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Monday, November 26, 2007

Monday Update

I did something dumb that I only realized now after the fact. My endo changed my dosage on Wed last week. I was taking 2.5 125mcg tablets of Synthroid 4 days per week and 2 tablets the other three. My schedule was to do the 2.5 Mon-Thur and the 2 tablets Fri-Sun. When she told me the dosage switch, I figured it would be easier to just reverse the days and take the new 3 days of 2.5 pills Fri-Sun and do the 2 pills Mon-Thur. So last week I wound up taking a whole week of 2.5 pills. I was wondering why I felt so crappy all weekend.

Neither Josh or I slept very well last night. I couldn't get comfortable. Then when I did fall asleep, I was snoring which bothered him. I usually don't snore but my allergies have been acting up lately.

So today I'm just chilling and watching tv. I feel too icky to do much else.

I finished my rough draft of my fieldwork project and I'm hoping to get some feedback from my professor or the TA. It's due tomorrow and it will be a relief to turn it in. I think my only grade left is the final. Hard to believe that the semester is almost over.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The Look-A-Like-Meter

Me: It's official...Abby looks more like me. By 8 percent.
Josh: Oh? How did you find that out?
Me: With the Look-A-Like Meter of course.
Josh: What?
I turn my Macbook around to show him this:



Josh: Well who am I to argue with the Look-A-Like-Meter

Monday, November 19, 2007

Doctor Day

Today was doctor day. First had to take Abby to the allergist. She is no longer allergic to milk or soy..yay! But I still have to carry an epi-pen for the peanut allergy. We celebrated with some milk and a snowman shaped donut at Krispy Kreme.

Then I went to the endocrinologist. My blood pressure was great (surprising considering my anxiety). I had a blood test. I swear their phlebotomist takes out her frustrations when she is drawing blood..ouch. So good news: no scan in January. Which means no low iodine diet, no thyrogen injections, no week at the hospital and no giant bill...woohoo! The bad news is that she is still very suspicious of my stupid lymph nodes. She told me that:
*the biopsy doesn't really rule out cancer in there.
*enlarged lymph nodes rings a warning bell in cancer patients
*We will be doing another round of tests on my neck in March.

So what I've pushed to the back of my mind is at the forefront again. I'll be honest, I cried the whole way home. I'm just so sick of my dumb neck. I WANT TO BE DONE. I am looking at this way...if she though I was in real danger, those lymph nodes would be outta there...like now. The part of my brain that wants to throw a huge panic attack fit isn't believing that which makes it more difficult. But I'll get through this like every other time there's been a scare or bad news. I'm getting stronger at fighting this cancer monster. I realized today that I have been focusing on cancer so little that the 2nd anniversary of my diagnosis (November 3rd) came and went and I didn't even stop to notice. It's losing it's hold on me.

Disappointed

Evan has decided that he can't keep his grades up if he's on basketball so today he plans to tell the coach he wants to quit. Obviously I'm proud of him for realizing on his own that he is not able to do both. It's the first time he's really been responsible about grades. I can't help but feel sad and disappointed at the same time though. Basketball really did a lot for his confidence level. It was something that finally helped him fit in with the other boys. He was also pretty good at it.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Playing in the leaves

This afternoon we took the kids to the park to enjoy the 60 degree weather. They had a lot of fun playing in the leaves.







Saturday, November 10, 2007

Up on my soapbox

As an anthropology student, it comes naturally to me to read the world news. I try to be open minded and to be constantly learning about other cultures in an effort to understand their motivations and way of life. Sometimes it's hard to be neutral and not get upset and judgemental. Sometimes though I read things that make me angry like this article on BBC.com:

"Thousands of Iranian women have been cautioned over their poor Islamic dress this week and several hundred arrested in the capital Tehran in the most fierce crackdown on what's known as "bad hijab" for more than a decade."

Read the rest here

What upsets me most about this is that women are treated as though they are nothing. There are so many in Iran today who used to be lawyers, doctors, judges, etc. Now they are getting arrested for not covering themselves in the manner considered proper by their government. Covering one's body or head with a veil or burka should be a personal choice. It shouldn't be mandated and it certainly shouldn't be a reason to send a woman to the clink.

I just feel so angry when I read things like this. Why do men treat women like they are worthless? Doesn't every man have a mother? Isn't it women who are responsible for giving life to men? How then is it that men can turn around and treat women no better than animals?

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

My little ball player

Evan is doing awesome on the basketball team. They've won more games than they've lost and they seem to improve every time we see them play. These aren't the best pictures ever because my battery was dying so the flash didn't go off. But you get the idea:




Thursday, November 1, 2007

More Halloween pics

The kids and their Aunt Cassandra


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Evan, Abby and Evan's best friend Najee


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My uh...costume


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Trick or treat!


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