Day 55 Yesterday Too Awesome to Blog...hence, Skipped Day 54

At 11:15 last night, I fell into bed and realized I had not thought about blogging all day because it was such a glorious day!

Not only was the weather idyllic, but I felt great all day. (Ok, I do get an occasional weird sensation in my brain like the drug is whooshing around in there and it feels like an instant headache, but it lasts for seconds, then goes away. And I still am experiencing rare sensations in the back of my throat that feels like a burning, but it also goes away in seconds.) Other than that, the breeze was dreamy, the temperature was perfect, the sun was shining, and I soaked it all in.

I spent the glorious morning in my gazebo visiting with a sweet young lady, Lizzie Simms, and we caught up on her new life as a bride and her family, but one thing she was able to help me with was a realistic expectation of how I might be feeling in the upcoming months, as her mama and daddy have both had cancer. Not that I liked hearing that it may get much more unpleasant, but at least hearing it prepares me for it even more.

I also slurped down some yummy sweet potato-pear soup made in my new Vitamix! So stinkin' easy, healthy, and delicious.

John and I also enjoyed some grocery shopping. This organic only shopping is crazy expensive. I need to just grow a garden. Oh...and I took some of my 10 year anniversary gift from my amazing boss and bought myself stainless steel pots and pans and threw away my old teflon ones. John is being very patient as I ransack my house and life of toxins.

Lastly, I had the pleasure of talking to my niece, Breanna, whom I have not connected with in a long time. My family is such a blessing to me and I am thankful for the genuine love and maturity she displayed as we reconnected. It's all you, Jesus! I know so well that we are all broken, sinful, messed up people, yet, You are what I choose to focus on because You alone are all that is true, right, perfect, and holy.  Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of forgiveness, even when I do it wrong, You are always right.

Day 53 Started a fundraiser...how uncomfortable!

Today I will say that I felt physically much, much better than last night. No back pain! Some decent energy! Therefore, I have spent the entire day researching cancer support groups, cancer side-effects and remedies, talked to cancer survivors, talked to friends, confirmed my wig order, and very little time has been spent on eating, resting, and sleeping.

It literally took me 3 hours to put together a gofundme.com account. My new contact from a local organization, Pink Ribbon Girls, called and was very encouraging and suggested I do everything I can to prepare for this upcoming difficult battle as she is a cancer survivor, herself. Thankfully, the organization offers rides, meals, and support groups that I hope to take advantage of soon.  As for the financial situation, I guess it is not in my nature to feel like asking people to serve me as I haven't needed financial help in my adult life. If I could just hit 'delete' on my cancer, I would, but this is a journey's walk, I must take one step at a time until it's finished.

So if you happened to see my https://www.gofundme.com/triciawonderly account, and were put off by it, please accept my apology, I don't mean to offend anyone. There are so many others with much worse situations out there, believe me, I know! However, I am going to be open-minded about it and just let it be what it is. Yes, I do have some savings which we are living off of now, thankfully. And in 3 months, I will have some long term disability monies help, too. But after talking to a few cancer survivors, I need to be realistic and I'll need more if I'm not working for a year.

Ok...I've been on this computer for HOURS! I'm turning it off, getting out my audioBible and chilling for a couple hours. God's Word needs to fill my mind now as I have choked it on cancer talk all day!

Day 52 Pain from Neulasta isn't so much fun as of today, meh!

As of this afternoon, I officially don't like the side effect of Neulasta!  About two hours ago my lower back started aching, and now it's simply spasming and hurts more than I expected. I thought that since I had the drug 6 days ago and had no effects from it so far, I was in the clear...but no.  When the nurse mentioned that it's common to feel the effects at day 7-10 the most, I realized that I may be in for some uncomfortable days.  I just arrived home from the oncologist appointment where they took blood and it looked good. Praise God!

Now I'm heading off to take a nap and have a date with a heating pad.

I did call the American Cancer Society today and asked about any organizations that help with different needs and I'll see what might be available there since I will have 3 months of no income until my long term disability insurance kicks in.

Too achy to type more.... :(

 Just woke up and the heating pad helped some, along  with Tylenol, but my energy level is about a zero. I've never felt so lethargic in my life since all this chemo started. It's so unlike me, but I don't even have energy to care or be upset about it.  One disappointment with that is the lack of cooking for myself. I don't really have the humpf to do much food prep, so I need to work on making a few meals and freezing them. With my strict eating  these days, I just need to find some meals and make them as asking anyone to try and help would be more than I am comfortable asking. Paleo + Dr.  Aukerman + my appetite = limited, restricted, hungry me. I will work on this tomorrow.

Day 51 Blogging Before My Hubs Returns

Woke up today tired! Got a bite to eat and went into my gazebo for about 3 hours and either lazed around or slept. Literally no energy.

Yesterday I found a really beautiful website of artistic turbans and posted today about my favorite ones. These are crazy expensive in my opinion, but if anyone sews and can create something like these beauties, I have posted my favorite ones. Like I stated in a post, I know I could rock bald, but I'd rather wrap my head in artwork!

https://turbandiva.3dcartstores.com/view_giftregistry.asp?id=851 If you click on it and want to purchase something, you'll need the password: RedWarrior

John has been up in Columbus for the weekend for the Special Olympics State Meet and should be home in an hour or so and I don't want to miss one minute with him, so I'll blog now and turn this computer off when he gets home.

Pray for my blood work tomorrow as I will have a CBC to determine how my white blood cells are doing after round 1 chemo. If I'm stable, I might try going in to work if the doctor allows me, but it will be to do something other than dental hygiene. That's ok...I can still see my peeps!

I missed  being at church today too.  First time in my life I wasn't ALLOWED in church!  This could be a long 5 months. Thankfully, I will listen on the recorded sermon of my friend and pastor, Josh Lenon. http://iamreddoor.org/sermons/thebride/

DAY 50!!! Today I Was Given A Gift By My Boss!

It's Day 50 since all this breast cancer talk started to be normal conversation in my life and today I was not only energetic, I was also given a gift by my amazing boss! Dr. Eric Henize, is first a friend, and after that, an amazing dentist and even more...a compassionate human who loves God and is displaying that through me!

With all this chemotherapy and my upcoming surgeries, I really don't know how long until I can practice as a dental hygienist again for him (possibly a year?), but he came by my house today, brought me beautiful flowers and a card from his family and we visited for almost an hour. He wanted to assure me that I would have a job with him whenever I return AND he offered to continue paying for my medical insurance like before, which will be thousands of dollars in a year! YES! He gifted me this generously without hesitation, other than to say he wished he could do even more!

I am so blessed, so blessed! God is so good. Answered prayer! Rejoice...answered prayer!!

Additionally, I was able to feel energetic all day and cooked, grocery shopped, and visited with my sister, Paula, and mom as if I wasn't even dealing with Chemo drugs.

They bought me a huge perennial plant today that will bloom in the spring when my cancer treatment and shoulder surgery will all be done!

And today, I found some super cute turbans online and my friend, Tina Morris, is working on getting some made for me!  I actually am excited to get them!  If you want to check some out, look on my facebook page today or go to www.turbandiva.com!!

Sleep should come easily tonight as I have been up since 4 am.

Can't wait for John to come home tomorrow to tell me all about Special Olympics State Meet in Columbus, OH. I had to miss it this year, but my daughter, Sarah, and our dear friends, Monica and Graham went with him and I'm sure they fell in love with the most loving people on earth!

Listening to Pandora right now...How Great Thou Art by David Nevue on his album, Adoration. Beautiful piano piece. It warms my heart.

Day 49 The Best Day Post Chemo Yet!

Today has been the most productive, the least queezy, the least sleepy, and the most energetic I've felt since Monday when the chemo poured into my veins!

Started my day out praying with Liz. She is experiencing being on her very own for a couple days without kids since Jordan died. These are difficult days for my dear friend.

I did sleep in until 9:30 am (unheard of in my non-chemo life!), and was a little lazy in the morning. But I was able to get a couple loads of laundry done and then the Miracle Crew showed up! My mom and one of my sisters drove down from Illinois to  mop, vacuum, mow, weed, wash, scrub, dust, vacuum, organize, cook, shop, throw away, declutter and generally clean my entire house, top to bottom! Someone must have given them caffiene because they were like tornados in my house for hours today and it's amazing how hard they clean and how helpful they were! My brain is so much better to have it look like this! We even got to shop at Dorothy Lane Market for some evening fun! And the best thing, was I did not nap or feel the need to nap all afternoon! I actually feel pretty normal, considering. It is the very best I've felt all week!

I am very thankful for this improvement and hope it allows me to work a little between chemo sessions in order to keep my self insured and active. I won't do dental hygiene due to immune suppression issues, but hopefully, I will be able to do something at the office. I'll find out tomorrow when I meet with my boss. He's pretty amazing, so I know he will do everything he can to help me through this crazy situation.

Day 48 A Pretty Good Day

When I woke up at 3 a.m. from a tornado-like storm outside, I did get a few crackers in me and before long we were all asleep again. Thankfully, today, I did not feel the need to have anti-nausea meds until tonight, so I actually went out to breakfast with friends and our kids, then went for a walk in our woods for an hour or so. It was awesome being outside in the fresh air. While we were in the Wonderly Woods, our friends graciously prayed over me and I am so thankful for such dear people in my life. I am so overwhelmed by the loving kindness and thoughtfulness of so many people God has placed for such a time.

Tonight I'm on my own as the kids have scattered and the hubs is playing hockey for a couple hours! I keep telling him how important it is for him to continue doing normal life activities, even if I cannot go with him.

I did make my first Vitamix drink tonight and had about 1/2 of it before I realized that my tummy just wouldn't settle. I think I waited too long to eat dinner and I thought food would calm my hunger/nauseousness down. It looked delicious with fresh pineapple, mint, and kale, however, I will see how the other half goes down tomorrow. I look forward to lots of easy fruit/veggie smoothies with that as cooking and food prep seems to overwhelm me these days.

Since my energy level is very low again today, I did ask the oncology nurse about it and she suggested that it's because my steroid they gave on Monday has worn off and this is a more normal energy level to expect with the chemo. Thankfully, though, my nauseousness is not anything to complain about today and now I'm putting myself to bed for hopefully another 12 hours of sleep!


Today, I started reading from a book I recently received called Thoughts To Make Your Heart Sing.

Psalm 90:14 "Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. "