The Flu

So it’s the beginning of day four of doctor imposed bed rest. This year’s flu is not very nice.  I went in for my monthly chemo cocktail and my doctor said I had to get a flu shot.  I receive both my chemo and flu shot on January 11^th.  I have been sick ever since.   I was rather stupid, instead of resting and getting better I just kept playing supermom.  I mean I’m the Mom, who else is going to do the stuff I do – being a taxi service for my children’s escapades, doing wash, doing dishes, going to the market picking up enough food to feed five hungry mouths, feeding our goatie girls, dogs and cats.  (Sorry I don’t feed the gold fish, he’s been with us for nearly 10 years – personally I wouldn’t mind to see him floating on the on the bottom, but Emma and Hannah love that fish) Next thing I knew I had a deep hacking cough, wheezing due to fluid beginning to fill up my lungs, fevers, chills and achy body.  I finally gave in and went to see my doctor.  Tisk, tisk…..I need to run some test, she says.  Once again, I went thrqu my favorite things, tongue swabs, needle pricks, blood drained. I was given the choice of either three days in the hospital or ten days of bed rest.  So after a long day of intravenous antibiotics mixed with a 1000ml bag of saline solution for dehydration, I chose the bed rest.  I’ve been to that prison called the hospital.  The hospital is nightmarish.  First, they (the orderlies dressed in blue) show up every half hour to hook you up to the blood pressure machine (which is worse than the hug of python), you’re your temperature, measure and empty your bladder bag, and just make sure your still alive, your nurse showing up every hour doing double duty of blood pressure, pulse count, giving you little cups of funny colored pills, interns pretending to be doctors while they experiment on you,  and handsome residents who know the end of their midnight duty is just about done.

I know, I know, I haven’t been writing much lately.  You’re wondering what in the world is going.  I thought she had cancer and here she’s writing about the flu.  Yes, I still have cancer – I’ve got new tumors on my sternum and a particularly nasty one just above my right lung.  I’m a walking cancer monster, shoulder, sternum, ribs, and hips.   Lord almighty, the cancer just keeps finding nice and tasty bones to munch on.  Plus, I’m tired of cancer.  I’ve been on a sort of a vacation from cancer, translation, no chemo for the month of February.  So I’m sort of peeved that I’ve been ill with the flu for nearly a month.

I’m working on getting my game face ready.  I’ve got a nice new tumor on the right side of my chest opposed to the left side.  (Well that’s funny – I’ve been leaning to the left for years and years  and now they want me to lean to the right…..sorry, no can do, Go democrats  – Cancer humor).  My doctor will take a slew of new tests on March 11^th.  However, I’m pretty sure I’m going to go from chemo light to chemo heavy.  I’ll go from thinning hair to no hair, being able to eat great pasta loaded with tomatoes, spicy sausage, and garlic to food tasting like metal and pulling out the pink bucket so I don’t have to worry about making it to the bathroom.-

So instead of going to a Jewelry Show in Tucson (I’ll explain later), going to Florida and staying at the Ritz (aka D & H condo, right on the water in Palm Beach), trekking down to LA to finally take my kids to the land of wonder – Disneyland and spend time drinking wine with my dear friend.  I’m stuck on bed rest for at least 6 more days.  Boo-hoo.  Needless to say it’s killing me as I watch the laundry mountain grow higher, and haven’t been to my knitting group and bible study group for which seems like years.  Grrr.  I hate the flu, however I guess the good thing about it is…….nearly everyone round me seems to be getting the flu.  I guess it’s nice to be a part of this terrible click call the flu – now where’s the Kleenex and cough syrup.