DOCTORS, DOCTORS AND MORE DOCTORS

 Hello, friends.  This has been quite the week for doctors.  Last Wednesday I had an appointment with my primary doctor.  I told you about that one.  Thursday, I went with Joe to his primary doctor.  Friday, I saw my gastroenterologist.

But yesterday was the big one.  I saw my oncologist.  I see her every six months.  But now she has made it once a year since I have been cancer free since 2007.  I do have one problem though.  The medication I was given has leached a lot of calcium from my bones.  And even though I take medicine to replace it, it now seems as if I need a once-a-year infusion to help things along.  Yesterday was the day.  Joe came along to be with me during this.  He was there with me the entire year I had the cancer infusions, and he was still there with me.

First, I had a blood draw to get all my numbers.  Then I saw the doctor and had my vitals taken.  Lastly, I was taken to the room for the infusion.

This is a new building and not the dark room I had my treatment in.  I was sat next to a window that looked out over a beautiful garden.  We could see birds soaring in the sky.  And butterflies and dragonflies flying around all the bushes.  It was very relaxing and I suppose that was the point of it.

The nurse could not get a vein on me.  The best place is where the lab had drawn my blood.  She tried two different places on my hand and then gave up.  She could see how much she was hurting me.  So, she got another nurse who also had a hard time finding a vein.  But she did get one on my forearm.  Very painfully.

The infusion was only 30 minutes.  To take my mind off of it, Joe and I planned what we will do for our anniversary this Friday.

Today my arm is swollen, bruised and sore.  So is my hand.  I guess it will take a while for things to get back to normal.

Joe had a meeting at church this morning.  I went to pick him up when it was finished, and we went to Shoprite to pick up a few things.  My legs hurt so badly that I stayed in the car while he went in.  While I was waiting, I took a few pictures of the trees and bushes in the parking lot.  Our Shoprite is fairly new.  I watched it being built about four or five years ago.  When it opened, the trees they had planted were about three feet tall (approximately 1 meter).  Look at them now.  The first picture is of a bush that was about eight inches (20.3 cm) high when it was first put in.  I love the red color on it.  These pictures definitely do not do these plants justice.

As they get bigger, I can only imagine them getting prettier.

I made a great fall dinner tonight.  The weather is finally getting cooler, and I thought it would be fun to do this.  I had boneless pork chops which I put into the oven.  They turned out like roast pork and were so tender and juicy.  I also made mashed sweet potatoes and green beans.  For dessert I made an apple pie.  It was so good.  It has been so hot this summer that I haven't done much cooking at all.  So I really enjoyed making dinner tonight.

And now it's very late and I must get myself together and get to bed.  There is so much to do tomorrow.  I am behind on everything and want to catch up as much as I can.

Hope you all have a wonderful night and a great day tomorrow.

Kathy