Please let this go well

It's been a while since I posted... I'm so sorry everyone!!
My great uncle passed away Sunday and blogging has been the last thing on my mind. After his funeral yesterday we spent some time with my family, and then Danny left and I spent time with them fighting over spoons... No, really. We were playing Spoons. And I'll have you know I have a BRUISE on my poor hand from it. Those people are crazy. :) But, I love them. And we had a great time. I know uncle Ray Rey was enjoying the view from heaven, watching all of us battle it out over plasticware.

I am blogging today because I have a few minutes to spare (okay, like an hour. So really that's cutting it close!). Also, because I was asked quite a few times yesterday if I'd posted lately. And then of course miss Mandi told me today that I needed to get my tush in gear and get back at it. So, here I am. And I must say, it is a really nice feeling knowing that not only do people READ my blog, they want more. They aren't completely bored with our story (that my close friends and family already know), and they look forward to the new posts.

I don't really have any fundraiser updates. Remember everyone, the Scentsy fundraiser is still ongoing, and the sale is THIS month. Also, the Mary Kay fundraiser officially starts next month, but you can order now. Go "like" her on Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mandi-Gilchrist-Mary-Kay/320496594660914) or go directly to her website at http://www.marykay.com/mgilchrist04.

My oldest brother had the idea yesterday that maybe we should have a golf tournament fundraiser! He's going to look into it, so I will let you all know about that once we have more details.

I think that's all for today. I feel like I should have more updates for you, since I haven't been on here in so long. But, I don't. So. I'm sorry :)

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The day finally came to start chemo. It was a Monday, and neither of us were really looking forward to it. Danny came to pick me up before lunch so we could eat together before his appointment.
"Where do you want to eat?" Me?? It shouldn't be up to me, I'm not getting chemo today!
"Where ever you want. You start chemo today, so we should go somewhere that you want so you can enjoy it."
"I don't care. Where ever. Burger King?" Really? Burger King??
"Okay...."
So we went to BK, ordered, and ate. I'm usually a big eater, but the nerves had set in. My appetite was gone, and I couldn't finish my meal.
"So. Do you even know where we're supposed to go for chemo?"
"The same place we go for the other appointments, and then instead of going right to see the doctor, we will go left into the chemo room." I guess I have never even LOOKED left... There's a room over there??
"I didn't even realize there was a room over there."
"Yep. That's where I went to take Wendy some food when she was getting chemo." I really hope this chemo is different than what Wendy had... Her side effects were awful from what she's told me.
"Ohhh. Well, I'm glad you at least know where to go. I wonder how long the treatment will last..."
"I figure just a couple hours." GLAD I BROUGHT A BOOK!!!!
We headed up to the cancer center, Danny checked in and got his pager. Then we went to the hospitality room to work on a puzzle. Danny got paged for bloodwork, and was back within five minutes.
We waited for well over an hour.
"Do you think we'll have to wait this long every week?"
"I hope not. This is ridiculous." It's beyond ridiculous really... But that other waiting room WAS completely full...
"Maybe we should go ask them if they know how much longer it'll be. I mean, at this point if treatment is any more than 2 hours, it'll be too late to pick Faith up from daycare."
"That's true... I will be right back."
And off he went to ask someone how much longer it would be before it was his turn.
"They said they are just waiting on a chair to open up for me. And that it should only be a few more minutes. Mondays are their busy days." Why did they add yet ANOTHER patient to their "busy" day then?!?!
"Okay. Well, then we should still have time to get Faith. I'm going to text Wendy though and tell her we aren't even back there yet."
I spent a few minutes texting back and forth with Wendy. She expected chemo to take more than two hours, and said she would pick Faith up if we needed her to. She also told me to tell Danny that she hopes he gets a good chair because some of them aren't very comfortable.
"Wendy said she'll get Faith if we need her to. I will text her later and let her know. And that she hopes you get a good chair and not an uncomfortable one."
"Oh GREAT. Because chemo isn't bad enough, they also have to torture us with crappy chairs?" Ha. Evidently.
"I guess so babe."
BzzBZZBBBZZZZZZZ. FINALLY.
We got up and headed back to the regular waiting room, where a nurse was waiting with a piece of paper in her hand with Danny's name and a chair number on it. She led us back out into the hall instead of the area that Danny described.
"How are you feeling today Danny?"

"Well right this way, we'll get  you hooked up and ready to go."
We went into another room, with a small waiting room and a hallway. We went down the hallway and into a small room with a recliner for Danny and two chairs off to the side. I set our stuff down in one and plopped down in the other.
"I will go get all of your stuff that is being pulled now. In the meantime can I get you anything to drink? Water? Tea?"
"I'll have a tea, thank you."
The nurse left to get his bags of medicine and his tea and I tried to get comfortable in my chair.
"I feel really far away from you way over here against the wall."
"Well I feel really weird just sitting smack dab in the middle of the room." Good point!
"This is really kind of nice... Getting your own room and everything."
"Yeah, it's not normally like this. I'm not really sure why I'm in here instead of in the big room." Don't question it, just enjoy it!
"Well, I like it. I hope you get a personal room every week!"
The nurse came back with Danny's drink.
"It's got ice in it. I would recommend drinking it early on in the treatment, because towards the end it may be too cold." The cold intolerance can NOT kick in that quickly. That's crazy talk!!
"Okay."
"And, let's take this t-shirt off. Do you have an undershirt on or would you like a blanket to cover up with? I know it's kind of chilly in here."
"I've got an undershirt on, I'll be fine."
"Okay, I will be right back. Oh and here's the remote for the TV." I did not even notice the TV. SWEET!
"There's probably nothing but soaps on right now. Ugh." There is PLENTY on right now, I'm sure!
"I am sure I could find something to watch... But I'll let you control the TV today, since I brought a book."
"Oh how considerate of you." Our sarcasm and banter probably makes people think we don't get along well... Ha!
"Just this time. But be sure to watch something I'll enjoy too. In case my book gets boring."
"Whatever."
The nurse came back in with bags of medicine and a folder.
"Okay, I'm just going to go over all of this with you..." blah blah blah. More paperwork. I'm so SICK of paperwork. I'm also sick of having the paperwork READ to us. We can read! Blah blah blah.
"So, this folder is yours to keep. Be sure to check it if there are side effects you are questioning." Duh. I know they have to go over this with every new patient but come on....
"Thanks." I stuffed the folder into the side of the chair so I could read through it myself later.
"I'm going to move your shirt over, Daniel. And now I'm going to connect the fluids. It's going to pinch. If you'd like I can give you some numbing cream first and let it sit and we can do this in a few minutes."
"I'm fine without the numbing stuff. Go ahead."
"Okay, one... two.... three." And he didn't even flinch. Wow!
Bags were hung up on the IV cart thing and the nurse left the room.
"So, did that hurt?"
"Not as bad as everyone makes it out to. I definitely don't need any numbing cream."
"Well aren't you just so strong and brave."
"Shut up." Never!!
Danny turned the TV to something boring so I decided to go through the folder full of information. Some of it really was useful, and it's stuff I needed to take note of in case Danny started having a bad reaction to the meds once we were home.
"Hello! I hear this is your first time in here for chemo treatment!" I look up to see a sweet older woman standing in our room with a basket full of snacks and treats and a bag in her other hand.
"It sure is."
"Well, I'm from Victory in the Valley. What we do is try to make your time here as comfortable as possible. We provide the snacks in the hospitality room and we also bring snacks and treats around twice a day to the treatment rooms. Here's some paperwork on what else we can help with." MORE PAPERWORK!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!
"Thank you. We've actually been spending a lot of time down in the hospitality room."
"Oh good, so you did find it! That's great. Well, since it is your first time here, you get a teddy bear! Which one would you like?" Awwww Danny gets a teddy bear!
"Babe, which one do you think Faith would like more?" I love my husband, always thinking of his daughter first!
"I think she'd like whichever one her Daddy picks out for her." So he chose a bear and the lady chatted with us for a few more minutes. When the nurse came back in, the lady made her way out.
"Okay, now that we've got some fluids in you, we will start with the actual chemo." We've been here for HOW long and he's only just gotten FLUIDS?! Oh my gosh...
She switched the bags and left the room.
"I should probably text Wendy and tell her to get Faith tonight. We are never going to get our of here."
"That's a good idea."
After a while Danny started channel surfing and since I couldn't concentrate on my book I just got on the internet on my phone.
"Danny, Shana is saying on Facebook that the base is all shut down. There's an alarm going off and the police are driving down the streets telling everyone there's a lock down. What the heck is going on? Turn it to a news channel!"
He switched to a local channel and we seen what was going on. There had been a shooting (nowhere near the air force base) and the alleged shooter fled. They chased him to an area right outside of the base.
We spent the next couple of hours following the story. Completely distracted from what was going on in our little room. Before we knew it the nurse was saying our time in the room was done, just as soon as she set Danny up with the chemo pump. She left the room to go get it.
"Well, that didn't seem to take too long."
"Babe, have you looked at the clock?" Ohhhhh.... Okay so it did take a long time.
"Wow. Well, the time went by fast at least."
"Yeah, but I'm ready to get out of here."
The nurse came back in and said it would be just a bit longer for the pump, and asked if Danny would like more tea or water.
"I'd really like some pop, if possible."
"Sure, it'll be cold though. So it might sting."
"That's fine, I just want pop. Do you have Dr Pepper?"
"We do." She asked me if I wanted any, and then went off to get Danny his pop.
"Okay, here you go. And I've got the pump here too." She handed the cold pop to Danny and I watched for a reaction. Touching the can didn't seem to bother him. And then he took a drink.
Okay, so cold intolerance DOES kick in fast. Sheesh.
"Did that feel okay going down Daniel?"
"Stung a little. But I'm good." Ouch!!!
"Okay, so I'm going to plug in your pump now. Here are some extra batteries that I will put in the bag with it. The batteries get replaced every time the pump leaves though, so you really shouldn't have to replace them. But just in case, they're here. If the pump starts making....." Blah blah blah. This is nothing I need to listen to, Danny will be at work or school most of the time, so I likely will never hear the alarm on it going off. Or anything else. But I really hope he's paying attention.
"Then you'll come in Wednesday and get the pump taken off. If the medicine is gone before you can make it in for removal, just close off all of these clips, and silence the beeping. It'll be fine." What a pain in the rear...
"Okay, I think you're free to go." FINALLY!!!!
We got up to leave and the nurse jumped up, remembering something else.
"Oh, one last thing." She hands over a large plastic bag. "This is for the clean up... In case something happens and there's a leak or the tube breaks. You can't touch the medicine, you'll need to clean it up with this kit." Oh, THAT'S comforting. Awesome!
We finally left the cancer center and headed for home. Danny was still trying to adjust the pump in a comfortable position, and I was trying to come to terms with the fact that he was attached to a machine that was pumping chemicals into his body that would cause a chemical burn if touched.


That's all I've got for today. Please remember to follow and SHARE!! :)