Bon Jovi - It's My Life

Ok, tomorrow I go home for sure. The treatment went really well...but i hit a couple of bumps that i don't want to go into... i am practising letting go of things i have no control over...which extended my stay here. please forgive my grammar...i am on my side and using one finger to type this...my butt is too sore to sit on. i am happy to get back to my critters, my own stuff, and eat different food. i must have been sick when i first came here...i told everyone how good the food is...now that i am better...the food is not so good. i have my hair and for a 55 year old woman i handled the treatment quite well. i continue with radiation treatments...26 to go and i think i start 2nd round of chemo in 3 weeks.
hope your day is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud x0 inge

I am on day 4 of chemo and my body is handling it well... a little nausea that we nip in the bud... chemo has come a long way baby! I had 2 radiation treatments and back on Monday. I hope to go home on Monday... I finally pooped 2 nights ago... anyone who has waited over a week knows how great that is! down size is my bowels have a mind of their own... I sleep wih a diaper... my new normal but it is temporary. I am alive and eating again. I lost 15 lbs since Dec 26th but today I was weighed and I gained back 3 lbs. My family brings me Jamba juice daily with a protein shot... that helped on the days I did not want solid food. My days are mostly good, but I need those pain meds. I find myself hallucinating though...having conversations with people who are not there...there is no way I could safely drive...thank God James will drive me to all my appointments.

CJ gave me a wonderful massage yesterday...she has also been a Godsend. She was my supervisor at my last job and even though we did not know each other long we bonded fast. She battled the C word 3 times and knows what I am going through. I really cannot complain... I have nothing to complain about... I am alive and I will recover... my life is GREAT!

Remember everyday is a gift and don't sweat the small stuff. Don't forget to laugh out loud xo Inge

P.S. I got my first hospital bill and I'm still laughing... and I worried about a little credit card debt!

P!nk - Get The Party Started

Well yesterday I got my port installed so that means that I don't have to get poked with all of those needles anymore. I got moved to the Oncology floor last night and am eagerly waiting for my first dose of chemo and radiation which will be starting tomorrow at 10 AM!! YAY!!!



I will be in the hospital another 4 days to make sure that everything is going as according to planned.



I woke up this morning very sleepy and the nurses realised that I needed 2 more pints of blood. Other than that we are getting ready and tomorrow is gonna be a GREAT DAY!!!! The bullseye will finally get to meet my little friend called 5-FU!! I can't wait!!! (this blog was dictated to her James Scott and he typed away like the wild and crazy guy he is!)
Don't forget to laugh out loud!!
XOXO Inge aka the Ingebird!!

I am out of MICU and in a private room... soooo grateful! I was in limbo in the ICU because by the 3rd day I was well enough to move to another ward but the hospital is full and has been for a week. In the ICU there are different rules for the patient...they are hooked up to monitors but they also have catheters so they really don't need to get out of bed... well, my catheter was removed by the 3rd day so I have to get up to use the toilet... the problem is I am hooked up to monitors and have to call a nurse to help. As I mentioned there are very sick people in that ward so peeing is low on the list. Last night I wet the bed twice and finally was given a bed pan... no fun. My new room has a shower and toilet, I am not hooked up to anything...YAY!!!! It's the small things right now that are great. James brought me an ice cream sandwich that... for me... tasted like it came from a 4 star restaurant.

Have a fun day and don't forget to enjoy the simple things! xo Inge

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - I Won't Back Down

I won't back down to this bulls eye on my butt! This is my battle cry when I go for radiation treatments!

Well, about an hour after my last post thought I was finally taking a poop, but my body had other plans. My poop turned out to be the start of blood clots... so back to the ER. Thank God we live 15 minutes away from UC Irvine. They took me in immediately and 8 hours later I got 2 more pints of blood.

I am still in the hospital and Tuesday am my rear end was scoped by the glorius "Argon Beam" to stop the bleeding... I now have 5 different people's blood co-habitating with mine. I have given blood in the past but it has been many years... I never really thought about what a gift it really is. Have you thought about how you were saving someone's by taking out a couple hours of your day and donating? I will never know whose blood I have but I give thanks to each of them! They saved my life!

Today I went to my 1st radiation visit. I was tatooed and measureed with I think rays so they could make a mold of my butt. The room had a ct machine and on the walls and ceiling I saw a video of the beach with birds and sound effects. I don't know how but I smelled coconut suntan lotion, which my doctor said was not pumped into the room. I don't know where it came from but it was nice. I don't cry often...especially from fear but I got emotional in that room... maybe it is a release... don't know. I also get emotional when I think how blessed I am... I have so much love and support.

It's funny how everything falls into place. My liver surgery was 10 days ago... my drain was removed yesterday so when I laid on my stomach for the radiation prep I was not in pain... 2 days earlier I couldn't have done it.

So here I sit in my hospital bed... blogging waiting again to poop...

A week ago today I had liver surgery. They got it all and it was made of the same stuff that is in the bullseye... great news! This is the first time since I came home that I feel like doing anything except sleeping. I will be honest the surgery kicked my ass. I don't take drugs, drink or smoke but I am grateful to the persons who invented Vicadin. I did too much the day after I came home and yesterday was the first day I ate food besides a couple of spoonfuls. Today I woke up hungry. I never knew mashed potatoes, gravy with pieces of chicken tasted so good! Now my big event is the poop! Who knew I would anxiously await that event!

Thursday I see Dr. Imagawa and he removes the drain in my liver. Then I continue to rest. I forget that what I see are 3 small incisions... 2 are about 1 inch and the 3rd is about 3 inches wide but the liver is a large organ and I should not jump ahead of myself and do to much.

I am so blessed to have so much support and I am grateful to all my caretakers.

Don't forget to laugh out loud (I am laughing on the inside cause my stomach hurts) but I'm still laughing! xo Inge

I'm back home...got here last night. 10% of my liver was lopped off Monday afternoon but it feels like I got kicked in the stomach by a horse. Tuesday I was able to wobble my head around and sit up for a minute... my morphine pump was my new best friend. I never had morphine before and let me tell you it works! I was able to control the dose... sort of...every 10 minutes it was ready to disperse a dose when I pushed the button... if I pushed it any earlier it beeped but it was a fake dose. Either way it worked. Wednesday I did some walking and my doc felt it was ok to go home. I would have like to stay one more day but I have to admit it felt good to sleep in my bed. I still have my drain in and will go back next week to take it out. I am so grateful to David Imagawa M.D. for literally saving my life.

Have a fun day and don't forget to laugh out loud! xo Inge

I am looking for 2 witnesses to sign a power of attorney form so James can make medical decisions for me and my docs can tell him everything that is happening to me. My hubby can do this automatically but he has to go back to work and take care of the critters (boy I miss my furbabies). Anyways its harder than I thought... where are all the visitors seeing other patients tonight? I would like to get all the paperwork in place before I have surgery.

My other problem is that I haven't pooped in 2 days (thank you iron pills). I want to get this rolling tonight because I want to enjoy the surgery and not worry about any accidents.

xo Inge

I am dancing to this in my hospital room!

My oncology doc just stopped by. Great news! He is confident I will make a full recovery :) I knew it in my heart but it is great to hear it from the medical team. A few days ago they had long faces when they talked to me but now all smiles!

xo Inge

If my butt wasn't sore, I would kick my self! My body is 55 years old... I know I look 40 and I act 13... I did not get a colonoscopy test because it is expensive... but somehow I should have scraped the money together.... well, enough of that... I cannot go back in time... it is what it is... and I am beating this! I am normally a huge worry wart... I can obsess for hours about things , but since my diagnosis, I have not felt fear or worry. I know this will make me stronger! I plan to tell everyone I meet who looks about 50 my story and hopefully inspire them to get tested. I will also stop dragging my feet and take more chances. I will also go back to wearing my "style" of clothes (a cross between Cindi Lauper & Phylis Diller)... My new mantra is "I gotta be me!"

I am soooo grateful to my doctors and nurses at UC Irvine for taking great care of me. They not only give me the medical attention... I can feel their love... I know it sounds sappy but really... these people truly love their job and love helping people... they work very long hours and are never grumpy. I am truly blessed for finding this hospital... I believe my guardian angel lead me here and talking about guardian angels... I have one right here in the hospital... Naomi, the doc who admitted me in the ER.... she has visited me several times a day, everyday. She gives me the inside secret to make things happen, the right questions to ask, etc.

She has taken me under wing and I am soooo grateful.

Have a fun New Years Day! and don't forget to laugh out loud! xo Inge