Wednesday, December 27 – Happy Birthday Little Bro
Don’t want to out my little brothers actual age, we I’ll just say 40+ years ago I became a big sister. It was my late Christmas present. He slept a lot back then and threw up even more. He was born with pyloric stenosis; the sphincter muscle from the stomach to the intestine was too big and wouldn’t let food pass. At 6 weeks old he was back in the hospital having surgery. Since then he has spent the rest of his life making up for that first six weeks of starving! He is an adventurous eater and I have yet to hear of him turning any new item down. I love my brother as he has introduced me to several new foods I had never thought to try. At about the age of 2 he once ate half of every one of my crayons. Rainbow diapers for days! He once drank gas that a neighbor had left in a beer can to help did with priming on an engine he was working on. That was another admission to the hospital with chemical pneumonia. I missed him most when he joined the Navy and traveled the world, but he stayed in touch and brought home many new delicacies to try. I could go on all day on with memories of my little brother, so I won’t. I will say I love him with all my heart and I am so glad my parents blessed me with such a great brother who is not so little compared to me anymore. He grew up so much taller than me! Happy Birthday Little Bro!
Wednesday was also Infusion Day, so I had some things that had to be done, like taking my Zantac and Dexamethasone in the morning with the rest of my pills, than at noon take Benadryl and Tylenol in preparation for Infusion scheduled for 1 PM. Planned out my chemo bag the previous night, just needed to pack from my list in the morning. I also needed to apply this week’s temp tattoo:
Do you get it? I think I made it super easy this week.
We headed out at noon, and when we arrived at the office I realized I had not remembered to take the Benadryl and Tylenol. There is a pharmacy in the medical complex so we headed there and I purchased both and took them right away. Damn chemo brain! Hubby said I should and a reminder – just tell Siri to remind you. I knew I kept him around for a reason. I also recently taught him that little trick of Siri setting a reminder or alarm for him. I hear him using it all the time. LOL.
We arrived in time, but I was called back late, seems my liver enzymes were slightly elevated again and my Nurse for the day, Geremy, was waiting on the Nurse Practitioner, Susan, to get back to him on whether it was OK for me to receive the infusion. After some discussion with Susan, not only was it OK to proceed with infusion, but when they asked me about drinking (two very small sips of red wine Christmas Eve, then boiled Hot Mulled wine on Christmas Day), then the Tylenol day of treatment. They didn’t think it was the alcohol, but again, they think it might be the Tylenol. They don’t know why Deborah has me taking Tylenol as a pre-treatment as that is not a normal course of treatment. They told me to stop taking it. I will also no longer sip off another’s wine or beer until chemo is done during a celebration. Just can’t take the risk of ruining my liver!
Infusion proceeded as scheduled even though I took the Benadryl (and Tylenol) a 
bit late it was still within 30 minutes of infusion which is the minimum time limit. Flush IV bags are still in very short supply, so my flush was a push, before the Chemo started. I set myself up with my new easy knitting pattern for a cowl as I am noticing my neck get’s cold but not my head. I put a hat on, but I’m still cold. Need to fix that.
Also had my iPad so I could watch a movie or start watching the second season of “This is Us”. I had an hour on the Taxol and about 45 minutes on the Carboplatin. There is the set up time and flushing before and after, then the adding of the Heparin to prevent blood clots before we unhook from the port. Then I am ready to go, right about two hours from the time I go into an infusion room.
We have decided to gut the kitchen and get started on cleaning up the house. It is in desperate need of updating. We’re no longer going to allow my cancer to stop our plans. Since we’re gutting first, then reaching out to a designer to proceed with the rebuild, we also thought it would be a good idea to research pricing on new appliances and have an idea of what we want to install before we reach out to a designer to start the planning and build out process. We stopped by Pacific Sales on the way home. We walked out more confused than before. I want dual fuel range (stove top/oven combo) or a separate gas cook top with electric double ovens. Hubby wants microwave/vent installed above cook top even if it is a range or just a cook top. He doesn’t want digital controls on the oven(s), good luck with that!), and when it comes to a new refrigerator built ins all seem so shallow, at least the ones we saw. The stand alone units were deeper, but they all seem to come with ice/water dispensers and the finishes were not what we wanted. The Stainless Steel ones really picked up fingerprints horribly, and the non-fingerprint finishes looks horrid.
We’re going to stop by another appliance store Thursday to see if we can find other options other than just Viking as being the one brand we saw that had what we wanted in looks and style but the price range…. OY.
I also have an Acupuncture appointment Thursday morning, so we will probably go after my appointment.
I was tired after my chemo treatment so we didn’t stay long at Pacific Sales. Besides Hubby had a cat to feed.
I have upped my dosage of CBD oil; I am now doing two drops every morning and night, with a one drop kicker mid-day. This seems to have improved how I am feeling. Still not eating very much, but not feeling so full for so long after I do eat, and indigestion in getting better. Will try this dosing for a few days to see how it works before I decide if it needs more tweaking.
As bed time neared, I was tired, but I didn’t take any changes and took the Lunesta pill as I headed to bed. I still had to wait longer than normal to fall asleep, but I did and was up only about an hour later than normal now.
Life is learning to control your meds to keep the body happy
Glad chemo went so well. Also very glad that you are redoing your kitchen. You may want to contact a kitchen designer or an interior designer before you start gutting. It will be much easier for them to visualize a new space by seeing what you have now. There are so many creative ways to make the space larger and more useful. Having had two microwave/hoods over cooktops, I would never do that again. Perhaps there will be another spot for a microwave in a redesigned layout. I do miss my double ovens even though I don’t cook as much anymore. When I do, I really wish I had the second one. Have I told you that I love my gas cooktop but hate that the oven is also gas? The self-cleaning feature isn’t very good and the broiler isn’t worth using. Your idea of dual energy is right on. Is your house wired for 220? You need property brothers to come and help you! What will you do with your stove? It’s not that old. Can you sell it for a decent price? You are right about built-in refrigerators. Counter-depth is not very deep. The one we had on Barron Park was totally inadequate which is why we had so much in the garage fridge. So, unless you want two refrigerators, fagedaboudit. Get several estimates from different designers before you begin. Is Robert going to do the work himself or will you have a contractor? Make sure you check their references not only from their customer list, but also with the State Contractors’ Licensing Board. You don’t want to end up in the kind of mess we did with the backyard. Can’t think of any more unsolicited advice to give you on this other than make sure you really like what you are going to do before it gets done. Once it is finished, it’s finished. LYTTMAB!
Oh, and don’t forget to go and see other kitchen remodels that the contractors have done. That is the best way to decide if you will like their work.