I had an endoscopy. I have gastritis and esophagitis and the doctor suggested I take two Prilosec per day. Good to know there is an easy way of dealing with this. My friend Janet took me and I went to bed as soon as she dropped me off. I slept for five hours and slept a full night when I went to bed. I felt fine when I got up the next day. One of my friends, Vicki brought up that my body will absorb less calcium with two Prilosec. I asked my oncologist since I saw him this week as to what to do about this. He said this was not a problem, but just take the pills at least three hours apart. So that is what I'll do. My endocrinologist will see this and I'll go by what she says.
My friend Marykay's father died at the end of February and the service was this week. It was very touching and I also got to see Marykay's siblings all together. I haven't seen them as one group for at least thirty years. Marykay was walking down the center aisle of the church with her grandsons holding something. She was teary and obviously hurting. I so wanted to get up and hold her, but I didn't. I know she has to do this. We then went to the cemetery and I took a picture of her with her sister and brothers. I remember when we were all so young!
 |
| From right to left, youngest to oldest - Jimmy, Mark, Tom, Barbara, John and Marykay |
We then went to their family home which will now be sold. Marykay is the friend I have where I have met most of her family. She is expecting another grandchild from her daughter Rachel (named after me). She is so close to having this child that she could not come. I know that was painful for her. I'm glad I was able to be there and see most everyone, though it would be much better under happy circumstances.
I had my Red Hat dinner than evening and I invited my friend Dainette Toy. She is the mother of my grandson Billy's wife Meagan. We met at TJ Maxwells. Good food, good conversation and always good friends. Dainette will be a regular in our group.
I saw my oncologist Dr. Tun. All my tests are okay, so I can continue to take Herceptin. I think, at least at the center where I am getting it, I have taken it the longest. That's okay with me as long as I feel okay.
Yesterday my friend Janet and my daughter Shelley went with me to a fundraiser in Visalia for Avon 39 where I was the guest speaker. My friends Martha and Susan who live in the area were also there. I had lots of support, though all the women were very supportive. Some spoke to me afterwards. One said she had been dealing with colon cancer for ten years and also finding her way in dealing with this. They were raising money for a woman to participate in a Avon 39 mile, two day walkathon in Santa Barbara to raise money regarding breast cancer. Each person who walks in this must pay $1800 each to participate and they raise millions of dollars. I don't know how much they raised. They had drawings and auctions, plus part of the cost each paid for lunch. Here are a few pictures from the event.
 |
| Carol Nava (invited me), Jan (the walker for Avon 39), Wendy (has been head of the group and organizer) and Me |
 |
| Me, my daughter Shelley and my friend Janet |
 |
| Giving my talk about hope, taking it a day at a time and taking control where you can |
 |
| This was a wonderful poem that was at each of our seats by Shari Larsen. It sure expressed my feelings! |
...............
We each go through our challenges in life. They make us grow, even if we didn't want to. We end up having more skills to help our fellow travelers. I believe we each have an obligation to give back in some way or another to help those after us. I choose to let it be my experiences going through cancer. I hope each of you think about what you can give back to make this a better world.
................
My great grandson Carson is coming along. Here is the latest picture.
I have not been to art class with Carol Bradshaw in three weeks. She was out one day and I had an endoscopy the other. The assignment was to do a watercolor of three bell peppers in green, monotone. I did it, but not very good. I only had my tracing of the picture to follow, not the picture itself. I would have liked to work on the folds of the material the bell peppers were on. Masking was used to maintain the white of the paper. So here it is.
Here is a good article on getting through grief.
.......................
When Paul and I were on one of our other trips to Puerto Vallarta, it was just us two. One evening, we were walking along the waters edge at the ocean. There was moonlight and in the distance, lights from the resort. It was very romantic. I had my arm in Paul's and we were just talking. I saw what looked like a great walking stick and I bent down to pick it up when it slithered away into the ocean. That ended the romance! I was so shocked and after that, I just was on hyper alert watching my steps, now fearful I would step on something not okay to me.
The next morning, Paul was still sleeping, so I decided to go down for some coffee and orange juice. I left him a note to join me. This cafe was right on the beach. The ocean breeze was so pleasant. I knew a little Spanish mostly from high school and I thought I'd use it. So I ordered coffee and orange juice. I said coffee just fine, but I said jugo de nariz when I asked for orange juice. The waiter was trying to be so proper and said "jugo de naranja." I realized immediately what I said (nose juice), that I broke up in hysterical laughter. He never broke a smile and brought me my orange juice.
.....................
Well, that is it for this week. I will be back with Carol Bradshaw doing watercolor and learning skills to do better. I am also taking a class again from Nina Landgraff on Healing Art at Bakersfield College. I enjoyed her drawing classes before and look forward to seeing what this is about. I think that the Bakersfield Art Association should be moved To 19th Street, next to Kuka's and near The Mark. I think this is a good move for them.
I hope you have a good week and I will see you next Sunday. Rachel
No comments:
Post a Comment