SOSDD

*Heavy sigh*

I think I'm on mental overload. I need a vacation. Oh, before I forget, I should explain the title...LOL Having lived with a military man for so many years, we've learned acronyms by the bucket laod, but the above is one of my favorites...LOL I will keep it clean, but you can insert any number of words for the third letter... Same Old "Stuff", Different Day. LOL

I wish you could see my appointment calendar. It's a mess, and I only enter things in pencil because sometimes they change from second to second (and I'm not exaggerating). Maybe I should take a picture and show you what I mean...Hm....nevermind, I WILL take that picture...hang on a sec.

This is the calendar page for the month of July. Just keep in mind that this is not filled in yet. I will have weekly appointments with the plastic surgeon for "fill up" sessions and the physical therapy clinic still hasn't called for appointments to the lymph edema clinic. I made two appointments yesterday, and will be making more as the week progresses. And to think that last week, other than the weeks that are marked off for special events, this page was clean!! I spoke with my boss Monday just before he left for his trip. I had e-mailed him a week or so ago and asked him to call me when he had a free moment because I was going to ask about going back to work, but that's before the "stuff" hit the fan and I was told I would start chemo this week. He still wants me to come back to work, even though I can't lift anything heavy, and I'm not supposed to break the integrity of my skin (I have to stay healthy and free of infection while on chemo) which is hard to do when dealing with sharp items such as glass, mat boards, saws, utility knives etc. I'm such a clutz anyway, when I was working I was always wearing band-aids LOL (Grace is NOT my middle name!!!) His response was, he would rather have me sitting out front waiting on customers if that's all I could do, then not working at all, for my own sanity's sake as well as the sake of certain customers who have been asking for my help. I have groupies!!! LOL!! (I feel like Joan Crawford when I say..."They like me, they REALLY like me!") I almost fell off my chair, he must have been in a good mood anticipating his family trip when he told me that! Or maybe he's feeling a little sorry for me, whatever works. But you decide, I'm going to have a few days when I'm feeling sick and tired, not to mention all those appointments (that aren't even listed on the calendar yet)... do I really have time to work? Hm....? The money WOULD be helpful...?

I had my teaching session yesterday for the infusion clinic where I'll be having chemo. DH and DS trailed along with me and the nurse was very nice. She had had breast cancer herself and had some of the same things done that I've had. I was able to "pick her brain" a bit and asked questions that I've been wondering about. That was more helpful than the rest of the stuff she had to tell me. The one thing that I learned that brightened my day is that I CAN stitch while getting the treatments. I'll be there about 2 hours while they give me at least three medications. I have to return Friday for a shot to help with white blood cell production (a steroid). I had to laugh when DS asked if I would have "roid rage". Let's face it ladies, I'm part Irish (hence the blarney) and do have a wee bit of a temper. The nurse just told him to tell me to go to my room when I was misbehaving that way. (That's what her kids told her) LOL

The rest of my day was spent on the phone. Between making appointments, calls from clinics about procedures and paperwork that they need, calls to the insurance company and other silliness, I rarely have time to myself OFF the phone. I also have very caring friends who call. When this is over and done I think my final surgery will be to have the phone surgically removed from my ear!! I'm not exaggerating (DS is keeping a tally sheet) but I spent 5 hours on the phone to friends yesterday. When is an addicted stitcher supposed to stitch???? By the way, I'm not complaining about talking to my friends. They have kept me going and I cherish each and every phone call!!!

The last call last night was my absolute favorite call though. I got a card in the mail from a friend I've had since I was 7 years old. She had run into my mother in the grocery store back home (gotta love small town living!!) and asked how I was. She was shocked to learn what was going on with me. So when I got her card, I picked up the phone and called her. She and I have one of those friendships that we can not see each other for years, but when we talk it's like we just saw each other yesterday. We share the same weird sense of humor and we belly laughed for hours last night. DS kept poking his nose in my room last night and would roll his eyes when he realized I was still on the phone with her. I can see the gears turning in his head, thinking, what in the world could she be talking about for hours? One thing that sticks in his head though, is that he's learned that his Mom can have friends that make her laugh hysterically and that she can talk with for hours.

DS has been spending more time with me lately...I'm not sure if he's worried I won't be around much longer, or if he realizes that I'm not the Wicked Witch of the West that he's always thought I was. Either way, we're bonding in a new way now, and I think we're both beginning to appreciate the other in different ways than before. Another positive thing that's come out of the cancer. Who would have thought that something as evil as cancer could have a positive effect? I'm still thanking God for cancer!!

And on that note, I'm off to get ready for an appointment with the plastic surgeon. I had to laugh last night when DS (who has never met Dr. S) did a google search to see if there was a picture of him out there. He ran across a doctor's picture, who he thought was him, and said, "He looks like an OLD Steven Spielberg". LOL!!! That picture did!! But it was the wrong picture. It's strange, I guess my head is full of stereotypes, but Dr. S doesn't fit my image of a plastic surgeon. He's a very nice man, very caring, seemed genuinely sorry when they found cancer in the sentinel nodes and knew I would need more surgery...and just doesn't LOOK like a plastic surgeon. LOL All total opposites of what I expected. I'm glad I have a caring individual in my corner!!

Ok, off to take a shower (they STILL feel great after all those weeks of sponge baths!! LOL) and try to look for something cool to wear! We broke a heat record yesterday (103) and the head advisory is still in effect until 11 PM tonight. This must be the year for breaking records, as we broke a record snowfall earlier this year. What a world!?!?