Sunday, December 22, 2019
The nasty virus plaguing Colorado Springs has struck again. I had eight days without of any residual trace of the illness. The insane dry mouth (my last symptom) was finally gone! Other than excessive sweat (which is never pleasant), I was feeling great until this past Thursday at 3:00 p.m. That is when, without any warning, the virus monkey jumped on my chest and danced a jig.
I know life is not fair but give a girl a break, please. On the bright side, my sweating has been less yesterday (which was probably the steroids) and today (not steroids). The virus is not quite as bad this time; I have not fallen into fits of coughing every time I try to talk. It could be better so far because the steroids have been suppressing inflammation, but I am choosing to believe I built up a tiny bit of immunity last month.
I did call Dr. Doom and Gloom’s office last week and left a message for Candice the PA that I thought my new chemotherapy treatment was not working because the excessive sweats were back. I was told I need to get through at least two rounds (round two finished Friday) before they consider changing a treatment plan. I was asked if I had any other symptoms and I had to admit my appetite has been much better than on my previous chemotherapy treatment plan, even on non-steroid days.
Today is the first day for about ten days I am not convinced I am going to pass before my daughter Mika’s eighth birthday. I may hold out long enough to not only complete my three-year exceptional exit plan, but to terrorize my children for a few more years (20 years in my perfect world). I am still planning to keep the “you may be dead in less than a year” fire under my butt.
I did create a calendar for getting help with clutter cleaning this past week. I marked out medical appointments, Mika’s days off school, networking events, and the other appointments that would prevent me from having my friends at my home. I have 23 possible days available from January until Mika gets out of school in late May.
I am going to post in the Facebook groups for my networking groups asking for volunteers after New Year’s Day. I am still considering the logistics of my phase one clutter clearing. Phase one involves a broad keep/donate/toss sort. I will not sort individual books, videos, photos or papers during phase one; those tasks wait for phase two. I do need to let people know heavy lifting is involved and it is 80 degrees in any room I am in (which is where they will be) because my space heaters follow me around the house. That will limit my volunteer pool.
I think I will take volunteers from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. That gives me time to work for an hour before any volunteers come, and they will leave around the time my significant other gets home from work. I do not think I want more than two (possibly three) people here at a time. I cannot make too many decisions at once. A person could come for one to five hours depending on their schedule. I might have five or six different people here on any given day.
Mika and I have been doing a good job of sorting her toys (even though we are only three days into it) and I am optimistic we will get all her keep toys moved to her new room before she goes back to school in January. That will leave me plenty of room in my lower level great room to spread out the many, many items in my upper level shed to view and release. Then I can start on my indoor clutter.
My piece of advice to you is to ask for help. 23 days may not be enough to complete phase one and phase two on my lower level by summer, but I will be 23 days ahead of where I would be if I did not ask for help.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
The nasty virus plaguing Colorado Springs has struck again. I had eight days without of any residual trace of the illness. The insane dry mouth (my last symptom) was finally gone! Other than excessive sweat (which is never pleasant), I was feeling great until this past Thursday at 3:00 p.m. That is when, without any warning, the virus monkey jumped on my chest and danced a jig.
I know life is not fair but give a girl a break, please. On the bright side, my sweating has been less yesterday (which was probably the steroids) and today (not steroids). The virus is not quite as bad this time; I have not fallen into fits of coughing every time I try to talk. It could be better so far because the steroids have been suppressing inflammation, but I am choosing to believe I built up a tiny bit of immunity last month.
I did call Dr. Doom and Gloom’s office last week and left a message for Candice the PA that I thought my new chemotherapy treatment was not working because the excessive sweats were back. I was told I need to get through at least two rounds (round two finished Friday) before they consider changing a treatment plan. I was asked if I had any other symptoms and I had to admit my appetite has been much better than on my previous chemotherapy treatment plan, even on non-steroid days.
Today is the first day for about ten days I am not convinced I am going to pass before my daughter Mika’s eighth birthday. I may hold out long enough to not only complete my three-year exceptional exit plan, but to terrorize my children for a few more years (20 years in my perfect world). I am still planning to keep the “you may be dead in less than a year” fire under my butt.
I did create a calendar for getting help with clutter cleaning this past week. I marked out medical appointments, Mika’s days off school, networking events, and the other appointments that would prevent me from having my friends at my home. I have 23 possible days available from January until Mika gets out of school in late May.
I am going to post in the Facebook groups for my networking groups asking for volunteers after New Year’s Day. I am still considering the logistics of my phase one clutter clearing. Phase one involves a broad keep/donate/toss sort. I will not sort individual books, videos, photos or papers during phase one; those tasks wait for phase two. I do need to let people know heavy lifting is involved and it is 80 degrees in any room I am in (which is where they will be) because my space heaters follow me around the house. That will limit my volunteer pool.
I think I will take volunteers from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. That gives me time to work for an hour before any volunteers come, and they will leave around the time my significant other gets home from work. I do not think I want more than two (possibly three) people here at a time. I cannot make too many decisions at once. A person could come for one to five hours depending on their schedule. I might have five or six different people here on any given day.
Mika and I have been doing a good job of sorting her toys (even though we are only three days into it) and I am optimistic we will get all her keep toys moved to her new room before she goes back to school in January. That will leave me plenty of room in my lower level great room to spread out the many, many items in my upper level shed to view and release. Then I can start on my indoor clutter.
My piece of advice to you is to ask for help. 23 days may not be enough to complete phase one and phase two on my lower level by summer, but I will be 23 days ahead of where I would be if I did not ask for help.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.