MRIs, Blood Counts, Prescription Drama and poor pitiful me!

So, Tuesday David and I headed to NYC for another MRI and doctor appointment. It's the end of his two month cycle, so before he starts another round of chemo, we gotta jump through all the hoops. His MRI was scheduled for 1:00 and appt at 2:30. We didn't get on the road till about 10...I just knew we were gonna be late. Thankfully we got there about 12:40...it was smooth sailing all the way, we didn't run into any traffic...even with a gas stop and Starbucks run ;) I did get the building wrong though, lol...sometimes David is scheduled in the MRI/Imaging building, which is right next to the garage, and sometimes he's scheduled at the MRI department in the doctor's office building. I thought he was supposed to go to the one by the garage, but we had to hurry the couple blocks over to the office building...still made it in time though! We didn't have time to grab lunch though :/

Except...we were sitting there waiting, and waiting, and waiting...he didn't get called back till about 1:40. MRI's usually take anywhere from 40-60 minutes...and remember, his appointment was at 2:30. At least the waiting rooms are pretty ;)

I cannot tell you how glad I was that I wore a sweater (I mainly brought it because it's gray, lol)! It was FREEZING, way more than normal! David couldn't believe I wore these flip flops...guess they are pretty bad...haha! Yes, Freckles has damaged another pair of my shoes :(

My brain cancer bracelets...plus David's ring. He can't wear it during the MRI of course. That thing won't even stay on my thumb!

Anyways, once David was called back, I did my bible study homework and read my library book. I wasn't paying too much attention, but it did seem to be taking quite a while. When he came out, he didn't look like a happy camper. He told me he threw up during the MRI...bear in mind, he's probably had at least 20 if not more MRIs, and never a problem with nausea once! He said after the contrast was pumped in, which usually feels weird and tingly and almost unbearable before normaling out, he started to feel nausea building. He tried to wait, but finally squeezed the little ball and told the techs what was going on...they came rushing in, unstrapped his head and had a bucket for him right away...just in time. It could have been bad if he was still strapped down and unable to turn his head...thankfully they are great professionals. It was just totally weird, he's never had any nausea from an MRI...and he felt terrible the rest of the day.

After this, we headed to the Neuro-Oncology floor...around 3:00 or so. He got his blood work done. We didn't get back to the room until maybe 3:30...waited for the nurse for quite some time till she showed up. Did all the initial check up stuff and background history since David was actually seeing a different doctor than normal this visit...Dr Omuro is out for a bit, so we were scheduled to see another neuro-oncologist. After the nurse left, guess what...we waited some more. Dr Kaley finally came in probably around 4:20ish. We really liked him though...he was a really happy guy, joking around...and of course, didn't hurt that he had good news about the MRI ;) No changes, nothing that they can see, the same as it's been since David's second surgery...praise God!

Dr Kaley did tell David that his blood counts were a little on the low side...in order to give chemo they want the white counts to be 3 or higher; David's were 2.7. Not low enough to worry about, no need for mask or extra precautions, but they wanted to wait a week before starting the next round. He also informed us that one of the chemo drugs, CCNU, is in a national shortage, so he wanted us to pick it up from the in house pharmacy as he knew they had some. He said the nurse had already cleared it with our insurance...we usually need refills to be mail ordered. By this time it was almost 5:00, so he sent us down to the pharmacy. We then headed out to get something to eat. I was feeling nauseous myself from not eating since breakfast. I'm the worst faster...I get all shaky and sick feeling if it's been too long since I've eaten. David got a couple of hot dogs and I got this chicken gyro with white sauce and hot sauce. It was delicious...I won! :)

We both love this picture that hangs in the pharmacy...the bird isn't painted the best, but the water looks awesome!

We headed back to the pharmacy to wait...and of course, there were insurance problems. When aren't there? Even though they had gotten a pre-authorization...an override for the mail order requirement was still needed. I called Caremark and after a long hold (with a dying phone...I just knew it was gonna kaput on me!) she told me that the account manager needed to give the override. She informed me that this was at the account manager at the union! This would have been good information to have months ago when I was having all the problems with the other chemo drugs!!! Anyways, by this time it was after 6:00, so they were long closed. We'd had enough of New York, so home we headed. Finally got there about 9:00...exhausted!

Thanks to Rachel and Papa for watching the kids for us! I had been feeling kinda yucky for part of the day, but I just figured it was from not eating. However, all that night I kept waking up feeling achy. When I took my temp in the morning it was actually low though. After I took some Tylenol I felt much better. But in the afternoon I started feeling worse and that night I felt terrible. I was achy, my skin felt like it would hurt if you touched it...it didn't, but it felt like it would. Kinda hard to describe. I was freezing, chills (on a hot summer day), my neck hurt...but no fever every time I checked. No cough or congestion either...but it did hurt when I took a deep breath. Sometimes my asthma does that. Anyways, with David's blood counts on the low side, I though I should get it checked out. Luckily our doctors' office is open late and they got me in. David wouldn't even come down for dinner...as soon as he heard I felt sick he said "See ya!" and headed right back upstairs. LOL

By the time I got there, I was running a very low grade temp...99.1 I didn't think that even qualified for a temp, but whatever. They ran a flu swab...negative. She said it seemed to just be a virus...told me to not go to work, get lots of rest and fluids and take Motrin. I told her I have 4 kids, I'm always at work! That night I felt awful!!! Freezing, aching, skin tender...so weird! I was pitiful! I slept in the den...didn't want to breathe on David all night. Started feeling a bit better yesterday...but as soon as the Motrin wears off I still feel bad, just not as bed. Right now I'm sweating like anything...like my fever broke, but I did that yesterday too. As long as the Motrin is in my system, I feel almost normal, but when it's out of my system I start getting achy and tender again. Not to moan and groan...but seriously?!??!?!?! The timing on this stinks!

I do have to show off my gladiolas and Red Three's sunflower. I have the biggest black thumb! Which is why I really like bulbs. Usually don't have to do much and they are so pretty! And Red Three grew her sunflower from seeds! They have even more blooms now. She's very proud!

 Oh, I did get the prescription worked out...Caremark's mail order service does have it in stock. Not only that, but they still had refills. So all I had to do was set up delivery. They came yesterday, so we are all set. All we are waiting on is for David's blood counts to go up. Hopefully he'll be able to start this coming Tuesday.

VBS, Brain Cancer Bracelets and Horseback Riding

After we got home from camping, I literally (well, not really, but seemed like it) had a mountain of gear, laundry, trash, etc piled high in the middle of my kitchen. The girls had vacation bible school that week, so after I dropped them off, I started excavating. Actually wasn't too bad...but that's never the fun part of any trip. The kiddos had a blast at VBS as always! The church where my MOPS group is, Trinity Covenant, always goes all out with it. The last three years, the theme has been Chronicles of Narnia, piggy backing off the books (obviously) but also the movies. My friend, Jen, writes all the material: drama, classroom teaching, etc for the whole program. She's seriously talented! It's amazing how she pulls it all together into a really unique experience for the kids! The sets are really cool and the kids always come home with a really great photo of themselves posing with some sort of prop. This year was Voyage of the Dawn Treader, so they were steering the ship wheel in the picture. I grew up on those books, so it's awesome to see the girls getting into it!

(Red Two found a little frog in the backyard...and wanted me to post it on my blog ;)

A few weeks ago, one of my brain cancer awareness bracelets broke, sending the beads flying! Of course it was my favorite one :( I couldn't find all the beads, but at least I found my white cross bead, which was the really important one. I figured making a new one would be easy and more personal than buying another one, so the kids and I headed to the craft store. I thought it would be nice if the girls were able to make their own brain cancer bracelet as well, so I let them each pick out their own beads. And btw, silver totally counts for gray, IMO! They were excited to pick, and of course took forever to decide...lol! We even found some cool charms for them...a D for David, a faith charm, hope, and also a cancer ribbon in silver, which was perfect. I also found some really cool silver beads with ribbons engraved, as well as heart and cross versions. We also found a strand of angel beads that we all liked. The girls had fun designing their own bracelets...we actually had enough beads to make two each. It funny how different each girl's bracelet came out...unique just like they are!

I wound up with the D, Red One got the ribbon, Red two used the faith charm, and Red Three ended up with the hope charm. We went upstairs to show Daddy...he really liked them, but took a minute to realize that they were brain cancer bracelets...then he REALLY like them! hahahaha

Last week we had nothing planned...it was mostly relaxing and lots of pool trips! Connecticut, and really the whole country, has been going through a heatwave. It was in the upper 90s all last week. Of course, the car picks that time to start dripping all over the front seat floor...think it's something to due with the evaporator coils (I think that's what David said). Like we needed something else to break! and then the brake light went on...don't know what the deal with that is...it's back off again, but still troublesome! David's been miserable at work...what with all his different medications/chemo, he's much more sensitive to heat and the sun than he used to be. Plus, working outside in a substation in 90 degree weather is unbearable for just about anybody! I gotta say though, I'm in awe of him! working while on chemo is hard enough, not to mention the type of work he does! Thanks for taking such good care of us babe!

So, Red Three's birthday is coming up in 4 days...she's keeping a countdown going! hahaha...anyways, one of the items on her list is a pony. So Papa, being the best grandpa ever, set up a horseback ride surprise for her. There is a stable near their house, so after church on Sunday we went home to change. The girls were mystified why I was making them wear jeans and boots. Red One theorized we were going to go hiking...they were NOT looking forward to it! It was hot out! We headed over (after turning around to grab the forgotten camera and check the brake fluid because of the light), the kids still clueless. When we got to the stable they were so excited!!!! Red Three was thrilled! She couldn't believe it. 

First they had the kids brush the horses to get everyone acclimated. I wasn't going to ride at first, but Dad insisted. Thank you!!! It was a good time to break out my awesome Lucchese boots! Growing up in Texas, everyone has a horse. Just kidding, but everyone has a pair of cowboy boots! LOL I haven't ridden since I was a teenager...I actually went to a ranch camp with a friend one time. It was really cool to get back in the saddle :P 

Look, Red Three is wearing her bracelets!

The kids helmeted up, then we went out to the arena to get some instruction. Luckily they were riding western style (that's all I know!). They made everyone use the mounting blocks (I so could have done it without! haha) and then walk around the arena. Before we went on our trail ride, they made sure we could turn right, left, stop, and go. My horse, Blaze, was super lazy in the ring. He didn't want to go at all, and kept trying to follow the other horses. I had to really kick him to get him started at all! 

Sweet boots, right?

Even Buddy got to ride around the ring! He loved it, of course. When we headed for the trail ride, he went with David and Papa to get ice cream though. ;) 

Once we were out on the road, the horses, well, some of them, really picked up the pace! Blaze wanted to be first in line...even got up to a trot finally ;) Red Three's horse was really slow though...he didn't want to go at all...lol. We kept having to stop to wait for the slow pokes. Our guide was funny...typical cowgirl, loud, obnoxious, and really nice! haha, but seriously, she was good. The teenager riding in the back, on the other hand, had such an attitude. I wasn't back by her too much, but she was rude even in the barn! Seemed like she was on a power trip or something. Anyways, we got off the street and headed into the woods on the trail. The horses got really excited! Apparently they knew it ;) they even had some small jumps, but we went around those. We really regretted not bringing bug spray though. As soon as we went in the woods, the mosquitoes started swarming! I was being eaten alive and the poor horses' faces were covered in the suckers! Red One even got bitten, probably by a horsefly! Her arm got a big ole welt...other than that, we were having a lot of fun! 

However, we had to stop again to wait for the caboose to catch up. Rachel told me that the teenager had been yelling at Red Three and cussing the horse, like literally cussing, and almost made Red Three cry! A horse that a 6 year old was riding! Red Three had never ridden before and of course didn't know how to control the horse or use the reins right.  I got steamed...couldn't believe it. That girl had dismounted to attach a lead rope to Red Three's horse to make it easier and so she could keep up with everybody. While she was off her horse, it ran away!!! The cowgirl couldn't find it either! (It actually went back to the barn, lol) We wound up having to turn around and go back because of that little obnoxious teenager with no sense of propriety. If I had heard her yelling/cursing, I think I would have done something equally foolish. I was so angry. When we got back, we made sure to tell them what happened. Everyone else was super nice and really tried to make it all better. It was just that one immature girl, but everyone else was as sweet as could be. Luckily, she didn't ruin it...other than cutting our ride short. We were able to ride for long enough though, and the girls still haven't stopped talking about it. As soon as we got back to Papa's house, they all yelled "Thank you Papa!" as loud as they could! Red Three told him, "I didn't like it, I LOVED it!" Best birthday present ever! Don't know if it can be topped ;)