Home & a Happy Birthday!

   I finally made it home last night around 11 pm.  Melissa was kind enough to come sit at our place while the kids were sleeping (thank you!).  The last few hours of chemo were especially painful... not because of the drugs, but because things just weren't going well!  I was supposed to be out by 9pm, but the nurses were behind.  Then, while I was sitting there trying to grasp my fork and knife to eat a very nasty looking dinner, I realized my left hand (with the IVs) was not moving well- it had blown up like a balloon!  The saline IV had stopped working and was pushing saline directly into my hand which then caused the second IV in my wrist to also stop working!  So I had to be poked again for an IV in the right arm this time (6 times in three days, could be worse right?).  Of course, this all happens 2 hours before I'm supposed to get out!   It caused a delay on top of the nurses being behind but I was finally out of there at 10:30!

Adam and the kids decorated the house before I came home Friday night!

    I came home to the house decorated for my birthday- cute pink and green streamers with balloons all over.  And a banner that said, "Happy 1st Birthday," I guess the dollar store ran out of 29th birthday signs??  I could tell Adam and the kids had a good time decorating!

Yummy party cake! 

   Adam played with the kids most of the day while I relaxed.  I kept disappearing into the bedroom to nap and get away from the chaos that is my kids.   While I was resting, Mykelle and Evan helped Daddy make me a birthday cake!  They even got to ice the cake themselves... which is Adam's way of making sure we don't have to share the cake with anyone outside of family!

My present from the kids was wrapped in a Frosted Flakes box :)

   I received a lot of well-wishes and several packages from thoughtful friends and family.  While I was opening my gifts Mykee kept saying to me, "You need to share your presents Mom.  It's nice to share!"  Of course, the gift she and Evan picked for me had Tinkerbell lip gloss, candy bracelets, and super-hero bubble tape in it!

They take after their daddy.

If the chemo didn't make me sick, this sure would!

   I had to throw in this last picture- it blows me away that one body can be taking all of this medication and still function!  Included here are two anti-nausea medications, one sleeping pill, one pain-killer, one anti-viral, an anti-fungal, an antibiotic, and the shot is Neupogen to help stimulate stem-cell growth to bring my blood counts back up.  I was scared to give myself that Neupogen shot by the way, but it wasn't so bad once I worked up the nerve to jab myself in the belly!  Just saying that probably made my dad queasy... :)


   My birthday may not have been what I imagined it would be at this time last year, but it has been a good day all the same, because of all the love everyone has shown me.  I would like to thank you all for  your kind thoughts and prayers as I've been going through this ordeal.  It was uplifting to come home to such a welcome- the many birthday wishes, visits, gifts, food, phone calls, and more- they all made me feel so loved and blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.