A raindown of blessings!

Well, it's been a very eventful week.  So, here are more of the details.  Like I said, the PET scan came up clear.  I feel so relieved.  I feel like I can sorta sit back for the rest of chemo and believe that anything else weird that I'm feeling really is just side effects of the chemo.  If it were still growing during the chemo, it would've showed up I think by now.  So, alllll is well.

The second good thing was that a huge burst cyst showed up.  Apparently it was too soon to show up in the CAT scan when I taken into the emergency room a few weeks ago.  I was really weirded out when they had "concluded" that it was just a side effect of the chemo.  I was terrified to go into chemo this week out of fear that it would happen again.  But, not only was it a burst cyst, but a really big one.  According to all the nurses, burst cysts are known to hurt like a... well I won't use the word that they used:)  Anyway, I feel a bit validated.  They are sending me to a ob-gen, to check it out and make sure there aren't more.  If there are, there really isn't anything they can do about it.  I'll just know that if it happens again, I won't have to freak out and think that I'm dying.

So, those were two blessings.  The second thing is in regards to finances.  I have heard of stuff like this happening to other people, but I haven't ever experienced it myself.  So, here goes: On Saturday night John and I rolled down the window of the PT and when we tried to roll it back up, it wouldn't go.  John took it into the shop, and it was going to cost about 300 bucks to get it repaired, because the part was so expensive.  The next day, the check engine light came on in the Honda.  John called to tell me that it was a bunch of repairs that were needed every 90,000 miles or so.  It was going to cost about 1,000 bucks.  This was going to be a pretty big hit for us, especially with me not working.  It wasn't going to totally tank us, but it was going to be a burden, especially around Christmas.  Anyways, here's where it gets pretty cool.  John gave two lectures at a recent conference, each of which paid about $90.  The school decided to match what he got.  So, that brought in an extra $360.  THEN!!!  John just called me today to tell me that he had gotten another "gift" from the school: $1000!!!  It was a $1,000 benevolence check.  It is amazing.  It covers the cost of all the car stuff practically down to the dollar. I've only heard of this kind of stuff happening to other people, but not us.  God really provided for us.  He is not giving us more than our "daily bread", but he IS giving us our daily bread.  Whenever we have some extra cost pop up, suddenly we get random money from somewhere.  I feel grace upon grace being showered upon us in this time.

So, that's the awesome news for now! 

Quick update: double yay!

I just got back from the hospital and from chemo for today.  I want to go lay down.  BUT before I do, I'll give you super duper quick overview of how awesome the appointment was today!  Double good news: 1) The PET scan was clear!!  No malignancies! 2) There was a friggin' huge ruptured ovarian cyst.  That was their original thought, and then they went to "Naw, it's just a side effect of the chemo" to which i said "Oh great, so this will probably happen again...".  But NO!!  Huge cyst.  Big rupture.  Lots of pain.  But probably not going to happen again!  Yay!!  I'll go into more details a bit later.  Right now, I have a bed calling my name.

Such a nice break!

I was making plans with John for this weekend to put up all the Christmas decorations.  He got them all out this last weekend, but I was feeling pretty poopy for much of it.  (I eventually had to just give myself sleeping pills on Sunday to knock myself out.  It worked.  I slept all day and all night and I feel much better.)  It was so funny though, because after we had made all these plans, about a couple of hours later I started laughing because I remembered "I've got chemo this week!"  The funny part wasn't the fact that I remembered I had chemo THIS week.  The funny part was that I had forgotten I had chemo ever.  I looked at John and said "I don't know what I was thinking, duh, I won't be able to do the Christmas stuff with you this weekend!"  He looked at me confused and was finally like "Uh... why?"  And I was all "Um... I've got cancer?"  He busted out laughing and said "Ohhhh yeeaahhh...".  All this to say, we have gotten pretty spoiled by this 3 week break.  It probably helps that I have tons of energy right now.  Really?!?!  My body had to wait till almost midnight to get a ton of energy?!?  Where was it all this weekend, huh?  Stupid body...

Anyways, it was nice to have a break from all drama, even if it was only in mind and for a few hours:)  (and John's too)  And just to think!!  I'll have a 3 week break after this one too!  Then back to the grind... (the grind as in every other week again)

My new leaf picture

So, nothing to new to report here other than I did another leaf picture today.  I'm kinda proud.  It's a combination of about 45 photos, and the amount of detail, if you could see it up close, is really cool.  It's still not as good as it could be.  I still don't have the light stand and my hand is pretty shaky.  But I still like it:)  I could've spot edited the little dead parts on it, but I kinda like the imperfections.  If you click on it, you can actually pull it up in a separate window to see it a little bigger.

Chemo postponed, PET scan done

So, I had my PET scan this morning.  I had stress dreams allllll night about it last night.  It was ri-di-cu-lous.  Needless to say, I was super tired.  But, the technician said (after I probed pretty hard) that if anything was there, it wasn't big enough to be obvious to him.  So, that has me placated for a while, at least until my appointment with Dr. Le. 

I had rescheduled my chemo to be closer to the PET scan time, so we didn't have hours of lag in between.  However, there was a snafu in communication with the receptionist.  She had called me back right after I rescheduled to say that since the PET scan results wouldn't be back in time, and Dr. Le didn't want to meet with me until the PET scan results were in (maybe "technically" couldn't meet with me until then?) that we would have to reschedule my doctor's appointment.  However, I didn't understand that the doctor's appointment and the chemo were a package deal; I can't do one without the other.  So, I showed up thinking I was going to just go straight into chemo and skip the doctor's appointment (which I normally have right before chemo).  But, I found out otherwise.  Part of me is annoyed, because I don't want to stretch the 6 months out (and because it throws off my schedule for next week).  Part of me is relieved because I have still been very weak this past week ever since the whole sickness last Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  So, I guess this will give me extra time to build up my stamina.  I was worried that this would throw off my schedule to make Christmas week a chemo week, but they said that we could skip that week.  So I'll be feeling REALLY good for Christmas!  I feel bad that I made mom come all the way down for the chemo and then just drive me back to my apartment though.  Coulda woulda shoulda.  At least I'll be feeling good for John's birthday! 

PET scan rescheduled

So, I rescheduled the PET scan for tomorrow, which I am really "excited" about because I REALLY don't like what my body has been doing.  There's about 5 different things that all mimic EXACTLY what was going on at the beginning of the year, and I don't like it.  I don't like it one bit.  I do NOT feel comfortable with it.  I will feel much more comfortable after getting the scan done, and having it come back clear, and having them say to me "Oh, all that really is just side effects of the chemo.  That, and you probably still have a food allergy.  THAT'S the pain you are feeling!"  To which I will reply "Great!  Thanks!  Yeah, I knew it was probably nothing.  I just wanted to make sure.  So, how do I test for food allergies?"  This is the conversation that I am planning on having.  Not another one.

I go in at 7:15 tomorrow for the PET scan, and I'll probably be out by 9ish.  I rescheduled chemo for 10, so that John and I didn't have a long break in between the scan and chemo.  I think I want to schedule all my chemo for 10 anyways.  I only did it for so late in the day before because I was still teaching.  It'll make it much easier to drive home NOT in rush hour traffic.

OH!!!  And everybody make sure to send John birthday wishes Thursday!  He finally catches up with me and turns 31!  I am SUCH a cougar...

New phone, new ap!

I was feeling really sluggish yesterday morning, so following the model of my friend Anne, I decided to do a tiny "work out".  It's not really a work out.  It's me walking the loop around the ponds at my apartment complex.  I'm not even walking fast, and I'm stopping to feed pretty much every squirrel I see.  (I know.  "Work out" isn't really the right word...)  Anyway, I have my new iPhone 4!!!  I upgraded from the FIRST generation iPhone, so it really was about time.  I have a new ap that my friend in LA recommended called "instagram".  I LOVE it!  Here's some of the fall foliage I came across:)

I started seeing some leaves that were really pretty, so I started collecting them, thinking that I would photograph them at home.  Unfortunately, one of the pieces of lighting equipment that attaches the light to the stand is MIA.  But, I did manage to do one picture.  It's not as good as I would like.  Pretty much, I'm taking a macro lens and photographing the leaf really upclose a bunch of times, and then taking all the really detailed, in focus parts and stitching them together to have a leaf with a whoooooole lot of detail.  This one was as good as I could do while holding the camera, trying to focus, and aiming the light all at the same time:)