Ah...It's Tuesday

I opened my eyes and thought "Is it Saturday? Or only Friday? Will Jen be getting up and going to work?". I picked up the cell phone, my lifeline, my alarm clock, my calendar.....Tuesday.

If it's Tuesday the 14th....we'll be taking steroids! There is a second "pulse" of steroids the day after an infusion.

Revlimid later tonight. That's nightly because it's a derivative of thalidomide, a sedative.

There is oxy for pain, omeprazole for ghastly heartburn brought on by the steroids, and aspirin to keep my platelets from sticking together.

Velcade, steroids, Rev, oxy, aspirin, omeprazole....quite the little cocktail!

Last time I was on Revlimid there were a ton of vitamins and supplements to offset side-effects, but none of that is allowed on Velcade.....my liver can only do one thing at a time. Damn lazy liver! I miss all the vitamin B offsetting the drag of the Revlimid

I am sitting here with my cup of tea and my apple bread. I did all this baking during MIDRATs but I wasn't happy with any of the results. The apple bread didn't hold together, but if you heat it and eat it with a fork, it's delicious. I can't encourage you strongly enough to listen to this episode of MIDRATs - "Lone Sailor Awardees" It's the chance to listen to two outstanding veterans in their own words talk about their accomplishments and what they overcame to excel.

Someone disappointed me last night. A long time friend. But did they really or is it the steroids? No matter the cause, it hurt. I was awake at 1 and 2 and close to 4. Now I might as well stay up.

I have a list of things to do each day. I accomplish very few of them, but it's the key to sanity. I have to keep trying.

Last time we did chemo I charted all my blood test results on the Myeloma Manager. It's an app designed for us. I keep forgetting to get the test results and yesterday finally got my hands on the most recent three. These drugs don't just kill off my mutant IgA, they wipe out other stuff and my white blood cell count is at the very low end of normal......so I guess we'll clean the half bath again.

I have to get to the registry and straighten out a problem with the plates on my old car. I want to try to get into work and answer some questions. I brought my lounge chair down from the house and I need to scrub it. I have to change my sheets, these hot flashes in the middle of the night are gross.

I need to vote, it's primary day in Massachusetts. I will of course be pulling a Republican ballot. In Massachusetts you get the ballot for the party you are enrolled with, or if you are unenrolled you can choose. I have been a registered Republican since 1979 with no change.

I'll be writing in Attorney Jim McKenna from Millbury in the Attorney General race. He needs 10,000 write-ins to get on the ballot in November. He will be running at that time against Martha Coakley. No matter how you feel about Jim or that twit Martha (whoops, I guess how I feel slipped out), I would urge you to write in Jim's name if you have a Republican ballot. Competition in a democracy is a good thing. It doesn't help on a Democratic ballot, but hey, make yourself feel good if you like and write him in against Martha on that one too. after all, I don't work the elections anymore and it's not my nightmare if you mess with your ballot.

But I will say this about voting today - It's a short ballot - shut off your effing cell phone and pay attention. you want you vote to count? Pay attention. Follow the directions. It can't take more than 5 minutes. If you have questions, ask before you bubble, check, punch. In every precinct and ward there are people who are giving up their day to be there for you.

But most important of all.......at a decent hour I will call my friend Dbie and sing "Happy Birthday" Dbie is a Castle Kitten and her friendship is one of the great gifts blogging has brought into my life!