Monday, March 16, 2009

Inject MYSELF? You've got to be kidding!

Happy Monday everyone! And an early Happy St. Pat's Day too! Rachel left yesterday to head back to Butler University in Indianapolis. (Go Butler Bulldogs in March Madness!) It was really nice to have her home for the week, and she sure did catch up on her sleep while she was here! ;-) (I love you Rach xox) I'm getting ready now for daughter number 2, Carly, to come home for HER Spring Break this Friday.

As far as my check up at the oncologist this past Friday, well, it was just as we had suspected. Without my white blood cell booster shot last Monday, my white blood cell count was practically non-existent. The range for a normal white blood cell count is between 3.7 and 11.0. Mine was a scary 0.9 Yikes!! (Last week it was 10.2) So, I was given a mini version of the shot I usually receive on Mondays following chemo. The only problem was that the doctor told me that I also needed the shot for two more days...that meant Saturday and Sunday when the office is closed. I was asked if I had ever given myself shots before. Uhhhhhh.....NO! The nurse asked if I had any "friendly diabetics" in the neighborhood that could help me out. None came to mind. But wait...I did have a very friendly NURSE right across the street! I would be saved from doing it myself. So, they sent me home with two "ready to be injected" needles in a bright yellow bag that said, "CAUTION CHEMO DRUGS." Great, this would probably be the time that I'd getting pulled over on the way home and the officer would see a bald headed woman wearing a pink bandana with syringes filled with drugs on her front seat. lol OK it COULD have happened! Anyway, on Saturday I walked across the street, syringe in hand, and my wonderful neighbor, Diane, did what she does best, and it was over in a second. She told me to come on back on Sunday, which I did! The other good news from my doctor visit was after examing me, he told me that I looked substantially better and the swelling was less. (those are the exact words he wrote down on my chart which I read the second he left the room...you know you would have done the same thing!) He gave me the ok to start the second round of chemo this Friday. I only hope the new drug will go as smoothly as the first round.

As promised, here are some pics from the Feel Good Look Great workshop that I attended last week with Rachel. Hope they put a smile on your face. (I have spared you all from the bald headed BEFORE pic and only posted the AFTER)

This is the bag of cosmetics that we spread all over our table.

This is a close up of the make up inside the bag for those of you that actually know what it is!


Here is the AFTER of me in short hair....although you can't see it very well due to Rachel doing her imitation of the Morton Salt Girl! :-)
Here I am outside in the sunshine with my short spiky hair. Who IS that woman behind the shades?
And last but not least, here's Rachel thinking that she looks cool in my pink bandana. Hey girl, leave the bandana for us bald headed chicks!

That's about it for now. Hope everyone has a great week. It's supposed to get into the mid 60 temperature range here in Michigan tomorrow! I'm excited for the warm weather. And for all my cookie friends out there (and they know who they are) I made cookies for Rachel to take back to her sorority friends. I'll post some pics of them tomorrow.

xoxo
Joanne (I was drinking Simply Lemonade which tasted good for two days. But all good things must come to an end...back to water)

6 comments:

  1. Joanne,Love the new hairdo!! Here's to warmer weather in Michigan(at least for a couple days!) Dawn(kneadacookie)

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  2. that's right... get ready for round two! I can't wait for PANCAKES!!!!!

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  3. Joanne, Glad to hear you look "substantially better". Love the short hair do!

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  4. Great new hair cut, love it! You look amazing and look like you are doing well. What a nice gift you received at your event. The cosmetics, wig and all. Keep plugging away and get better, we'll be waiting for you.
    Love,
    Carolyn Parks

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  5. The St. Paddy's day cookies you made for your class were a huge hit! The children were thrilled to have them - and knowing they were from you was an added bonus.

    You continue to surprise my by your cookie abilities! The 'cancer cookies' were AWESOME! Do you know they sold out first?!
    The kids called them 'Mrs. Sheiman cookies' and the question of the day was 'did you get a Mrs. Sheiman cookie?'

    Thank you for doing this!!

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  6. You DID get some really nice products Joanne.
    Hey Rachel, the yellow hat is a bit much, but the bandanna screams 'biker chick!' Too funny.

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