Aug 29 Boy am I achey today

Well, Monday's chemo was a piece of cake. I couldn't get to sleep on Monday night because of the steroids they gave me to take the night before and the morning of the chemo. I finally turned the computer off at about 3 and went to sleep about 4 or 4:30 I think. Sara's alarm for school went off at 6:30. Not quite enough sleep for this old body. I drove the girls to school, then went on to work. I felt great all day yesterday except for being very tired (no sleep), then didn't get to sleep quite early enough on Tuesday night.
So, this morning when the alarm kept telling me it was time to get up to go to Weight Watchers, I kept telling it NO NO NO. I couldn't drag myself out of bed. Then I kept thinking - what have I been carrying around that was so heavy it made my shoulders so sore?
Well guys, reality has set in, within all my muscle groups. Everywhere on my body hurts like I'm getting the flu. Even my scalp and my armpits and my eyelids. Oh My.
I'm trying to decide if I should take a Hydrocodone, or if I should keep typing and stay awake for a few more minutes. I have lots to tell you all.
I stayed up way too late Sunday night (excitement?) and took my 5 pills then the directions on the prescription were written very strangely and so I got up and took the next 5 at 5:00 a.m. It was supposed to say take 5 pills, it said take them at 5. It was too early. The Dr. later told me to just take them with dinner and then breakfast. Much easier.
My friend and ex-coworker Tanya from Notorious took me to the Med Onc office, (Bob had badly hurt his back throwing a piece of mesquite into the trash bin, on Saturday, now can hardly walk, then also started running a fever and stomach yuck, so I didn't want him around the chemo patients)
Tanya dropped me off at the Onc, then took her mother to her job, asking me to call when I was done (do you know how long it will take? etc.? no.) I went in, they called me to the back, the nurse weighed me, took my temp., then blood pressure, then I asked her to check out my foot, before we went any farther and they sent me home. She thought it was OK, but to ask the doc. So I then met with the Physicians Assistant and the 4th year Resident working with her, and we talked about what was going to happen, and they both looked at my famous foot, and decided it was okay to go ahead with the chemo.
Back around another wall and corridor, and there are all the chairs for people to sit in and have their IV drips. I think I must have seen someone with a little DVD player, so I asked about DVDs, and ended up watching the funniest Ellen DeGeneres show, then part of another movie (In Her Shoes). All the while, I'm getting set up in my nice little corner, with 3 or four bags of IV things. I am taking two different chemos, (see a previous post for names, because I can't remember except they both have Xs in the name). The first one went quickly, then they said the next one wasn't quite ready, so I just had some saline for awhile. Then they started the Taxotere, which evidently has some pretty icky side effects, and they like to drip it in very slowly the first time. So the total IV time was about 3 hours I think. (Don't know - I was laughing too hard at Ellen) The nurses kept coming over to see what was so funny and who was cracking up laughing. She would just take a little piece of normal life (tripping over a pebble on the sidewalk) and turn it into everyone's life experience. Did you see that? Someone could get hurt. There needs to be orange cones put up around that. Look out there is a pebble up there. I think you'll have to find the video. I may have to find something like that every
time I go.
I thought I had just a little bit of the second movie left, so I was just sitting and watching it, when Tanya called and asked if I was about finished. I said Oh yes, I'm just watching the rest of the movie, she then intimated she had things to do (what the heck was I thinking, I don't know, but I wasn't, obviously.) Oh my gosh - I'll hurry.
I told her come right now, and I did hurry. I went out to make my next appointment, put my things on Mary's desk, finished, and picked up all my stuff and left. Tanya picked me up, we took off, and down the road a little, I looked at my watch and realized I was going to be late for my Podiatrist appointment. Shoot Shoot Shoot Shoot!!!
While Tanya is driving me home as fast as we can go, I begin fussing nervously with the stuff on my lap. What is this? I say, looking and turning and opening SOMEONE ELSE'S MEDICAL FILE FROM THE DR. OFFICE!!!!!
OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! I quickly tried calling them, no answer. I'm imagining that the entire place is looking for this poor woman's file and she is getting angrier and angrier and they are frantic. Can you say patient privacy? I call again, no answer. I try to call the podiatrist, no answer. Where is everyone - on a lunch break or something? I call the Med Onc again, finally get a very frazzled "blah blah blah officecanyouholdplease*click*" I hold. Five minutes later, I hang up and call again. I quickly ask to speak to Mary before she puts me on hold again, so she forwards me to Mary and I just get her voice mail. I get to leave just a MESSAGE with Mary telling her of my horrible crime and will she please call me right back as I can't get the file back to their office until after I see the podiatrist.
I call the podiatrist. No answer. I call the podiatrist's bookkeeper who is my client and I have her cell number. No answer. I call the Med Onc again because Mary has not called me back to tell me everything is OK and it will be fine to bring the file in later and the police are not coming after me. I get the "blah, blah,blah, officecanyouholdpease*click*" AGAIN! AARRGGGHHHH!!!! I immediately hang up, call back, and when she answers "blahblah...canyou..." I say NO, WAIT! I tell her who I am , what I've done, and that I'm the reason everyone is looking everywhere for the file and that is why no one can answer and talk on the phone. She told me to relax, just bring it in when I could, and it would be fine.
The podiatrist office finally answered, I let them know I was really late, was it too late, no come on in. I got there and was quickly taken care of (bandage pulled off, look at the 'wound' and clean and re-bandage it. Call us on Monday - it looks great. Maybe I won't have to go back in there for my foot.
At this point of finally getting on the phone with the podiatrist, I have finally begun driving away from my house, after getting booted out of Tanya's car while she slowed down only a little (remember -- she had things to do), and I hurried to jump into my car to go on to the podiatrist. My car key wasn't on the carabiner hooked to my fanny pack. Oh, I must have thrown it into my fanny pack after I locked the house front door and jumped into the back seat of Tanya's car this morning. I dump the pack upside down in the front seat of the Lincoln after getting the door open with the special code numbers on the door. No key. WHERE? I call Tanya and ask her to turn around and look in the back seat of the car where I sat that morning, and see if my keys are there? YES! AARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
She will drop them off later Monday night. I'll just run into the house and get the other set of Lincoln keys. Remember Bob is home, flat on the floor with his back out and hurting badly. I come in, yell to him, "where are the extra Lincoln keys?", Bob thinks they are in the console of his car, I find his car key, go look, and nope, not there. I come back in, look a couple other places, can't find them, get frustrated and then decide to just take Bob's car. (What a concept!)
Leave the podiatrist, take the file back to the Med Onc office (all is forgiven - Mary didn't realize it was gone till I called) go to the Scissor Talk salon because the Med Oncs have just told me I have to come in on Tuesday for a shot (after every chemo, it turns out) (for white cells or something) and then I have to get a blood test next week and come in the next day to check blood levels to see if I'm getting the right amount of toxins. (I'm to do this trick every time after each chemo) (The next two chemos, I'll do the blood draw the day before my chemo, then don't have to make an extra trip, then after the last chemo - it will have to be the week thing again)
I wasn't planning on any of these appointments, so I had to go to the salon and see when I was booked and call them back etc. etc.
By this time, it is now time for me to head on over to my NEXT Dr. appointment. Dr. Roeder (the surgeon) is expecting me for my 7 week checkup post surgery. I'm a few minutes early, she is an hour late, and then we talk for a long time. The staff is gone when we finish. I stop to turn in and pick up my reserved library books, then pick up dinner for us, (La Salsa, Yummy) and come home and eat while Sara and I talk on the speaker phone to Sally, then I finally decide to try to write a bit of a blog entry.
You saw how far I got.
I went to bed, wanted to sleep late, but instead got up and took the car pool patrol.
No Rest For The Wicked or The Forgetful or The Clueless or The Stupid of the World.
I'm now officially exhausted. I love every minute of this. Patty : )
It is funny, tiring, hectic, exhausting, and all of my Peeps are so wonderful and caring and thoughtful. I'ma gonna be better-a soon. : ) : )