Happy 58th Belated B~Day

Cindy:

April 19,2014
Saturday

The past few days have been pretty rough on mom, so rough she wasn't even able to get out of bed to celebrate her birthday yesterday. Not even our yearly tradition of dinner & gambling at the casino could lure her out.
Though she did mention the best part of her night was when " Connie came over and laid in bed with me for hours talking". I asked "Better then the casino?" And she said "Absolutely! 100 to 1 times better!":-)

Nevertheless the kids and I were pretty happy when she decided to go on a walk with us this afternoon. We spent hours at the park enjoying the beautiful weather and watching them play. When she started not feeling well again and I could tell she was getting worn out, I suggested going back home but she insisted on staying just a little bit longer.

  When we finally did start to walk the three short blocks back home the kids could tell mama was taking longer then usual, taking breaks every few steps to rest, as I slowly trailed behind them pushing Ellie.

Then without me even asking..

Vicky ran home ahead of us to get her wheelchair, while the boys stayed behind to give her a hand and shoulder to rest on.
I couldn't have been prouder if I'd tried......

Happy Belated Birthday Mama, We love you more then life, we win!

Chemo mishap~perhaps~Incompetence definitely!

Cindy

April 16, 2014

Wednesday

As most of you may know my mom has chemo every other Monday she gets a 46 hr infusion of 5fu.

From the minute they hook her up she starts counting down the minutes until they disconnect her, because carrying that bag on her tiny frame is super exhausting for her.

So imagine her dismay when the home nurse arrives to disconnect her only to find out the infusion nurse never turned it on.

So here's tip #101 

When dealing with people who are only human and slightly incompetent at times.

Always check your chemo bag before you leave the hospital to make sure it's actually been turned on and then check it every few hours to make sure it's still running. 

Then when your home health nurse arrives and tells you she can't wait on the hospital to call back to let her know what protocol she's supposed to follow in this situation because she has other patients to visit .

And suggests to you that you just continue to wear the pump that's not even turned on until tomorrow night when she can get back.

Make sure after you strangle her that you dispose of her body properly ;-)

Just kidding folks she's still alive and kicking, possibly a patient, but alive nevertheless.

So we ended up disconnecting mom and will get chemo hooked up yet again this Monday which will throw us off a week, but at least it's not 2.

Road before us~

Cindy

April 14, 2014

Monday

Over a year ago I made the decision to stop working to stay home and take care of my newborn and mom because she was told she only had 3-6 months to live. 

Well here we are,16 months later and she's still kicking cancer's butt and having chemo #28 today.

So with her blessing, I've decided to go back to work and get some normalcy back in my life. 

I'm not going to lie it's a scary feeling going back, but for once in a very long time everything seems to be falling right back into place. 

Was worried wondering if I was making the right decision leaving her alone with the kids.

Then just like that I got a call from the hospital saying they had a new shift that had just opened up..

3 days a week, overnight and two of those days are my husband's days off and the other is the day nana spends the night with us. 

It's ideal, they'll never miss me because they'll all be sleeping:-)

Someone out there is definitely looking out for us and I am feeling blessed and a bit of serenity which Is always a welcome feeling;-) 

Here's hoping the good days always outweigh the bad..

Xoxo To every single one of you fighting the fight whether warrior or caregiver, here or beyond, just beginning or saying goodbye. We are all blessed to have found each other, and as I listen to the birds chirp and smell the just cut grass and realize we've made it another day, I'm just so glad know one has to travel this journey alone because someone's already traveled the road before us.

Road before us~

Cindy

April 14, 2014

Monday

Over a year ago I made the decision to stop working to stay home and take care of my newborn and mom because she was told she only had 3-6 months to live. 

Well here we are,16 months later and she's still kicking cancer's butt and having chemo #28 today.

So with her blessing, I've decided to go back to work and get some normalcy back in my life. 

I'm not going to lie it's a scary feeling going back, but for once in a very long time everything seems to be falling right back into place. 

Was worried wondering if I was making the right decision leaving her alone with the kids.

Then just like that I got a call from work saying they had a new shift that had opened up..

3 days a week, overnight and two of those days are my husband's days off and the other is the day nana spends the night with us. 

It's ideal, they'll never be alone or miss me because they'll all be sleeping:-)

Someone out there is definitely looking out for us and I am feeling blessed and a bit of serenity which Is always a welcome feeling;-) 

Here's hoping the good days always outweigh the bad..

Xoxo To every single one of you fighting the fight whether warrior or caregiver, here or beyond, just beginning or saying goodbye. We are all blessed to have found each other, and as I listen to the birds chirp and smell the just cut grass and realize we've made it another day, I'm just so glad know one has to travel this journey alone because someone's already traveled the road before us.

Are we there yet?

We decided to go to the Dells for a few days and get some R&R. Sadly mom wasn't able to really enjoy it because the flu that everyone else had gotten the week prior finally caught up with her and she got sick and ended up spending the whole weekend in bed.

Jess & I decided to take to take two cars there instead of renting an Rv this time around just to see how'd it go and how comfortable it would be.

The 3 hr ride there which I was dreading with 4 kids and mom not feeling well went much smoother then I actually expected and after flipping a coin Jess got to ride with nana while listening to Npr for three hours in peace and quite his idea of a "dream drive, kid free":-) lol

But I didn't mind the kids because as usual, they were awesome and spent the entire trip watching movies we picked up from the redbox with their headphones on & reading while mom and I got to talk the whole time in between her short cat naps.

Coming back was another story...

After a fun filled weekend and spending quality time together with zero distractions and feeling completely worry free because my beautiful sister was house sitting. 

It was finally time to come back, the kids were in rare form and just starting to wind down but not quite. We must have stopped at every bathroom from Wisconsin to Chicago... 

It almost felt like National Lampoons vacation as everyone from the kids to mom to nana switched cars every time we stopped. What should have taken 3hrs to drive ended up taking about 6.

After stopping for food twice, coffee once, stopping to get 30 yr old cheddar cheese (which sounded kind of gross to my 5 year old)  from some old farm house in the middle of nowhere. Because according to mom it's a no-no to leave Wisconsin without old cheese;-) and enough bathroom breaks, handsanitizer and bark bags for 8.

 I thought to myself how could this day possibly get funnier until we stopped to get some food and I ordered 3 plain hamburger happy meals and the girl proceeded to ask me "And what would you like on those plain hamburgers and would you like a toy with them?"

 

To which I replied "#1 nothing their plain, (insert "Chandler's "Are you crazy face here?" ) And  #2 why would anyone order a happy meal if not for the toy???" 

This is a lesson to stay in school kids... 

 I was definitely ready to be home!

Being the masocist I am, I've already scheduled our June's weeklong trip to the Dells so mom can get a do over and actually get to enjoy it, but this time I know an RV is definitely a MUST when traveling with this many people if for no other reason but to keep my own sanity

;-).

Update 4/12/2014

Saturday

Today Mom's feeling great, looking great and gaining weight:-) Always especially thankful for days..