Tidbits

I am done with my chemo Xeloda.....for a week. My dosage is 2 weeks of taking the pill, and one week of not taking it. I didn't really feel any side effects, except maybe fatigue. I pray the chemo is killing the cancer. I am starting to experience some back pain, which is worrisome, since it's in the same place I felt it before.

My husband's grandmother from Detroit came to visit us for a couple days. She is the "Cleaning Queen." Your clothes will barely hit the hamper before she snatches them up and has them cleaned and folded! The kids had a good time with her, especially Ella.

I'm enjoying my time with my sister and niece. Saturday we went to the Mall of America, and yesterday they went with Melvin and the kids to the Waterpark of America (I opted out of that adventure.)

Max is now sick. Spent a couple hours last night vomiting, and continued this morning. He also has a fever. I do hope it's just some 24 hour virus and not something worse that he might have picked up at the waterpark. It's certainly not stopping him from playing Lego Indiana Jones on the Wii.


Psalm 27: 14
Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.

Bits and pieces of info

I am feeling MUCH better today. I just decided that I'm going to have to stay on top of my pain medication. That every 4 to 5 hours I'm going to have to take a high dose of Vicodin. I don't want to do this, but even when I drop it a little, I start to have a lot of pain. So until my guests go away, I'm going to keep to this pain medication regiment. Or else I'll just be lying in tears all day, worthless.

Tomorrow, I start a 2nd chemo, called Xeloda. This is a pill I take by mouth. I have to read up on all the side effects and how often I take it, but I THINK it's a daily pill. Obviously I'll make sure I know tomorrow when it's delivered. Here's what's most ironic about this kind of chemo....I won't lose my hair! Except I've already lost my hair from radiation, AND I'll lose my hair from the other chemo...so it doesn't matter!

My Canadian friend Dana set me up with a link to http://www.4women.com/, which has some pricey...but worth it....scarves. They just plop so nicely on your head, are comfortable, and very cute. She used them when she was going through chemo, and I'm definitely going to get at least one more. I do believe that this was the kind Lynette used for her character in Desperate Housewives last year. If you know of someone else losing her hair, this would be a good gift for her.

My sister and 17 year old niece arrived today from New Jersey. It's so nice to be with them, but I hope my kids don't drive them bonkers! They're hoping to go see Madagascar 2 this weekend. Goodness, my kids are having so much fun, they're going to be quite mad when I get healed!

I also have some friends visiting from Utah. I was supposed to be out there visiting THEM much sooner than now, so I feel bad that they're making the trip out here. But it will be great seeing our kids playing together. My friends are so smart, I hope my newfound chemo/brain/radiation fogginess doesn't throw them off too much. A very small price to pay for my healing, but one that I do think about.

Next week I'll have more friends and family to see with the Benefit for the Angel Network.

And on a final note, I have to type that Cameron finished his first Harry Potter book. Now I have a lot of hesitation in writing this. Because I can tell you that he read the words on the page. Did he comprehend it....very little. But that's okay right now. He was SO EXCITED to read it, he was up late trying to sneak in reading by the aquarium light, and he read at every spare moment on the bus, in school, etc, that at this point I don't really care much that he didn't get most of it. He did understand some of it, and after tried to talk with him about it yesterday, (while I was lying flat in bed) he picked up more information to help him comprehend. He's now excited that he finished because I told him last year he had to read each book before I'd let him watch each movie. But I do think that he's extra excited because he finished the book, and he knew that's important to me! I am proud of him.

----------------------------------------------
Isaiah 41: 8-10, 14-16
But you, O Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you descendents of Abraham my friend,
I took you from the ends of the earth,
From its farthest corners I called you.
I said, "You are my servant:"
I have chosen you and I have not rejected you.
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand...

...Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob,
O little Israel,
for I myself will help you," declares the Lord
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
"See I will make you into a threshing sledge,
new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them
and reduce the hills to chaff.
You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,
and a gale will blow them away.
But you will rejoice in the Lord
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Ummm, just a few extras these days.

I told my husband today that with all our visitors, he'd have to change his name to Kevin...so that we could be Cari and Kevin, Plus Seven. (You have to have watched John and Kate Plus Eight to understand). He didn't think it was a good idea.

In addition to Cameron (age 7), Max (almost 4) and Ella (2 1/2 and such a terror these days), I have my four nieces who are visiting from Detroit for a couple weeks. They include:

A soon to be 7th grader...Elyce(who is incredibly helpful. She even cooked fried chicken today...without any help from me!).
A soon to be 3rd grader...Philyce (who is a very sweet girl who likes to read).
Her twin sister...Philicia (who is very helpful with Ella and likes to write).
A soon to be 2nd grader...Ajah (who loves to be hugged and can make up a great story if you let her sing it).

I quickly learned on the car ride here that the girls are very sweet and loving...to me...but not always to each other! But today was much better. Probably being cooped up in the car for 12 hours didn't help very much.

Sara took the girls clothes shopping today. They insisted that she go with them...I guess they think she's got more style...okay, she definitely has more style....even 6 months pregnant. Sara came home and said, "I'm only having one (kid)."

Things were much less chaotic today than I thought they were going to be, with so many kids in the house. It was actually kind of fun. I just figured that I'm going to have to stick to routines and develop rules that keep some sort of order.

The first rule I developed:
One cup, per child, per day. If you lose or trash your cup, you get nothing to drink!

Tomorrow I'm creating a new one. You'll eat breakfast when I serve it...not whenever you're hungry. Because I am not serving food in the morning from 5 AM (Ella) to 10 AM (Elyce) again.

Any other tips out there? Please feel free to post!

Spring Break Visitors

We have lovely visitors this week. Melvin’s cousins Terrence and Shalynne from the Detroit area are here for the week. They drove in on Saturday and return Friday.

With 2 older boys around (ages 9 and 11), Cameron is in his glory! Instant friends. Max and Ella are enjoying them as well. And for me, it has been wonderful, having extra hands and extra “entertainment” around for my kids.

On Sunday, we attended church and went out to breakfast. On Monday we did the required Mall of America trip. Today we’re going to the Water Park of America. And tomorrow we’re heading to a Timberwolves game.

But I’m sure of all these “scheduled” activities, their spontaneous games of tag in the backyard, the bike ride around the neighborhood, the paper airplane flights down the stairs, and their fun with “googly” eyes is what they’ll remember the most.