For your chemo day distraction...

One frequently asked questions..."Hey Butts, can I get arrested for _____?"

I should probably share a little background info regarding this.  First of all, for those of you who are wondering who the heck Butts is, it's Jerrid.  That is what Brayden has called him from day one.  Not sure why...I think he meant to say something else, but he couldn't talk very well and it came out "Butts" and it has stuck and quite frankly we like it! :)  Secondly, Brayden is very concerned with getting arrested.  When Brayden was three he had his first and last incident with taking something from a store, but it was obviously a learning experience.  Every since the Florida State baseball player was arrested during the CWS, Brayden has been asking us multiple times a day if he will get arrested for doing certain things.  Things like: saying "Holy Guacamole", jumping on Butts' back, calling aunt Cait stinky or telling Aunt Jina she can't sing (no, as long as you only call Aunt Cait and Aunt Jina stinky...that is fine, but no one else), putting his feet up on the back of my car seat, and many more random things.  He literally asks these questions at least 23 times a day, and whenever he hears a "rearing sound" as he would call it...most people call them sirens...he comes running to find out if they are coming for him or he hides! :)  Brayden really is a sweet little boy and really does nothing that even gets him in trouble let alone would get him arrested...he's just very neurotic for the time being I guess! :)  Ok...now that you have some background...on to my chemo distraction/entertainment for the day..."Hey Butts...can I get arrested for....."

"Golfing in your 44DD bras?"  OUTSDIE of your shirt none-the-less!

"Looking hot in women's clothes?"

"Having a bloody mary before noon on a school day?"  Oh how I wish that were legal!

"Decorating your husbands golf cart with GIANT boobs?"

"For throwing dog poop over my bitchy neighbor's fence?"

"For 'Jay' walking?" (that's my cousin Jay)

"For sucking on my babies binky while watching Olympic wrestling?"  Evan needs to be shut up more than Flynn...this is actually pretty fitting! :)

"What if I put the dog poop in a bag on her porch and light it on fire?"  HAHA!  This lady really must be bitchy!

"Allowing your dog to appear in public NAKED?"  Isn't she the cutest thing ever? Brayden is now telling everyone that Riley is bald like his mom! :)

"Making Thomas be the octopus?"

"Planking in a public restroom?"  Anyone who knows these two...knows that they probably do far worse that could get them arrested! :)

"Wearing matching hot pink mohawk wigs when you're not even bald?"

"Looking hotter than your girlfriend in skinny jeans?"

"Driving the boat after 2 margaritas?"  She shouldn't be driving the boat sober!!!!  I'm actually thinking of going to Okoboji to relax for the weekend...how am I going to relax if she's driving the boat?!

"Wearing camo mini skirts when you're over 40?"

"LAST QUESTION...Hey Butts, can you get arrested for kicking cancer to the curb???"  HELL NO and if you can...FINE...arrest me because it's going to happen arrested or not!!!

This was definitely a great distraction yesterday along with company from my sister and Brayden's old babysitter Amy who brought us lunch and stayed for awhile.  Brayden is now going to full-day Pre-K and he and Amy are both struggling with the change...they've been together almost 5 years and Amy was such a blessing to our family, especially Brayden!  She still is a blessing and always will be...especially on Tuesday of this week when I got a phone call from Pre-school.  Brayden had been there for an hour and already had a fever...nana is gone, Aunt Kris is gone...mom can't be around sick people...who can I call????  AMY!  She ran over and got him and kept him.  Of course all I wanted all day was to be home cuddling with my sick baby, but I know I have to take care of myself and stay away from sickness as much as I can.  Knowing though that he was with Amy was a great relief for me and he was so comfortable with her too.  My last chemo distraction came from my Lacey.  She teachers kindergarten and her class is kind of having a rough start to the year.  They aren't listening very well and are struggling with following classroom procedures because they just don't want to.  So she used me as part of her lesson yesterday.  She told them about me and how I am sick and have to do a lot of things that I don't want to do, but I still do them with a smile on my face because I have to do them in order to get better.  They then had to work on following directions.  I'm not going to share there pictures on the blog for privacy reasons, but they spelled out "HOPE" using their bodies and worked on spelling the word "HOPE" with magnetic letters.

So even though I was at Estabrook yesterday from 7:30 to 5...I had a lot of great distractions that made the time go by pretty quickly. 


Now for a little update on me and my journey.  The shot I had to have last time that caused me a lot of muscle soreness didn't really do it's job...my hemoglobin was the same...very low.  Low enough that would warrant a blood transfusion for most people, BUT I'm not like most people. :)  My oncology nurse was "blown away" but how great I was feeling and doing even though my hemoglobin was so low.  She was saying most people with these stats get winded very easily, going to the grocery store is too much for them, ect.  Well, I'm feeling great!  Not only am I going to the grocery store, I'm working and on my feet a lot, walking on the treadmill or running back and forth through the halls of school...in heels none-the-less, and getting out and about and not getting winded.  I guess I'm trying to sit when I can at school because I don't want to over do it, but I have yet to feel winded, so until it gets to that point or if my hemoglobin really drops, I won't have to get a blood transfusion.  Jean and Dr. Morris's PA said I could try the shot again if I wanted but they were leaving it up to me.  I told them I really didn't want it because I think it called me more bad than good.  Also, I've had 2 blood transfusions in the past and those have worked and I didn't have any side effects from them, so I would rather do that if it comes to it than go through the pain of that shot when I don't think it's going to help me.  They were fine with that as long as I promised to call right away if I started to feel windy, a lot more tired, or just not like myself anymore.  I promised them my husband would definitely be calling them if it got to that! :)  Yesterday we also scheduled my next scan...September 7th!  I of course am looking forward to this, my husband is not...he hates scan days more than just about anything!  We are working on him having a positive outlook...he's getting better.  As I told him...I am not having the pain that I was having; therefore, my tumors have to be shrinking.  I am also feeling great...if things were getting worse, I would think that I would be getting worse and I am not!  No matter what the scan shows we will either continue with the treatment regime I am on, or we will find another one!  I also told Jean to relay a message to Dr. Morris for me.  "You tell Dr. Morris that when he calls me with the results of the scan to have a plan.  I don't want to hear the results and then have to schedule an appointment to come in and talk about things.  Good or not-so-good (although I know it's going to be good...there still may be a different plan from here)...I want to know that day what the plan is."  She smiled and laughed said she'd be sure to tell him...so we'll see!  We also scheduled my next chemo for Sept. 13th...so lots of fun things to look forward to.  I know...you're thinking I'm crazy calling them fun, but honestly to me they are.  They are things I look forward to because it makes me feel as if we are doing things to beat this.  Sometimes the weeks in between get really long and I just want to get back to my comfort zone of Estabrook with Dr. Morris and my awesome nurses, and work on killing these disease that threatens my body.

So until the next time...

Today I'm going to hang out with the two best friends a girl could ask for...Kellie and Holly.  I'm sure there will be lots of laughs, as there always are with those two.  The best part...it doesn't hurt to laugh anymore so bring on the laughs girls!  I'm also thinking about going up to Okoboji for the weekend to relax with my parents and Cait.  Jerrid is pretty busy with weekend with cross country, and Brayden is with his dad...so it's a good weekend to get away and so far I'm still feeling great!  Hopefully I continue to feel well and get back to work on Monday and that will keep me very busy!  We also have plans to go back to Jerrid's families over Labor Day.  His sister, Jessica, and her family will be back from Texas and we haven't seen them since Christmas so it will be great to see them.

I know this blog is getting pretty lengthy, but I just want to end with this.  My sister-in-law, Linsey, and I were just having a conversation yesterday regarding "getting some real problems."  Everyday you are going to have frustrations in your day, and you are going to feel sorry for yourself.  Everyone has these moments or days, but I think through these times it's important to think that it could always be worse.  Be thankful for all the blessings you do have in your life, and it will help you overcome your frustrations and bad days.  A tragedy happened in my hometown yesterday, and it's sad that sometime terrible things have to happen in order for people to put things into perspective.  So, I urge to always be thankful for your blessings, thank someone for your blessings, and keep things in perspective...because it can always be worse and chances are someone out there is going through a lot worse things than you are.  Lift those people up in your prayers when you're praying and thanking whoever you pray to and thank for your blessings.

Hopeful for everyday to be a better day,
Meighan