The Itty Bitty Shitty Titty Blog

 We have had the most incredible outpouring of love and generosity and support, quite literally dumped on us in the last month! It has been unexpected and incredibly humbling.  I really need to take a few moments to send some shout outs to some amazing people.   Please note that these are in no particular order To Matt's incredible team at Chantilly High School : I cannot thank you enough.  And to think that none of you have ever met me -- I am speechless.  I mean I know that my husband is loveable but I can't tell you how much it means to me that you all appreciate him as much as you must to be taking such good care of our family.  Not only have you been BEYOND understanding about his needs at work but also the hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards and gifts you sent (our boys love the Dancing Jesus, by the way), the books are exactly my style and the notes made Matt and I both cry.  Thank you so much! OH and the meals!! We appreciate them so m...

 My infusion wasn't scheduled till 11:00 so I was able to travel independently today.  Much to everyone's chagrin.  It was good though, I needed to show myself I could do it.  So, Matt left this morning at 6:00 while I got up the three crazies and got them off to school.  They were dressed, fed and off to school with lunches instruments and nap rolls on time.  I stopped at 7/11 on the way back from the school to get ice for the cooler.  This was easier said than done.  The cooler was stacked high was neatly placed bags of ice but I have serious doubts that anyone but myself had purchased any in a while since the bags had settled or frozen into place creating an impenetrable fortress of ice that even Elsa would have found impressive. After a few attempts at freeing one of the ice bricks I opted to asking for help from the store clerk.  As wiling as he was to assist I was concerned about the effort of reaching he needed to exert as the elastic ...

 Apparently this is no end to Angler Analogies I may glean from this temporary existence of mine.  I may even being referring to Treatments as my Fishing Trips... Probably not.  I enjoy fishing in the same way I enjoy golfing:     - being outdoors on a beautiful day!     - being near water (whether that be lake, ocean, stream, river or water hazard)     - the mandatory quiet     - the snacks     - the close proximity of alcohol! .... the actual activity at hand ... not so much. Today i visited the Fairfax Vascular Center on Arlington Blvd, for a "MediPort check". After the port access debacle that was last Tuesday, my port had become so "adjustable" I was beginning to feel like a human fidget.  I could literally roll it back and forth from the outside.   It is important to note that the Fairfax Vascular Center is NOT where my port was installed. I requested NOT to return to Dr. Spinosa.  The lovely Doct...

 I feel Great! I took my prescribed nausea meds this morning at 7:00 AM with two pieces of homemade French Toast but I haven't felt nauseous.  ( Matt on the other hand has a nasty stomach bug).  Irony? Coincidence?  My brother Robert (Aka Chocolate) sent me a beautiful bouquet of sunflowers!  We also received a whole truck load of gifts and gift cards from Matt's work team. So generous and surprising.   Bonus kiddo Anecdote:  So, yesterday morning, when Matt was handling the boys' morning routine (brilliantly, I might add). He made them French Toast.  This is something my mother does for them when she's in town -- I just pour them cereal, unceremoniously.  Our children LOVE Grandmommy's French Toast! They literally spring out of bed for it and are all smiles at the breakfast table at 6:00 in the morning. (A full thirty minutes earlier than I have to pull them out of bed by their teeth.)   So anyway, my husband serves each child...

 So begins my Cancer Journey.   8:15 AM : Labs for Blood Draw and Port Access  It took two nurses and a supervisor sticking me with a 1 inch fish hook 5x to determine my port is turned or upside down. By the 3rd prick I was crying and blotchy and apologizing for it.  The sweet nurses were rubbing my back and telling me it wasn't my fault - which I knew of course since the nurse told me when i had the port placed, when I SPECIFICALLY asked since I have an energetic 4 year old fond of running hugs, IF I needed to worry about the port shifting -- she told me, "No, that can't happen." So either she lied or it was installed wrong.  Since that particular procedure was my least favorite of the half dozen I had in the last two weeks, I'm NOT looking forward to a repeat.  Let's move on.  They did my blood draw via phlebotomy and then sent me to Infusion on the 9th floor. 9:00 AM : INFUSION 352 lbs : WEIGHT (down 15 lbs from last week so the stress diet is ...