Fair Time!

Well I'd say I'm over the pneumonia. I go to get a follow up x-ray tomorrow then go back to see Dr. Row next Thursday. I feel fine as far as the pneumonia goes now I'm just trying to swallow chemo (literally). Since my chemo is in a pill form I take 6 pills for my dose of chemo after I take an anti nausea pill and all my other regular meds. I get this sick feeling deep in my stomach when I raise those pills up to my mouth. There's just this rush of a feeling knowing how they will make me feel and how "toxic" they are. Luckily they are pretty well tolerated. I know it could be worse.

Usually my most draining days of treatment are Friday through Monday. This weekend I will be too busy to be tired! We have a lot planned for the weekend and next week. Tomorrow is the start of the Fulton County Fair which has been a big part of our family for many years starting with my Grandparents. Grandma of course got it all started with the horses! The last few years none of us have had horses (or cow's) there so it's just a lot of sitting around visiting with family and friends. Oh, and of course a whole lot of fair food! Saturday our morning will start out with Leslie's memorial service of which I'm really looking forward to. I must admit that at first when I found out it was going to be a while before her services I was a bit bummed. I was so anxious to see Tyson and etc. Now I'm very glad there has been this time to "take it in" and be "ready" for this. Maybe I won't be sooo emotional. I don't know about that, there's a lot of Grieser blood in us (yes, we cry at everything)! Then Saturday evening Mike and Luke are going to be having some "boy" time going to the Tough Trucks at the fair. Sunday Luke has a busy day with a Birthday party marathon. He has three Birthday parties to go to and none of us want to miss any of them. So Sunday will be busy but filled with fun and CAKE! Most likely we will then spend the remainder of next week at the fair. Mike isn't quite the fair goer that Luke and I are but it's growing on him (very slowly). We will definitely be going to the demolition derby too. Our cousin Aaron will be in it so that will be a good time too. Aaron is like another uncle to Luke, he is married to my cousin Lindsay (Cowell).

So busy days ahead! It will be fun and will go by way too fast!

I'm not real good about keeping the blog updated and realized that I forgot to mention something very important. August 11th Mike and I celebrated our 7th anniversary!

Also, August 24th marked one year since my diagnosis. That really wasn't anything to celebrate but I looked at it like, one year down and many to go.

Well take care and maybe we'll see you at the fair!

Jess

Home

I'm back home! Praise the Lord I seem to just have pneumonia. I was very scared for awhile. We had went camping at the lake this past weekend. We left Thursday and stayed till Sunday afternoon. I started getting a cough Friday and didn't think much of it since Luke had just finished up with a little bug or something. By Saturday morning I was miserable. I felt like there were bricks setting on my chest. It was so hard to breathe and could hear some sort of congestive rattle when I would breathe. Then on Saturday night It seemed as though it was turning into the stomach flu. By the time Sunday morning came around I really did not want to be at the lake at all. I just wanted to be home. I felt awful. We made it home Sunday around 4 and after a nap in my recliner I took my temperature and sure enough I had a fever so I called the doctor on call and he told me to go to the ER. So I took a shower and headed up there not knowing if there was really anything they would be able to do for me but I went anyways. Shortly after I got there and they listened to my breathing and got my history (of well Cancer), they started hustling around and getting an IV started along with a few x-rays and a CT scan. They did the CT scan because they thought that I could possibly have a blood clot in my lungs. Well praise God I didn't! After a few hours, x-rays, and etc. they decided that I had pneumonia and was going to be staying a few days. I didn't see this coming in fact when I left for the ER( I drove myself) I grabbed some money so I could get an ice cream cone at McDonald's on my way home! I still want that ice cream cone!

Today Dr. Row felt it would be safe for me to return home today. He said my x-ray today looked stable and showed some improvement. He also checked with one of my Dr.'s in Cleveland and she agreed that it was safe for me to go home. She also said that more than likely I would still be able to start chemo on Monday as planned. I'm glad to be able to continue with treatment I'm just not looking forward to being cooped up in the house that much! I'm supposed to take this week off of work and get lots of rest. Then next week I don't work too much because of treatment. Don't get me wrong a break from work isn't all bad but it's nice to be making some money and if I'm going to be off work I'd like to be spending time with Mike and Luke doing fun stuff not laying on the couch. It gets so frustrating. I'm so afraid that Luke just thinks that I don't want to play with him. It's hard for me to allow him to see me down and out too much. What else can you do though?!

Tonight I'm feeling okay. Just tired with a cough and the coughing leads to a headache. I just want to hold my forehead when I cough. Looks like I'm going to spend the next few days resting, then a little work then treatment next week. Next week's treatment will be #12 so only two more after that.

After all that Leslie had just gone through I was pretty freaked out when I was in the ER seeing the Dr.'s and nurses concerned look. It really hit kind of hard for awhile. We've always been told that brain cancer isn't known to spread but It was still pretty scary for bit.

So to any clients that are reading this I have every intention of getting you back in my book shortly. As of now I'm still planning on working Saturday. I will probably start making phone calls in a day or two to get everyone from this week back in. I'm so thankful for how sweet and caring you all have been throughout this!

I really need to Thank everyone for all they have done for us! We are constantly in awe of how great people are. Thanks for the meals this week, all the cards, flowers, the visits, everything. You all are GREAT!

Love,
Jess

Pneumonia

Please pray for Jessie- she was admitted in the Archbold Hospital Sunday night with pneumonia. She was having a difficult time breathing so Mike took her to the emergency room. Her immune system is down because of chemo treatments and she is easily susceptible to illnesses. For now she is resting and they are hoping for her to come home sometime Tuesday.