Tuesday, April 1, 2008 10:49 PM, CDT

Hello Everyone,
Just a quick post tonight. I’ve downloaded a picture of me and my fanny pack! Check it out! Isn’t it lovely??? Yes Dana and Christine I loved the concept that it’s the brunch of accessories. How very “Seinfeld” of you to come up with that description.
Basically, the fanny pack is a small cartridge of medicine in a black bag. The cartridge has tubing that connects to my port and the black bag is connected to a belt. I can wear it around my waist or over my shoulder—oooh options!!! The first few times I wore it over my shoulder but then decided it was more comfortable (and perhaps a little less dorky) around my waist.
I’ve mentioned this before but it really does remind me of my horrible Christmas break job as a Regis inventory specialist. All I need is my lovely blue smock to complete the look.
The fanny pack has become a part of me for 48 hours every week and a half. We just celebrated our one year anniversary! J It comes everywhere with me—everywhere. It has a clasp on the belt portion that I unhook so it can sit outside the shower because I can’t get it wet. I used to unhook it at night so I could sleep without it but now it’s in the bed with me. I wanted to include a picture of the needle going into my port but Greg said that would be gross!!!
We’ve only had a few mishaps. There were a few times when the pump stopped working and I had to call the 1-800 number on the cartridge to get it started again. Then there were the few times that the tubing came disconnected and then I start bleeding because when the connection comes undone gravity takes control and instead of pumping medication into the port, it pumps blood out of my body. But it’s a slow pump so it’s also a slow drain. I usually don’t notice until my shirt is totally soaked with blood. It’s only happened twice and once I’ve reconnected the tubing, I stop bleeding and the medicine starts pumping again.
So now I have four treatments down. Well I’ll consider it done when my pack is off on Wednesday. I’ll start to get fatigued on Wednesday and maybe a little nauseous. The fatigue and nausea will remain with me until perhaps Friday afternoon. But Jill I do plan on being at kickboxing on Friday!
I also have my next PET scan scheduled and the scanxiety has already set in. I’ll get the scan on May 7th—which is the day before my Steven’s 10th birthday. As of right now I’m scheduled to receive my results on May 12th but it might not be until the 14th or the 16th because it takes more than just three business days to get results on a PET scan. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed and hope that one of Steven’s birthday presents is for his Mom to have a good scan and I’ll be hoping I can have an extra Mother’s Day present of a good results. Last year I received an early Mother’s Day present when I got my amazingly positive CT results on May 11.
In my last post I neglected to thank Maura and Liz Hurley who helped me out during the end of February and beginning of March. I was their confirmation project (which just cracks me up that I was someone’s confirmation project). They offered to help me out with free babysitting and running errands and doing anything I might need. They were a lifesaver—even if the project might not have worked the way they intended. They did one after school babysitting job so I could run some errands by myself and then I “used” them for two free Saturday nights out. They are the sweetest girls. And I find it funny that they babysat for me because I watched their two older siblings while their mother was pregnant with them. The Hurleys are just an amazing family and these two young women are quite special. Ladies, I’ll be calling you soon for some legitimate paid gigs!
I would have included pictures from Greg and Katie’s father/daughter dance but I took them without a memory card in my camera. Am I an idiot or what???? Seriously…I can screw up anything if you give me the chance! They looked great and Katie had a blast—which is more important than a picture but I’m sooo mad at myself.
Love,
Kim