Patty's Mammie Grams

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Thursday, August 30, 2007

Aug 29 and 1/2 Shot in the arm caused the aches

Dr. Brooks just called back to say "So, you came down with the 'acheys'." He told me to take 2 Aleve every ?can't remember how many hours, and that should help. He also said it should last only 24 hours. He lies - it's already been longer than that. It will get better. It will.
He said it is from the shot I had the second day after the chemo - the one for the white blood cells. It is my bone marrow working very hard to keep putting out the Leukocytes or something. (I just made that up - I don't remember what it is making.)
Soon I will not be so achey. Love to all....... Patty : )

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

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. : ) : )

Monday, August 27, 2007

Aug 27 Chemo was a breeze

First Chemo today and it was a piece of cake. I don't know what tomorrow or Wednesday will bring, but I'm good today.
It is very late and I have to go to bed. I had a long day today, and Sara had the computer for homework this eve, so I didn't get to blog till now - 11:15 p.m. Too late for me!!

I had chemo this morning at 9:00,
(I got to watch an Ellen DeGeneres comedy DVD during chemo, and kept laughing too, too loud. I had to share it with the next lady over, later. I'm going to love doing that every time!), finished up there at about 1:30 (won't take so long the next three times), next was Podiatrist check on my foot at 2:00, then Surgeon last post surgical check on lumpectomy. Went to the salon to check out times for some appointments the Med Oncs sprung on me, stopped at the library, picked up dinner, and all that took till about 7 or 7:30? I'm pooped.
So .... More tomorrow. I promise. Patty who loves everyone for helping her feel good, good, good today. : ) : )

Monday, August 20, 2007

Aug 20 Blithering about my 'PioneerWoman'

I just saw an awesome blackberry cobbler recipe on a web site that I have come across called ThePioneerWomanCooks.com and now I want cobbler and ice cream.

Some of you might also enjoy looking at her main site --
http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/confessions_of_a_pioneer_/


They are cattle ranchers in
Oklahoma and she photographs everything - beautifully. EVERYTHING! I think it is a hoot, and I've seen more pictures of cows being pregnancy tested than I ever dreamed was possible. This woman home schools her kids, and they all help with the cattle and chores. They take care of wild mustangs for the government.
She is a city girl and her husband says if he had wanted a girl
who could ride and rope, he would have married one. She does ride, and help with chores, except working the cattle around the corrals etc... It is a very interesting site to visit. She is ornery and loves her family very much and is interested in her genealogy, and that of her husband's family.

Take a look at her cooking site,
anyway. She has some good looking just plain meat and potatoes kind of recipes, and some 'Chick Food' (no meat)
recipes.

http://www.thepioneerwomancooks.com/the_pioneer_woman_cooks/

Like I said, she is funny and irreverent, and ornery and makes yummy looking food and takes absolutely beautiful photos of it, and her recipes are so step by step simple sounding that I think anyone could make any of these things. Enjoy. Sorry for such a plug, but I really really like her site.

Have fun reading. Love, Patty : )

Aug 20 Dr. Shapiro visit (foot)

Just got back from the Dr and he says there is only about a mm. left to heal closed and that he hopes the foot will be completely closed up by my next visit on Thursday. Hope so. It does look better than it did a week ago. I kept trying to tell him what it looked like: sunken in, no, a pot hole, no, a sink hole,Yes!! He was not amused. But it did.

My
brain can't think of all my good words, anymore. It's a sad thing. My brain. Off HRT. On 54 Years of overuse (hee hee) and counting.

I haven't done a blog entry for days, sorry. I never can get going from Thursday till Monday anyway, it seems, then it takes me forever to type it in and get it just right. Then I have to go back and reread it and then add more to it to make sure everyone can understand what the heck I'm talking about. I have to post it on the site first, so I can go look at it on the site to see what it looks like there. (I'm very visual and can't imagine what it is going to look like.) Then I reread it there, catch the mistakes I didn't catch earlier, and then go back to the editing site, to make something more clear, all the while reposting it each time.

(I always wonder if someone
is reading it as I am making corrections on it and does it disappear and reappear right before their eyes. Has this happened to anyone? Or, I think probably you just get to read it the way you have downloaded it, and don't realize that I have made any changes.)

I just had an opportune visit from an ex-cleaning lady - probably the only one in the whole universe who wouldn't just throw her hands up in the air and run far, far away, as fast as she could. She has even agreed to come back and clean for me. I let her go last year, but now I really need someone to come help me dig out. It's bad. Paper is taking over my life -- and stuff -- stuff is coming out of our pores and I hate it.

Sara has her entire bedroom in our living room, in our 'dining area', in our 'den' (eating end of the kitchen) and in our bedroom. And in the hallway. And out on the patio. She and Bob and another friend (Nathan) from her Honors Pre-Calculus/Trigonometry class went out, bought paint and began painting on Saturday. Then on Sunday, Bob and Sara painted for a little while till we had to get ready for a party. She is having a good time painting. They are painting two walls with a 'sponge split-roller', with Globe Artichoke Green and Oregon Trail Brown both in eggshell by Olympic Paints from Lowes. It is looking pretty kinda strange and wonderful all at the same time. Green and brown and all muckeldy dun all together.

(I can't figure out how to spell that word. My first boss Elsie used to use this phrase all the time. It means all spotty and kind of a drab and icky color, I thought. muck el dy ? muckeldy dun as in a horse color, I always thought is what she meant. Any ideas?)

They also ordered a beautiful wall mural for one wall. It is of a forest, woods, whatever all you guys living where it is green and treesy, call all those green trees all in a bunch, and a waterfall cascading down into the river (?) running through the forest. It sounds like the kind of poster Bob always wants to have in his office so he can look at it to relax and chill out, and focus. It is very soothing to look at all the green. I don't know if it is that way for those of you that live with the green all the time.

A week from today, I hope I finally get to begin my chemo. My plan is that the chemo and then the radiation are not going to faze me at all. I'm going to look for some kind of marker or paint so that after I lose my hair, everyone at work, (clients and co-workers) can draw pictures on my head, or at the very least - sign it! I need something that will wash off every day? or at least every other day. Ideas anyone? I just don't want to wear a wig - I remember Sherry and the itchyness of it that she hated so much. Maybe I could wear a scarf, maybe nothing. (On my head!) Maybe a gypsy looking scarf with sequins and baubles or whatever, I don't know.

You know how much I love Halloween and dressing up in my witches costume. (Uh oh,- I'll be bald for Halloween and my witch costume.) Anyway, I just want to have fun with my bald head so no one is freaked out about it. Because I'm not. I've always wanted to see what I look like bald. Maybe I'll see if my friend Helen can draw a 'world' on it. : ) : ) I also like the tattoo of the 'Number One' person on Star Trek from the last series with the woman commander (Katherine?) (how soon we forget) that he has on his temple. Maybe I can have that somewhere on my head. Or, one Halloween at Great Lengths, I was one of the aliens who had these freckle looking brown spots going over their heads then down the back of the neck. They were pretty cute, too. Of course, I'll need to have a pink ribbon painted/drawn/glued on it somewhere every day. Find the pink ribbon on Patty's head.

I feel another contest coming on. Suggestions for head decorations, paint, marker, or gluing on sequins or what ever other ideas you can think of. Oh yes. Bring them on. I glued tissue paper onto paper mache-ed balloons to make globes for the Tucson Girls Chorus a few summers ago. I still have lots of the tissue paper left. That could be worked in somewhere.

OK, OK, OK, c
an you say long-winded, anyone? Love ya, love ya, love ya, Patty : )

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Aug 16 Help please -- Susan G Komen

This address is too long for one line and doesn't
appreciate being on two lines, so....if there is a
problem copying it - there are a few more chances
on down in this post that will be easier to copy.

http://komenpolicy.org/campaign/ee_signup/forward/8keus784f8n7nx5


Dear All Ya'alls --
I have included this link three more times for your
viewing pleasure. Please read down a little and then
send this link on to all your peeps. I will not give
anyone someone else's e-mail address. If you, or
any of your friends choose to sign up - go for it! All
my peeps thank you and your peeps for your kind
consideration and generosity of spirit. I'll tell you
again, how much they helped me when I didn't
have the money or the insurance to pay for the
mammogram, the second mammogram, the
sonogram, the core needle biopsy, and all the
follow-up exams. Not one red cent did I pay.
That was the biopsy before this one. Others now
need that opportunity, and I am happy that I now
am able to give back to Komen, in the hope that
one day I might have repaid some of my debt to
them, to make up for all they have done for me.
Thank you again for listening/reading my rant.
Love to all, Patty : )


http://komenpolicy.org/campaign/ee_signup/forward/8keus784f8n7nx5


"Organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure that
are raising funds for breast cancer research are
making all the difference in the world."
- Elizabeth Edwards

I have some exciting news to report. At the Iowa
State Fair today, Susan G. Komen for the Cure was
joined by Elizabeth Edwards!

Along with Iowa policymakers and hundreds of
community members, breast cancer survivors and
activists, Mrs. Edwards called on political leaders
and presidential candidates to make breast cancer
a national priority in the 2008 presidential campaign
and increase funding for breast cancer screening
programs for low-income and uninsured women.

Mrs. Edwards encouraged us to "keep the pressure
on all the candidates" and said that "this is not an
issue where politics should have any role." She also
said, "There will be a day when we find the key to
breast cancer. We need to increase research dollars.
Organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure
that are raising funds for breast cancer research
are making all the difference in the world."

Today's event was part of the Komen Community
Challenge, a cross-country road trip bringing our
special brand of pink ribbon activism to 25 cities
with a rallying cry to "Close the Gap!" - so that all
women have access to the quality care that could
save their lives.


http://komenpolicy.org/campaign/ee_signup/forward/8keus784f8n7nx5


As a Champion for the Cure, you know the facts:
In the United States, a woman has about a 13
percent risk - or one in eight - of developing breast
cancer in her lifetime. Low-income women are
more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage breast
cancer and are three times more likely to die from
the disease. Uninsured women are more likely to
receive a late-stage breast cancer diagnosis and
are 30 to 50 percent more likely to die from the
disease than women with insurance.

Breast cancer survivors and advocates in this
country are millions strong. It's time we band
together and tell our leaders that our priorities
should be their priorities.

And in the coming months we will be doing just
that - stay tuned for more updates and make
sure your friends and family don't miss out on
all the exciting things to come! Send a message
to your friends now, asking them to join us.

http://komenpolicy.org/campaign/ee_signup/forward/8keus784f8n7nx5

Sincerely,
Diane Balma
Vice President of Public Policy
Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Aug 14 New foot problem

As you have read, I will begin chemo on Monday the 27th as I was finally convinced that it would behoove me to wait until my foot was completely and totally healed before I subjected my body to another hardship.
Here is the scoop: Sunday night at the end of my shower, I looked down and there was blood on the floor. I never did figure out exactly where the blood was coming from (the incision, or the chunk of skin that came off with the last stitch), but I cleaned it and re-bandaged it well, with lots of steri-strips and re-wrapped the whole foot so nothing could move, and called it good.
I called the Dr.-who-is-the-boss-of-me, and asked what I should do. He didn't say that it would be a bad thing to go ahead with the chemo, but he seemed to know that it would make my life easier if I didn't just then. He told me to just call the office in the morning and reschedule. So I did.
This morning, (Tuesday) I unwrapped the foot to see how well it was doing and ............... the incision had opened. My Dr. is in Philadelphia, conferencing) and so Dr. H. is taking care of his patients while he is away. I'm just home from that visit, and they pretty much said -- "these things just happen sometimes", and since my skin is pretty thin (he didn't say it, I did - "You mean I'm old") it heals not as well as maybe it used to.
Ones feet do take a very long time to heal, since the circulation is not as strong as it is nearer your heart. So.......Time heals all wounds. I hope. Soon.
My Dr. Shapiro will be back home from his conference on Monday the 20th, and I already had an appointment scheduled with him then, so we'll see what time has wrought.
Bob has an in-town training seminar next week, and that is why I'm waiting that one extra week to begin the chemo. It will all come out in the wash eventually.
Peace and long life. Love, Patty : ) OXOXOXOXO

Monday, August 13, 2007

Sara posting real quick as her mom

My mom's foot started bleeding last night, so she's not doing chemo today.

She's starting on the 27th.

Note: her last couple posts ended up being posted as me. Don't mind it, they're her unless it says it's me!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Aug 12 Chemo tomorrow?

I will be going in to the Dr. early tomorrow - or at least calling to ask if they still want me to begin the chemo tomorrow, since my foot still hasn't healed over completely since the stitches came out. I think it will still be happening, but it will probably make my foot heal more slowly.
I have my friend Katie over for the night tonight, and it is getting to be bedtime, especially if we are getting up early to go to the Dr.
So, goodnight for now - love to you all. Patty : )

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Aug 11 Sitting and healing the foot

The foot is healing, but slowly. Still a mighty bruise, and very tender since the stitches came out, but it's getting there. Bob (and another friend) thinks I should put off the start of the chemo until the foot is completely healed, but the Dr.-who-is-the-boss-of-me seemed to think it would be OK when he looked at it on Wednesday. The stitches came out later that afternoon, but I don't think that would make a difference?
I've been in bed with heat on it today, to get the blood flowing well, so it will heal faster and better. Think there is any real science to that theory? : )
I got a little distraught today after a friend reminded me that I may not be able to work even part time through the chemo "Most people don't". I just really hadn't thought there would be much disruption to my schedule. I would not allow it to be disrupted.
I think most of you out there know how much I truly love my job/work/clients/co-workers. The salon also is part family, and it always gives me fits when I have to change someone's pre-scheduled appointment, just for a lousy piece of time off. Now it will be for a lousy piece of time off for chemotherapy. : ( I'm so sorry, everyone, if that truly does come to pass. But I'll be back. Never you fear.
I, however, may well be the master of my own nausea and be perfectly fine, which is exactly what I have been planning on doing. Miss a couple of days of work the first week of the treatment, then get on with it for three more weeks. Repeat. You heard it here first, folks - Mind Over Matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Sara got all registered for her Sophomore year of high school (they call it 10th grade here!) (then I have to count on my fingers) on Friday, and came home with a foot high stack of books, and for her Honors PreCalculus/Trigonometry class, she was sent home with a CD! Times they are a changin'. Makes me feel pretty old. I sat and watched the Seniors (12th grade ; ) ) filling out paperwork for a parking permits, and thought how young they look, and wasn't I just a Senior in high school just a few years ago? (37!) Mom always said time would go lots faster when you got older, and boy, did she speak the truth!
Time does pass fast, and so my foot will heal fast, and I'll be finished with chemo soon, and then radiation will be over before you know it, and then all of a sudden, here comes Valentines Day! ; )
Lots of love and hugs to all of you out there. I miss everyone today. Love, Patty : ) OXOXOXO

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Aug 8 Notice the New Name?

Hey - did you notice - Sara come home and showed me how to change the name of the blog all by myself. I could have done it long ago. Maybe I'll change it once a week or something. That way, every entry gets a go at it! What do you think?

Aug 8 A post from the webmistress....

Hello all! My mom is going off to a doctor's appt. (To check the stitches to see if they can come out), so, I'm posting for her. She would like you all to know that she will be starting Chemo on August 13. She will be on Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan(R) and Docetaxel (Taxotere(R) ), and, "a shot of something to keep my white blood cells up or something" (Neulasta(R) maybe?). She will be taking stereroid tablets the night before and the morning of chemo, with food, a light breakfast in the morning to prevent nausea.

Yes, I'm home from Washington, back here in the heat ( XP )! I had a lovely time up there, thanks very much again to Uncle Dr. John, Aunt Lori, Kevin, Kaylene, Matt and Owen! It was also lovely to see Aunt Mary Jane, Uncle Richard, Ron, Krista, and her fiancee! I wish I could have gone to the wedding!

Aug 8 Yes, Chemo begins Monday the 13th

Yes, I get to have chemotherapy. It will improve my 10 year recurrence rate by 4% -- up to 88% and I like that figure better. So --- here we go on this adventure.
Dr. Brooks-the-boss-of-me-now says yes, I will indeed lose all my hair. I forgot to ask when or how soon? I've always wanted to try bald. Here we go, now. My friend Helen says she'll help me with scarves and hats and I'll just be too, too cool! (COOL!!?????!!) (ME?) (MOI?)
I'll go in one day every three weeks for an IV (forgot to ask how long it would take each time) and then I'll feel OK for a couple days, and then perhaps some nausea for a couple days.
Then I'll start all over again three weeks from the first time. I'll take steroid pills the night before and the morning of, to help with the nausea that may or not happen. This happens 4 times in all, so I should be done with all the chemo Oct 15, if I am counting correctly. Bob says, "Maybe you'll have hair by Christmas!"
I will still be working, however, the man of this house who-is-sometimes-the-boss-of-me, has told me that I will not be working any of those 12 hours days, anymore. So, not to worry - I'll go in late on Friday, so I can work on all my Friday night late clients (you all know who you are - my pretties) because that is just about the most favorite part of my week. I love the salon when it quiets down and there are just a few of us, or mostly just me and my client, and we can turn off the loud loud stereo so we can hear each other talking, and then we just feel like we are partying. Or at least I do. I have a great time I can tell you that!

I did get my stitches out of my foot - and re-bandaged with steri-strips and band-aids and all is good with the world. I have it up, iced and wrapped and I'm not going to let it swell so it will heal fast, fast, fast. It is just a little tender, the stitches were scabbed over I think, and there was a little more pulling than usual - but I'm all over it now. Did I mention tender?
Sara is home (finally) (YAY!) and wants to play on the computer very badly, so I must limit my post (?!?) and let her have at it. I love you all very much and thank you all again for all your support through this adventure! On we go.
Lots and lots of love, Patty : )

Monday, August 6, 2007

Aug 6 Feet Up - Still In Bed

OK, my rear end is getting tired of sitting on it in basically the same position for how many days now? Lots.
At least I have a bed to sit on so my feet/foot can be up in the air. There is also nice air conditioning plus a fan blowing on my upper body for when I get one of those heating-pads-turned-way-up-on-high-behind-my-back 'spells'. ; ) Bob fixed it so I could watch TV in here, but I'm too busy reading!
I've been reading and reading and reading - so many books I can't even remember them all. Karen and Kaylene - I finished The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde and am now ready to begin Lost in a Good Book, finally.
Then, Karen, I will at last be able to read your suggestion of last year for The Well of Lost Plots.
This last sentence just illustrated to me what some of you have suggested at one time or another ; ) - that I may be just a little teeny tiny wee bit obsessive? That might be the reason I had to read all the books preceding the one that was suggested? Before I could read the recommended one?
Oh well, they are all good books - if any of you want a good spoofy 'punny' read.
I also have in my 'to be read soon because it is borrowed from a friend' stack: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.
Sara and I went shopping before she left and found some cheap paperbacks: My Breast by Joyce Wadler,
The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner. Finished those and now just have The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger left to read from that batch.
I borrowed from Rita's last place before the hospice - Predator by Patricia Cornwell, finished it. Will return it.
Already checked back into the library The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides, Manhunt by Janet Evanovich, Beach Road by James Patterson, Why I Wore Lipstick To My Mastectomy by Geralyn Lucas, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (same author as The Kite Runner) (excellent!) (both!) and Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich.
I have from the library right now, The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin, and am waiting on two more of his that I requested - including his brandy newest one: Michael Tolliver Lives - can't wait. He wrote all those Tales of the City - and More Tales...., and Further Tales...., and Babycakes, and Significant Others. I think I kind of missed some of the in between books, and so I have reserved Sure of You and Maybe the Moon.
Last but by no means least, I just finished reading a gift from a client - The Rejection Collection, edited by Matthew Diffee. Rejected New Yorker cartoons. Hysterical! Thanks, Sarah! I loved it! : )
Now, I just have to read all of my many magazines that are piling up, and then the mail, and then the bills coming in. YEEEEGADS!!!
Bob accused me of having foot surgery so I would be able to lie in bed for 3 weeks and read. How did he find out? Who told him? ; )

SARA COMES HOME TOMORROW!!! I miss you lots, sweetie pie. : (
Hope some one can read this - I can't! Hee heeee heeeee. Love you lots all youse guys out dere. Patty : )


Thursday, August 2, 2007

Aug 2 Bandage change on the toesie

A trip to the podiatrist today to get a new bandage on the foot. Dr. Shapiro thinks it looks good, and as far as I can tell, I agree with him. He is a fine sewer, and there are lots and lots of tiny stitches.
He is hoping I'll be able to have the stitches removed next Wednesday, but if they don't look quite ready, I'll have to have another doc remove them.
Big outing and I'm tired.
Two friends came over after I got home and we had a lot of chatting and book discussion and trading. Fun.
But, now - the time has come - to say good night. I'm pooped, and that's all I know! Much love to all. Patty : )

I'm so glad to hear that you guys are all OK up there in Minneapolis - Mike, Toadie and kids! So, so sad.