ROUND #10 DOWN AND A VISIT FROM '"OLD YELLER"!

Had round #10 of chemo yesterday..still "Fighting Like a Girl" and killing those cancer cells..YAY! I usually have a little dread about going, because I am just beginning to start to feel better....but once I get back to the chemo room and get settled in my chair, I look around the room at the other patients...some are there for their very first chemo, some old timers like me, and always one or two that look like they are giving up hope...I quickly give a prayer of thanks for how well I am doing and how far I have come since this second diagnosis given to me on December 21,2009! I am very grateful and it sure puts into perspective that having a week of not feeling well, is a small price to pay for a week's worth of killing those cancer cells! I am extremely grateful that the new chemo cocktail along with the steroids, is getting rid of the swelling and pain in my feet and leg...I still have to use the cane or walker most of the time...don't want to keep falling..still a little unbalanced at times...but it is 100% better than not being able to walk without pain. As I have said before, first thing in the morning, I try on my yellow box flip flops to measure my success in the swelling department...I am happy to say that I have been able to wear them everyday! God is soooo good! This round of cancer seems so much different than my first one ten years ago....or maybe I just don't remember it...but I know I didn't lose my fingernails last time and don't remember the swelling and not being able to walk...I am sure that it is because it came back in my bone this time and that would have to be part of the reason...just so happy that God's plan for me was to get my "new hip" before this battle began...I know that had I still had all that back and hip pain, this would have been alot more difficult to endure....but you see, it is all in God's time plan..I am very grateful!

When I came home from chemo yesterday, I brought the dogs out and sat on the swing as I always do. After a bit, a big, gorgeous yellow dog walked upon the deck. I can't remember ever seeing this dog before. When a stray dog comes down the hill into our yard, my dogs usually go crazy barking and try to run it off...not today...they hardly even looked at it, much less bark! I got up and went to the door to let the dogs in and was going in behind them..."Old Yeller", as I called him/her...went on into the house too! I tried to coax him back out...nothing worked..this was about 2:00 in the afternoon...He would lie in the kitchen floor or get under my feet at the craft table....no sound at all from any of the three dogs..very strange to me! I would go outside again with Jazzabelle and Emma Grace, but "Old Yeller" wouldn't get up to come...very well groomed dog..very sweet...would put his paw on my knee wanting me to pet him! Emma Grace did get a little jealous about this and wanted to be petted at the same time. During this time, the chemo was starting to kick in and I was already having that "out of body" feeling and that horrible taste in my mouth! My precious sister, Kimberly, said maybe the dog wasn't really there...I just thought it was LOL! When hubby got home from work, he informed Kimberly that the dog was indeed here! He thinks he had seen the dog in a yard up on the hill...the dog wouldn't get in his truck...so he slowly drove down the street while the dog followed him...the house where he thought he might live had a locked gate, so he petted "Old Yeller" and quickly drove away..we are hoping that he and his family are now together again....if he comes back to us, I will continue the "Old Yeller" Saga......