YOU CAN'T SMOOTH OUT THE SURF,

BUT YOU CAN LEARN TO RIDE THE WAVES.

Thanks, Jen, for noticing that my jeans are sagging. Could it possibly be that I am just a sloppy dresser? You know I have never been a fashionista. Yup, of all places to drop a few pounds, it had to be in my already flat behind. I'm not any NARROWER, just flatter. Wouldn't it have been fun to drop a few inches around the middle?  It's been so many years since I have actually had a waistline. I have always been short-waisted, but now I've come to the point where  the waistband of my jeans practically fits underneath my armpits. The really bad news is that I had an aunt built about like me, and as she aged, she began to look like an apple stuck on two toothpicks. Not a pretty picture. Some time back, Lon was trying to diplomatically describe my build. He said that I was short and squatty, like many members of my family. Short and SQUATTY!??? Do I come from a family of frogs??? Uh - his bad - he meant to stay short and STOCKY, which personally, I do not feel is much of an improvement. But I'll take it. I come from good strong German stock, which I think is helping me get through this health situation better than anyone expected. (Oh, gosh! After that description of myself, everyone I know will be wanting to get a look at me to see for themselves if I have turned into some kind of frog-creature person! Well, I haven't!)  I hope you all know that this is all written in good fun.                                

ribbit . . . . . . . Darn that husband of mine!   LOL                                                                                                

 A blast from my past is coming today! Betty C. called me last night and is in Cedar Rapids. I am so excited that I get to see her for the first time in quite a while. It's hard to believe that we have known each other for almost six decades. I was just thinking about all the kids (now sextagerians - sectagerians - sexygeriaticans ?- uh, what it means to be in your sixties)  with whom we went to school , and what a great bunch of people they are. However, there is one guy from our class of 1970 that I would like to give a good smack to.  Has anyone see Ronnie M. lately? Darn, he still looks exactly like he did in school! No lie. He must be related to Dick Clark from Bandstand fame. Good genes, Ronnie. Seriously, he and everyone else in our class were just the nicest people you would ever want to meet. It's sure different now, with all the bullying and terrorizing going on in classrooms today.

Alec and I had a very good day yesterday. When we were out and about, we ran into dear friend, Sandi F.. It was so good to see her. She's been messaging me with good thoughts and has been incredibly encouraging. Also got to see sis-in-law Jill, which was a nice treat. So today was ALL GOOD.

Oh, I asked Alec more about his color-designating that he does on people. Cate is red, Abby is pink, and his good friend, Trevor, is blue.

NOTES;  During an interview, Dick Clark who was always known as  looking incredibly young for his age, said his secret was always bathing or showering in luke-warm water - never hot water. Hmmm

And since I was talking about certain body shapes, I just want to pass this bit of info along. Do you know the true reason why so many men (regardless of having a slim or chunky body shape) have rather large guts? The rib that God took out of Adam to make Eve was the very one that was supposed to hold in the stomach area.                                                                               




                                                                             GOD BLESS YOU ALL

As mom said, she's spending the day with Alec. I noticed this morning her jeans are quite baggy....so the "effects" you are having, while just a few, are starting to show a bit. Otherwise, I think you are as beauuutiful as ever. You are doing such a great job with your treatments and staying positive - I'm so very proud of you!!! LYB (short post due to the fact I'm using my "smartphone" which is a beast to type on)

LIFE IS A SHIPWREAK,

 BUT WE MUST NOT FORGET TO SING IN THE LIFEBOATS.

                                                                                    Voltaire




Man, I'm sure glad I had not read THIS quote before we went on our cruise.  Since I can't swim a lick, and can't sing at all, I would have been in deep trouble.

I'm feeling kinda sorry that my Little Ma is not going to Florida this year. Every January or February, for the last 45 years or so, off she went to spend some of the winter in the sunshine. After my father-in-law passed, Lon, or sometimes Lon and me, or sometimes Zonna and her husband have taken Little Ma. I know that is an important part of her life and she has been doing it for so long so it's going to feel really strange not going. The reason, I'm afraid, is that Lon is staying here for my last chemo on February 3rd and then surgery a few weeks later. I told him I could handle the treatment just fine, if he wanted to take her. Perhaps I could even catch a plane and fly down and ride back with them. The Aligiant flight only takes three hours. 

Sometimes on our trips down, we were fortunate enough to time it early in the evening, so that we could stop and see some good friends in Atlanta. But most times we were driving right through town at 11;00 at night, seeing the beautiful lights of all the buildings, and in the sky, a whole string of lights as planes were lined up to land at the airport. My friend, Sandy, works at the airport and she's seen a lot of funny and strange things. I hope she doesn't mind me telling her "John Jacobs"  (changed his real name to protect the innocent) story, but since our theme for today is traveling, I'll give it a shot. I'm not even sure if I have the details right, but this is a general idea of what happened.

Sandy was an inspector at the Atlanta Airport. One day a man came through her line and put his possessions in the x-ray tub. Sandy happened to notice that those items were: a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, a fancy belt buckle and an elaborate microphone that he had been hand-carrying. Sandy told the man that she bet she knew what his occupation was - a RODEO ANNNOUNCER. The man was pleased and surprised that she was observant and knowledgeable enough to guess correctly. (Sandy has friends who are involved in rodeoing in Iowa). She then asked him if he knew a rodeo friend of hers, John Jacobs from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Why, yes!, he knew John Jacobs from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and he was headed to C.R. in a few weeks to work an event. Sandy laughed and told him if he ran into her friend, to say, "Hi, y'all, from Sandy from Atlanta!" Shortly after that, Sandy called her sister, Sharon, in C.R. and told her the story.

Skip ahead a few weeks. Sharon is working (yup, as an inspector at the Cedar Rapids Airport), when who should just happen to come through her line? A man put his possessions in the x-ray tub; a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, a fancy belt buckle and an elaborate microphone. So, Sharon tells the man that she bets she can guess what his occupation was - a RODEO ANNOUNCER. Sharon ran through the whole routine that Sandy had, saying the exact lines that she had, only finishing it with, "If you run into John Jacobs, tell him Hi, y'all from Sharon from Cedar Rapids." That poor guy must have felt he was in the Twilight Zone - having two pretty ladies say almost the exact same thing to him at two different airports a thousand miles apart.

Well, if I can't make it to Florida this winter, perhaps Nina and I will take a little three-day week-end trip somewhere and get some R & R. Sounds good.

Oh, and if any of you happen to go through the airport at either Cedar Rapids or Atlanta and see anyone who has a nametag on that says SANDY or SHARON, just tell them "Hi, y'all, from Janene!"
     

                                                               GOD BLESS YOU ALL

LAUGHTER IS THE SOUND OF THE SOUL DANCING.

MY SOUL PROBABLY LOOKS LIKE FRED ASTAIRE.

                                                                     Unknown

Something that I have noticed lately, is how often I laugh. I just don't mean just a chuckle or snort, I mean real loud, hard laughing. Something has changed my outlook on life for the good and I'm sticking with it if I can!


 I am beginning to see the humor in others and in things that are going on. If you get too serious about some things, it sucks all the joy out of life and then what do you have?

Sister Sandy, Jenna, and I call some of the jokes we tell "gallows" humor. Most people wouldn't get it, but we are a family of sick tickets and it seems amusing to us. Another funny gal is my little Abby. Some time back, we were discussing the cartoon character, Caillou, a small bald, four-year old boy. I told Abby that I had seen online where people were discussing the fact that they thought Caillou was bald because he actually had cancer and was a chemo patient. She looked at me in disbelief and said, "Grandma, he's a DRAWING! He's not real!" We got a kick out of people analyzing  and worrying about the health conditions of a fictional cartoon kid.

Yesterday morning I got a good laugh when I opened the mail and my latest cranial prosthesis (wig) arrived. Did any of you see the movie FLASH DANCE? In one of the final scenes, the girl dancer is to perform in front of a panel of judges to get into Julliard Dance school. When it comes to the part where she is flinging her body forty feet in the air and landing softly on her feet like a young tiger, you might notice that the stunt-dancer taking the star's place for the intricate dance sequence is wearing a shaggy, somewhat ratty looking wig. That's what my latest model of wig looks like. Go ahead - laugh. I did.

IF things come to pass that I do need some coverage, I'm think about wrapping a long ACE bandage around my head for warmth and tucking a plastic flower (sunflower??) behind one ear for decoration, and just calling it good.  :)

                                                                                      GOD BLESS YOU ALL

A WOMAN IS LIKE A TEABAG. YOU NEVER KNOW HOW STRONG SHE IS UNTIL SHE GETS INTO HOT

WATER.                                                           Eleanor Roosevelt




Not much to report this morning. Yes, I am PPP - which stands for positively perfectly pooped!  It was a full workday yesterday, but it's over and done with and now on to other things.

I hope Nina (you remember her - best friend/partner-in-crime/sister-in-law or BFPICSIL)  doesn't mind me talking about her  but she has been feeling crummy for the last few days with major bronchitis and she has been in my thoughts. I have noticed that she is influencing some of the items I put on this blog. For instance, yesterday's little quote - NO MATTER WHAT - JUST KEEP SWIMMING! actually worked for her when she was younger. As a teen, she and a friend decided to swim across Lake McBride (when there actually WAS a Lake McBride). She was advised to wear her tennis shoes, because the rocks were sharp at the edge of the water. Halfway across, both her and the friend were to the point of total exhaustion from swimming such a long distance and being dragged down by soggy tennies.  She began to feel that it was kinda iffy whether they were going to make it at all. Well, Nina is the type of person that takes on some of the biggest challenges and is always determined to finish what she starts. Thank goodness that story had a happy ending. I think that quote could be her personal motto, because no matter what, she does keep on swimming and never gives up. 

After I posted my "GRAY" thoughts, Nina was kidding me about  previously advising Lon and me to think "GRAY". You see, after 42 1/2 years of marriage, the only thing we have ever positively agreed on is having two children. We are polar opposites and never like the same things. We have  opposite ideas on every subject under the sun and when we discuss things (Heaven forbid if it is about politics - yipes!) and begin to have different opinions, we just look at each other, laugh, and one will say, "Black" and the other will reply "White" to acknowledge being totally opposite.  Nina thought our thinking "gray" would be the perfect compromise. She's probably right. Hey, I'll have to add that to my gray list!

Regardless of our  differences which are basically insignificant, Lon is my rock, my soul mate, the one who has always been there and has taken good care of me for all of these years. (He can also be the thorn in my side and the pain in my butt, but that's just part of his charm. :) I am so thankful that he is by my side during this time. He is really taking everything in stride and that helps me feel even more positive.

Oh, and I thought maybe I would abbreviate my description of Nina to just letters  - BFPICSIL but I decided it sounded more like a made-up cuss word, so I guess I'll just refer to her by name from now on.

                                                                    GOD BLESS YOU ALL


 

                                                 

                                                 (I'LL EXPLAIN THAT IN JUST A MINUTE)




NO MATTER WHAT - JUST KEEP SWIMMING!

                                                 from Finding Nemo



Just reporting in that I had a pretty decent night. Early this morning, I woke with a headache and hurting ribs. THEN I remembered this from after the last treatment. My cancer instruction book says that the bones may ache for a little while. It's not really a headache, but the skull hurting, especially around the forehead, eye sockets, upper and lower jaws. The rib ache was making me feel a bit nauseated, but it went away. so everything's good now.

I got up early to do some bookwork for end-of-the-year taxes, and pay some bills, but I need to get cracking on finishing the paint job in the family room. Even though I am the family secretary, sometimes I feel like I need a secretary, too! I thought old age would bring on a little peace and a more gentle pace, but things seem to keep rolling along faster and faster. Oh, perhaps it's because I'M moving slower and slower.

I am looking forward to meeting with old friend Betty C. next Tuesday. I hope it's still on and the weather doesn't keep her from getting here from Missouri. It will be nice to have a one-on-one visit since I haven't seen her since her brother Lyle's funeral.

Talked to sister Sandy last night, and we are both blown away by the fact that my situation is going so smoothly. We are beginning to wonder if it is true about contracting cancer from wearing a cell phone so close to a body part. It that is true, maybe this is like a whole new strain of cancer - not like a genetic/inherited strain, and therefore much easier to treat and to come back from. Sure hope so.

I want to apologize for complaining about the 5K amount that is charged for the Neulasta shot that I have after each chemo treatment. I was wrong about the amount. I had to get a detailed list of billing to send to our cancer insurance company and found out that the correct amount per shot is $5,555.00!! Lon was looking through some paperwork and told me that the key ingredients in this shot are . . . wait for it -- CHINESE HAMSTER OVARY CELLS!

If that is the case, guess who is going to start a HUGE Chinese Hamster farm? Thar's money in them there varmits.  Either it is really difficult and expensive to catch those little critters and squeeze their little ovaries out, or they are almost impossible to breed and raise!

I'll keep ya posted on that.

                                                                       GOD BLESS YOU ALL

I HAVE HEARD THERE ARE TROUBLES OF MORE THAN ONE KIND.

SOME COME FROM AHEAD AND SOME COME FROM BEHIND.

BUT, I'VE BOUGHT A BIG BAT.  I'M ALL READY YOU SEE.

NOW MY TROUBLES ARE GOING TO HAVE TROUBLES WITH ME!

                                                                           Dr. Seuss




In  the waiting room of the Ghosh Clinic is a basket of amazing  inspirational cards that the GEMS OF HOPE group makes for cancer patients.  Each card has a neat saying on it along with an assortment of things attached to each one (mine has a silver ring with STRENGTH engraved on it) that can be put on a keychain for neck chain. There are also earrings and other neat items. Jenna told me that when she worked at a law firm,  at one of their charity events they assisted the GEMS OF HOPE to make some cards like these. (What goes around - comes around)

Well, chemo treatment #3 is over and all went very well. I got to the clinic at 8:00 AM and we got home about 3:30 PM, so it was another long day. I did get to take another two-hour  nap during it since I was tired from staying up until midnight last night. I played games on my Kindle Fire, which passed some time, and got to talk to some of the other chemo-getters. A girl I went to high school, was back. She told me she had been in the hospital for seven days, because her blood was all messed up. She came into the clinic to get some kind of shot to give her blood a boost.  I also met a lady in her seventies who has liver cancer, and a nice guy that Lon knows, who has lung cancer. It only took EIGHTEEN biopsies to locate the correct area of his cancer! OUCH

Now we just wait three more weeks, have the last chemo treatment, then wait two to three weeks more for the surgery (a dimple-ectomy - NOT a mastectomy!)

 
My dad stopped by tonight for a little bit! Two times in about a week. Amazing. We had a good chat.

Guess it is time I go get some rest, so I can finished painting the walls of the family room tomorrow. I think I've got spring-fever already!


                                                                     GOD BLESS YOU ALL

                                                          (OR JUST WALK, IF YOU PREFER)

I know a couple that live in China temporarily, due to the husband's job. Periodically they come back to the states to see family. The first time I saw him after their move, he was considerably slimmer.  I called him the incredible shrinking man, and he told me that it was due to the fact that everyone walks everywhere in China. 

Last year Nina and I decided to start walking. We would get up early every morning and walk approx. 3 miles. After we had gotten "dusted" by big trucks flying by us on the gravel road, we joined a fitness center. Nina is in great shape, but she loves to walk and be active. I just wanted to dump some excess weight. so off to the gym we went - five to six days a week. We would ride the stationery bikes, try out the various equipment, and always do a half hour on the treadmill.  I was "inducted" into the club's Getting-Thrown-Off-The-Treadmill club when I turned my head to say something to Nina and lost my footing, and flew off the  machine. Meh - it happens. 

Anyway, no weight - no inches was coming off. So I bough Razor. Razor is my old-fashioned, thick-tired, no handbrakes bike. I named her Razor, because she slices through the wind (but only when we were traveling downhill).  I would get up early and go down to our shop land and ride around, where the neighbors couldn't see a middle-aged woman riding a  Pee Wee Herman bike. However, it seemed that whenever I went to leave the shop to go home, I would see the "experts". EWWWW. Leaving the shop driveway to go onto the street is a sloping uphill area. I would get off and push Razor up to the edge of the street and then pause to cross. Invariably, a whole pack of expert bikers, wearing their tight black shorts and lime-green shirts and pointy little helmets, would  go swooshing through town. As they went by, each would quickly say "Good Morning!", but I think I also heard each one snicker as Razor and I watched them fly by.

Now my little friend Trisha, is the runner. She decided to start running and (gasp) has actually stuck with it. We all know lots of people who have the best intentions, but very few stick with it. Way to go, TAE! She is a very strong, athletic (but tiny) gal who looks great!

Not too long ago, Little Ma said she read an article about people who are developing cancer. It said that if this is happening to your body, the ability to lose weight is VERY difficult. Could that be a signal that I missed? Or am I just looking for excuses? Either way, it was something to think about.

Jenna mentioned that our Alec is overweight. Well, a few weeks ago, a man was selling one of those adult tricyle bikes. We thought that perhaps he could handle that style of bike, because his balance isn't too good. When the man heard why we wanted the bike, he insisted that we just take it! When the weather gets warmer, I want to take a picture of Alec riding it, and send to that wonderful, generous man.  Thank you, John M.

Well, I guess the message for today is to TRY and keep active by running, walking, whatever.  I want you all to stay nice and healthy .


NOTE:Tomorrow is chemo session #3. I'm sure it will be just fine. Wow, we are really trucking along with this. Time is really flying by and soon this will all be behind me.  Yay!

                                                                           GOD BLESS YOU ALL