The hot tub works!

The "spa in a box" I bought for myself before Christmas is now up and running.  I took my first dip yesterday & it was very relaxing. I need all the help I can get in the relaxation department, fer shur.

My astilbe and aquilegia plants are in the ground and I added some begonia bedding plants to the flower bed by the lower deck.  Temps in the 80′s yesterday made it a great day for working outside.  Lovely.   Monday I used my electric lawn mower for the first time & I’m pleased.  It’s very lightweight and I was able to do the whole front yard.  Using the gas powered mower I usually couldn’t do more than 1/3 before I ran out of steam…and that was before I had the cancer treatments.

I’ve gained a few pounds, so guess I’ll have to get back on the wagon & cut out the Ruffles for a while.  Ugh!   I really do enjoy my Ruffles breaks, but I don’t like weighing more than 132 lbs.  It makes me lethargic. 

No round tuits!

Well, humph!  I really hoped to do a better job at keeping this blog updated, but here it is February already and I’m just getting around to it (round tuit) for the first time this year.  I’m so bad!  I’m sure my numerous (j/k) fans are miffed.
Oh well, no use lamenting missed blog entries…on to latest news.

Last Tuesday, February 3, I had my last Herceptin infusion. YAY!   No more digging around for usable veins & having cold liquids drip into me & pretending it’s all OK.  No more "hydrating" the day before, drinking so much water that I slosh and have to pee every 20 minutes! YAY!

Yesterday I saw my PCP, my blood pressure guy, and got a prescription for an additional BP med.  This one is called metoprolol. Don’t know why he didn’t just up the amperage on my existing drug…sigh.  Also set up appointment for my next mammogram…tomorrow morning.  That’s a good thing…will have results before I go see oncologist, Dr. Melear on March 16.

I do so dislike having to deal with health issues.  Don’t like going to doctors, don’t like taking drugs.  Phooey!  I’m going to go find a self-hypnosis web site and talk myself out of all this!

Namaste!

Monday morning blues

I’m burying one of my cats this morning.  He’s the oldest of our five, but at approximately 10 years, still not old for a cat.  He was a good cat, really liked the Pugs and would cuddle up on the porch with them.  His name was Tut and he was found in a dumpster with his 4 siblings when he was only about 6 weeks old.  He got along with just about everyone, including the stray cats who moved in from time to time.  I’ll miss him.

As if that wasn’t enough of a downer for this morning, I just got a call from DH telling me we lost one of our companions in cancer treatment.  Her name was Sharon and she was in treatment for lung cancer.  She developed pneumonia and died this past weekend.  I guess that was why she wasn’t at treatment last Tuesday.  Sigh.

I’ll do an entry about the holidays later.  My heart’s not in it at the moment.

Brrrrr! Winter precip!

Weather forecast was for a cold front to move through yesterday afternoon and it certainly did!  One forecaster suggested a remote possibility of some mixed rain/snow.  I gots it!  Yay!  Last night while watching TV I heard a hissing noise & thought it was my TV going wonky, but it turned out to be sleet falling on the lower deck.  Luckily, I got most of my tender plants covered up yesterday when it was still nice and warm.

Monday was my three month check in with my oncologist.  He wasn’t too pleased at my telling him I just don’t feel good at all, ever.  So off to the lab for blood work.  Tomorrow is my last day to have to put in my eye drops & then I see eye doctor for follow up exam on Friday. 

Tut had been missing for over a week, then Saturday showed up on the deck looking like death.  No wounds or any signs of illness, just extremely skinny.  Looked like he might have been shut up for all that time without anything to eat.  Poor baby!  He’s living in my bedroom now.  No pets are usually allowed in my bedroom, but he needs to be there for a while.

We bought our Christmas tree last Sunday.  It’s rather short, but has a good shape and is nicely full. 

‘Tis the Season

HoHoHo!  Ready for some holiday cheer?  Me too.  Yesterday while C was out at his first Santa gig I got Wayne and Judy’s gifts wrapped and packed into a box all ready for taking to the post office.  Final gifts for the Freds and C are on their way from Amazon, should be here by Wednesday.  That takes care of my side of the family.

But it’s not even Thanksgiving, you say…well, you see, by doing my shopping reeelly early, getting everything wrapped and ready, I can concentrate on being mad at C for never being home to help with any holiday prep.  He is s’pposed to be on vacation all this week and I’ve asked him to help me around the house, moving stuff for me so I can clean floors, etc.  But he’s not here…nope, he’s off to the office.  Just can’t let work go undone while he’s "on vacation."   I know all this from years of experience, so the real reason I shop and wrap so early is that I know I’ll probably end up doing most of the work alone & it’ll take longer.

My goodness…is that rain I see?  Just opened the blinds and sure enough, it’s actually sprinkling.  Oh, that it would keep this up all day long!  We’re now more than 15 inches behind in our annual rainfall.  Sigh.  I had to break down and water my azaleas yesterday.  They looked really droopy.  Didn’t get all of them watered, but maybe this sprinkle will help the rest.   The annual rye grass seed I spread a couple of weeks ago is sprouting.  Time to spread some more & hope for seasonal rainfall.

Aha! Now I see!

I have two new eyes now.  The cataract surgery on the left eye was done on November 13.  What a difference!  I’m donating my old progressive lens bifocals to Carl’s Lion’s club & stocking up on cheap reading glasses.  I’ve bought 4 pair so far at a total cost of $16.00.  Keep one in my purse, one in my bedroom, two upstairs.  I know from past experience that whenever I need to read something, the glasses won’t be at hand, so I’m trying a saturation campaign.

Well, my new eyes are no match for Carl’s new truck.  Ironic that eyes cost less than a vehicle.  OK, well, that’s not really a fair comparison, is it?  I didn’t really get new eyes, just had the old ones fixed.  But then,  Carl could have had his old (2004) Saturn fixed, too.  But then, it has such high mileage.  But then….

As the year draws to its close, I’m down to single digits on my upcoming medical appointments.  December 2 my next Herceptin; December 4 a bone density scan at St. Mark’s; December 8 regular appointment with oncologist, Dr. Melear; December 12 follow-up with opthalmologist, Dr. Licatino. One more Herceptin infusion on December 23 and then I’m finished with 2008. Yay!

Carl’s new truck

Carl’s got the "new car bug."  He’s got it really REELY bad.  He has opted for a Ford 150 truck & is in negotiations even as I type.  Sigh.

Back in 2002 we got a USED 2000 Mazda minivan…kinda sorta for me ’cause I thought a minivan was practical.  In 2003 Carl got a NEW 2004 Saturn Ion…kinda sorta ’cause it was economical for driving to work.  About a year ago he started whining about the high mileage on his Saturn.  My cancer got in the way and slowed him down, but now that I’m better he’s back on the quest.  I’m too tired to try to work around it and besides, it sounds like he’s getting a good deal, so tomorrow morning we will probably have another vehicle in our parking lot.  I did make a request to him to clean out the garage so we could actually put two cars in our two car garage, but that will no doubt fall by the wayside in the "round tuit" battle.