October 22

Felt really good today. I actually started taking the summer clothes from my closet and bringing the winter ones down from the upstairs closet. I had to take numerous trips so that I wouldn't be carrying too much weight. I almost got the clothes done but I still have shoes to do. I also decided to try a bike ride today. I rode around the neighborhood on a VERY low gear for 15 minutes. Felt really good and so far no ill effects. We'll see if I get sore tomorrow. The ride was a bit boring, going around and around but it was nice to see that I could do it. I also took Paxton on 3 walks today so I got my fill of exercise for one day. I spent some time knitting on the back deck but it was overcast for most of the day and wasn't as enjoyable as if the sun were out. I'm a bit sleepy this evening. Didn't get much of a nap this afternoon. Will probably turn in pretty early.

October 21

Yesterday was 3 weeks since my surgery and today is 1 week since first chemo treatment. My how time flies, HA!. Today was a pretty busy day for me. I took Paxton to the groomers first thing this morning. After I picked him up at 11:00, Kathy came over and we went to lunch. It was such a great day that we enjoyed our lunch outside. We went over to the gift shop at the cancer center and looked at hats, but there wasn't much of a selection. We also found a resource room with lots of materials, free hats and free wigs. So Kathy being the fun loving person that she is, had me trying on all kinds of wigs, from a red/purple Farah Faucet style to a grey 0ld lady wig. Needless to say, we left there with no free wig, but I did pick up a couple of knitted/crocheted hats that are pretty cute. I had heard of a place that does pedicures for cancer patients (following the hospital sanitation guidelines) so we found it and I made an appointment for next week. The main objective of our day out today was to go get my blood work done. The results are: everything but white blood cell count looked good. Apparently, it is not abnormal for this to happen during chemo but now I have to be super careful about who I am around. No going out to the grocery store or the mall or around large groups of people and no letting anyone who is sick come anywhere near me. UGH!!! Steve and I have decided that the only thing we really have to worry about is what he could possible bring home from work. My neighbor, the pharmacist, said that if Steve is sick we basically have to set up a quarantine. So looks like I am really married to my house for awhile. Guess I'm going to be getting a lot of knitting done. I just hope the numbers are up by the time of the next treatment so this process doesn't get drawn out. So.... I did feel really good today. Ate little bits all day long so I may have conquered the queasy stomach. One of my neighbors also brought over a big pitcher of ginger water this evening and it is really good, so I think that will help also. They basically said at the Drs. office "just eat". Do that's what I will do. Another neighbor brought soup, salad, bread and cookie for dinner. Was really good. Post surgery is going well. Scar is starting to look a bit better but there are some bumps and lumps in places that weren't there before. It will be interesting to see how all of that ends of looking. Although at this point, I don't think it will matter cause bikinis are definitely not in my future.

October 20

Today was a really good day. I ate breakfast without any "stomach" issues. Took Paxton for a 20 minutes walk then had a shower. I decided to bite the bullet with the "jinxed" sweater and go down to Lettuce Knit to see how to get it fixed. I stopped at the Hallmark first and picked up a card. I spent about 1 1/2 hours at the knitting shop and now I know I should have taken a snack with me. Once I got home I took the nausea medicine again and then ate lunch. I probably should have just eaten first. So.... I ended up AGAIN taking a 2 hour nap (due to meds). Paxton just curled up with me on the couch and stayed until I woke up. He's such a good pup. I spent a few hours outside knitting in the sunshine. I was a beautiful day today. I think I have figured out that I need to eat small protein based snacks about every 2 hours to keep something in my stomach. From now on when I go out I will be prepared with peanut butter and crackers. I also discovered that I really enjoy pinto beans straight out of the can. They tasted good and seemed to work great as a snack. Steve is pretty grossed out by it (beans are not on his most favorite list) but I'm happy that they taste sooooo good to me. Took Paxton for another walk this afternoon with a neighbor. Another neighbor brought chicken piccata for dinner tonight. It was all good. I actually ate the entire meal but was really full afterwords. Things are going well, I think. If I can get this minor episodes of nausea figured out things will be great.

October 19

Today was kinda a tough day. Had a hard time wanting to eat anything today. Really had to work hard to eat a piece of banana bread with peanut butter for breakfast. I finally decided at 11:30 to take a Phenegran (for nausea). It did the trick and I was able to enjoy my lunch. However, it has a tendency to induce sleep so I took a good, hard 2 hour nap this afternoon. Thank goodness Paxton also likes to nap in his crate. I did get in a good 20 minute walk with him this morning and also again in the afternoon. For the most part things are going well, just a few bumps in the road every once in awhile. I didn't get to the dog class today. Hopefully, things will be better next week. Overall, I'd say things are going pretty well.

October 18

Much better day today. Woke up feeling better than all day yesterday. Decided to get out of the house so Steve and I went to BJ's, Walmart and out to lunch. Since I'm becoming a fanatic about germs, I kept my hands in my pockets the entire time and didn't touch anything. We bought antiseptic gel and used prior to lunch (mine was at home in my pocketbook). Really didn't do much the rest of the afternoon. Started a book, which is more appropriate for Steve. Guess I'm going to give a bit more of a chance. Sewed my sweater together again for the 2nd time and now the front pieces are 2 inches longer than the back. UGH!!! Not sure I'll ever get this thing right. It was a no brainer to knit but obviously I wasn't paying much attention at some very critical times. Looks like tomorrow I'll be ripping it out AGAIN. Another neighbor brought over dinner tonight which. as usual, was delicious. A week ago I had intentions of taking Paxton to Obedience Class tomorrow. I'm going to just wait to see how things go. Wish me luck, I know "the little bud" would like to see his friends. We'll see.