Chemo Girl trying to fix the dishwasher!
Alexa and Mommy!
Ahhh, it’s hard to believe I was so sick only a few days ago! Definitely not my super mom energy but feeling like a champ when I can clean my house, play with my kids, attempt to fix my dishwasher (I called a service guy but he replaced the SAME part I CALLED to order!) and even get them ready for school! Even on a day when there is no school, like today! Ooops! The girls and I were up at 6:30 AM, we had gourmet…Lucky a la mode Charms (we splurged on the sugar!) for breakfast, and we all got ready and headed to the preschool! As I pulled up, I thought…Oh my, a lot of people forgot the time change! (There goes my Chemo brain… that was last weekend. Haha) Nope, it was me…didn’t even notice my calendar said “NO SCHOOL.” There we where, all three kids, dressed, lunch boxes packed with nowhere to go! Lol! They were ecstatic but wanted to know where we were going next! Lol!
We had a nice relaxing weekend. Mike's still fighting some form of cooties but he's hanging in there! It almost seemed like a cancer free life. Playing with the kids, laughing at Mike's silly jokes, napping in the afternoon, doing our chores, we even ate out and took the kids for ice-cream! What a great feeling to have an active role in the family!
Unfortunately for me, food never tastes the same and I don’t have any real cravings to get the taste buds drooling. But yesterday, I had a craving for PORK, but not just pork, it had to be wrapped in a corn tortilla with a slice of guacamole! I know, your stomach just turned from the thought of eating this but I am still Mexican and we love our tacos! Lol! So there we were sitting at the table eating our grass fed pork chop, corn on the cob, salad full of color and couscous! Mm,mm! My bald head was buried in my plate, enjoying every crunch of my corn, salivating for that bite of my pork taco when Elena says, “Mommy, you s-u-r-e are hungry!” BUSTED! We laughed so hard! I finally get to enjoy a meal, even think it taste good and my 4 year old calls me out! Lol! That poor corn on the cob! Lol!
Speaking of cooking! You guys are fabulous cooks!! Let’s just say Mike has requested recipes and said, “If you get the recipes, I’ll even cook it!” Whoa! Now there’s another reason to fight cancer, Mike the Chef! He thinks it’s hilarious us Martinez girls aren’t the best bakers and he’s known for his baked goods. (All based on over cooked boxed cookies or spilled over cakes…We hadn’t learned about “rising” at this point!haha) I’d love to see him cook something more than Hamburger Helper! Lol! You’ll never know how much we appreciate the meals. Thank you!! Especially the weeks I’m so nauseas, we can’t even cook in the house because I can’t handle the additional smells. You guys save my kids from yelling..."No like Donalds!" Lol!
Well, the family is heading to Michigan late Wednesday. We will stay in Cincinnati Wednesday night and continue to Michigan Thursday. I’m really getting nervous about this visit as there are so many tests that will determine my future. Of course, I am being very optimistic but I get a bit scarred when my hair on my body continues to grow, my nails look healthy, my skin has color and I have eyelashes and eyebrows 5 weeks into chemo! Weird but I’ll take it! :>) On Thursday, I’ll meet with the new surgeon and hopefully have a better understanding of the next step. I’ll also have an MRI done on my tumor. If you recall, the chemotherapy is to kill any wandering cancer cells that may be in my body. However the tumor should also shrink if my body responds to the chemo. Thus, they will measure the tumor through the MRI to see if it has shrunk. If it has shrunk, I can continue chemo, if it has not, it will be terminated. This is when I really say, “Oh shit!, Pray Eva pray!” haha! I’ll also have a chest scan. The chest scan will let the doctors know if my cancer has spread to my lungs. My first scan in September did not show any metastasizing to the lungs but unfortunately, it’s not uncommon. This part scares me most. I mean, I can have some fun rolling in a wheelchair and let me add a stylin’ one with spinners Maria has promised me because I traded my leg in for years of life, but it’s not the same fight when it’s an organ. A fight I hope I never have to face. I will go to the Cancer Center Monday, prepared for my third round of chemotherapy but I will also be given these results that same morning. I guess it’s good I’m hairless now; I’d really be after waiting a weekend for these results! Lol!
As you can imagine, my feelings are like a tree with many branches, each symbolizing something different. A different tear. A different smile. A different courage. A different faith. A different love. A different strength. But held together by a very strong trunk, allowing each of them to sway but always attached. I just pray the wind doesn’t get strong.
Missing all of you!!
