The News through Thursday

Wednesdays are not wonderful. I think it is because all the supplementation meds they give me during chemo on Mondays wear off by Wednesday and that is why I feel like crap on Wednesdays. I accomplished very little during my day, other than getting myself through the day and icing down my face to try to get the swelling down.

When we arrived at the cancer center, there was a phone call from Karissa's endocrinologist. The bone age x-ray showed that she still has a delay between her bone age and her chronological age. Also, her growth plates show that she has good growth potential. They hope five feet, or at least close to it.  But, based on the early puberty blood work, versus the delayed bone age, she thinks it best we not treat at this time. So we will watch and wait and revisit this in six months, provided nothing catastrophic happens. I am good with that.

Getting into the center, I got my gown on, Magic Mouthwashed, and suctioned. Rick is concerned because I am swollen, but we'll give it a whirl. Yes, we got the mask on. Number twelve done and my face is covered in waffle marks.

Wednesday night was more restful that the previous nights, with no middle of the night suctioning. Of course, I did hack up a hamster right before going to sleep, but better out than in.

I felt better today, but still not great. I haven't quite got the muscle relaxer timing down. I have it before bed and I have it a couple hours before radiation, but I have been getting up too late to have a dose in the morning. My neck is completely locked down and I feel pretty miserable.

My day consists mainly of putting heat on on my neck and chest, while putting ice on my face. I soaked in a epsom salts bath. It is all about neck mobility and getting the swelling down. On the way to the cancer center, I took my cucumber slices from the freezer and put them on my eyes. Still the mask is tight, but it is on. The Pandora was going crazy during my session, changing channels part way through several songs. Kind of annoying actually, but number 13 is done and Renee said it lined up perfectly. And number 13 done means I have past the halfway point. I am dragging tired and my mouth hurts, but we are on the downward slope now.

When we got home there was a break in the rain, so I took the opportunity to pick. We have an obscene amount of snow peas. Kelly picked the last few strawberries. I also picked raspberries and an insane amount of blueberries. When I am sitting on the ground picking I wonder why I thought so many blueberry bushes was a good idea. But in January when we are using the frozen berries, I am thankful for them.

Karina continues to search for a job. Tomorrow morning she has an interview. We are already off to a bit of a bumpy start as the manager who called to set up the interview used quite a bit of "non-standard" English. It always makes me wonder how they got this far without being able to communicate clearly. "I seen..." is one of my least favorites, too.  Good thing I'm not interviewing. Although my language is seriously non-standard now.

It is amazingly quiet here without Karissa. Eerily quiet, in fact. We spend way too much time staring into our electronic devices when she is not here demanding we interact. I knew I would miss her, but I didn't know I would miss her this much this soon. It is going to be a long three weeks.

We continue to receive unexpected gifts. We continue to be blessed with meals every other day from the temple. Eileen is planning a garden work party for this Sunday, another present. We have been showered with so much. I look forward to feeling well enough to pay back what I can, and pay forward what I can't.

Tomorrow physical therapy and radiation day 14. We're getting there...

Love,
Kiara

PS-- I almost forgot again. Why do we teach children to button their shirts from the top down? My fingers still don't always work very well and buttons are a particular challenge. When I get to the bottom and discover I haven't lined up the buttons right and I have to unbutton and rebutton it almost makes me cry in frustration. I am retraining myself to button from the bottom up so I don't screw it up.