Connected!!

It was quite an effort, but like Scrat (squirrel from Ice Age) with his nut, I was not to be denied access to the internet. I looked for wireless near the window, wireless in the lobby, briefly thought about a bluetooth connection with my phone (no bluetooth on laptop) or buying one of those Verizon laptop internet cards (Yikes!! The price and service on that little doo-hicky!). In the end, it was simply my built in modem, a phone cord and the AOL free trial membership that got me to the 'net. Ohhh mmmmyyy gossshhhh, caaannn yyooouu saaay diiiiall uuppp bbbeee sllooow!!! But I'm here!

Well, I think I am doing pretty well for 1-1/2 days post-chemo. I can stay vertical for more than 30 minutes at times and have been eating a little, too. For those of you who don’t know, I crave the most bizarre foods. Dill pickles, grapefruit, and Taco Bell bean burritos to name a few. I've been cut off from the last item due to that little thing with the rats and the Taco Bell restaurant up here…. Mom does keep the good stuff going, too, like chicken noodle soup, jello, baked potatoes, etc. So my weird foods are just a bit here and there. I will probably have 2-3 more ugh days, then a few good, then back down again with the cell counts. But who knows, we are taking it one day at a time and just praying for an uneventful recovery again this time with no fevers or infections!!

Our apt is very cozy, but with no wireless connection or cable today we found ourselves writing letters, reading books and the paper, playing games and CDs on my laptop, and putting together puzzles. Obviously, the quest for internet has kept me occupied and my mind off of chemo. Today it has been snowing and it is fun to watch Manhattan get a fine cover of white from our little window 15 floors up. I miss Brant and the kids, but we talk often and he sounds like several of you are helping him along. This stretch will be closer to three weeks instead of two like I had thought. Good thing he is tough!

I had to start my Neupogen shots today (two a day – yikes!!) that will stimulate my bone marrow to make lots of stem cells. I will continue the shots until I collect enough stem cells, which as of now is scheduled to start on March 25th. I can go home as soon as they collect enough. There was a problem getting the shots delivered to the apartment today (since mom will be giving those). So we had to brave the weather and go Sloan Kettering and get my shots in clinic. It wasn't too bad, and I was excited to get to go out….Mom would have preferred we stayed in with the weather…..oh well!!

Thanks for the emails and comments. I love staying connected to everyone.