Quite the varied last week

An emergency room visit, a chilly but fun outing for getting some "bidness" done, an evening of phone-camera capture of the amazing aurora in the night sky, hurting myself trying to get on my exercise bike, bloodwork, a concern the day my sister was supposed to head back to her home, and an "all okay" answer. And my sister's departure early this morning.

It's been quite the mixed week!

I'm going to avoid TMI details on the ER visit last Saturday and just say my meds made me so constipated that I needed ER help. And that meant my first (and only, I hope!) enema. I'm grateful it worked. And I'm double-dosing laxatives to try to avoid that misery again.

My sister got a whole lot done around my house this week. And my young friend who has been helping me for years leant her a hand with some of the heavy lifting. I've been making arrangements for more help now that my sister has gone home. I'm hoping to spread the requests around so that no one gets overwhelmed.

And we went for me to get my will and power of attorney and medical directive updated. I made sure to get all of that paperwork done after our mother died many years ago. But state law has changed a little in those intervening years. I want everything to be as easy as possible after my death. That was the "bidness" I took care of this past week. It was a chilly day, but I like it brisk, so we took the tiniest walk around the park in that area.

My biggest challenge now is from the muscle pains that started in April and got worse and worse over several months and have me leaning hard on a walker when I walk. Well, that along with nausea that just kicked in from taking my daily dose of Kisqali, the med that targets the cancer. The nausea typically doesn't last too long, but it is definitely a side effect. It may be all in my head, but ginger ale seems to help.

Back to the muscle pains which really make my life more difficult... those pains feel like pulled muscles. But they don't stay with one muscle. They move around. ! I'm pretty sure they're not connected to the cancer. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) seems to fit, but that's not easily diagnosed. Or treated.

Cancer IS easily diagnosed. And can be treated. So that's my focus for right now.

I think the two cancer meds are helping. I feel better overall than I did when I first got the scan results. I have a better appetite in general and have less bone pain. Some of the numbness and tingling I experience has diminished.

So I'm hopeful there.

Yesterday I did get concerned because I was feeling short of breath. Whenever I'd move around, I had trouble catching my breath. And when I read about the side effects of Kisqali, the mention of lungs and heart effects prompted me to call my doctor's office. A nurse with the larger practice called back and talked my symptoms through with me and decided an EKG would be best, along with seeing a nurse at the clinic where I go.

But yesterday was the day my sister was supposed to start her long drive home.

She decided to put off her drive and to take me to have things checked out instead. After confusion about the EKG order, the downtown hospital did mange get me taken care of in the afternoon. And then a nurse with my clinic (in the same hospital) checked my blood pressure. And my pulse and oxygen when I was walking. All was okay.

I realized I feel short of breath because it's painful for me to breathe deeply. That weird muscle stuff added a new pain two or three days ago when I reached down to empty a small dehumidifier. Now it hurts under my left shoulder blade and left ribs when I breathe deeply. These pains typically diminish over a few days and go away. Until the next area gets hurt. One night last week I was pushing down on the pump on a lotion bottle and something under my right shoulder blade popped. An audible "pop." It hurt in that spot for several days. That has mostly healed now. I'll tell my oncologist about that pop. But I don't think she'll have any idea of what causes this. I also hurt several muscles when I tried to get on my exercise bike. I'm not very mobile now, and the seat is high. It wasn't a problem at all when I bought the bike. But now I can't even get on it! Lack of mobility is my biggest challenge in many ways. It's not easy to do things when you're having to lean on a walker.

But back to my sister and her heading home. We decided her going home would take place—just a day later.

She left early this morning and will drive halfway home and spend the night in Virginia. And then she'll arrive back in New England on Sunday.

I was a little scared to be alone after having her help here for a month. But I've lived alone since my second year of law school back in 1982. I know I have lots of folks I can call on for help. Some are already lined up.

So now, just a few hours after my sister has left, I feel pretty "normal." Yes, it hurts to be up and moving around because of the muscle pain. And yes, I have digestive challenges, but I've had those for years.

I'm quite content when I'm kicked back in my recliner, computer on my lap, cat between my knees on the leg rest, sunlight streaming through the storm door. And today I have Saturday college football on TV. That has always been comforting for me because we grew up with football on our TV each fall Saturday.

This varied week also brought peak leaf color. My backyard sassafras trees (in the photo below) were the prettiest gold/orange they have been in many years. Downtown Chattanooga, where my appointments were this past week, had beautiful fall color with the ginkos and maples and other deciduous trees along the streets.

Everywhere we drove there was beautiful fall color.

And one night the northern lights dipped this far south! This post heading photo is one from that night. I couldn't see them with the naked eye, but my camera picked them up. It's always very exciting to get aurora photos here!

So overall, again I'm very grateful.

I continue to look for beauty in small things. I continue to have a lot of support all around me. I continue to be blessed in many more ways than I am challenged.

My sister continues to be the biggest blessing of all!

I'm grateful to be coming up on another birthday. When I got my first cancer diagnosis 14 years ago, that could have been my last year on this earth.

But it wasn't.

I've gotten another 14 years. And may get a few more

I'm grateful for "extra" years.

May I be worthy of them!