Heh?

Yes, that's right...still can't hear out of my ear. It's slightly better, but not by much. I still get a little dizzy and felt like crap most of the day yesterday. I'm still taking amoxicillin and the decongestant. Phooey.

I went for my MRI on Friday. Fun...um, NOT! It wasn't like the breast MRI where you lie face down and you're really not aware you're in a tube. I was getting very claustrophobic and was soaked with sweat. It took about 45-50 minutes and I think I counted every second. Praying got me through it...several times I was like, "Ok! You can get me out of here now!" I'll have the results at the beginning of the week I imagine. I had my follow-up appt. with my radiation oncologist. I didn't see him; I saw his nurse-practitioner. She was very pleased with the results of my tests and scans. They want to see my again at the end of the year after my next mammogram.

Oh, almost forgot...didn't make it to PA this weekend. Long story. My nephew, Jeff, is sick and is highly contagious and we all felt it was a good idea for me to postpone my trip. I could stay at Anita's but I really wouldn't be able to see Jeff or go over to their house and training camp is definitely out for him. Not only that, but this pesky ear infection might have been difficult to deal with on a plane. So I rescheduled for August 8th and we still might be able to make the Steelers' camp. Thankfully, the airline didn't charge me anything to change my flights and I'm actually saving some money. Who would've thought that? I feel bad, mostly for Jeff, a little for me...we have a family reunion next Sunday (Dad's side) and Joyce went up to Pittsburgh by herself. She's staying with her brother and his family, and we were just going to get together in Latrobe, but still.

I was at Joe's and Linda's yesterday. I was driving back home around dusk and spotted 2 deer grazing at the side of the road. That was the first time I've seen deer in Florida. They looked just like Bella!

Greetings

I've been busy this week, getting ready for my trip, looking for work, cleaning, doing laundry and attempting to get rid of this ear infection once and for all. I made a return trip to the ER on Tuesday as I really wasn't feeling any better. The ER doc said that my ear had cleared up, but there was probably some fluid in the station tube behind the eardrum. She prescribed a decongestant and that seems to be working. She said I'd be okay to fly.

Today's a busy day...have a few appointments and some errands to run in the afternoon, including seeing my radiation oncologist for a follow-up (I thought it was next month) and I'm picking up my compression sleeve from my occupational therapist.

Friday is the MRI for my hip, then I need to pack not only for myself, but my dogs and cat for their vacation with my brother's family. I take frequent breaks, trust me.

Say what?

I've had a minor sore throat for a few days and had been sneezing a bit, so I thought I might be getting a cold. Late yesterday morning, my right ear felt plugged up and I'd hear a tone with every sound. Very weird. Then in the afternoon, I picked up the phone to make a call and there was no dial tone, or so I thought. I put the phone up to my left ear and viola! dial tone. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear a thing out of my right ear. Nada. And I was a little dizzy. I figured it was an ear infection and called the doctor's office around 2:30 and left a message, but by 6:30 I still hadn't heard back so I called the answering service and the on-call doc responded. She apologized that no one got back to me. She felt I should go to a walk-in clinic or ER. I called Linda and we discovered there were no clinics open. I thought they were open 24/7. Shows you what I know! So I drove to DeLand to my bro's house; their ER is much more efficient than the one closest to me. Linda came with me and we were in and out of there very quickly. I was amazed! I have a middle ear infection, so now I'm stocked with amoxicillin and prednisolone. I used to get ear infections way back when and they were always miserable, but this isn't nearly as bad, thank God.

So that was just a very long-winded way to say, "Hey! I've got an ear infection!" Go ahead, you're now permitted to talk amongst yourselves.

Now that's what I call a sandcastle!

Kidney stone!

The PET scan revealed I have a kidney stone. I don't have any symptoms, though. I had one about 6 years ago and it was quite painful. If it begins to move I'm sure I'll know it!

The scan also showed signs consistent with degeneration and inflammation in my left hip, which is not surprising since my ortho doc told me about 2 months ago that I have a very arthritic hip! My oncologist recommended an MRI to establish a baseline. I'll try to do that as soon as possible, even though he said it wasn't an emergency. Don't want to mess around with that.

Everything else is clear. Thank you, God!! I see my medical and radiation oncologists again in August. Next mammo is in December.

Is a job opportunity an "opportunity" when you must invest $25K of your own money?

I won't go into details, but this job doing marketing research sounded very interesting. TOO interesting, as it turns out. Yeah, I have $25,000 in my pocket to throw into some multi-level marketing scheme. I wish careerbuilder.com vetted their "clients" more thoroughly. There's a scam around every corner!

Saturday in Tampa was fun. Marissa's apartment is very nice. I expected your typical crappy student apartment, but it's a very nice complex, looks fairly new, is gated and has a security system. Maybe all the security is because it's not really that far from an area known for crime. But Marissa is excited and she continues to work tutoring the university's finest athletes. There's a joke in there somewhere, I'm sure. She starts her senior year in the fall and is contemplating grad school. Good for you, kiddo! Auntie's very proud of you.

Before we headed back home we went to Alessi's, a bakery about 15 minutes or so from campus. I had heard about it from family, but it was my first time there. I had a slice of Neapolitan pizza, just about as good as what my mom used to make. And I also brought home a few things one should not eat when trying to lose weight! Alessi's is known for their very imaginative cake and cupcake decorating. I love the three layer cake on the right that has a piece of it sitting on top. Cute! I was very tired by the time we got home and I think I was asleep by 10:00 p.m.!

I was supposed to have my CT/PET scan Monday, but I woke up with a headache which continued to get worse. Caffeine withdrawal, I imagine, even though I've been drinking half caf/half decaf for weeks. I was starting to get nauseous before noon so I called and they were able to reschedule me for yesterday. I took ibuprofen before I went to bed and as soon as I got up in the morning. They are so incredibly accommodating at the Cancer Institute's Imaging Center. When I left there around 4:15, it was raining kitties and puppies. I made a beeline to the closest coffee shop, which in this case was Starbuck's. To my surprise, the traffic wasn't bad going east (to home). The other direction was very backed up from an earlier accident. Anyhow, my doctor should have the test results sometime tomorrow.

We have definitely been experiencing a sort of monsoon season. It's raining every day, but not the typical rain that lasts for 10 minutes and the sun comes out again. This rain lasts for hours. I don't mind it after the weeks and weeks of dry weather in the spring. Of course, my dainty dogs pitch a hissy fit if they have to get more than a little bit wet outside. WHO spoiled them so rotten??

Trying not to be bored...

Well, the weekend is here. This past week I've been job hunting, painting and pulling some weeds. Tomorrow I'm going to drive over to Tampa with my sister-in-law Linda, nieces Angela and Elizabeth to move stuff to my niece Marissa's apartment. I won't be doing a lot of heavy lifting, but hey, every little bit helps!

Sunday I'll stay home, clean, do laundry, etc. Very exciting. On Monday I have my first CT/PT scan since before I began chemotherapy. It's a long process, but fairly easy. No eating 6 hours prior to the test, but water is allowed. They inject you with a radioactive glucose then you wait until your body tissues absorb it. They look for any unusual metabolic activity. It's pretty thorough.

I brought Stella to the vet today. I think she has a mild urinary tract infection. I was able to provide them with a sample by running around after her today when she went outside to pee and catching some in a jar. It was inconclusive as to whether she has an infection, but she's on a course of Clavamox (amoxicillin) just to be on the safe side. Otherwise, she seems fine. She has to lose weight, but I knew that already.

I put up new pics of the critters at the end of this page. Have a good weekend everyone!

A year from diagnosis

Today is one year since I was diagnosed with bresst cancer. I use this date because it's the date on the pathology report from my biospy. The time went by really quickly, although I counted down each chemo session, looking forward to the last one.

The 4th of July was good...we grilled. That night the local fireworks were pretty annoying...especially for my "kids." And by local I mean the dozens of people in my subdivision who set off their own in their backyard. I was glad that the next morning I didn't come across used bottle rockets, sparklers, etc. Last night was the first quiet night and I really appreciated it!

My job hunt is continuing. The downside of searching and applying online is that because your resume is posted, you receive a lot of unsolicited "opportunities" disguised as something interesting. I've received requests for dubious sales positions, but nothing from the jobs for which I actually applied.

I've started painting again. I really want to get the rest of the house done. I just need to pace myself and not overdo it with my arm.

I'm looking forward to my trip to Pennsylvania at the end of the month. My trip just happens to coincide with Steelers training camp. What a coincidence!

I hope it rains really hard tomorrow night...

...so people can't set off fireworks. In their backyard. Which I thought was illegal. I have nothing against big "official" displays, but hearing my neighbors do this is really annoying. My dogs and cat absolutely freak out. The dogs bark the entire time. They even get agitated when they hear fireworks on TV. And usually the next morning there is a bunch of fireworks litter all over everyone's lawns. Makes me wish I was living out in the middle of nowhere!!!!!! So, anyway, I am hoping for a torrential downpour after dark. So there.

It's also annoying when you respond to a job opportunity online and you get a bunch of spam as a result. And once again, I got the blue screen of death on my PC. Running anti-virus and anti-spyware software on a regular basis isn't doing the trick. Not happy.

I'm trying to plan a trip to Pennsylvania at the end of this month, beginning of next. I need to know when I'll receive my compression sleeve, because I can't fly without one.

I've been writing a lot of crabby posts lately. I swear my frame of mind is worse than it was while I was undergoing treatment. The boredom is getting to me!