Sunday, September 6, 2009

Almost Three Weeks Now

On Wednesday, it will be three weeks since my last chemo. I am still going a lot slower than I want. Today I went to church, played the organ and stayed for the rest of the meetings. I also subbed for the Relief Society pianist. I didn't have the feeling that I needed to get home right away or I might be ill. And I didn't look longingly at the pew thinking of lying down on it. So, I have made some progress.

I was tired afterward, but dinner was in the crock pot and I needed to get it on the table. After dinner, Jemayla (Byron's wife) helped with the dishes (uh, she did them all) and I went out on the patio and sat in a recliner until I recuperated. I got a second wind and spent the rest of the evening on the computer. So, it was a restful day. I am making progress, but it is slower than after any of my other chemo treatments. I repeat, "Patience is a virtue" everyday. It should help more than it does.

I started a prescription called Femara which is an estrogen inhibitor. That means, any estrogen my body makes (which is precious little these days) the Femara hunts down and annihilates. Watch out, Jerry. My hair is growing a little, but it's all white on the top and gray in the back. I can see little tiny whiskers of brown hair, but they are not growing. I can't tell if my hair is straight or curly because it is usually mashed down by a wig or hat. I'll have to wait on that. Also, I had to shave my legs occasionally the last couple of weeks. I even plucked my right eyebrow. The left one was fine. They thinned out just right and I would love them to stay that way. I guess I can't have it both ways--no leg hair growing back, but the hair on my head growing profusely. Too bad, so sad. I have counted my blessings all summer, though. If you ever have chemo, have it during the summer so you don't have to shave your legs!!

OK, enough of sad sack chemo story. Here are two grandma brag weblinks to check out. One is Chad's family pictures in June, 2009, and the other is of Dusty's girls. There is probably a really cool way to put this on the blog somewhere, but I'll just put them here and see if they work. I want to go to bed.


meganblethenphotography.com/chad-heath-family

meganblethenphotography.com/lainey-libby-heath

Hey, it worked. I promise there will be more coming. You can stop checking in if this is over the top for you, but being a full-fledged grandma, I don't think I can help myself... I'm sure I can't.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Betty, You are so sweet! I'm amazed by you through this trial. Megann will tell me how you're doing sometimes. Reading this post just makes me realize how strong you are!!
Good luck with growing your hair back! You sound very positive despite everything else!!

Megan Blethen

Megann said...

Well, you must have been feeling pretty good this morning...running to the finish line and all! You're amazing. I hope I can have half your amount of energy 20 years from now.

Betty Heath said...

Thanks for your support. It means a lot to me!