One day in pictures.

One day in the life of a cancer mom....

6:00am

Adam wakes me up with a hot cup of coffee, we snuggle for a 1/2 hour and watch the news and write or read in our gratitude journal. (My favorite part of the day!!).  Adam showers and gets ready for work while I make our morning smoothies.  I send him off to work with a blended concoction of Spinach, Bok Choy, and Kale galore!  I promise they are delish and loaded with medicine.

7:00 am

A chemo-hawk, lip gloss, fake boobs, and good luck jewelry from some very special friends completes my beauty routine.  Short hair does have its perks!
7:30am

 Reluctantly, I wake up these gorgeous sleeping babies, get them dressed, and whip them up some breakfast.

7:45

My sink is full of dishes, I haven't done whites in 2 weeks, and I have to-do lists and notes scattered everywhere.  I pretend not to notice...
7:50am

The dreaded squirt bottle attacks during breakfast every morning.  My kids shower at night so I have to wet, add product, and style each of them to perfection.  After all, I do have a reputation to protect!  Today, my attempt at something creative makes my daughter looks like part of a polygamist sect.
8:00am

Ayden feeds the dog and Zoie has a meltdown, insisting it is her turn to feed the dog.  I decide that I cannot leave the house with a sink full of dishes and rush through an entire sink.  Ayden packs as snack while Zoie continues to remind him about the turn taking rules of dog feeding.  After a full half hour of crying, washing, packing up, suiting up, and tidying up....We are off!
8:30

Ayden is dropped off at his school which is just around the corner.  Zoie and I head for her Preschool which not near the house, but thankfully is down the street from the cancer center.  She goes to school now Mon-Fri from 9am-12pm, her school is amazing and she has about 4-5 other 3 year olds in her class.  She loves it and it allows me a few hours to go have my daily treatments done.
9:15

I arrive at MD Anderson Cancer Center.  My home away from home.  I head to the Lab first to have my port put in and some blood drawn.  I always stop at the ribbon tree and smile at the ribbons I have tied.  I make small talk with my homies while I wait for my turn to be stabbed.
10:00am

I am finally called and go back to have my port placed in.  An hour prior I put some numbing cream on my port and use a little "press'n seal" to keep it in place.  They draw blood out of my port to see how my immune system is holding up and they also wrap it up all pretty so that I can later receive my chemo through it.
10:45

I catch an elevator ride with a cute vending machine repair man, check in to chemo with my girl Donna, and then get some vitals done with Halie.  Halie was there on my first day of chemo and was the only person who got me through that day.  I love her.  Seriously, I love her.
11:15

I do some puzzles while waiting for my chemo to be ordered, get hooked up to the matrix, talk to my chemo nurse about her personal problems, tell her about mine, and meet with my surgeon while hooked up to chemo(she comes to me because she knows I have to pick up my daughter, what a gal!).  I had 2 more appointments that day that I had to reschedule because I refuse to be late to pick up my daughter.  Everyone knows it and they all work together to help get everything done as quickly as possible.  Today, I am cutting it close on time and beginning to stress....
11:42am

I get unhooked from the Matrix and rush to my daughters school.  I even arrive a couple minutes before noon and sneak a picture of her through the little window in the door.  All the other moms are chatting.  They all think I am weird.  The quiet bald girl, none of them know that I have cancer.  Maybe they do, but I haven't told them.  I begin to feel nauseous and sit down in the middle of the floor hoping to make the spinning stop.  This just makes them think I am more strange.  I'm too sick to care.
12:20pm

We get home.  I can feel the chemo bubbling up in my system.  I know it's going to be bad, I can feel it.  I whip up some lunch and decide to let Zoie eat in her room(a VERY special treat, since we don't allow the kids to eat food anywhere but the kitchen).  I ask the universe very politely if it can just make her sleep for a few sweet, sweet hours.  My prayers are answered!  She doesn't nap often so this is a rare gift.  It couldn't bee more needed, I have to sleep some of this chemo off and I can barely keep my eyes open.
1:00pm

I whip up my lunch/medicine and curl up with a soft blanket.  I get sick.  I call my husband and tell him that I am not doing so well.  Adam takes every hour of overtime they will give him, the guy never calls in sick but today I begged him.  I knew once my eyes closed I wouldn't be able to open them for quite some time.  I just wanted the pain and sickness to stop.  Sleep is my only escape.
4:00pm
Adam gets home, 3 hours early, and just a few minutes after Zoie had woken up from her nap.  I have no more pictures from this point because I didn't wake up until the next morning.  I felt paralyzed, I heard parts of what was going on around me but was unable to move.  That chemo kicked my ass!  Knocked me out for 15 solid hours.  Adam, cleaned the house, took the kids to the park, made dinner, did homework (his and Ayden's) gave baths, and put them to bed.  What a saint.  He wound up having to use a couple hours of vacation time in order to make it home.  I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't.  When I finally woke up, I had lost function of my hands.  I had no feeling and was unable to grip.  Rather then getting better, my neuropathy has gotten progressively worse.  Limiting the use and function of my hands.  It's scary.  I still feel woozy, but I am going to live.  This is so much better then the other chemo's I have been on.  Basically, just a bad 24 hours.  I can handle that.

I have radiation to start, but I am waiting until after Tuesday.  Because, on Tuesday I am doing a topless photo shoot.  Yep.  I'm palpitating already.

For those of you who are clicking on my Ad's, thank you!  It makes me feel so profesh!  And a very special thank you to all of you who share this blog on your Facebook and Twitter.  Not only has it brought awareness, assistance for my family, but it has reached other young moms who are newly diagnosed and scared to death.  Together we are making it just a little bit better.