ANOTHER CHALLENGE

I've had 2 of the roughest weeks ever. Even when that new chemo's side effects were killing my liver and assaulting me with pain and constipation, I at least could walk.

The steroids I have had to be on for brain swelling have been as close to a "demonic drug" as I can imagine. I cannot get up stairs except on hands and knees because of severe muscle weakness. If I squat down to look into a lower cupboard, I am unable to make myself upright with holding onto a chair or counter top or drawer handle. And then, walking. Me. The walker. 2 miles a days. Every day. I now can walk around the block once only. The steroids give me tremors, keep me awake most of the night, make me fuzzy-brained. I have mouth sores that will not heal, tremendous bloating (I have no neck and a stomach that looks like I could give birth in 2 months). They have given me 4 episodes of spasms of the esophageal sphincter, which feel like a massive heart attack and had Dick and me leaving for the ER the first time.

It has been hard. The effects had begun before we left on our trip (I needed help on stairs), but they worsened on our trip as far as being unable to walk and squat, and since we have been home, I have spent more time on the sofa than anywhere else.

I went off the steroids 2 days ago, only to be lambasted with an excruciating headache yesterday which lasted through the night and into today. It was unbearable. My oncologist put me BACK on steroids and has ordered another brain MRI for Monday.

Please pray, my praying friends, that when I get off the steroids, that the many side effects would reverse themselves. As I live with all of these daily, I start to fear that they will never diminish or disappear. Thanks so much.

GLIMPSES OF OUR BLUE RIDGE TRIP

A peek into our spring break week in the mountains...

SO THRILLED THAT OUR BEST FRIENDS COULD COME UP FROM ATHENS, GA!!

SUSAN AND ME, BEST FRIENDS FOR 30 YEARS

VERY HARD TO BE WITH SUSAN AND THEN HAVE TO SAY GOODBYE AGAIN

WHEN IN ROME.......

MY HUBBIE AND A GOOD PIPE??? 

OUR CABIN

WE HAD A WONDERFUL WRAP-AROUND DECK 
WITH SPA

WE HAD 3 LEVELS and 3 MASTER SUITES! AND OUR CABIN WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE SMALLEST THAT WE DROVE PAST IN THE VARIOUS DEVELOPMENTS.

RICHIE AND I WERE SO TICKLED TO BE ABLE TO TREAT SUSAN AND JACK TO THEIR 33rd ANNIVERSARY DINNER THAT WEEKEND. WE FOUND AN AWESOME RESTAURANT IN TOWN CALLED SOUTHERN CHARM AND IT WAS FULL OF UNBELIEVABLE SOUTHERN COOKIN'. I ATE A POUND OF FRIED OKRA.

SAM FLEW IN FIRST OF THE WEEK FOR A COUPLE 
DAYS WITH US

OUR MORNING VIEW

WE HAD TO TAKE SAM BACK TO THE AIRPORT WAY TOO SOON, BUT WE WERE SO
EXCITED HE COULD COME AT ALL.

OUR LAST FAMILY MEAL, BACK AT SOUTHERN CHARM

HEADACHES NEED TO LEAVE!

On Wednesday night, I got a massive headache. Not the Excedrin-tension type headache. The kind of pain that sent me to the ER over a month ago, which indicated brain cancer. My oncologist put me back on steroids to reduce the apparent increased inflammation. Apparently this isn't highly unlikely, but it certainly is not welcome. I was so happy to be OFF the steroids finally, after 3 weeks of jitters, sleeplessness, swelling. 

It didn't last long.

My headache has subsided. It isn't gone, but it is tolerable.

But my biggest worry was not the steroids. It was the momentary gulp I took in thinking about still going to see my best friend in Georgia this week.

Susan and I had a Blue Ridge Mountain trip planned for October of 2013. 2 days before my flight, I had a vitreous detachment in my good eye, handing me blurry vision in both. I was optically and emotionally unable to drive and fly. The trip was cancelled.

In the spring and summer of 2014, Susan was dealing with her own health issues and we found no connect-time. We decided to plan another trip the first week in September. That week found me in the hospital with severe chemo-constipation and receiving radiation for the 2 new tumors. No trip.

Dad died 2 weeks later and the rest of my fall and winter of 2014 was trying to cope with the side effects of a new chemo that was slowly killing me.

We planned yet another trip for this March. When the brain cancer was found, I cancelled the cabin in the mountains because I did not know what I was facing. We wanted to get our refund back while we still could. I told the owner of the cabin that if for some reason she did not rent it out, and I was able to come, that we would do a last minute rental.

We did a last-minute rental.

Come hell or high water, Susan and I are going to be together again. We talk every day, but we need to BE together. Breathing mountain air. Meandering around mountain villages. Hiking the trails.

And so I am praying that the headache issue and the vertigo that has also popped up will turn themselves around completely this week. God's blessings are great, and I am trusting that He can't wait to give us this one.