Sunday, August 16, 2009

Cats, Flies, and Cell Phones

Hey Guys,

What do these three things have in common?


They're all things that kept me awake last night (not for long though - mix a couple tablets of Benadryl with a little Ativan, and I was drowsy and confused in no time...)

There has been a giant fly buzzing around my room for days now, and Winnie, having never had to fend for herself in the wild, does not have the sufficient skills to hunt and trap such a wily insect. So, I still have a giant fly buzzing above my head (as I type, she's bounding around the room, clumsily trying to catch it - still to no avail)

In other cat-related news (as a side note, I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up a crazy cat lady in the next twenty years...) Lily (my little brother's cat) has discovered the super-secret location of Winnie's food container (not-so-cleverly hidden on top of my dresser, which until last night I had thought was basically inaccessible...) and spent the entire night jumping from the foot of my bed to my dresser, attempting to knock the plastic container of cat food onto the floor so she could devour it. My bed is made of iron. My dresser is pretty far away from it. This created a pretty big noise every time she jumped. Agh.

Finally, I love you all, but I do NOT love when my phone keeps ringing in the middle of the night. Texts are fine, but someone (honestly, I'm not even sure who, because it was someone whose number I don't have in my phone) kept calling me in the middle of the night... Not cool...

Anyway, back to the stuff that you're all here for. I don't think I've written about this before, but my doctors are on the lookout for "foot drop" in my walking, which is basically when you start walking weirdly and not bending your feet the right way - it's a long-term side effect of one of my drugs. They're not expecting me to develop it, but are checking early just in case. So last Monday when I went in, Dr. Adams decided she wanted me to take a spin around the oncology hall, just to check on my walking. She had me walk up and down the hallway (pre-access, fortunately - I'm still not very dextrous with the pole...) and I felt like a really bad contestant on America's Next Top Model. If I still had any delusions of a career as a runway model, they're gone now! For those of you who don't know me, I am not a graceful person (my ballet teacher last semester told me that I "make her laugh")

Tomorrow, I'm back in for my rough chemo - Adriamycin, Bleomycin... and something else. I'm blanking. I should probably keep better track of what I'm getting on a given day... The good news is that my appointment is at 7:30am, so I'll theoretically be home before lunch if the nurses get everything started on time (cross your fingers for me!)

Talk to you all soon :-)

Lots of Love,
Lauren



Goodnight :-)

8 comments:

  1. Benadryl is my friend. Glad someone else "gets it." I don't use it much, but it sure helps when I'm feeling bad (physically, as opposed to psychically). The NYC trip sounds so great. I'm going to check out that hotel--looks wonderful. We were there last year in Jan. and, let me tell you, standing in TKTS line for over an hour made me the coldest I've ever been in my life. But it was worth it (last of Miz Patti LuPone showing off in "Gypsy"--). Good luck tomorrow!

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  2. That's craziness - I hate when everything in the world seems to be ganging up against me sleeping. It happens a lot, now that I think of it. Especially at school in the dorms... gross.

    Good luck on your rough chemo :( If you need me to be there, I'm free in between 11:30 and 2, and then again any time after 3.. so just call/text and let me know.

    It was great seeing you!! Love you tons!

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  3. Hi! thanks for the comment on my blog (",) anyway, there are things that kept me awake last night, too. One is my cellphone, it keep ringing the whole night. second is i saw a cockroach inside my room, and i wasnt able to sleep until i catch it. i fall asleep holding a big slipper in case that thing come near me. and know, im having a bad headache.

    anyway, i love keeping track of your posts, im looking forward to be your friend, that if its okay for you hehe.

    ill add you in my blogroll. have a great day!

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  4. Ambien has always helped me to sleep. Well...since 2004 anyway. I unfortunately know the pain of not being able to sleep...distractions or not. Glad you were able to get some sleep. I hate those loud flies that enjoy dive bombing my head at night.

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  5. Hi Lauren, I found your blog through the blogger forum. I'm a cancer survivor (Non Hodkins Lymphoma). I have a friend that has been battling Hodkin's and writing about his experience for quite some time. You might find his blog interesting. http://thejournalofaprizefighter.com

    I wish you the best luck with your fight and you will be included in my prayers.

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  6. let me check if this works...

    What's up with the flies these days...the noises they make are so loud! One time I was working behind my laptop and this loud ZOOM was to be heard and even if the fly was in the other corner, I could still hear him..her..like it was in my ear! I started throwing pillows everywhere (and always missing the fly of course)

    It so annoying that when someone asks you to do something, like you said, walk around, it always goes very weird, like you instantly forget how too walk -_-'

    I wish you all the luck and strength with your rough chemo!

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  7. Ativan is my friend - over at Hopkins the nurses called it "Vitamin A". teehee But I do love the stuff.

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