Freedom!

While I cannot watch the movie Braveheart ( I cannot stomach war movies too well, but can handle and am fascinated by real, live medical shows...strange, I know), I do love that classic line in the movie. And while of course, the context is different, I have a feeling I will want to shout "FREEDOM" tomorrow when I get to go home! Being at this lakehouse has been a wonderful, wonderful blessing and answer to prayer, however, I am excited to go back home. The plan is for Dan to pick me up sometime tomorrow evening. I have missed my family. God has allowed me to get some much needed rest here. I am thinking I will probablly still need to find some help next week though. While I was hoping the medicine I am now taking (day 2) would just miraculously give me all my strength back, I have been informed that it will take a couple weeks to build back into my system and even a couple months of a "tweaking" process to get the levels right. But I will take each day at a time and before I know it, I will be back to normal, with the Lord's help. And many have offered help so I shouldn't have a hard time finding it. I want to be with my kiddos though, so I am praying that I can get some people who can come to my house just to assist me...maybe even in the afternoon so I can get a rest in. We shall see.

My brain has been feeling like it just has this mental fog over it so I will do my best to remember what has filled my days. Be prepared for some excitement-filled reading (*scarcasm noted). All day Monday I felt sick to my stomach. I did my best to keep it together because I did not want to toss up the radio active iodine capsules I'd taken around 11am that morning. I'd gone to bed pretty early but could not go to sleep. Finally, at midnight I went to the kitchen to find a bowl just in case I couldn't make it to the bathroom. On the return from the kitchen, with bowl in hand, I ran to the bathroom and made it to the toilet just in time. I prayed that the 12 plus hours the RAI capsules had been in my body was long enough for my body to absorb. I had a feeling it was, as the glands around my neck and behind my ears were sore already. I felt better afterwards and went back to my room with a box of Shredded Wheat and layed there in the dark, nibbling away like a little mouse. I wanted to have something in my stomach to fight off the sick feeling so I could get some sleep. It worked. Pretty much the rest of the week, I felt pretty sick to my stomach until today, where I'd say I feel about 75% better, nausea-wise. Thankfully, Monday was the only day I actually lost my cookies. I called the hospital in the morning and Alma, the regular lady I talk to, was not there. I spoke with another lady and let her knew what had happened and to ask her if I could take some leftover Zofran pills I had from Claire (pills I had before I got started on the Zofran pump) and she put me on hold. I only assumed she talked to the Dr. and she told me all was ok. So, I called Dan and asked if he could bring me my Zofran and he said he would. In the meantime, I hopped in the shower. Even taking a shower has been tiring for me, just the act of holding my arms up long enough to wash my hair. Anyhow, I go to shut off the water and I can't. "Surely I have enough in me to turn off this water," I think to myself. Well, no matter how I tried, that water was not turning off. Great, I have broken something in the house already. I call Dan. He had my Zofran already and was going to come soon, but came sooner than he was thinking. I asked if I should shut off the water to the whole house, but he said he would hurry. I felt like the water was running forever, but at least the drain was working properly. When Dan got here, he couldn't shut if off either, so he ran to the neighbors house to ask for a wrench. I think he got it mostly to stop, but it was more than a dribble, kind of like a light shower. He shut the water off to the whole house and called Bob (the owner). He took a while to call back and while we waited, we both took a snooze...me on the couch, and Dan in the lazy boy chair (we were well over 3 ft. away from each other). Before Bob called back, Dan left to go to the Lowe's in Xenia. He came back with a new handle and turned the water back on and was able get the water to stop running in the shower. Bob had called him back and scheduled for a plumber to come the next day. Before Dan left, we walked down to the lake just to check it out. It is not that far of a walk and not that big of a hill, but on the way back up it, I felt like I had metal legs and had to stop and take little breaks. It was pretty pathetic looking, I'm sure. Dan left and I think I read for a bit and went to bed shortly after. Wednesday, the plumber and his dad and son came to check out the problem. Basically, there was no problem. The house just doesn't get used often enough so everything was tight. He loosened it up and it has been fine. I was glad of that, that I had not really broken anything but a handle. That was pretty much the excitement for the day. I think I watched a movie that afternoon and took a rest. My sister was taking Thursday off to come stay with me, so she arrived sometime between 8 and 9 that night. We talked for a long time and went to bed around 11ish. That was the latest I have stayed up this week, but I enjoyed the company, albeit 3 ft. away. The next day at 11, we made it a big deal and touched each other. My stomach felt a little better that morning, so we decided to drive to the beach area of the lake. We stayed there maybe a couple hours total. Mostly, we sat and read and talked, but did get cooled off in the lake a couple times (I'd gotten permission from Alma). We positioned ourselves so we were plenty far away from the very few little kids who were there. And so far, there have been no reports of dead fish. =) We left around 2ish as I was starting to feel queasy from being in the sun, even with a way to cool off. We got back home and I realized I'd "spent" all my energy there. I spent the rest of the day just laying on the couch, talking and resting my eyes. My mom came for a quick visit that evening. When they both left, I went to bed. Friday, a realtor came and showed a lady and her son a quick 10 min. tour of the house (it is on the market). I stepped outside during this time since the lady's son was a young guy. A little later, my friend from church, Emily came and stole me out of the house for a while. That was a very nice distraction. My stomach was not the greatest, but better than the last couple days. She had wanted to treat me to Chinese food (since they said I could be off the low iodine diet), but I wasn't up for it, so we went to a place that served no-milk fruit smoothies and I was able to handle that. We talked for a good long while, then she took me to a pharmacy, and back to the house where we chatted some more. It was a very nice visit! When she left, I physically wanted to go to bed, but I knew my brain wouldn't let me so early, so I popped in a movie. I was very ready for bed when it ended. And that leaves me with today. My sister called me at 10am and said she and my mom and aunt were on there way. I was glad for this as the company makes the time pass a lot quicker. They stopped at a Tim Hortons and bought me an iced flavored coffee and a bagel. And I was able to eat it!!! My aunt went through this same cancer and treatment 3 years ago, so it was neat to be able to see her and talk with her about things, even though our experiences have not been exactly the same. I guess the nausea is not normal, but Alma had already told me this, as she had said to her knowledge, only one other patient had thrown up. My aunt and uncle (and their 4 kids) are from PA and I rarely get to see them, so I was so happy for the 3 of them coming to visit me even with a full schedule. They left in the early afternoon and I rested and read. Then I watched another movie and that comes to this moment right now. And I know this is far more than most wanted to know, but I have not done so hot at writing in my journal, so I figured this would make up for it. Now I am off to bed..

Next time I write, I will include pictures. I have been on Dan's laptop and I don't know how to access our pictures on here or if I even can. I don't have a camera here, but I can get up to date on recent fun things that have gone on in the weeks prior.