The New Temporary Normal...

Settling into a new normal for a few weeks until treatment and another new normal begins, has taken some getting used to. The morning begins between 5:15 and 7:45. While getting my men big and small off to work, day care, and school I start with my regular thyroid and edema meds followed by a warm saline antibiotic nasal rinse. Fun? Not. Soothing and healing? Yes. Now that the cold front has moved in, I am having to wear a cold weather mask to go outdoors. My friend suggested adding fabric or markers to make it more attractive so stay tuned for my fashion forward cwm pics! I've already modified the strap to wrap around my ears instead of making that horrid blue strap line across the back of my hair that also was making my ears stick out!
The 6 mile walks I was taking with my friend a few times per week are a thing of the past too. My cancer doctor recommends a leisurely one mile walk for now and working up to more gradually. This is bugging me and my middle is expanding rapidly! From what they tell me, I will be too exhausted to exercise once therapy begins too, but please join me in prayer that I will be energized and able to continue on my trek to get to a healthier composition! However, my wonderful walking buddy Mary Anne has graciously offered to continue leisurely with me, while getting her longer walks in without me for now. Today I am meeting her at the mall for our walk and besides staying warm, we can shop if we must! I am blessed to have many great friends! We love our walks, our girlfriend dates to bazaars, movies, bowling (aka scrapbooking), and chatty lunches!
The rest of the day is pretty normal... just a bit slower. Since I'm not supposed to do lifting or stair climbing and we live in a two story home, JoJo gets in his workout running things up and down for me and blesses us with his love and helpful care for our lil man too! I'm still on antibiotics and Tylenol. The stronger pain meds aren't necessary given their side effects. Another sinus rinse before bed completes the cycle. I bought a barometer to make sure our humidity is what it needs to be for my sinus comfort too. So far it looks pretty normal so we probably won't need to get a humidifier as originally thought. Circumstances outside my cancer bring changes too. My two foster girls moved to Elma last week to be closer to siblings and our lil man will move to his Aunt's home in Puyallup next week. He is almost 2 and needs to be transitioned to his forever family, but we brought him home from the hospital so this will not be an easy transition. God's perfect timing of both opened and closed doors is apparent all the time. Even Jeff's application to change shifts at JBLM was a move that was in the works before my diagnosis! Now, he will switch to swings just in time to drive me every day to radiation therapy.
We are struggling with a few decisions tho and need His guidance. I have the opportunity to join Jeff while on a USAFR tour in Hawaii in December just before treatment begins, but we need help with JoJo and the pets. Grandma can't help full time and local friends have their own plans for the last few weeks before Christmas. Maybe I will take JoJo with me? Additionally, Jeff has the opportunity to go to Turkey in January, right in the middle of my treatment, where he could also spend time with our daughter Hope, her husband Kyle and our granddaughter Haylen; but he wants to be with me during the treatment. Praying for the right choices to present themselves. *** post script... Jeff was not selected for Turkey in January. God is keeping him here with me and I am sad that he won't get one on one time with Haylen; but hopeful that we will see them before she is walking:D
Oh, and 2 more appointments next week: Tuesday to talk with hematologist about chemotherapy options and Wednesday for my "dress rehearsal" in Federal Way to make sure my green mask is set to help them line up the radiation in December. Woo Hoo!
God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
More to come...