Last Monday and Today

     So I realized today how much has really happened this past week. At first it didn't seem like much until I was starting to write about it last night, and when I realized that everything is running together. Today my mom and I were even struggling to remember what day my oncology appointment had been. In a way though it is good that things haven't been more spread out. We are going to get this cancer out of me soon! There hasn't been too much waiting on anything.

     Monday was my first oncology appointment with Dr. Morgan (still loving the coincidence!...or fate).  We actually had a small detour on our way to meet her. You see there is multiple offices that work through Indiana University Health (this is who we are working with to eliminate my cancer), and my mom, dad, and I went to the Central Indiana Cancer Center on Lantern Road. However when we arrived we were told that Dr. Morgan works at the big IU hospital in Carmel on Mondays. We then, of course, proceeded to the large IU North and Riley Hospital for children. Once there we had paper work to fill out (all three of us did that lovely work). Then we all went to meet my doctor. Dr. Morgan is super nice! She sat down with us and took a good long time; she talked with us from 4 to 6 and was super patient. I learned that Hodgkin's is not common, but is common for girl ages 15-30 and elderly people. I also learned that I don't show B symptoms...which is good. She also explained what chemo cycles are and what my next steps are going to be. I needed to have a PET/CT scan, blood work, heart and lung tests, and my port put in. She explained that a port was a device that would go inside my upper left side (near where my surgery was done), and what it does is makes it so that when they need blood or get ready to start chemo they don't need to always find a vein. They just stick the port and thats that! No more pain of finding veins! This became more exciting to me after I had my blood drawn that day...

     After the appointment was over it was decided that I would get my blood drawn for the blood work right then. So my mom and I go into the area to get blood drawn, I sit down, they try my elbows then my hands, I get baby feet warmers to warm the back of my hands, they stick my right hand, the blood starts coming, then the blood just stops. I come to find out later that what happened is my vein collapsed. Then I started to feel really nauseous and my vision tunneled. The nurse and my mom laid me down on a reclining chair. While sitting there my hearing went fuzzy and my head began to pound. Then I threw up a little and began to slowly feel better. Due to hospital policy I had to be wheeled to the ER. Once there, a paramedic stuck my right forearm and my right elbow to try for some blood, but again nothing. Next an RN  came in and did an ultrasound on my left elbow to find some veins. His stick was the worst! Once he put the needle in, he moved it all around trying to find a vein, but eventually he found something...but it wasn't a vein. It was an ARTERY! When he stuck my artery the blood rushed out...I could feel it on my arm, but I wasn't looking. Needless to say he filled all the vials with no problem. Now the only problem was stopping the blood. He removed the needle and had to wrap my arm really tight to stop the bleeding. I had to wait 20 minutes before they could take off the wrap, and it was so tight that my arm turned slightly purple! The whole ordeal with blood took 2 hours, from 6 to 8. By the time I got home it was almost 9!

***Flash forward to today

    Today was a good saturday. I slept in, did my senior pictures, and went to work. Senior pictures were a little stressful at first. My mom wants to do them for me this year, and though, yes, I had my reservations at first, I see now that she did a great job. A lot of pictures turned out very nice. Now knowing this now didn't help me in the moment. For many reasons I was having a hard time with the picture taking. I didn't feel very pretty, I didn't feel like I was getting any good shots, I was mad that I wasn't having fun (seems strange right), I was worried that my pictures wouldn't look as good as others that I have seen, and I felt the pressure of being on a time restriction. My mom reminded me that if we didn't get a good shot then that we could always try again another day, but all I could think was that there was no time. This week is full of appointments, my weekend will be spent at Bailey's (which I am sooooo looking forward to), I don't know how hectic next weeks schedule will be, and at some point my hair is going to start falling out. So there was definitely a lot on my mind. However, after going to the fort ben area, taking pictures, coming home for lunch and to clear off the memory, and viewing the pictures we did have, I saw that my pictures were turning out and that put me in a good mood. So mom and I went back out after lunch and took some more shots at the Fort Ben area...and it was fun! God bless my mom though because she was patient with me the whole time, and she never got frustrated. Man I love my mom!!!
      When I got home, I found a lovely box wrapped in silver wrapping paper and with a picture of my sister and I taped on the front. My sister sent a box home with my dad to give to me. It had lots of goodies in it...a box of pictures and bible verses from my grandparents, cookies from Faith (a roommate of hers), a note from Kills (another roommate of my sister...also not her real name, but its what we call her), a tervis cup with a table of contents of dogs on it, pictures, and a card from my sister. I also loved the big box that everything came int because I was able to also put the lovely gifts from my neighbor inside. My neighbor Mrs. Sue got me an iTunes gift card, lotion, cards, sleep wear  set, chocolate, tissues, and socks. I am so loved!

     After pictures I went to work, and it was good. I saw lots of dogs in cars (I was working drive through), and I gave out a lot of pup cups. And, thanks to our cook Koro, I got two free chicken strips; mmmmmm they were tasty! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful group of people to work with, and my work has been so understanding. I am blessed!

     So no new news, but an update on my day! 

**Also the reason for my title (which will soon be changed)...

       So I thought the ribbon for lymphoma was lime green. I found out tonight that lime green is non-hodgkin's not hodgkin's lymphoma. Hodgkin's lymphoma is actually lavender (purple). This is a really cool thing because lavender is my favorite flowers and one of my favorite scents! Cool coincidence right?! So I will be changing my blog title and web address soon. I will be sure to inform you all of the changes.

Joshua 1:9 
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.