Here's how it is.

The pictures on the blog today are from the wonderful Labor Day weekend with Trish and her family.

1) Gabe playing the guitar; I’m sure he could play some loud stuff that would make me wish he were in the basement, but he never did. He played beautiful, soft music. I smiled every time he played.
2) Another good smile we got from Raynie! She’s such a sweetie!
3) A shot of Raynie and Sadie and I. You can tell I was having a great weekend!

Many people are very concerned about me and I really appreciate that. I feel so fortunate that I’m not as sick as a dog. That may come with the last 3 months of chemo as it is a tougher mix and the doctor has warned me that it will be tougher. I’m braced for it.

You’ve seen from the pictures that my hair is gone. I still have some stubble on my head, but it was not enough to comb. It’s enough to shave! I love it being bald, but my head is really cold. I wear two or three hats most of the time; I sleep in 4 little cotton caps. (Any less and I wake up freezing, so 4 seems to be the magic number.)

You know that I get tired, so I have to nap daily if possible. It seems to be a thing I can balance fairly well and folks are very understanding that I have to escape to nap sometimes.

For the last 5 days I’ve noticed that my toes and fingers are feeling lots of tingling and pain. It’s a chemo side effect. My knees and heels hurt, too. Mostly I don’t notice it. When I go to bed, I just have to sleep on my side so that the covers and bed don’t hurt my toes and heels; plus that’s easier on my knees. When I handle dishes I have to be careful not to drop things. I had trouble buttoning a shirt today. At first I thought I’d been on my feet too much the first day I noticed it. But, it didn’t go away. My toes feel like I’ve been wearing shoes that are too little, but I don’t even wear closed toed shoes! My fingers feel like I’ve been quilting for 48 straight hours. Not! It feels like my fingers and toes are swollen and might burst, but they aren’t. When I was playing cards with Nate, I noticed that I couldn’t pick up the cards rapidly for a game that required speed. I’ve noticed that I have trouble turning pages. This is a minor thing and will go away as soon as the chemo is over. I just have to be careful that I don’t stub my toes or drop something and hurt myself and just be patient turning pages and buttoning.

That’s the report for those of you who think I’m putting up a front. This is how it really is: not so bad! It’s real, but it’s a thing I can do. Thankfully Don is a wonderful help! He did all the vacuuming today and I got the dusting done. Whew! The house is clean, so y’all come if you’ll let me get my naps! We’re counting blessings and loving every minute! Thank you, God!