March 7, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Odds and Ends.

The Ibrance will be coming tomorrow, God willing if the creek does not rise. The chemo is coming directly from the company...with no copay. Such a blessing. Today Kashina and I ran errands, after my eye doctor appointment. One of the items on my list was to take my white capri pants to have a new elastic. I told her the white pants were by the front door. She looked everywhere and finally asked me whether they were the same pants as the pink ones. I just laughted and reminded her that once upon a time they were white. Dr. Kosko only works with advanced glaucoma patients. He is a very nice young man who has four children. They are all going to Maine in June and they might come to visit me in Nova Scotia. They would take the ferry. I told him my expectations when I go to the eye doctor. All my life, after an appointment with the opthamologist my eyes got better. Newer glasses meant better vision. I could see the blackboard better. He was sorry to tell me that would not happen with me. But he did change my prescription so I should actually be able to see better. Kashina and I tool all my stuff to the CPA on the way home from the appointment. Another box checked off. Christina ordered me a 3 wheel walker, similat to the one friend Cliffie used last summer. They are lighter and smaller. In the doctor's office this morning I saw a young lady using one. They take up little space. It just lacks a seat but as I have no intention of using the seat I won't miss it. And that is all I know tonight.

March 6, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Three Trouble.

My right Achilles is hurting. I have no idea how I hurt it but it is sore. I have been hobbling since Friday when it first started hurting. I can feel a swelling at the back of my heel. I am taking tylenot. Going into the restaurant this morning, when I stepped up a curb, a sharp pain came in my right leg. Fortunately I was holding Christinas arm. Now my Achilles is worse. Grrr. I was to start Ibrance, the chemotherapy on Friday. Pfizer is proving me with one year of Ibrance free,and sending it directly to me. But I have not received any yet. Grrr. Beginning on Thursday, my legs felt shaky when walking. This has happened in the past and I just keep walking. And I am careful. And my legs get better. But since Thursday, my legs continue to get worse. So after brunch, I had Christina bring me a walker from the garage, which I have been using all afternoon. I am not actually safe walking myself but I am fine with the walker. I knew that eventually I will be walking with a walker. Fortunately we had three in the garage. I am using the one that Ken used on the deck. Grrr. Now I must decide whether or not I need to have a doctor investigate my heel and my legs. Grrr.

March 5, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Tasks.

The number of tasks you are confronted with after returning from a long journey is overwhelming. Firstly, a travel day is tiring. I am not sure why, because all you do is sit, but a travel day wears you out. And it takes a day to recover. And then, if I am not careful, I get a bit frantic looking at all the tasks I am required to do. I try hard to only think of one thing at a time. This week, I have been successful with checking off my list of tasks. A week ago today was my first day at home. All morning I unpacked my belongings and put things away. Bethany and Gardener isolate here for ten days over Christmas. To protect the house from 4 year old Gardiner, Bethany moved a lot of things out of harms way, so I returned tham to their proper place. In the afternoon I opened the Christmas cards and sorted some of the mail. The next day I sorted the rest of the mail along with my magazines.. The rest of the week I had doctors appointments and luncheon appointments. My last big task I did today which was to sort all the important papers on my desk. Christina had carefully stacked the important tax papers on my desk along with all the copies for all my travel plans for this year and next. It took me until 2:00 for that task to be completed. Now next week I will take my documents to the CPA. They are almost ready to go. And I will take my pants to be altered. I also must get money from the bank. I have an appointment with my Opthamolgist monday morning so I hope to have Kashina drive me to get those tasks done. Also next week I must visit the Yacht Club to sign the contract for the December party. My ovens are still not installed so I must work on that. But I have done well with my tasks. My list will be complete. As they say in Nova Scotia, "That is some nice".

March 4, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. My Capri Pants.

In Mexico I have two pair of capri pants, one white and the other a cream color. I wanted to wear the white pair when we were going out to dinner. I had already put on a white top. In the closet, I could not tell any difference in the color so I asked Wendy to tell me and to give me the white pair. She found the white pair but in the better light she told me that my white pants were actually pink. I must have washed them with red clothes and they were now pink. "Definately pink," said Wendy. I just laughed and wore them anyway. No one would look at an old ladies pants anyway, so out we went to walk to the restaurant. The color was not the main problem. The elastic was limp so I needed to hitch up my pants regularly. Walking to the restaurant was not a problem becaus I was walking holding Wendy's arm so I could hold them up with my other hand. But coming home was different because I always return with both arms holding arms so I had no ability to hitch up the waist band. But we managed. Regularly I would need to stop walking to fix my pants. Eventually we arrived home without my pants falling around my ankles. I then put the pants into the laundry. When Wendy was folding my pants she brought the pants to show me. Not only were my pants pink but also there were blue stripes around the bottom. Both Wendy and Anne agreed that the pants needed to be pitched. But not me. I brought the pants back with me where I will take the pants to a lady who makes alterations. Next week, Kashina will take me. Then I will store them until I return to Mexico next December. I am not sure if I am just cheap or that I really do not enjoy shopping. I might even bleach them while I am in Mississippi. I will then return with white pants that has good elastic. I will be happy.

March 3, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Passport renewal.

Ken has always attended to the renewal of our passports. My passport comes up for renewal in 2023. And you must have 6 months left on your passport in order to leave the country. In addition, the passport office was taking months for people to receive their new passport so I decided that I needed to apply for the renewal sooner than later. While I was away, Christina downloaded the application. And she filled it in for me. So on Sunday, after brunch, she helped me fill in all the blanks. And she even told me what to do with the application. Christina told me that a very nice lady at the main post office is able to check to be sure your application was complete and also would take my passport picture. And even though the on line instruction says to make an appointment, Christina suggested that if I arrived around 9:00, the nice lady would help me. My problem was getting there. Kashina was working both Monday and Wednesday but I had doctor appointments both days, so I asked if my Lyft driver, Chris, could drive me there and to stay with me to complete the process. This is certainly above and beyond the call of duty. And he did. He even took the application which was not in an envelope to the counter to pay my bill. Christina was correct. The lady has worked the passport sectiom of the downtown post office for 20 years. And she was there to help. All went well. I now have applied for the renewal of my US passport. And being totally optimistic, I applied for a 10 year renewal. The pleasant lady told me that I should receive it in April. Now I must repeat the process in Canada when I am in Nova Scotia this summer. It also expires in 2023. After I have both passports in hand, I will be ready to go!!

March 2, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. My PET Scan.

Every time I have a PET scan I assume it will be clear. But my last scan on Monday did not turn out well. Even my Oncologist, Dr. Sheehan was surprised. The only cancer spot on my rib just before I went to Mexico was on a rib on the back. So we decided to not use Ibrance because the cancer was so small. But that turned out to be a mistake. While I was leading the life or Riley, my body was churning out cancer sells. I have new cancers on the base of my spine. I have a new cancer on my liver. An old lesion on a rib at the front has come back. And the tiny spot on the rib at the back of the rib has now grown. In addition, I have inflamation in my lungs, which has left me with a cough. I am taking antibiotics for my lungs. And starting on Friday I will begin a new chemotherapy treatment. I do not remember the name but it is similar to Ibrance but was approved two years after Ibrance. For the past two bouts of Ibrance I was required to do radiation so perhaps my system has stopped responding. Now I will take new chemo which I must take every day morning and night. And I must read the side effects. When I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in the fall of 2014, I knew that the cancer was everywhere in my body. And I knew the cancer would come back. But the young Oncologist in Mexico told me that breast cancer was a manageable diease. She was correct. My life expectancy in the Fall of 2014 was 4 to 5 months. But here I am in 2022. Some day in the future I expect to have a scan with lesions all over my body. But this is not now. In the meantime, I am managing my diease

March 1, 20222. Madison, Mississippi. The Waffle House.

Never go into The Waffle House and order breakfast when you are very hungry. That is what happened to me on Monday, My PET scan was at 8:!5. Normally I have it at 7:00. I am not allowed to eat or drink from midnight. Kashina and I have gotten into the routine of going to The Waffle House for breakfast. It is in Ridgeland, very close to my home. This Monday, it was 10:30 before we walked into the reataurant. I had had no coffee and I had nothing to eat. I was famished. In addition, I had received 8 phone calls during the scan plus 5 text massages, so I needed to look at my phone, in addition to ordering breakfast. First I ordered coffee, then my food. Next I responded to my texts while Kashina was ordering her food. I vaguely heard waffle, which I discovered she had ordered a waffle for both of us. She told me that we could not eat breakfast at the Waffle House and not eat a waffle so I knew it was coming. I ate the whole thing. My breakfast was to be hash brown and a sandwich of sausage and eggs. It was delicious. Then I had to face the waffle, which I ate with no syrup, just butter. I only ate three quarters of the waffle. But I was stuffed. Next time, I am not going to order so much food. I like The Waffle House. From the outside it is still yellow but inside it is spiffy and shining with black and white tiles. They also have lots of staff so service is excellent. It was a busy place. But I ate too much. Next time I will try to remember. But I must confess that I enjoyed every bite.