Saturday, October 17, 2015

We Are Climbing

Today, I called and scheduled the echo cardiogram for Tuesday, (October 20) at 11:30 a.m.   Most probably, I'll go to the office in the morning and then, go to the echo cardiogram from there.  And afterwards, I should be able to return to the office for the rest of the afternoon.
 
The surgeon's office also called, this morning, and said they received the authorization for the port for the catheter to be inserted; I've been scheduled for that procedure on Friday, (October 23).  I have to be at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. for that!  It'll be an out-patient procedure performed under local anesthesia and sedation.  Daughter will come down from Berkeley, again, to be with me during that procedure.
 
And the 1st chemo session is scheduled for the following Friday (Oct. 30), at 9:00 a.m.  Yes, daughter will come down for that, too. 
 
I am planning to work through Thursday of next week.  Then I will take sick leave for the surgery and I don't know if I'll be sufficiently recovered to return to work the following week before I start chemo therapy.  Once I start chemo therapy, I suppose I will go on a medical leave of absence.  
 
We are starting on the next phase of the climb.   It's going to be steep and I will need all the help I can get.  
 
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Today, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to move the car.  Several streets were being resurfaced, not just mine, so, there were lots of cars parked on the streets that were not being worked on today.  I guess a number of people parked their cars in the night, so they didn't have to worry about it early this morning.  I considered doing so, myself, but decided not to.  I prefer to keep my car in the safety of my garage.  And then, of course, there were the neighbors who ignored the request and kept their cars parked on our street until past 7 a.m., because our street hadn't been blocked off, yet (some of the other streets were already blocked off at 5:45 a.m., when I was looking for parking).  When the street crew came to do our street, they first drove down, honking a warning, and those cars were finally moved. 

I didn't go back to sleep, but stayed up to call daughter at 6:30 a.m. to wake her up, so she could leave by 7:30 a.m. to get to the airport in good time to catch her 10:30 a.m. flight home.  Ever since she arrived at the airport with less than 5 minutes left to board before the flight took off, she's made it a point to leave earlier than needed to allow for any unexpected delays.   

And I worked on the documents I had brought home from the office.

At 11:40 a.m., I picked up daughter from the airport.  We swung by our favorite Thai food place and bought lunch to take home.  After lunch, she napped while I did more office work.
 
My gardener came to do the garden around 2 p.m.  They reopened our street while he was still here, earlier than the 6 p.m. they had put on the notice, so I brought my car back in and parked it in the garage. 

I took a nap in the early evening.  The perks of working from home!  :D

I did a bit of cleaning, too.  I have a 5-tier plastic shelving unit in my bathroom, for storage.  It was quite dusty and I decided it was time to clean it.  Shelf by shelf, I took everything off, removed the wax paper shelf linings, wiped the shelves with disinfectant wipes, put new wax paper shelf linings, and put things back.  Much later in the evening, I dusted the living room and dining area and swept the kitchen.  Daughter tidied the family room.  Tomorrow, I will dust the family room. 
 
But it wasn't all work and housework.  Daughter and I played a board game called "Up Words".  It's a word game, a bit like Scrabble, but you can place tiles over existing words to change the spelling and create new words.  We didn't play for points this time, but it was fun.  We might play for points another time.  
 
Today, I was grateful for:
 
- Daughter had a safe flight
- Being able to work from home
- Getting my medical procedures scheduled
- Getting some cleaning done
- Playing a board game with daughter.  

How was your day, today?


12 comments:

  1. Sending hugs and prayers. The little I know of chemo is that it can affect people in all sorts of ways, but you may be surprised at what you can manage, especially at first. Really hope it works out for you. Sybil xxx

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    1. Thank you, Sybil. We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. :)

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  2. Hard to contemplate all the things ahead of you. We'll all be helping you up the mountain.
    Little Bless is becoming quite the jet-setter! So glad that she is able to be there for you frequently. Board games are great, also simple card games (I'm no good at complicated ones). When family was here, we played Old Maid and DGD won both games.
    Bushlady

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    1. It's rather ironic, because Little Bless does not like to fly! She's afraid of flying, but is bravely doing it out of love for me. :)

      Clever DGD! :D

      We got rid of most of our board games, but still have some of the classics - Scrabble, Monopoly, a 3-in-1 box of Chess, Checkers, and Backgammon, etc.

      I'm thinking of making a new quilt - featuring a mountain, with steps leading up, maybe a pink ribbon, somewhere. Still in the envisioning stage. :)

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    2. Love the quilt idea!
      Bushlady

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  3. Bless,
    So happy you got your appointments scheduled. Know I will be praying for you and daughter, as you climb this steep mountain.
    You are doing a great job, scheduling everything, and thinking ahead of the things you need to do.. I so admire you. Keep your uplifted mood.
    So happy your daughter is able to come and be with you.. Nothing like our love ones, when we have to climb a mountain.
    hugs and prayers.. Judy
    ps love your idea of the mountain quilt.. and the pink ribbon is a perfect addition. hugs

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    1. Thanks, Judy. The quilt will be something to work on when I'm doing chemo. Parts of it will be easy to work on (hand sew) when I am at the clinic; I can machine sew it when I am home on the good days.

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  4. I'm glad you were able to get your procedures scheduled and that your daughter will be there for you. I'm glad you enjoyed a board game with her also. I absolutely love board games, but don't have anyone to play them with.

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    1. Thanks, Jess. Sometimes, I play board games like Scrabble and UpWords, by myself. I just pretend to be two people and take turns with myself! :D

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  5. So nice that you call to be sure dear daughter is awake and able to make her flights. I'm not a morning person and can relate. You two make a great team!!! :)

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    1. Thanks, Carolyn. We do make a great team, don't we? :)

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