told me to watch out for fevers (100.5 or higher then I have to call) and infections.  Not planning on either anyway!

Battled more today with nausea and thankfully the meds helped.

It was a long day.  Time for bed now.

xox

 

A Quiet Day

Today was a relatively quiet day.  I had a great session with Kim (as always) and spent the afternoon at home.

I spoke with an old high school friend that I haven't seen since 9th  grade.  What a trip!  She lives in Utah and has seven kids.  We found each other on Facebook- so much fun.

Tonight a great food gift arrived.  It's from a company called California Chef Services.  I got to order 4 dinners and they all got here tonight.  And the food is delicious!

Tomorrow I go to the chemo place to have my blood checked.  Big whoop...

I hope you like this photo.  Cute kids huh?!

Hope you'll continue to check in here.

Bye for now.

Coping

  My chest hurts because I had 50cc of saline injected into me today.  This happens every week.  Anyway, it was suggested that I try to distract myself from all this pain.  So I've been playing on Photo Booth on my computer.

Any other suggestions for further distractions would be greatly appreciated!  :)

Stock Tip: buy shares of Purell!

Hello friends and family--

This is Cathy. I've been back in LA since Saturday and it's been so great to be back with Amy.  While I wouldn't ever say that chemo AGREES with her, I would say that so far it's  been way easier for her than we feared.  There has been no horrible nausea, no throwing up, nothing really unbearable.  There has been some mild nausea, but it's always been wonderfully responsive to the anti-nausea meds she has.  She is tired but she has bursts of energy sometimes during the day and we've gone out for walks each of these last three days.  Very wonderful and encouraging, especially because these are the "hard days" of the first week! She even went to her women's AA meeting tonight which was great for her.

Thanks to all of you who have continued to support her, bring her food, visit, email or call her, etc.  Your love is very apparent and means so much.

Now that Amy has started her chemo cycles, I wanted to let everyone know that it is super important that exposure to other people's germs is greatly limited.  The chemo, in all it's glory, also wears down her immunity which means if someone who has a cold visits her, she is likely to get it, and it could end up being more than a cold for her--which would not be good . So please--if you do come visit, please be sure to remember to wash your hands with soap and warm water (for 15 seconds!) as soon as you arrive at the house--before hugs or kisses!  Also, if you cook any food for her, it's especially important that you create your gourmet meals with extra clean hands.  Thanks for remembering these details!

Again, many thanks for all your love and support.

Cathy

Out and About

Yesterday I went for a walk with my sister.  It was a beautiful day outside and we took this photo to show that I AM getting  out of the house!  I also wanted to show off  my new "movie star" sunglasses.

Today we went to the chemo place (also known as Tower Oncology) to get my port checked.  It's bandaged up and there was blood and that freaked me out a bit.  Needed to be sure that it was ok.  Angela - the nicest nurse practitioner looked at it and put on a new dressing and said it was fine.  I felt much better!

My appetite is very low today although I did eat a decent breakfast.  Trying also to drink a ton of water (at least it feels like that to me).  Pain is better at the moment.  Just doing it one day at a time.

More soon...

Saturday update

My friend Katie flew back to Portland this morning and I miss her already.  She took me to a zillion doctor appointments last week and went with me to my first chemo session.  More  importantly i got to just be with her and let her help me.  Again, I am overwhelmed with the love and support I have from all of you.

Jessica flew in Friday night and we've been roommates for the weekend!  LOVE having her here.  She's making dinner tonight - yay!  More good news: my sister will be here tonight and is staying until Wed.

Quick physical update:

Went for hydration yesterday.  The hard part was getting a nasty shot that is supposed to help my white (red?) blood cell count.  Mainly it hurt my arm and it's still so stiff and sore today.  I was nauseous last night for the first time but the medication helped immediately and I even slept longer. 

I rebounded a bit today and had fun visiting with Tracy, Kathy and Nynette.  Tracy and I even made it over to the new Anthropologie store that is right around the corner!

I'm feeling tired but hopeful.  Thanks again for all your love.