Bring on 2015!

I have mixed feelings about 2014.  It somehow managed to be my best and worst year all at once.  I'd pretty much like to take the little bundle of awesomeness that came out of it and run with him straight into the new year, leaving all of the other garbage behind!  Seriously, it was just NOT a good year, not only for myself, but pretty much everyone in the family, including our sweet puppy Charley!  Ok, he's pushing 10-years-old and has to eat the special "senior" dog food, but I will always, ALWAYS refer to him as a puppy.  Two sisters going through cancer treatment simultaneously, a brother-in-law enduring major heart surgery, and a mother-in-law who's had a dark cloud situated right above her head that she can't seem to shake.  It's not my story to tell, but please keep her in your prayers that she can finally have some good luck and good health come her way, as she could desperately use both.  We as a family have witnessed the amazing kindness of others (such as so many of you who are reading this!), but unfortunately we've dealt with a few grinches as well.  I guess that's just life.

I've completed 4 out of 12 Taxol treatments now, and it's continuing to go very well.  My labwork is usually great, just slightly anemic at times.  On the day of treatment, they give me Benadryl, which immediately knocks me out for a good hour at the hospital.  A few times, the drowsiness continued for the rest of the afternoon, and we realized that on those days I was given a double dose.  Turns out there was some confusion about how much the doctor prescribed, but they finally settled on the smallest dose since I seem to do okay on it.  The day after treatment, I usually feel wired as a side effect from steroids.  For example, today I woke up at 4am to feed Ben and have been up ever since, cleaning the house, writing monthly reports for work, running errands, writing this post, and just being super productive.  I'll probably crash before midnight and completely miss the NYE countdown.  Although, now that there's a baby in the house who demands to eat every 3 hours OR ELSE, there's a good chance I'll be awake whether I want to or not :)

Other Taxol side effects so far are mainly muscle/joint aches and pains that settle in 2-3 days after each treatment.  It almost feels like bruising in my neck, back, and shoulders, so a heating pad works wonders when I crawl into bed at night.  This will last for a couple days and then taper off, just in time for the next treatment.  I've felt slight tingling in my feet and hands, but that comes and goes.  Throw in some fatigue, some headaches, but nothing has been "unbearable".  A few times, I've lost my balance and fallen over while sitting or bending down on the floor, but that might just be straight up clumsiness :)

Ben had his 1-month checkup and did great!  He weighed in at 8lbs 4oz. which means he gained just over 2 pounds since birth.  He's currently in the 10-15th percentile for weight, but he started out in the 3rd percentile, so the doctor was happy to see that he's gradually climbing the chart.  We mentioned that Ben had been having some constipation issues, one time going about 53 hours without a bowel movement.  The doctor suggested giving him 1 ounce of water twice a day but didn't seem overly concerned about it.  I guess it becomes a bigger issue if it gets to the 72-hour mark.  He also said that if the water doesn't work, you can try mixing 1 ounce of water with 1 ounce of juice (apple, pear, or white grape). We started with just water and this seemed to do the trick over the course of the next few days.

After completing my 3rd Taxol treatment on 12/23, Jeremy and I made a last-minute decision to head to the Panhandle on Christmas Eve to visit his family.  Ben and I got the okay from our doctors, and were just told to steer clear of any snot-nosed kids or sick people who might spread germs, since both of our immune systems are puny.  Ben did great on the 6 hour drive and it was "super fun" to execute a diaper change in the back seat of the SUV in a McDonald's parking lot.  We gave the drive-thru customers quite a show.

Ready for a road trip!

Ba Da Bop Ba Ba, he's lovin' it.

Ben got his first taste of a "Southern" Christmas, as Jeremy's dad lives in a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere where everyone says "bless yer heart" and all of the other Southern cliches.  The nearest grocery store is almost 30 minutes away, there's no cell phone service, and each morning we wake to the sounds of roosters and distant gunshots from deer and duck hunters.  Their idea of "traffic" is if they see more than 2 cars on the two-lane stretch of road to and from "town" which is basically one traffic light and a Piggly Wiggly store.  But boy, his family knows how to cook some crazy delicious food!  All we do when we visit there is eat and then go into food comas.  It's so relaxing and I love every minute of it. 

Merry Christmas 2014!

Alarm cocks

Backyard view

Christmas morning nap

My two loves <3

Additional naps by the fire :)

Fishing Themed Christmas Tree in Appalachicola, FL

But of course, this visit was a little different because this time we brought Sweet Potato along to meet the rest of his extended family.  Unfortunately, Jeremy's grandfather has had failing health over the past year and recently moved into a nursing home.  He was just getting over a cold, so the decision was made that Ben and I shouldn't visit him, which was unfortunate because this was one of the main reasons we wanted to take the trip, so Ben could meet his great-grandfather (who also suffers from dementia). Jeremy ended up going to the nursing home and took along some pictures of Ben. We also brought a recordable story book, so all of the grandparents could record themselves reading a story to Ben.  I think this will be really special to have as Ben gets older.  I'm just bummed we couldn't get any pictures of the four generations together, as we don't get to visit there often and his grandparents don't travel.

Ben had some digestive troubles during the trip, which made things a bit stressful.  He hadn't had a bowel movement in over 48 hours, and the water alone didn't seem to be working.  At night, he seemed very uncomfortable and fussy, and the three of us were stuck in a tiny guest room trying to deal with it, which meant nobody slept much!  We wanted to try mixing the water with apple juice, but we didn't have any juice on hand and of course all stores were closed for Christmas.  So, we'd have to wait until the next day (not to mention drive almost an hour round-trip just to get to the store).  We contemplated driving home a day sooner than planned, but decided to wait it out.  We finally got our hands on some juice and crossed our fingers that it would work soon.  The next morning, about 45 minutes before we headed home...success.  Phew :)

Time to get ready for a NYE dinner date.  No need to do my hair though, so this shouldn't take long!  Happy New Year to everyone.  My only resolution for 2015 is to complete my mission of kicking cancer's ASS.  And then, I'd like to take a vacation to New Orleans because that's my happy place and we didn't get to go this year. Everyone's invited so start saving now :)