Happy 4th of July
Man was that a great day. I’m really loving a “social distancing” version of 4th of July. No big party to setup, no awkward small talk with random neighbors - this was the perfect way to spend the day. Swam all afternoon at my mom’s pool with my family, El Ranchito for dinner, super illegal firework display brought to you by my step-dad! Perfect. It felt so nice just to float in the pool and get some sun and feel almost normal. The pool and especially the hot tub really does alleviate a lot of my pain - I have a feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time over there this summer (as long as COVID doesn’t shut down public pools again). I’m still having pretty painful flareups about once or twice a day - where all of a sudden it feels like someone is sawing off my leg right at my hip and there’s nothing I can do to stop the pain from coming. Had one at about 1:30 am this morning and had to get out of bed and make my way downstairs to get the ice packs and lay on the couch. I guess that’s one reason to look forward to Chemo - at least when the tumor is gone, hopefully I won’t have this pain anymore. Or maybe I’m trading the pain for feeling nauseous all the time. Either way, I’m glad we have a plan and are moving forward. I have a busy week of appointments and some are giving me more anxiety than I’d like to admit. Monday - appointment with my primary doctor to go over medications (I’ll definitely be asking for a refill on my Percocet!) Tuesday - PET Scan (which will hopefully show what stage of cancer I have) Wednesday - getting professional family photos taken (this hit me immediately after finding out I need Chemo - an overwhelming need for updated family pictures before I lose my hair) Thursday - Bone Marrow Biopsy (I’m too scared to even google this one - am I getting a needle in my spine? I think I’ll just wait and be surprised). I’m also trying to write down all of the questions I have for the oncologist, whom I’ll be meeting next Tuesday the 14th. Things like can I still drink Diet Coke? Can I take aspirin? Please tell me I can keep taking edibles. Will I need a bone marrow transplant? What about stem cells? Especially since I won’t be able to have anyone with me at all of the appointments, I want to make sure I’m taking notes and writing everything they say down. I’m sure there are a million things I need to know, a million questions I should be asking, but my mind is slightly fuzzy these days. If any of you can think of questions to ask my oncologist, please leave a comment below.
