Today is chemo day. Such fun, okay maybe not. The nurses are great. Although I don’t understand why a nurse that starts IVs all day long, everyday would have to poke me three times? In fact, both nurses have poked everyone multiple times today. Luckily, they are super cool, so it’s no biggy. I just can’t put my head around it! 

It was a busy Fourth of July weekend. We drove to Seaside, Oregon on Friday and Saturday to play on the beach. We had Travis’ son here for the weekend, so we made sure to stay busy. The kids had a blast skim boarding and boogie boarding with Travis. I got so sunburned on my shoulders, knees, and shins! We bought a half tent like enclosure at Costco Friday night, so I hung out in it most of Saturday. The beach was packed with people. It was around 100 degrees in the city, so everyone flocked to the coast. Apparently, so many flocked there that the substation caught on fire and knocked power out from Cannon Beach clear up to Astoria. We weren’t aware of it until we went into town to eat. Every place was closed down or selling what was on hand for cash. It was a madhouse. A quick Shoutout to the Seaside Police Dept for doing all they could to make things pleasant.  We decided to drive back home, go to dinner, and then watch the fireworks in North Plains.  It was perfect. Not to busy, and very community oriented. Plus, we were just minutes from home after the show! On Sunday we took Jakob over the mountain to meet up with his mom.  I hope we get to see him again soon. It’d been since Christmas break since we’ve seen him. I’m hoping that changes, as Travis misses him so very much. We love having him here. 

I like to write my blog Mondays through Fridays, but after such a busy weekend, I was spent. I rested most all of Monday. Then on Tuesday I had a million things to catch up on, yes, a million! Adding in the stress factor of having chemo today made last night extremely tense. I don’t know why I stress out so much? OHSU is a great place. Their doctors and nurses rock.  The chemo I’m on can cause a reaction, and of course, I’m one who gets the reaction every time. It starts with pain in my lower back, and then my throat feels funny. I posted my tracheal pics on twitter and Facebook last night, so any if you that saw that know how small my airway is to begin with. Having a reaction sucks. The only thing to do us give me solumedrol (benedryl via IV) and slow the drip down. This infusion will take me anywhere from 6-8 hours. Again, this sucks. However, to quote my doctors “The benefits outweigh the reaction.”

The infusion room is pretty quiet, aside from the sounds of the IVs pumping. There are a total of six infusion chairs in here. So far, no one I s a talker, which is good. However, the wifi isn’t working, and it’s getting boring rather quickly. I may need to start a :::gulp::: conversation. It it bums me out mostly because I was looking forward to catching up on my shows via Hulu and Netflix. I guess that was not meant to be? 

Last night I laid in bed going over the list in my head of what to bring today. I always feel like I’m moving in when I have an infusion.  I brought water, snacks (they only have crackers and applesauce, so I brought better food: blueberries, blackberries, a banana, a plum, grapes, and some grilled chicken left over from last night). It totally cracks me up that I’ve been watching everything I eat, trying to eat clean as possible, but here I am pumping my body full of poisonous chemo! Oh well, “The benefits outweigh the side effects.” Haha

I don’t know that this blog post will resonate with anyone else, but it’s nice to get all this off my chest.  Blogging…the new therapy. I also like bringing awareness to Wegener’s, since it’s such a rare disease. I’m going to post my tracheal pic at the end, because I just know how you all want to see it. Gross! I just think it pits things in perspective for those who don’t understand that this is a very real, very terrible illness.