NYC day two

Friday. Janet and Linda came in at about 7am and Mom and I were still in bed. Ha!! We relaxed and visited for a bit then we decided we would get brunch at a local deli. It was a good meal and most of got good sized meals at a good price too.


Everyone crammed in.

Later in the day we got out again and bought out hop on and off bus ticket. Well worth the money to have a narrated tour of the city.

And we had pizza for out linner (lunch/dinner)


On our way home we found a CUTE cookie place for a good dessert treat later in the evening.



We bought a variety to try.
AND we found the Kinky Boots sign to take pictures in. We did debate trying to get tickets but the LINES for TKTS as too long and it was way too cold!!











Fun!


and some poop hats in a little pop up shopping area close to the hotel.


This was the temps when we headed TO the theatre.


Outside the theatre. BURRRR


The lines!!! They went to the next block. Who would have thought they could fit SO many in there??


My seat. Dang pole. Didn’t affect me too bad


Janet was at the top of the row where the man in black is standing. The ones I took with them them waving were super blurry. Needed to have my glasses on!!


Linda is way over in the other side. Just above the last of 2nd pole. The poles look doubled....

There was a funny glitch with the sound after intermission. Serious feedback at one point. Bette Middler just said she would sing the rest to us... ha! They went off stage to fix it. Came back with David Hyde Pierce saying that they would do a sound check saying “this is why we do television” ha!!


After. Happy girls. In time square.


And the other end of Times Square.


And the temps. Yeah. Felt like -8 degrees.
It was cold cold cold.

NYC day one travel day!

The girls are loaded on the bus. Mom is on the front seat. I was in the back of the bus but don’t be sad for me, I had two seats and got to spread out and actually sleep a little. Yay me!!


The lady in front of me was coughing so I masked up quickly!

We got dropped off at the pickup area for the shuttles. That’s something new. I don’t like that option. Makes for a long walk. We made it however. Got all checked in and I added the wheel chair request as I really was tired.


Here we are waiting in the wheelchair holding area. Not sure why they put is in holding - neither was the gal who came to get us through security.

Security was easy peasy in a wheelchair as we didn’t scan at all. They did the hand wipe and that was it. Could have been that I was TSA pre-check. No issues with anything then we were only at the gate for a few minutes before we were boarded FIRST. Nice! Toddled back to our seats at the back of the plane (near a potty for me). I didn’t have any issues with Audrey. She was quiet the whole ride. No gas nothing. Great!!


The lady right behind me had a cute toddler. Cute until he started banging ion the tray and shoving it closed and dropping it open while the ladies back there said NOTHING to him until the LAST 10 minutes of the flight. What a joke. It wasn’t nearly as annoying in the beginning as he was shoving in the bottom of seat giving me a massage of sorts - ha!

When we landed we got rides from the plane to pick up luggage AND to our shuttle stop. Nice guys. Then off to NEW YORK!!


And we’re on the shuttle headed in. Note the sign.

Our hotel was the Edison Hotel. Fun history is that it was first lit by electricity remotely from Nee Jersey BY Edison. Fun hu?


Out $300 a night hotel room. Ha! The Hall ways had duct tape on the carpet too. Classy. Ha! There were other similarly priced hotels in the area but all only had double beds. We needed two queen beds on this one. :).


Tiny bathroom!





Closet the same size as the bathroom :)


I sent this to Linda to tell her I was eating cookies in her bed! Ha!!

I also slept in her bed :). I did take my pillow back to my bed with Mom the next day!

They weren’t due in until about 7am anyway.

Chemo number 4

Chemo number 4 kicked my A$$ this round. I was OK during treatments just as before, but I was in training that week too - so although I worked from home. I had my treatment on Tuesday - which is new for me.

I went to an event on the day after my treatment - movies for a Pure Romance party. We saw the Bad Moms Christmas. It was hilarious! Fun night out! Felt “normal” sans the pig tagging along!

I also had one more of my lovely gallbladder attacks - can’t remember exactly when but I think it was Friday. That made 3 on that week. It was after some Olive Garden Tuscan Soup. Not sure if that was what set it off, but creamy soups and some meats were listed as no-nos. Not sure what set it off, but really over this stuff now!!

Anyway, I reported it... they just think it's gas - more on that later as I'm doing this update LATE.

I went back to class on Wednesday as well. Had two telework days in there to allow for infusion day. It all worked out.

We did a team building event to build two halves of a bridge. It was horrible! Ha!





Yeah they don’t even match even though we had a strategy meeting prior to discuss design. They went off the rail. Oh well. We passed the classes no matter.

So Saturday was my very worst day EVER in this treatment - flu like shakes and neuropathy in my feet to where the tiles felt cold no matter what - time for slippers when shoeless in the house. Fingers weren't too bad, cold water.

Very unsteady to the point of peeing my bed at one point. Sad but true. Ah the joys of chemo and the fun affects. Not. But hey there are worse things I’m sure like blowing out a poop bag or something else as equally as joyful. Ha! Roll with it. This is why I have bed protectors for a reason. The shakes only lasted one maybe two days. Sleep is all I did ALL weekend. I’m sure this will be a trend. Ok. I can handle this. I did tell the family you need to feed me in these days as my brain will NOT function period. I can’t think straight and will not think to ask for food. It just doesn’t occur to me. Hopefully they get it as I burst out crying as Butch tried to make light of it all when I was at a super low. The issue is that the low isn’t just physical. It’s emotional and it’s at your core. It makes you question what the hell you were thinking when you signed up for this. You question if it’s even worth it all. Yeah it’s bad.

But I got past it and back to school on Monday. Which left me too tired to fiction after hours. I had to still figure out shuttle from JFK to our hotel and pack and get my stuff together and plan. Yeah. Brain was still foggy to the end - Thursday was our flight out.

Be careful what you wish for!

So I just got done telling Butch I miss farting. ha! I know right? Weird thing to miss. I also miss having a nice sit down poop too. Yeah. Things you take for granted. It’s been since June since y bowels have been “normal”. You have to understand. I have three colonoscopies in a matter of a month one of those had a surgical element to it then the whole hateful liquid diet that caused constipation. THEN colon resection and bowel rerouted.

So June. That’s a LONG time to not be alike to sit down to poop and NOT think about what you’re about to do. AND it will be a few more months before it will start getting back to “normal” and let’s be realistic - normal may not be achieved any time soon.

So as gas was flying I lamented that I missed farting. 😜

AND we had Metropolis Grill Mediterranean last night for dinner. Ok. That’s a new meal for me. But really not outside the realm of what I would consider “OK to eat”. Not spicy. Nothing out if the norm. Hahaha. Yeah. Good thought.

So. With the new “work” schedule. Aka training I’m going to bed EARLY to allow me enough rest to be able to get up AND function. So far so good. I’ve slept a lot. I struggle to get warm, but doing OK.

I go to bed at 9:00. Zzzzzzz. Slept HARD. Woke at 3am with a Hollister balloon. Yeah. FULL of gas!! Thumping hard!! Get up, waddle to the potty. Empty and sitting there half asleep I FARTED!! What??? Yep. My butt farted!! I was in shock and half asleep however giggled about it.

So I guess my loop played like a pressure release valve and allowed gas to flow through! Wow. So there I lay at 3am giggling as my bum got the joy of farting away! Glad nothing else was passing as I finally gave up attempting to control and let it happen!! Ha!

Butch was NOT impressed the next morning walking through as of was quite stinky! Hahahaha. He has a bad habit of sleeping on the couch!

So there ya go, be careful what you wish for!

Work getting up and moving

Ok so I didn’t tell you about my award last week. I was asked to come TO work on Friday. I finally asked if it was for something good. It was.

The award was leadership and fellowship or something like that. I need to get a picture of the award and the coin I received. It was a nice one.

It was exhausting going to work by 8:45am. It was a lot of hurry up and wait. Get the award then go home. Not horrible. A good first run at work.

Monday started with class at 7:30. Ok. It’s raining and blowing. Yuck. My toes got cold. They never got warm again. We got out of class at 2:30ish. I came home put on socks and crawled into bed for a three HOUR nap.

Yep it was a good nap. A well rested nap. I got up and rambled. Finally got up and rambled the house a bit. Then went back to bed at 9pm in an effort to get up in time for class again today.

Fine. Went to bed. Slept like a LOG. Got up at 5:30ish. Got showered. And started to get ready. Good lord. I felt SO sick. So very sick all of a sudden. Wow. So. I slapped a new bag on - praying it’s in the right spot. Didn’t have much else to do other than put it on and pray it’s in the right spot and in place. Yeah. THAT bad. I had to lay down twice. Urp. I didn’t get sick!!

Finally got things together (stuffed some crackers in and a pill) and out the door. I made it to class and ate tea and crackers all morning. Double urp. Poor tummy!! That’s a first in the last two treatments. All was well with the world.

Day two of class I was just as cold. What’s up with that?? BUT I completed the day. I came home. Ate some lunch and passed out. Zzzz slept a few hours.

I think all I’ve done today is eat and sleep!! I guess it could be worse!


Yes that is TWO fleece blankets and one has two layers of fleece. My toes may just warm up. It’s in the 70s outside so not sure why I’m so stinking cold.

Nothing else as far as symptoms go with the exception of the hand cramps. The rest is all at a dull roar. So there’s that.

Hair falling out slowly. I can live with that. Life, she goes on. Exhaustion and all. It’s all “do-able”.

Week 17 weight loss

Ok I still don’t see the difference here. I also wear fluffy clothing. :)I like fluffy clothing. :)


The front I can see some change in my arms :)


Hair loss is still adding up. Seems like I lose this much every time I shower. Good thing I’m not showering as often. The bonus of not going to work daily. And I notice my hair doesn’t get greasy as much. I can go nearly a week and it still looks great. No oil. There’s a silver lining eh!? And body odor. Weirdly there is little there anymore. Really. It’s weirdly good. I barely wear deodorant anymore. I sniff and nada. I did tell Butch to PLEASE let me know if my sniffer that is going ha!!


However not truly noticeable to the world. Still lots of hair left for the world to see.

So there is my weekly update. On other news neuropathy hand cold and fridge items. Freaky stuff. I grabbed the pickles out of the fridge and freaked out a bit. Burning cold. Scary! Had to hold parsnips with a towel to peel them even. Weird!! Nothing I can’t work around. Butch put gloves on the side of the fridge for me to use when I grab things from the fridge. I’m thinking this should pass in a few days like the mouth and swallow issues go.

Oh and hand cramps- Holy Mother!! My thumbs start pulling in and cramping and won’t let go!! I can stretch them but they continue to cramp. Now the silver lining in this is they only get cramps in the mornings. So there’s that.

What else? Nothing new. No diarrhea this go round. Not sure what they added but then may need to back it off a tad, too thick now. Sigh. Again. Nothing I can’t deal with.

The down side is weight gain. What the?? Back up to a 50lb loss not 55. I liked 55lbs down instead. Dang it! Not doing more calories but doing a bit more smart food. Need to go back to home made. Sigh. Working on it still.

I did get a dinner out as I had to dash the garbage out to the street in my jammie’s with bare feet and cold damp feet. But I made it just in time. Yay me! Boo Butch for forgetting. But hey I got a dinner out for my efforts :) I chose Johnnies pizza. For the calzone. It was worth the cold dash ;) the bread knots that made me want to go there were a disappointment, however the rest of the meal was great!!

Treatment 3 and The pig house

What I post In the colontown group


What I post for friends :)


Step one make a nest in top of a pillow


Step two place squealing pig in nest


Step three and four put pillow over the whole mess and break out ear plugs.


Good night all!!

Mortality, guilt and well, just ramblings

So, after reading a great article from one of my many colon cancer sights on Facebook - this one happened to be a great post by Julie Yip-Willams about how her life and illness with colon cancer will be published posthumus by Random-house; Her words hit close to home.

When I was first diagnosed, I refused to look at my odds
Weird, I know.
But, really - why look? It won't change anything... it won't change the outcome, it won't improve my overall mood to know that I have a 20% chance of dying from this. So - then today I thought - what are my chances of dying of something ELSE I do?

Like Scuba? Yeah, 1 in 34,400 (.003%).

OK, how about skydiving? not that *I* do that... 1 in 101,083 (.001%).

Hum...swimming? 1 in 1 Million (.0001%)

driving a car? 1 in 6,700  (.014%)

Chances that I'll even GET colon cancer at my age? .5%

How very scary is THAT number?
now of that .5% of the world that managed to hit the odds.. I now have a 63% chance of survival rating at 5 years... again, another scary statistic.

Is it realistic... sure, I'm sure it is.
But I'm a STRONG person... I was healthy before this *(relatively) and continue to be healthy throughout this..So, I chose to NOT look at any sort of statistics - well, really before today in depth.

Now that I look at them I get a little shaky as those odds are scary - I'm glad I'm on the positive side of them however!

I did also have someone share a video of a gal with Cystic Fibrosis and her positive view on death... I'm so glad that my folks have always talked about death opening and always with "I've lived a good life, don't cry for me when I'm gone" attitude.

Not that we would be able to do that, but we would definitely know that they knew they had a good life and enjoyed it fully. Bumps in the road and all.

Their attitudes have helped me know that it's just "life" and part of life is death... knowing living on a farm that if a calf was sick, odds are it would die... and dad would also tell us not to make friends with that calf or that calf as their names were "deep freeze".
Ha!
We also had pigs... can I just tell you I would be cleaning their super stinky pig pens and telling them... "can't wait until you are bacon!" LOL.

People are different.. we'll be sad, but I do have faith that I will see them again in heaven. I was raised Mormon for those that don't know (only a few of you reading are not my family, I'm sure!). Anyway, that part has always stuck with me. Yes, I think I will be able to see my family in heaven, that I will even see the wee baby I lost between the two girls (it was a very early pregnancy, but still hurt, the minute you see that (in my case faint - should have been my first hint) line on the test, you make plans, your hopes are there for that baby to be).

I've always just sort of bounced through things without much of a thought... C-section for a very sick little preemie? yeah... do what you have to just make sure she's OK. Keep her in until you know she's got a better chance of survival without killing me. OK. NICU for 3 weeks. OK. What's next? Keep moving forward.

So... reoccurance... scares me.... I don't think there are any statistics for that, but you have to figure my percentage of being alive for 5 years is 63% that would give me the balance to be in the recurrence factor - so 37% chance of recurrence and/or death? AND where it reoccurs will have a huge bearing on what your chances are - in the colon? About the same as it was before based on the stages... if this crap spreads anywhere else? Well, then, game on. It will be a whole other world. How's that for scary reality checks? Yeah... this is why statistics are bad. At least for my brain and my emotions.

THEN we get into the guilt factors... I was diagnosed the very same day that my SIL was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. What are the odds? What a shit deal for the both of us! Part of it is good - we can both relate to the chemo, the medical talk... the whole "I'm too tired to function" part. I'm glad I chose to go forward with my IV chemo. I hear what L faces with hers and her regime is what I could have been on... two weeks of oral chemo, one week off, rinse and repeat.

Why didn't I do the oral? Well, I would have to have a port regardless as the Oxaliplatin is a horrible drug for IV's - it has the potential to actually turn your veins black. Yeah, welcome to the choice to poison your body in hopes of killing all the bad crap without a) killing yourself or b) doing more damage than good. Fun stuff, eh? These are the choices were are given... so you want poison A with this huge laundry list of side affects or B with similar side affects but with the added bonus of xyz? Yeah... I chose to go with the IV pump for selfish reasons - it would only be 2 days and would come with less gastrointestinal issues... I figure my intestines have already faced enough trauma and honestly diarrhea scares me with a bag. I actually didn't avoid that at all either.. sigh. So... I'm 1 day of Oxaliplatin infusion over a 2 hour period - then 46 hours on a pump at home. Handy dandy pump... the pig. It pumps every few minutes and sort of squeal when it's doing it's business... I have adjusted. I now put it in a nest of blankets to the side of the bed and put another pillow over it (one under as well) and I can barely hear it now... but still wear earplugs to drift off...

Back to the guilt factors... I feel guilty that I'm doing good through this. That's not to say there are no symptoms, but what I have is easy to work around.. I hear that she's sleeping a lot... way more than me and for way longer.. I wonder now that I'm musing over this if this is due to her meds being for two weeks? That could very well be as I only really have three days of actively pumping crap in, then I get the remainder of that two weeks with nothing more being introduced.

I feel guilty because L is ALWAYS chipper and cheerful no matter what!! Every time I talk to her, she is always up beat and doing great! Why does this make me feel guilty? Because I feel like a fraud. I will put a smile on 99% of the time.. even when I feel like sh*t warmed over... I'm sure she's doing the same... but I feel guilty because I think in the back of my mind that I'm now what they would consider NED - No Evidence of Disease. as of my surgery they claim there is nothing there... that I'm just taking chemo as a "mop up" effort to get anything that may be lurking... and I know L is Stage 4 - already metastasized.... I know that's not a death sentence after seeing a ton of folks on my groups who are stage 4, but I know for her it could mean a lifetime of chemo and a lifetime of treatments, surgeries and changes to her life. That makes me sad for her, and makes me feel guilty that I'm not having to face that.

Survivor's guilt? Guilt because I kept my hair - although thinning it's really all still there. It's a weird feeling... feeling guilty for feeling healthy. I see folks at the cancer center who are about my age who look like they are 90 - really... one man came to get his wife and I was thinking it was his mother, she was so thin and frail... nope, his wife. Scary stuff this cancer.

.. don't get me wrong, I'm super grateful that I'm feeling like I do... and I do know it could change at the drop of the hat. I'm 1/3 of the way through and as of tomorrow I will be starting into the 1/2 way point... 3 of 6 treatments... then I get scanned every three months for a bit... then it goes to every year... then once I get to 5 years who knows. Maybe every three years? I haven't gotten to that part of the thinking yet... just get to December, stay healthy while getting to the end of treatments... then schedule the reversal surgery.

The reversal surgery... that's another whole nightmare thought process of not having a rectum to speak of anymore... how on earth will this work??? Will this work?? Will I be incontinent? Will I be able to control myself or be limited to eating only when I know I will be close to a toilet? I can't imagine doing what some of these ladies do - they don't eat all day. I can do a lot.. but not eat all day? Nope, not ever. Even when on liquid diet I was consuming calories. I do have some of that left... I guess I could revert to that.... it did constipate me... maybe that would be the trick? LOL

The thoughts that have to flow through now are just weird. but again, it's life. It's my life. It's a mess... but it's mine and we'll work around it.

So, now that I have scared the sh*t out of all of you... know that really I'm OK, these are fleeting thoughts through my pea brain.... and I haven't been as sick as I was that first treatment where I honestly thought "what the h*ll was I thinking signing up for this????"

Yeah, that's not happened again. Maybe it's taking meds right, maybe it's just knowing I will be tired and nauseous and I take THOSE the minute my stomach feels "off" now. I don't play with that feeling anymore! I don't want to look at the TV and think things look like they are "oozing" instead of just juicey - ha!

The great pantry clean out

What brought this on? Liz mentioned this a while ago and it's been on my mind since!!

So today was the day and it was a GOOD thing I did! There was evidence of a mouse in the house!!!


There were a few things chewed. Yuckie!!

The first thing to do is take EVERYTHING out!! Yep, everything!!! Ok so
The "cansolidator" didn't really come out and stay out. It came out in pieces the was relocated one shelf down


The next step was to put it all BACK in!! Wow. The organization included date checks! The oldest thing was 2007! Whoops. It was hidden in a container in the back of the cupboard.

I ended up chucking 2.5 bags of garbage. Three grocery bags of goodies for mom if foods we will never end up eating.


Mom was my date checker and moral support through the effort! It was a LOT of stuff to go through!!


I admit I got about half way done putting it back in and then pooped out. Mom and I sat in the living room and chatted for a bit. She went home to feed dad and I got back at it.

I finished up, vacuumed the kitchen and then laid down for the rest of the day.

662 steps right in this house. Back and forth and back and forth 😜.

Haven't done this in a while

I'm down 55lbs. Holding steady but still losing S. L. O. W.
But not gaining. Working in it counting calories and trying to behave.

Some days are better than others!!

Guess who got IN the pool today?

Yep - ME!!



Going IN!!!


Floating on the pretzel as my queen chair was dead, dead, dead. I didn't have the energy to blow up a new one.


I couldn't see CRAP in the sunshine! I didn't get any other pictures, try as I might and even with a water proof case.

What brought this on? Discussions with everyone about how HOT it is and me thinking.....nooooo, it's FALL. Well der, I stay in the house 99% of the time. So yeah it was time to get my butt out of slug mode.

I did about 10 (hahahaha more like 5) minutes of water aerobics type moves in the deep end. Mostly bicycle and arms swishing on the sides but it was something 😄

Audrey did fine and honest it was change day and I had been procrastinating, so I got out, got showered changed and am ready for bed! Ha! Yep. My life is sooo thrilling.

Amazing!

Well it's amazing what happens when you take your meds the RIGHT way! Ha!

I took the steroids two per day for the three days and really the change is amazing.

I'm still tired don't get me wrong but it's NOT the emotional tired of "what the hell was I thinking doing chemo" tired.

I made it to Ikea - granted just in and out the back door and no further. No wandering. Just in and out. Then to the pizza place that we LOVE there near Ikea. Antico-Pizza Napoletana. Telling you, it's like being back in Italy for a minute. I wanted spicy pizza as my mouth feels a bit "off" and fuzzy. So we got the hot pepper one. Yum!! Butch was cute. He looked at the smaller pizza and said "that's not enough". Yeah, it was. My tummy doesn't hold much anymore and two small pieces was plenty for me! They were quite happy with their reminding pieces. :)

I then slept most of the way home - zzzzz yeah. Tired but not exhausted.

Tried to eat my ice cream (well really frozen custard) from Freddie's again. Nope. Not happening yet. Still way too tingly in the mouth for that!! Ha!

Had lots of diarrhea that day. Not sure if it's the chemo or the pizza but as the day(s) wore on I think it's the chemo. Ok can deal with that.

Monday rolled around and I'm still tired but again NOT exhausted. A little weaker than normal but OK. Went to physical therapy to get some exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor. They seem easy enough.

They did mess up my appointment and put me in the Pavilion instead of out by my house. OK. Who cares. I made it finally. :)

Then Elizabeth and I headed to Moms house to drop off Linda's info and get her car she had left there the day prior. We had a nice visit with them and Linda is feeling much better - yay!!

I had thoughts about going to the Fair but honestly just didn't want to go. Next year maybe 😜

Right now the only complaint I really have is tingling in my tongue and lips when eating cold things or using metal utensils. It's interesting. I did power through that custard last night and honestly had my tongue go a bit rogue in me and be useless for a bit. It was a tiny bit disconcerting as I couldn't talk right but it passed. Yeah, yeah, yeah don't do that again. I get it. It was soooo good though. Worth the weird feelings
😄

Rough spots inside the mouth are there still. No sores yet. Maybe I'll avoid those? I've moved to a soft toothbrush when I start getting "rough" to be more gentle with the skin. Hopefully that will help.

Nausea was at bay the whole time - had a minute of nausea for just a second then it went away. Which is bad because I just want to eat and eat and eat. While trying to lose weight or maintain that's not good.

My eyes are seriously taking a daily hit too. Blurry like sleepy eyes. 😳 oh well it's livable. Oh. And my nose. I feel like the lining is wonky. Not quite a bloody nose but in the verges of getting one. Dry and building up yuck. Bloody boogers. Gross eh?

The BEST news is the back pain is gone!! Yep. I use the milkweed balm the first few days and it lessened and is at bay for now! Yay!!

So. 6 days out and feeling pretty darn good. Hopefully my immune system is holding steady and all is well in that front. To be honest. I'm confident I WAS super healthy before this and will be able to tolerate this while thing well throughout. That first week was hopefully a fluke due to how I messed up the steroids. 😄

Sunday update.

A new hernia belt. Sad when a package shows up with medical supplies and you're super happy about them. Ha! It's so much lighter than the HUGE heavy binder that they gave me in the hospital and "modified" for me with a simple hike. Ha!


Hair loss report. Thining is about all we are seeing still with round two. I can live with that. Reality is that I can live with just about anything as long as I'm alive, ya know?


Is it my imagination or is that hernia belt making the appearance slimmer? I think it may well be.


Side view. I didn't weigh myself. It's to depressing as it is going SO much slower after the whole super low cal diet. About 2 lbs a week or so. Sigh. Last I weighed I was at 53lbs last weekend


Saturday night I decided to get a jump on nausea- just in case... I didn't like that last time. So here is the radioactive color pill - ha! Talk about BRIGHT!!


And Sunday morning in the porch very reminiscent of last Saturday... so yeah thinking I just pushed the exhaustion clock by a day. But that's OK too. I have been tired and blurry eyed (sleepy eyes) for the last two nights and muddled through. Will continue to do so.

I did go see Linda yesterday at Moms. Poor Linda is so sick. I was precautions and didn't touch anything and washed my hands when I left. Just in case. I feel so bad that she's not well, but it was good to see her. Elizabeth and Butch are going to drive her rental to ATL tonight and she's going to stay another few days to recuperate and be able to make it home without incident :( I may go with them as I'm still feeling pretty good in short spurts and will nap in the car if it comes to it :)

And as of lunch NO MORE TAPE


There's surgical glue there still there but the tape is GONE!!