Saturday

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Feeling better, mouth sores almost gone. Ran 3.5 miles yesterday. Felt great. Staci came in and we thought we could run 6...she could have ran 6, but after 2 miles, we walked jogged the rest...that felt great too. I like walking...slow. I'm not a fast walker like mom and Traci...they know how to swing their hips to burn calories. I think I gain calories the way I walk!

Had a great time last night with the Wall's at Pizza Hut. Kyle, Em, Chad, Chrystelle and their kids were just one table away. It was funny, Jack and Lauren decided that they wanted to sit with them and bumped Kyle...so he sat with us for awhile. Kids are so funny.

Staci and I figured out how to frame the Chicago Tribune article with the finisher's medal. It went pretty well...although I now have a new respect for double sided tape...glad I had an extra article to use.

Val and John, all I can say is I haven't laughed so hard as I did yesterday...hilarious. Looking forward to Christmas shopping soon.

Thank you for your prayers. Tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day. So AFTER church, I plan on seeing a lot of you out and about walking, running, and biking!!!
Love, Becca

Dr.'s appt

SWUMC News

Dr. Nattam is not too concerned with my elevated liver tests. He was a little concerned and bewildered by the chest pressure I had last week. Said he's never heard of that before with chemo.
He wants me to have another PET fusion scan instead of a CT next week. That's scheduled next Thursday. He likes that my symptoms are improved, but didn't want me to get too excited. I asked him what we'll do after the 6 weeks of this treatment, I was thinking that he might extend it. However, he said that won't be an option, this chemo is too harsh and he cannot give me more than 6 of them. He said we'll talk more when the time comes about different chemo options. He says Radiation is "way down the line". I like that comment since he's insinuating that I'll be here "way down the line"!
That's all I know about that.
Ate yummy beef and noodles for lunch from Grandma Ummel, and then we're going to Grandma and Grandpa Hurd's for dinner (FRIED CHICKEN)! I can't wait, only 2 more hours til dinner!
Tomorrow we have a date with the Wall's at Pizza Hut, so all the meals for the week are taken care of! Hopefully those mouth sores get better quickly!

See Dr. Nattam tomorrow

SWUMC News

Met Dad, Rach and Jamie this morning at Bob Evans for breakfast. That was nice, but the mouth sores started bugging me. By lunch mouth sores were in full force. They are nearly as bad as before--clear liquids today. (Moolate from DQ was lunch--can't complain too much).

Work went well. A lot of colds going around. My hands are so dry from all the handwashing that I'm afraid they will crack. I can't believe all the patients that read this blog...it really touches me brings tears to my eyes. (enough sappy stuff, though).

Tomorrow I get to see Dr. Nattam. I haven't seen him since before chemo started. I'm kind of anxious to see him. I hope he rechecks my liver functions and sees if I have any white blood cells--but the nurse who scheduled the appointment insisted that he would not draw any blood. (I've been fighting a sinus infection!) I also want to see if I can get him to say the word "remission". But afraid to push too much b/c I don't want him to shoot down my hopes again. I know he's just doing his job, but a girl needs to hear some good news from her doc, don't you think?

Well, I need to get home and love on my family. I think I will make some pudding for supper--maybe some refried beans from Taco Bell might go well, I can't remember if they are spicy, though. I guess I'll find out pretty quickly.
Buenos Noches!

Monday

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What a beautiful day we had yesterday. Felt a lot better as the day went on. Didn't end up working, though. The kids played in the leaves and road their bikes, while I tried to keep up!

Now that Carol's is closed, we have to get our ice cream from Dollar General. Dad came in and we walked up there to get a treat. Visited Grandpa and Grandma Hurd, too. They are doing great. The kids picked off all of Grandma's flowers and pretended they were ice cream and tried feeding them to us. (Grandma didn't even yell at them!)

Well, we had a monarch caterpillar that we watched turn into a cocoon. Then it hatched. So we brought in some of the butterfly bush and stuck it into the artificial flower arrangement on the kitchen table. The butterfly went right to the fresh flowers. So after a bit, we thought we'd better let it go so it can fly to Mexico (or Grandma's in Florida). When I tried to release it, it dropped to the ground and seemed lifeless (Aunt Sara was here and we both nearly died!). Before the kids could see what happened, I ran out and scooped it up and brought it back into the house. Thankfully it started flapping its wings. But then it started flopping around, like it was having a seizure. After a few hours of this, I thought I'd put it out of its misery and put it into the garage--by now it was really chilly and I figured it would freeze--fibbed to the kids and told them I thought it was on it's way to Florida.

THEN Yesterday, (3 days later), we went out to the garage and Lauren says "look mommy, the butterfly must not have gone to Florida". It was still alive on the garage floor underneath the car! (This is why no one should lie to their kids). So here we go again, we made up some sugar water and put it on a sponge and tried nursing it back to health. When Jade got home, he "finished it off". The poor thing was barely hanging on, what an event!

Sunday

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This third round of chemo really knocked me down. I thought that after getting disconnected yesterday afternoon, that I'd feel great. I barely got off the couch last night, it was a huge effort to make it to my bed. Then I couldn't muster much strength this morning. Didn't make it to church, really bummed about that. I get to feeling so disconnected from everyone during chemo week. I ended up using a lifeline and Jade took the kids to Grandma Judy's this morning. I was feeling pretty guilty about getting angry with Jade and the kids b/c I could not rest and feeling kind of resentful towards my family. I guess I needed to speak up and ask for what I needed--which was some peace and quiet. Back to bed I went. When I woke up mid morning, I was craving a roast and potatoes...since I'm not known for my patience and did not want to thaw one out, I went to the store and guess what we're eating for dinner? Gravy, pork pot roast, and vegetables, mmmmmmmm good. I am feeling better.

Going to take it out to mom and dad's and share (I think mom is making apple crisp and Em is bringing a yummy home grown vegetable).

Then Darcy brought over chicken pot pie! Going to freeze that for later in the week.
Thank you to everyone. I keep saying it, but I truly mean it. I opened up some more cards today...had to shed a few tears. B/c there isn't a day that goes by that we don't receive a card in the mail. You are are so amazing and we lean so heavily on your prayers and support. It's so humbling. I can't imagine what it would be like to go through this alone without God or friends and family. No one should EVER have to go through something like this alone.