epic

home from surgery. all went well. on drugs...so please forgive any typos or things that don't make any sense (or too much sense).

just wanted to give an update in case anyone is checking in for the most recent keeping track of kelly report:

we were there from 7:30 til about 11:45. most of that time was spent waiting and of course i slept thru the rest of it thanks to the twilight drug they gave me...good stuff!

dad was with me, he just now left to go home and take a nap since the poor guy had to be awake the whole time...no drugs for him, just some yucky coffee that due to a faulty cup dripped onto him and his clothes. uh yeah, have i mentioned that i AM indeed my father's daughter?

so, twilight drug.....

zzzzzzzzzz...nice...but straight up, wait up, hold up..what the crap did i do or more likely knowing me, say? what did they do to me? i can't remember a dang thing. did i snore? or even worse....fart?

as my brother would say, 'the horrah!'

i remember seeing a clock hanging on the wall where we turned the corner in the corrider that leads from the prep area to the OR and still being semi-coherent saying outloud, 'okay, it's 10:04' like i was planning my day or something, cuz that's what i do...and actually what i was doing, calculating when i would be home in my head.

and then in the next breath i said, 'man, i'm feeling pretty buzzed...have you started that stuf.........?'.

next thing i know i'm in a room with a (male!) nurse, it is now 11:somethingorother (clock's kinda blurry), i'm coming out of twilight into mid-day, they bring dad to my room, i suck down some saltines, red jello and a couple of sips of water (i am starving and parched), nurse guy (his name is blurry too...no shell & vin, not literally) gives me instructions, an ice pack & a darvoset (love!), when he asks me if i'm ready to leave i'm like, 'absolutely. where are my clothes?', dad goes to get the car, nurse blurry wheels me out, we wish each other a good weekend, and that was that.

***
dr. jew said that the port was imbedded into my body more than she expected, so she had to remove it very slowly to avoid breaking it, which made the procedure take a bit longer than usual.

oh, and according to dad (via mom), she told him that in 15 years of doing this, she's only seen this happen one other time.

yay me!

that explains a lot of the symptoms i have been experiencing. so maybe/hopefully those'll go away now.

my port, which was once my ally turned into my enemy...so we had to destroy it before it destroyed me.

but thats begs the question...what will be my ally now? and how long until it too turns on me?

dunDUNdun...stay tuned for the continuing saga that is my life...it's turning out to be freakin' EPIC!

***
thanks dad, for always being there, and for being willing to listen and give advice about the tough topics i always hit you with. i know it sucks and has to hurt like hell, but the cool thing about us being so alike is that i know you get it.

so see? not all bad. it's all in how you choose to look at it; i.e. i've got REALLY good hearing, and i can hold my alcohol REALLY well...and of course the witty, self/each other-deprecating sarcasm we all do so often and well.

***
thanks also to vinda for stopping by!

and thanks to cathi for taking time before her float trip to rescue me!

***
up next: i start back up on the lovenox belly shots tomorrow, in addition to coumadin.

follow-up blood work on monday, and then meeting with the nurse practitioner to discuss those results on tuesday.

these are both for the clot, not necessarily cancer/chemo, although i'm sure we'll discuss that too. cuz that's what i do, try to get the most from the time & money i spend...they owe me at least that.

both appointments will be at KCCC-South as i have decided to switch over to dr. mckittrick (who shall be called dr. mk from here on out).

he and i decided to just focus on this clot issue for now since all of my scan results came back stable.

my next chemo which was scheduled for 7/2 has been cancelled.

i am going on a chemo break, at least for a month or so. i might start up with an oral form of chemo called xeloda. being on nothing kinda scares me, but dealing with a whole new set of side effects is kinda scary too.

i meet again with dr. mk on 7/10 to follow-up on the clot and discuss this chemo break idea further.

have a great weekend!!!

this song is apropos of nothing that happened today, but it is apropos of something that did happen once in my life.

i heard it today, so i wanted to share it just in case there is someone in the world who hasn't heard it yet.

some other groups have remade it, but their versions pale in comparison to the original by one of my favorite bands.

if you haven't ever heard it, check it out...it's sweet, and parts of it always have and always will bring tears to my eyes:

A lovestruck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a lovesong that he made
Finds a streetlight, steps out of the shade
Says something like 'you and me babe, how about it?'

Juliet says, 'hey it's Romeo you nearly gimme me a heart attack'
He's underneath the window she's singing 'hey la my boyfriend's back
You shouldn't come around here singing up at people like that
Anyway what you gonna do about it?'

Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start
And I bet and you exploded in my heart
And I forget, I forget the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?

Come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame
Both dirty, both mean, yes and the dream was just the same
And I dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is real
How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?

When you can fall for chains of silver you can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, yeah
Now you just say 'oh Romeo, yeah you know
I used to have a scene with him'

Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said 'I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die'
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?

I can't do the talk like they talk on tv
And I can't do a love song like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything, but I'd do anything for you
I can't do anything 'cept be in love with you

And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat and bad company
All I do is kiss you through the bars of a rhyme
Julie, I'd do the stars with you any time

Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die
There's a place for us you know the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong Juliet?

And a lovestruck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a lovesong that he made
Finds a convenient streetlight steps out of the shade
Says something like 'you and me babe, how about it?'

Romeo & Juliet - Dire Straits