About this blog

I was diagnosed with breast cancer on June 11, 2010. As a result of my treatment, I have lymphedema in my left arm. I draw my strength from the Lord, as well as my family's Scots-Irish heritage. Our Graham's were a tough and scrappy bunch of fighters on the Scottish/English border. They came to America and continued to fight when necessary: in the American Revolution; the Civil War; and my brother is a Captain in the U.S. Army. My ancestors settled this country against all odds. My great-grandmothers on both sides of the family were pioneer women who settled the West. Along with that heritage, and the full armor of God, I am walking the walk and fighting the good fight.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Bug in the house

Well, we all have a stomach flu. The 3 kids and I have spent the last day in gross-ville while Eric has been out of town on business.

Isabelle was the only one who was able to eat dinner last night.  Just making dinner made me feel even worse. The smells while cleaning it up (broiled salmon) put me over the edge and I did vomit.  Olivier had done it just before me.  That was it--we were in bed by 8 p.m.  At about 9:30 p.m., Isabelle comes into my room crying saying that she had just thrown up in her bed-on the top bunk. Great.  It's bad enough to feel sick yourself.  But to clean up someone else's while you are feeling sick is beyond gross.  I managed to climb up on top of her bed, throw down dozens of stuffed animals and random pieces of clothing that she had crammed in little nooks and crannies, bundle up the sheets and take them off.  I just put them into the washing machine and shut the door on them. As Scarlett would say, "I'll think about that tomorrow."

Throughout the night, I heard the two older kids throwing up. Olivier came into my room several times saying he couldn't sleep.  Sorry buddy, I don't know what to tell you.  Wish I could help.  Not to sound selfish, but how does waking me up help you get to sleep?  (No, I didn't really say that.)

This morning, only Jean-Marc wanted breakfast. Olivier had spent several hours downstairs on the couch. It was cooler than his room.  Although he wanted breakfast, he still was funny about the food, not really showing much of an apetite, but insisting on "eat, eat, eat!"  It was probably more out of habit than anything. He did down 2 cups of milk and a cup of watered down apple juice.

After that, I put Jean-Marc in the stroller to take the dog for a quick walk. Things still need to be done, whether I'm sick or not.  We were halfway back up our street when he starts puking all over himself and the stroller.  Oh man.  Here I am, baby crying, dog on the leash, feeling yucky myself....can I just push a button and get home?  We got up the street, I took him out of the stroller, stripped him and left the stroller in the backyard.  I took a hose to it later.

None of us really have an appetite. We did have some "magic mineral broth" at noon along with some saltine crackers. Everyone kept that down. We're a little hungry, but nothing sounds good.

I checked my temperature, and at its highest it was 99.8 when I first woke up this morning.  I'm supposed to check in with the oncologist if its 100.5.  I haven't checked in, I don't know if it is something they would want to know.  I only threw up once, but I definitely feel tired.  I managed to nap this afternoon for about 90 minutes, which felt great.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow.  I still have to re-make Isabelle's bed and take the trash out.  I'll be glad when Eric gets home tonight so he can attend to some of these household tasks.

My prayer requests:

  • That we all get over this virus quickly.  It is very hard to be a nursemaid to 3 kids when you feel like you need one for yourself!  I'm not sure how my altered blood counts will play into this. I do know that at this point of the last round of chemo, my white count was pretty low. 
  • That this illness does not delay the next round of chemo, which is currently set for November 12th. 
  • That Eric does not catch this illness when he gets home tonight. 
  • That my mom stays healthy. She is flying out to see my sister and her family tomorrow morning. I pray that she was not around us too much this week that she would have caught this bug. 

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