"So I do have a wife after all!" said Josh on Sunday as I stumbled out of bed and down the stairs looking for food and human interaction.  The weather all weekend was cold and rainy, and with my lack of energy I laid in bed and got caught up on the latest and greatest on TV.   I love pretty much anything on TLC so as I was going through the guide to see what was on I stumbled upon what appeared to be a marathon of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding episodes.  Have you seen this show before?  What a hoot!  The only way I can describe it is disturbing, yet fascinating!  You want to turn it off, but something inside of you is saying, "Just one more episode! You know you want to know if she actually wears that crazy outfit in public!".   Next thing I know I've watched 3 hours of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and decided it was time to shut it off and be social with the hubby who had been entertaining himself all weekend with PS3 games and the Golf Channel as I sleep the weekend away.  Poor guy!

The whole chemo process at the hospital on Wednesday went just as smoothly as the first time around (thankfully).   They're like a well-oiled machine!  One person comes in and does their thing, and when they leave the other comes in.  Sometimes the process of getting checked in can be a nightmare, but the 4th floor really knows what's up!  Not to mention, they're all such nice people willing to assist in whatever need/want you may have.  If I have to spend time in the hospital, I'm glad to at least have caring people supporting me every step of the way, making me feel like I'm the only patient there.  I still could live without the night staff waking me up at 6 AM wondering if they can get my weight!!  I wasn't having any of that and made it very clear that I was not going to get out of bed to hop on a scale. 

 Josh's mom drove to Minnesota on Tuesday night to celebrate his birthday.  Josh spent a little time with me at Hubert Humphrey during the day while I got the Etoposide portion of ICE so it was nice that we could focus on the birthday boy in the evening.  Josh wanted seafood so off we went to Red Lobster.  Sharon even brought cake! (see picture below ) so we enjoyed that when we got home.  She stayed the night and then it was off to North Memorial first thing in the morning with my mom following behind us.  Sharon - Thank you for coming to celebrate Josh's birthday, but also to spend some time with me.  It was really nice having my moms' with me.  I even had a visit from my grandmas', my friend Leanne, and her little guy Leo with Josh and my dad joining us in the evening with chinese food in hand for dinner.  I felt so popular!

 Delicious Hostess Sno-Ball Cake, Sharon! ;)

 Mr. Leo & I

 He was smiling before I took this picture, I promise!

I was sure wiped when I got home on Thursday.  This second round of the chemo really kicked my behind.  I didn't start feeling normal until yesterday afternoon. The morning was a little touch and go for sure.  I was putting on makeup at my vanity and a wave of nausea came over me.  I had to stop what I was doing and proceeded to lay on the bed in the fetal position letting the breeze from the ceiling fan blow cool air on me hoping the feeling would pass.  Josh was awake at this point and suggested I make myself some toast and take one of my prescriptive pepcid pills along with prochlorazine which is one of my anti-nausea drugs.  I have to say that it hit the spot, and I was able to get myself up and out the door to work.  It turned out to be more acid reflux than anything else.  I did run into a little more nausea later on in the day but I was smart and packed some tums, Ginger Ale, and pepcid which came in handy. 

There are a lot of people sick with some sort of nasty cold in the office right now so I was told to just work from home the next couple days to stay clear of the germs (probably a good idea!).  Plus a couple people that normally require my attention the most are out of the office so it all worked out!  I'll head back to the office on Friday to finish out the week.  I know I've said this before, but I'm so blessed to work for such an AMAZING and UNDERSTANDING group of people.  I'm truly blessed.

I already have my follow-up PET scan next Monday with results Tuesday morning.  I must admit, I'm pretty terrified!  I just want some GOOD news finally and think it's about time, don't you?!  I dont necessarily feel any different outside of the side effects from treatment, but I'm hoping and praying non-stop that this chemo is having a positive effect on these cells.  Assuming it is, we'll start up the stem cell process which includes a weeks worth of tests and then the transplant itself.  Please say many many prayers for me this next week.  I'm definitely feeling the anxiety kick in, but doing my best to keep that positive attitude which is really the ticket to getting through this.