The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Got through the First Round of Chemotherapy today!!!
Ever seen The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly?? Well, here's my version :)

The Good - ANDREW GOT ME AN IPOD TOUCH!!! YEAH!!!!! I have been wanting an iPod so badly and I finally got one! The running joke is that it took me getting cancer for Andrew to finally get me one. :) It is so cool! Today during treatment, we just sat there playing with it almost the whole 2 hours or more of treatment. It was totally a distraction from the IV so it was great for me! Andrew downloaded my favorite songs, pictures, and the Cancer Center even has WiFi so I can be on the Internet too! I love living in this new century of technology! I can watch videos, play games...a ton of stuff to keep me busy during treatments. I love it and I love him!! Thank you so much Andrew!!
So there I was, laying back in my chair, hooked up to the drugs, listening to Jack Johnson during the smooth drugs and Juliana Theory during the last drug that seemed to hurt a little more. I can't wait to put the CD of Praise and Worship music that Krysti made me and the new CD that Natalie gave me. Thanks so much girls, it was so nice!

The Bad - It stung just a little bit when they hooked me up to the IV from the port, but that should feel better once my port wound is all healed. Also it felt TOTALLY weird when they administered the drugs. They all have to be refrigerated so when they ran through my veins, it was so cold! I can only compare it to swimming. Have you ever been swimming where the deeper you go, you instantly feel a cold sensation? Thats what it felt like. They gave me a shot that should help with nausea for the next few days. That's good:) Then a steroid shot...I heard I might not sleep with this tonight. I had to eat a pop-cycle during the 'A' drug so I won't get any of the side effects to the mouth, the 'V' and 'D' drugs were a breeze, but the 'B' drug gave me a little trouble. Nothing too bad, I just felt a lot more queezy and irritated in the chest. (As a side note, I have a new friend from Wisconsin who was diagnosed with the same cancer the same week I was and her tumors are in the same place. She is 28 and just had a baby last week! Keep her family in prayers too, as I almost feel guilty that this happened in such a perfect time in my life right now. No kids and no work cause I'm a teacher and have the summers off. She is a definitely a Warrior Chick and an inspiration to me! Thanks Cheri for suggesting this book! It's called Warrior Chick, check it out sometime if you have time Ladies!) Anyway, chemo side effects are no fun. Right now, it feels like having the flu. The nausea just comes in waves, but only last a few minutes. I had a head ache for most of the afternoon and slept a TON! Meds are wonderful though! And Andrew has taken such great care of me. He's there for anything that I need, he's been wonderful! This is me at the Cancer Center getting my first round of treatment. It was so surreal walking up there today. Never would I have EVER thought I would be doing this. Andrew and I even walked in slow motion to the door, just to have the full effect like the movies do. :) All we were missing was the breeze in our hair! We gotta make the best of this you know, anything to make you laugh!

and The Ugly - well, here it is. I wanted to see what the port looked like, but all I found was this ugly thing! The nurse took off the bandage today and OUCH! I had one big piece of tape over it, and she tried to go easy, but peeling band aids off are the worst! I get to shower tonight so I can clean up the wound a little bit more...not to mention clean this girl up a little too! I must say I'm not in my prime appearance stage of life right now :)

We got to pray with some ladies at our church this morning. So nice to have them around and help lift us up during this time like all of you are doing. I loved that they added Andrew to pray for too, he is just as much apart of this as I am. And tonight my dad made us potato soup and watermelon/cantaloupe salad....SO GOOD! So for the rest of the night, Andrew and I are counting our blessings and enjoying each others company. Its a Friends and the Office rerun kinda night :)

Yesterday, was another busy day! My moma and I went to St.Rita's again to get the Pulmonary Function test done. This was RIDICULOUS! Since I can't take a deep breath anyway because of the tumor AND can't take even a deeper breath because of the port being put in a day before, needless to say, I did not pass this test. The nurse kept saying 'Let's try it again.' And finally I asked, 'Am I failing this test?'. She said 'Well, you could be doing better.' Shot in the heart! I decided that I can't pass them all, so oh well. They just needed baseline data to so that when they test me again during treatment, the drugs are not effecting my lung function at all. Well, honestly, I did so bad it can only go up from here :) I was getting kinda down about this during the test, then God intervened and helped me out. Like usual! He brought in the mom of one of my best friends growing up. She was my first 'girl' friend I ever had (that's when the boys I used to play with in the neighborhood decided I was a girl and wouldn't play with me anymore :) We literally played Barbies and swam at the pool for HOURS at a time. I was brought to tears when I saw her mom and her motivating words for me. SOOO....after that test I asked my mom to take me to my friends work to surprise her. I can't believe how much I've missed her! We all went out to lunch at Kewpee (this time I ate everything!). It was such a good time catching up and made me see that I have some really good friends out there. Love you, Ash!

Ash and I at Kewpee.

I also had some other visitors who mean the world to me. My coworker who teaches with me and her daughter came over (with an Oreo Blizzard!). We sat and talked for like an hour and a half...what I do best :) So nice to have her in my life...she is a true and real inspiration to me. Thanks Dena and Kiley! Oh, and while they were here I had flowers delivered from the Ladies Auxiliary at the Lima Fire Dept. They are beautiful and make me smile each time I see them :o)

Thanks ladies! I'm thinking a good cruise in the future for us!! Then later that night, I went to Beer Barrel with my oldest sis Julie and to a movie-Sarah, our other sister had to work so she couldn't join us for sisters night :( It was still fun though. Good food, not so good movie. Eclipse was not that great, anyone else agree? The book was hard to get through anyway, not like the other two which I flew through! Lucky for you, there were no posters of Eclipse so Julie and I didn't get a picture with Team Edward or Team Jacob...I know, we spared you all :) All in all, a great time spent with family and friends today.

Although late last night, I went to the fire station to see Andrew because I was getting nervous about the treatment and chemo drugs. I'll fill you in all later on the details about the night (It was really kinda cool what was said) cause I'm starting to get tired, but once again, he was able to calm me down, make me laugh, kiss me good-bye, and send me home in comfort. He is my love and is living up to the vow he pledge...For better or worse, in sickness and in health :)

Well, that's pretty much the gist of today and yesterday...so surprised I stayed awake to write even this much. The Lord is my strength I guess! He IS the ultimate healer you know :)

Until next time friends!

Laura