Missing! One Wicked Sense of Humor! If found, please call!

 I am back!  After several months of allowing Eddie and others speak for me, I am once again writing as a way to chronicle my adventures navigating uncharted cancer waters.  Since the Big C and trips to MDAnderson have replaced our worldly adventures, I decided to change the name of my blog (Do “they” still call it a blog, or has it been rebranded in my absence?) to “It is not easy being green”.  Being more than just a little technologically challenging, changing the banner and color took w-a-a-y more time and mental energy than I had planned on.   Additionally, I had to find my sense of humor.  Somewhere between diagnosis, surgery and recovery (aka liver growing) , I totally lost my sense of humor…could not find it anywhere…trust me I looked.  As a very dear friend reminded me early on in this journey, attitude is everything.  A positive attitude yields a more positive outcome..(right, PD).  While I have never been one to wallow in self pity, I need to be able to laugh or at least find a chuckle in my predicament.  Nope, not there.  Asked Santa to deliver for Christmas, nope.  Even asked for it to be in my valentines box of chocolate, nope.  However, I did love my box of chocolates.  Meanwhile, I let Eddie handle “communications” through an updated phone/text/email tree.  Never knew that could be so competitive.  This is Kingwood and all, guess the grapevine network has rules, too.  We quickly realized that if there was a large list of recipients, the number who did not receive an email would exceed those that did.  Like I said, technologically challenged.  Going forward, my goal is to write/blog once every week.  Unlike traveling, there is not much happening here.   Of course, there is the ever popular Eddie stories—-I already have one in my mental queue.  Check the blog site for updates.  I will attempt to let you know, but I don’t know if you are getting my emails.  Most of the time I respond to texts pretty quickly unless napping, which happens a lot these days.  I can not tell you how much your cards, texts and calls have meant to me.  The continued prayers have kept my faith strong in the last few months…it truly takes a village.    

On to explaining my rebranding.  The obvious is Pickle and green…no brainer.  As Kelly Green is the color of Bile Duct (BD) Cancer, the switch from Pink to Green should surprise no one.  Next on my logic tree is being green.  Yes, I spend a lot of time felling a little green around the gills, as they use to say.  I am receiving chemotherapy at MDAnderson in The Woodlands every two weeks on Thursdays.  Chemo Thursdays are 5 hour sessions bookended by an hour commute each way.  Could do chemo downtown, but the facilities In the Woodlands are nicer, have a recliner for both me and Eddie, and no $25 valet parking fee…Eddie only does valet.  I knew that the regiment would include steroids.  14 years ago, steroids were two day before, day of, and two day after.  Now, they inject you with the entire dosage on Chemo Thursdays.  I am like the yippee little dog that manically chases his tail, braking only to run around the sofa numerous times.  I returned after my first treatment, purchased a new recliner, picked up prescriptions, did 3 loads of laundry, cooked dinner, and threatened to paint the living room.  As Eddie has suffered the loss of my sense of humor, also, he was thrilled to see me up and rolling.  He even commented that the Old Karen was back.  Well, all good things come to an end.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday are dark and full of all the known side effects, which, I have been told, get progressively worse with each round. Of course, if there is a known side effect I always get a healthy (or unhealthy) dose of that.    MDA for the win on hiding my sense of humor so I truly can’t find it.  So, being green is also a statement of fact for days 1-5…after that, things get better.  Finally, it was George who helped me learn to smile and chuckle again.  He asked a simple question.  Will I put the pink flamingos in the front yard after every treatment.  14 years ago, I had a flock of pink flamingos (thanks Amazon).  I replied smiling, “No, they are Pink, not Green”…that is all it took.  My sense of humor, laughter and ability to write returned.  I then had to determine what I would mark my treatments with…Geckos-no, to GEICOish,  garden snake-nope, even, I do not do snakes or alligators, either.   Grasshoppers just did not have the right feel-with the exception of Chemo Thursdays and the steroid injections.  The obvious choice is a frog…my new spirit animal.  So, after much looking for the right frog on Amazon, I procured 8 frogs with umbrellas yard stakes.  You can not help to at least smile when you see them.  I asked Lucy to name my frogs-there is not a boring name among them and there are 4 boy frogs and 4 girl frog names.  Thompson is already in residence.  George, the visually observant one, noticed it first.  No surprise there.  Aria will join Thompson tomorrow afternoon during my zoomie/steroid time.  It is good to be back.