Withdrawal
Definition: the act of taking back or away something that has been granted or possessed b : removal from a place of deposit or investment c (1) : the discontinuance of administration or use of a drug
BOOM!!!! Did you feel that? It is the bottom falling out of ChemoSabe.
I believe this has been the roughest withdrawal from steroids ChemoSabe has exhibited. He pushed and pushed himself last week and took advantage of the extra energy. He was out of town at least every day and he was up at 2:30 a.m. each day of the week. He topped it off with also going out of town on Saturday. He was to be home at noon, but called me at 2:30 p.m. and advised he would be home around 5:30 p.m. Momma (Pepper) wasn't happy.
Sunday wasn't much better. He may as well been out of town. He was either sleeping on the couch, bed or floor. His back was giving him fits. He claims he won't push as hard this week. Yeah, right!!! He doesn't have Dex this week nor for the next two weeks.
MRI is scheduled for much of the day Friday. We will have a follow up appointment with the doctor next Tuesday. Labs last week were outstanding. It won't do any good, but maybe there is some hope he won't have to be on meds in the near future. I wish that, but then I feel threatened by the possibility of the cancer returning if he isn't on some sort of maintenance.
We did get to ride on Thursday and Friday evening. Rainman bought a new bike and we met them both nights to eat. It is a bike like ChemoSabe's but three years newer (2008). It is a Kawasaki 2008 Vulcan 2000... One of the biggest bikes made. Purrs like a lion...
I hated to come to work today. I just didn't get enough rest. The Dex snoring has sent me to the spare bedroom the last three nights. The dogs have been restless, too. I was up at 2:00 a.m. letting them out. Parker was having a sugar attack and needed water. Maxie barks at Pete because he is rolled up in the sleeping bag and she can't find him. It is a zoo.
I will keep you posted on the rest of the week and what the withdrawals continue to bring to us. I have been doing a lot of spring cleaning.
Good afternoon and Love -- Pepper
Chemo Sabe
- ChemoSabe
- Benton, AR, United States
- Diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma-- May 2008
Monday, August 17, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
MORE STAMINA -- Word for the Day -- Thursday, August 13, 2009
I NEED A BREAK! I am so thankful ChemoSabe is coming off the steroids Friday. He has absolutely talked my ears off this week... I laughed so hard last night I had to get a Kleenex to dry the tears from my face.
Remember, he only had about two hours sleep before traveling yesterday morning. He was gone all day and got home around 6:30 p.m. He called me when he was ten miles from the house to ask me about some chicken we had in the freezer and wanted to know if we could have it for dinner. I couldn't get him off the phone. I hung up and boom... he was in the driveway. Keep in mind, especially if you know him, he is not much of a talker, especially on the phone.
He loves the oven fried Banquet chicken. He claims it is like KFC. I put it in the oven and convinced him to lie down until it was ready. That would give me an hour break. WRONG!!! He talked, talked, talked. I laughed, laughed, laughed. He talked so much he even told me about one of his employee's tennis shoes. The employees are to wear black shoes and this guy had on some unusual shoes. ChemoSabe was explaining to him the dress code when another employee came out and informed him that she had given the male employee the shoes he had one. They were once hers. Since they weren't black she had taken a magic marker and colored in the mesh part of the tennis shoes to make them black. Only the white lower rubber part showed. ChemoSabe is going to donate this young man a pair of black boots.
He told other stories about more site visits he made. This is all in one day. Talk, talk, talk, talk... He was talking so fast, like he was on a stop watch and then he summed it all up by saying, "Baby, it was like being in a human zoo and you had to talk to them". "Some would open their gate and you would have to go in." That was the steroids talking. I lost it!
We ate our chicken along with macaroni and okra with tomatoes and a fresh pitcher of my magnificent tea. He told me it was a meal fit for a king. He was obviously starving.
That was the end of the evening. I fixed a cup of latte for my bed time drink; gave Parker his shot; put the other kids up and told him I was headed to bed at 8:00. We could finish up America's Got Talent in bed. NO SUCH LUCK!!!
ChemoSabe has two closets in my bathroom that houses his slacks, dress shirts and some novelty T-shirts. I heard rustling and then I saw shirts being piled on top of me. I started folding them and just wondered what was happening. He took out 30 shirts and 15 pairs of slacks. Some of these items I have not seen in years. He decided to give them away.
Was he exhausted after that, plus his travel all day? Lord, No... He said he felt exhilarated. He looked at me with his flushed cheeks and smiled and said, "Baby, we need to do that to your closets". I pulled the covers over my head.
I did convince him to come to bed. We talked more about the cancer food articles and he was talking 2% milk. I put my hand on his arm and told him that when God was ready for him, he would take him no matter what he was eating at the time. I said, "It's not like God is going to come down and see you with a carrot in your mouth and say, 'Nope, I'm not taking him this time, he's eating carrots.'"
We turned over, he told me to set the clock for 4:00 and he was up at 3:00 a.m.
ONE MORE DAY OF DEX!!!! HEEEELLLLLPPPPP! I am glad tomorrow is my day off and he is working!
Good afternoon and Love -- Pepper
p.s. Labs and Velcade today... Cross your fingers.
Remember, he only had about two hours sleep before traveling yesterday morning. He was gone all day and got home around 6:30 p.m. He called me when he was ten miles from the house to ask me about some chicken we had in the freezer and wanted to know if we could have it for dinner. I couldn't get him off the phone. I hung up and boom... he was in the driveway. Keep in mind, especially if you know him, he is not much of a talker, especially on the phone.
He loves the oven fried Banquet chicken. He claims it is like KFC. I put it in the oven and convinced him to lie down until it was ready. That would give me an hour break. WRONG!!! He talked, talked, talked. I laughed, laughed, laughed. He talked so much he even told me about one of his employee's tennis shoes. The employees are to wear black shoes and this guy had on some unusual shoes. ChemoSabe was explaining to him the dress code when another employee came out and informed him that she had given the male employee the shoes he had one. They were once hers. Since they weren't black she had taken a magic marker and colored in the mesh part of the tennis shoes to make them black. Only the white lower rubber part showed. ChemoSabe is going to donate this young man a pair of black boots.
He told other stories about more site visits he made. This is all in one day. Talk, talk, talk, talk... He was talking so fast, like he was on a stop watch and then he summed it all up by saying, "Baby, it was like being in a human zoo and you had to talk to them". "Some would open their gate and you would have to go in." That was the steroids talking. I lost it!
We ate our chicken along with macaroni and okra with tomatoes and a fresh pitcher of my magnificent tea. He told me it was a meal fit for a king. He was obviously starving.
That was the end of the evening. I fixed a cup of latte for my bed time drink; gave Parker his shot; put the other kids up and told him I was headed to bed at 8:00. We could finish up America's Got Talent in bed. NO SUCH LUCK!!!
ChemoSabe has two closets in my bathroom that houses his slacks, dress shirts and some novelty T-shirts. I heard rustling and then I saw shirts being piled on top of me. I started folding them and just wondered what was happening. He took out 30 shirts and 15 pairs of slacks. Some of these items I have not seen in years. He decided to give them away.
Was he exhausted after that, plus his travel all day? Lord, No... He said he felt exhilarated. He looked at me with his flushed cheeks and smiled and said, "Baby, we need to do that to your closets". I pulled the covers over my head.
I did convince him to come to bed. We talked more about the cancer food articles and he was talking 2% milk. I put my hand on his arm and told him that when God was ready for him, he would take him no matter what he was eating at the time. I said, "It's not like God is going to come down and see you with a carrot in your mouth and say, 'Nope, I'm not taking him this time, he's eating carrots.'"
We turned over, he told me to set the clock for 4:00 and he was up at 3:00 a.m.
ONE MORE DAY OF DEX!!!! HEEEELLLLLPPPPP! I am glad tomorrow is my day off and he is working!
Good afternoon and Love -- Pepper
p.s. Labs and Velcade today... Cross your fingers.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Stamina -- Word for the Day -- Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Stamina
Definition: staying power, endurance
I really don't know how ChemoSabe has kept up the last two weeks. It has to be the Dex that keeps him full of stamina. He was out of town yesterday and he didn't really get into bed until 11:00 p.m. He needed up at 3:30 a.m. He received a call around midnight and had to meet someone in his office... That is about 25 miles away from our house. He got back home at 2:30 a.m. Told me to get him up at 4:00 a.m. --- He was gone by 5:30 and is out of town all day today... Stamina... Last week was no different.
After Friday, he won't be on Dex again for two weeks. Maybe he can level out. He has labs tomorrow along with another Velcade shot. The shot should bring him down a little by Saturday. I am praying his labs will reveal good measures since he is working so many hours.
Oh.... since Monday, he is carrying two cell phones.. Double trouble! Thanks bunches to the one that made that possible. (Sarcasm)
The weekend has already been laid out for him. He will be out of town all day on Saturday... Hmmmmmmm, I wonder if some of my girlfriend's with bikes would like to go out for a while. I've never done that. ChemoSabe wanted to venture out on his bike Saturday to the job site, but it entails a lot of back highways and he would be leaving around 5:00 a.m. Too, too many deer out there for me. So, WE decided that wasn't a very good idea for him.
He has started to read some cancer articles the last couple of days. The one last night was based on the appropriate foods. After he went down the list I don't know how he would survive. He does all the wrong foods. Things he has done for years and things our doctor told us he could continue.
Milk -- He drinks a gallon of whole milk a week. Milk causes mucus to form in your esophagus and stomach lining. Cancer eats away at this mucus. Soy is suggested. Ugh...
Sugar -- His dentist had already advised him not to chew gum with sugar. He is a bubble gum freak on the bike. He eats a bowl of cereal every night, sugar in coffee, and the list goes on and on. I have been getting sugar free ice cream. It tastes like homemade...
Pork/Beef -- We had a pork loin Monday on the grill and then BBQ pork chops last night.
Those are only a few things.
ChemoSabe made two dozen oatmeal raisin cookies Monday night. They are just about all gone... I have had about five. When he is on Dex he likes to make those cookies.
You know... it doesn't really matter what we eat. When the Lord calls on us we could have a salad in our hand. Guess that why I have gained so much weight... You can tell I am living for the day! ha
Well, gotta run. I just wanted to give you a little update and hoping it won't be a "I told you so" if his labs come back bad and it is because he has so much stamina.
Good afternoon and Love -- Pepper
Definition: staying power, endurance
I really don't know how ChemoSabe has kept up the last two weeks. It has to be the Dex that keeps him full of stamina. He was out of town yesterday and he didn't really get into bed until 11:00 p.m. He needed up at 3:30 a.m. He received a call around midnight and had to meet someone in his office... That is about 25 miles away from our house. He got back home at 2:30 a.m. Told me to get him up at 4:00 a.m. --- He was gone by 5:30 and is out of town all day today... Stamina... Last week was no different.
After Friday, he won't be on Dex again for two weeks. Maybe he can level out. He has labs tomorrow along with another Velcade shot. The shot should bring him down a little by Saturday. I am praying his labs will reveal good measures since he is working so many hours.
Oh.... since Monday, he is carrying two cell phones.. Double trouble! Thanks bunches to the one that made that possible. (Sarcasm)
The weekend has already been laid out for him. He will be out of town all day on Saturday... Hmmmmmmm, I wonder if some of my girlfriend's with bikes would like to go out for a while. I've never done that. ChemoSabe wanted to venture out on his bike Saturday to the job site, but it entails a lot of back highways and he would be leaving around 5:00 a.m. Too, too many deer out there for me. So, WE decided that wasn't a very good idea for him.
He has started to read some cancer articles the last couple of days. The one last night was based on the appropriate foods. After he went down the list I don't know how he would survive. He does all the wrong foods. Things he has done for years and things our doctor told us he could continue.
Milk -- He drinks a gallon of whole milk a week. Milk causes mucus to form in your esophagus and stomach lining. Cancer eats away at this mucus. Soy is suggested. Ugh...
Sugar -- His dentist had already advised him not to chew gum with sugar. He is a bubble gum freak on the bike. He eats a bowl of cereal every night, sugar in coffee, and the list goes on and on. I have been getting sugar free ice cream. It tastes like homemade...
Pork/Beef -- We had a pork loin Monday on the grill and then BBQ pork chops last night.
Those are only a few things.
ChemoSabe made two dozen oatmeal raisin cookies Monday night. They are just about all gone... I have had about five. When he is on Dex he likes to make those cookies.
You know... it doesn't really matter what we eat. When the Lord calls on us we could have a salad in our hand. Guess that why I have gained so much weight... You can tell I am living for the day! ha
Well, gotta run. I just wanted to give you a little update and hoping it won't be a "I told you so" if his labs come back bad and it is because he has so much stamina.
Good afternoon and Love -- Pepper
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