I'm HERE!!!!!!!!
It  has seemed a month of Sundays since I've touched base with my blog, but in reality less than a week, a very long very rough week! When Tim and I went to Little Rock on Tuesday for chemo, I was dragging my backside about 100 yards behind his truck. Absolutely no energy, every blasted side effect was beating up on my body and I just wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere. Needless to say the ever present smile was a little thin. My oldest son and his family were driving in from Virginia on Thursday and I was so afraid I wouldn't have the strength to even enjoy my grandchildren let alone try to be a hostess. I wanted so badly to see them and would not tell them no, but I was apprehensive that I would crash and burn and so was the rest of my family. My daughter from Austin decided to come up on Tuesday and was there when Tim and I got home from Little Rock. She had completely cleaned my house, washed linens, had fresh flowers in every room, bought food and no telling what else to help us out. I think Tim was almost as tired and run down as I was and we were both so glad to see her. My daughter was God sent and has been my saving grace this week. Sean and his crew arrived on Thursday and we put them up in a nice hotel close by where they can swim and sleep and yet we can be together every day but it also gives me a chance to rest between visits. Tiffany goes home tomorrow and Sean, Nikki and kiddos leave on Monday. My youngest son, Grant had Marine Corps drill this weekend and has promised to try and get back early enough tomorrow so that I will have all three of my children together at the same time before they scatter to the winds again. As the years go by, it is harder and harder to get them all at once  when they are spread out all over the country. AND just in case something unexpected should happen, I want to hold them all in my arms together for now.
I actually slept through the night last night, probably due to medical stimulation, but at least I slept. It has been very difficult to sleep with the heartburn, acid reflux, bloated stomach, neuropathy and that forever awful slept on dog tongue thing that stays with me every blasted day!!!
Let me see if I can try and describe how it is. Imagine burning your tongue on a cup of coffee, now rub the edges raw against your teeth, scrap the insides of your cheeks with a chisel, put a layer of steel wool across your tongue and add a large handful of cotton balls and a few Saint Bernard hairs for good measure. NOW, try and eat or drink something. When everything tastes like I'm chewing on aluminum foil my weight fluctuates 10 - 12 pounds every week. I look ridiculous! By next week my taste buds will start to recover and then I can eat something that tastes semi-NORMAL for a least a day or two... then we start this yucky, nasty funky, icky- poobie process all over again!
I want to thank everyone for their beautiful cards, the flowers, the emails and most of all your prayers. I can't begin to tell you how much they help and lift my spirits and I apologize if I fail to say thank you enough. Love, Kathi