A Whole New Adventure

March 1, 2023 Today is the day I don’t take a steroid pill. I will take one every other day like Mar 2, 4, 6 and total off on Mar 7th. Hopefully the side effects aren’t severe.  Time will tell.  2:00am- Woke up and had my bowl of cereal. Went back to the sunroom couch. I can see the moon behind a haze of clouds.   4:00am- Still hungry, I toasted English muffins with jam.😉😜 9:00am-Took my blood thinner pill.  9:30am- Went to the Thrombosis centre at the hospital.  Dr K. Thiyagarajah examined me.  She said I will be on blood thinners the rest of my life because as a preventative since cancer tends to form blood clots. They want me to follow up in 3 months.  12:00pm- Took my targeted pill.  Steve made me a grilled cheese for lunch. I am a little weak today.  4:15pm-Slept all afternoon and so weak with headache. Must be withdrawal of steroids. I am grinning and bearing it.  5:30pm-Had dinner 8:30pm- Seeing that I am so weak and always tired, I figured I would just go to bed.  Took my blo

February 27, 2023 Happy 70th Birthday to Steve.  1:00am- Got up for a bowl of cereal. Finished decorating Steve’s cake which is just brownies with icing sugar sprinkled on it with the numbers 70.  2:00am- Went back to sleep in the sunroom.  4:00am- Took my antacid pill followed by steroid and Boost.  Laid back down  6:30am- Appreciate oMonday morning #sweatforlise from my daughter, Natalie.  7:00am- Took a shower.  8:00am- Had my morning smoothie with Steve.  10:00am- I received a call from Cancer Centre pharmacist to confirm meds which I am taking and that they don’t counteract with one another. Looks like I can’t take Ibuprofen for my headaches since they counteract with blood thinners. NSAIDS affect the way platelets work and could interfere with normal blood clotting.  1:30pm-  Worked on sorting some of my photos. Wasn’t able to finish, so I laid down.  5:00- Had Dinner  9:00pm- Took my blood thinner meds. Today wasn’t the best but not the worse. Going with the flow.  9:30pm-  Bedt

February 22, 2023 I layed down and feel I did not sleep at all however didn’t feel too tired when I got up at 3am to eat a crumpet with jam. I wake up hungry.  I moved to the couch in the sunroom.  4:30am- Took my antacid pill followed by one steroid.  7:00am- Took a shower.  9:00am- Took my blood thinner.  I can’t believe how quickly I got the spinal imaging photos already especially when I just got the MRI late last night. The report takes longer but I am impressed.  12:00pm- Took my targeted pill. Just relaxed all afternoon.  4:00pm- Started getting withdrawal symptoms from slowly getting off of the steroid. Headachy, body aches and just not feeling 100%. After a while, Steve gave me an Ibuprofen and it really helped.  6:00- Had dinner  9:30pm- Bedtime  February 23, 2023 2:30am- Had such a good sleep last night. Had a bowl of cereal.  4:00am- Took my antacid pill along with one steroid and Boost.  7:00am- Took my shower  9:00am- Took my blood thinner med.  Steve went outside to plou

February 21,2023 1:30am- Woke up and took my ulcer meds followed by a bowl of cereal. It feels like I gained energy from sleep.  I am doing nothing today since I know I have to go for an MRI tonight in Niagara Falls at GNGH which is 1/2 hour away however at 9:40pm. That is my bedtime but you must go and take advantage of the systems in place. I will get thru it.  4:00am- Took my antacid pill and steroid pill with Boost and toast.  Another milestone - I will now be lowering my dosage. only by taking one steroid pill a day rather then two. Maybe I will get a better sleep pattern. 👍 7:00am- Took  a shower and then ate crackers and peanut butter. Weigh is going up.  9:00am- Took my blood thinner meds  12:00pm- Took my targeted pill and had lunch.  Slept most of the afternoon.  Found out my MRI was at 9:40pm in Niagara. I did well. We didn’t get home until 11:00pm. I was wide awake the whole time.  Was surprised that the MRI was for my spinal and not my head as I thought. It took 30 minute

February 20, 2023 Woke up at 2am to eat a bowl of cereal. Seeing  that it is my energy time, I started  the process of making 2 loaves of my sour dough bread. We usually never buy bread since I like making it. My daughter made 2 loaves when she came and that held us until now. I mixed and kneeled  the dough and now let it rise for 4 hrs.  3:00am-Laid down after wards on the sunroom couch and listened to a podcast.  4:00am- Took my antacid med followed by Boost and steroid.  Payed back down .  6:00am- After 4 hrs of rising, I kneaded the bread, separated it into 2 loaves and placed it to rise for another 4 hrs. This is probably the earliest I will have bread done.  7:00am- Ate a bran muffin and took my shower and now I rest.  Seeing that both my daughters, are spending their last day together, they #sweatforlise this morning. So happy they got together.  For some reason, the past couple of days, I am loosing a lot of hair again so I wear a cap so it doesn’t cover my pillow and blanket.

February 14, 2023 Happy Valentines Day everyone. Steve and I always feel Valentine’s is everyday.   Today is a great day since I will be only taking 1 pill of  steroid and blood thinner twice a day! I will be glad to be off the steroids.  2:30am- Took my ulcer meds and decided to lay on the couch since I was wide awake. I listen to a podcast and eventually fell asleep a bit.  4:00am- Had a bowl of cereal and then laid down a bit.  Amazing how wide awake I get and how hungry I am.  5:30am-Took my antacid along with ONE steroid pill instead of two now.  9:00am- Took my blood thinner  11:00am-Did some muscle buildup exercise which Natalie told me to do. It wasn’t easy. Could hardly lift my legs. So I stopped since it was so draining. Natalie said to go really slow.  12:00pm-  Took my targeted pill and then Steve made me a sandwich with bean salad. So good.  Rested in the sunroom all afternoon and soaked up the sun while listening to music.  6:00pm- Had a great dinner.  9:00pm- Took my blo

February 11,  2023 Woke up at 2am to take my ulcer meds.  I woke up at 3:00am, to eat a bowl of Cheerios since I was hungry  Woke up at 5:00 am to take my antacid & steroids.  6:00am- Managed to take a shower while I had strength.  11:00am- Took my steroids.  11:30pm- Had salmon dip on crackers  12:00pm- Took my targeted pill  1:30pm- Steve & I had a cup of tea with cookies.  Feeling weak but resting a lot.   2:45pm- Steve made me a grilled cheese with pickles. We are working on me eating protein and get stronger.  Homemade Pizza dough was made to rise the night and then tomorrow Steve will make pizza for Super Bowl.  9:00pm- Took my blood thinner and before bed my ulcer remedy.   I managed to stay up until 11:00pm. Amazing how I am always week however tonight I felt stronger. It is sure a roller coaster ride. Let’s hope I can sleep in longer rather then getting up a 3am.  Good night.  February 12, 2023 Woke up this morning at 5am and took my ulcer meds followed by antacid and

February 10, 2023 I had such a good sleep last night and feel I am getting stronger since I am eating solids. FEEL SO GOOD! Weight 94  3:30am-Woke up to take my ulcer meds and went back to bed.  6:00am- Woke up and took my antacid and steroids. Slowly weening off. Had a Boost with it.  The steroids really bring the hunger and I followed up with Cheerios cereal. 😆 I was recommended to wear compression socks. I just love the sharks’  mouth on my new socks.  I realize I have to pace myself. I find a little energy, then I want to do something however the energy drains. One day at a time.  12:00pm- Took my targeted pill followed by steroids at 1:00pm after having rice pudding.  I have cat naps when I am tired throughout the day.  The front of my hair looks like a pixie however the back is a different story. You can see where the radiation was done and supposedly more hair will be coming out. Time will tell but doesn’t upset me at all. It will all come back.  For some reason, last night I w

February 9, 2023 Woke up this morning at 3:00am and couldn’t sleep, so I went in my sunroom.  Took my ulcer meds.  Took my antacid and steroids at 4:00am.  I wake up actually hungry so at 6:00 had crackers and peanut butter before my sexy nurse Kristen came over to hook me to my last bag of IV saline bag. Let’s hope. Big commitment for her.  9:00am- Took my blood thinners.  11:45am- Jeff came over to disconnected from IV as d remove the needle. Thank you Jeff and Kristen for such great teamwork. We are so blessed.  Hurray, freedom.  12:00pm-  Took my Tagrisso.  1:30pm-  Took a nice long shower. It is so draining so back to rest but it felt so good.  2:00pm- Took my ulcer meds.  9:00pm- Took my blood thinners.  Had a bowl of Cheerios. The steroids make me hungry.  Going to try to stay up longer since I wake up too early and it makes it a long night.  Went to bed around 10:30pm. 

February 8, 2023 2:30am- woke up and was wide awake.  My calf muscle was hurting so I walked around the house a little and it felt better.  Tried going back to sleep. 5:50am: Kristen, my sexy nurse stopped by before work to hook me up to IV.  Nicky hung out with me for a few hours.  It’s her last day here. 😢 11am: Took 2 Apixaban (blood thinner) for the blood clot.   My neighbor Jeff came by and disconnected my IV. 12:00pm- Steve brought Nicky to the airport. 😟 The girls were a blessing.  I feel a little stronger today. Love the sun. 3:00pm- Took my steroids.  4:30pm- Steve prepared dinner.   

February 7, 2023 Weight 92.1 4:00am- Took ulcer meds.  6:00am-  Started  the antacid and steroid process. I begin weening myself off of steroids.  8:30am- My sexy nurse Kristen hooked me to IV  Noticed my gums changing so we made a rinsing solution of 1tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt in a liter of water which was given by the hospital.  1:30pm-  Kristen came to disconnect the IV fluid and brought her husband Jeff, who is also a nurse, to show him how to disconnect  the I V tomorrow afternoon when she is at work. We took him out of retirement! 3:00pm- Dr Wasselman, medical oncologist, called to tell me know I  have Pulmonary Embolism which is  blood clot in  my lungs!  So now I will be taking a blood thinner called Pixodan.   I will be referred to a frombosis clinic.  6:00pm - Ate half of a baked potato and it was so good. 10:00pm - stayed up too late tonight. Good night.

February 6, 2023  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDSON, COOOER  who turned 6 years old today.  1:30am: got up to take my ulcer medicine and actually felt good and had a bowel movement. Weight 94.1 lbs  5:30am: got up to start the antacid/ steroid procedure while Nicky sipped on her coffee next to me.  Thanks for those who did the #sweatforlise workout this morning! 8:30am-  At the hospital getting blood work and vitals taken. Bloodwork showed phosphate low so now I need four hours of IV here.  12:00- Took my targeted therapy drug.  1:15pm- Still on IV for another 1 1/2 hours. So far I ate solids. Cookies, crackers and peanut butter. They pass around food and drinks. They have a nice hot tea.     First day of eating mostly solids although I eat like a bird. My taste buds are affected.  After being at the hospital for 8 hrs, I finally got home around 4:00pm and was exhausted.   Nicky made stir fry and I managed to eat a few bites.  I took one steroids pill. Tomorrow I start weening myself from

February 5, 2023 2:23am- I was awake so I decided to get up and take my Sulfrate Auspension Plus for ulcers since you need to take it on a totally empty stomach.  4:30am- threw up Went back to bed after. Looking forward to seeing the full moon and hopefully hear the owls howling early morning. I heard 2 last night.    Did not hear the owls.  But saw the full moon.  It’s cloudy so it wasn’t too clear. 6am: Threw up again.  Natalie came up and was able to help. Took nausea medication.  Took antacid.  6:20am- Managed to drink 1/2 a boost followed by taking my 2 steroid pills.  8am - My neighbor Kristen came over and hooked me up to IV for hydration. Another 5 hours.   Nicky made bread and more rice pudding to freeze so I have some when she leaves.  Nat left this morning to head back to PA since its Coopers 6th birthday tomorrow.  It was so nice to have her here. We will miss her! The only thing I feel like eating is a smoothie because nothing else tastes good.  My tastebuds are off and I’

February 4, 2023   5:00am- Took meds which help ulcers which I need to take on an empty stomach.  6:00am- Took my antacid pill but brought up a little later.  Still proceeded to take my steroids at 6:am after having some Boost.  8am - Nicky made me a fruit and protein smoothie which I was able to eat 9am- The doctors setup home IV care for me, but they didn’t have any nurses available to come this weekend, so I mentioned that my Neighbor, who is a nurse and she can do it for me and they approved it.  Look at that sexy nurse!! This takes 5 hours to drip the whole bag. Nic and Nat are cleaning the house today! 12pm- took my very first medication that will target the non-small cell lung cancer.  The medication is called Tagrisso.   1:30pm- took my steroid medication  4:30pm- took my ulcer medication (trying to see if this might help me with swallowing).  Supposed to help esophagus.  It was time to cut my hair today because I was losing so much from the radiation.  Nicky cut it for me and

February 3, 202 Last day of radiation.  4:45am-  Natalie must of heard me wake up and unfortunately witness me bring up.  As we sat in the sunroom, having our moment, the moon was shining in very bright. Hope that is a good sign to come.  5:30am- Took my antacid pill followed by my steroids at 6:00am.  7:30am- Had my last radiation and I rang the “Radiation Celebration Bell”! 11:15am- started a  calcium IV for 15 min and then 2 hrs IV fluids at the hospital.  They wanted to admit me for the weekend but they will be setting me up for home care to receive IV fluids at home for 5 days starting tomorrow.  2:15pm- Came home a new woman.  I felt more awake and alert than I have in weeks. 5pm- Ate a small amount of cottage cheese  6pm- Ate a little pizza and ice cream 

February 2, 2023 5:45am- Managed to take my antacid pill after I was sick. The phlegm can be so heavy at times.  Took my steroids around 6:05am.  10:30am Nicky made me a fruit smoothie which I was able to drink a little, then I had a few bites of rice pudding. I’m so blessed to have Natalie arrive today so I now have both of my daughters here to support us.  She arrived at 12:15pm. 1:30pm- went for radiation.  One more to go! 3:30pm- Had a few bites of mashed potatoes but couldn’t keep it down. 6:15pm- Ate some avocado, celery and a few bites of pork chops. I took this picture of Steve and the girls having dinner together! 9:15pm- Nausea Medication.  Bedtime.  Goodnight.

February 1, 2023 5:00am.  Manage to sleep didn’t bring up all night   Increase in Steroids must be helping.  Took a nausea pill.  Weight 92 pds.  Took also an antacid pill at 5:15am. Then took 2 steroids with Boost afterwards at 5:45am.  Took 2 more steroids at 1:30pm. 8:00am- had treatment and then saw the doctor.  They put me on saline IV for 2 hours to get some fluids in me.  Hopefully that makes me feel better. Got home at 11am and Nicky made me a smoothie which I drank it all.   I only brought up once today.  Took nausea meds at 5pm. Nicky made me homemade rice pudding tonight since I didn’t feel like eating dinner.. So far it’s staying down. It’s been a much better day than yesterday! Took nausea med at 9:50pm.  Good night.