Congratulations are in order

This past weekend we attended my baby sister, Lisa's wedding. A wedding I almost didn't get to go to. Lisa's wedding was the same week as my chemo treatment. I scheduled the treatment a day early so I could have the pump removed before the wedding. During the infusion on Wednesday, I became very itchy. That has happened before in the past but not for a long time. When I went to drink a glass of milk I got that weird sensation I used to get. Thursday morning I was getting ready for work and the tingly sensation in my hands and feet that I use to have was back. I was confused about the side effects. I was doing really well and all of the sudden everything came back. Sally became suspicious as well and called the doctor's office. When I began chemo I was on 3 different kinds of medicine for the infusion. Now that I am in remission I am on what they call a maintenance program which is only 2 of the medications. The medication that causes the worse side effects was not given any longer. Come to find out when I changed back to going every other week instead of every week the office went back to the original treatment and that is why I felt so bad. I felt relieved to know that it wasn't caused by the "mild" treatment and that the order was changed so it shouldn't happen again. But I felt really bad. I think it's probably the worse I have felt from a treatment. Friday I woke up and I could barely walk.It felt like I was walking on dry ice( not that I have walked on dry ice before, That would have really been stupid). Plus I was nauseated and no matter how much I slept it wasn't enough. By Friday night I felt a little better but still was in bad shape. Sally and the kids were gone for the evening. When they walked in the door Kaity was crying. She was crying for 45 minutes in the car before she even walked through the door.She is having the pains more frequently again. About 3 hours later she had calmed down enough to go to bed. She has another appointment this Friday. Hopefully if the doctor can't help her, he can send her to someone that can.

Saturday morning things were much calmer. Well......Kaity and I were better. I still wasn't feeling my best but I didn't feel like death either. I should take the first statement back. The kids and I were calm. Sally was like a crazy woman trying to make sure we all looked our best. This is the reason we don't dress up for church. I think we would end up in a divorce if we did.

Lisa's wedding was in Joliet, IL. The reason why she had it there was because my big sister Dawn married the happy couple (for now) in her church. She is a Minister. Sally told me Lisa was getting married in red. I thought she was kidding but she wasn't. My sister looked beautiful even though I am not a fan of red. Especially red cars but don't get me started on that one. My sister Lisa's new sister in-law brought some disposable cameras and put one on the tables to have people take pictures of whatever they wanted too. I quickly picked up the camera and went to take pictures of the most important thing at the wedding. I went straight to the cake and dessert table and started to snap away. At that point I was the best photographer in the world. The cake was made with fresh strawberries. It was very good. The wedding was very nice, a wonderful experience. I hope the best for my little sister and her new husband Dave. I told Dave if he needed any help or questions not to hesitate to ask. Then the happy couple started to laugh at me but what made it worse so did my wife. I just didn't get what was so funny, I was serious. I often wonder if it's just my kids or do all kids act up when they are suppose to be at their best. After the wedding Zachary and my nephew Evan, were at odds. These two little boys dressed in their Sunday best were pushing each other. At one point Zach pushed Evan down and Sally made him sit on the floor. When he was finally able to get up off the dirty floor, he told Evan to push him down so he would feel better about what he did and then Evan would now be the one in trouble. Evan was way to smart for that and told us of Zach's plot. So we made Zach stick his nose against the wall. No , actually we didn't put it sure would have been funny if we did. At the reception Zachary and Kaity were fighting about their plates. The both had the exact same plate but they were fighting over a plate. I have to admit though they were pretty nice plates. Then Kaity managed to knock over a glass of water and then Zachary topped her by spilling his glass of lemonade. Everyone at the table with us I could only imagine what they were thinking.I just ignore the situation while my sister in law Leann cleaned up the mess, thank you Leann. After dinner I was relieved. The kids were able to get up and walk around. Kaity loved being dressed up. You could tell by watching her. All the kids were running around but Kaity found interest in a pole with little mirrors on it instead. She spent almost the rest of the time pole dancing. She was really putting on a show. I am really getting a little nervous about her future career calling. She told Sally that she wants a pole for her birthday. At first she got upset if anyone wanted to use the pole but later on she had a group of kids she was teaching the tricks of the trade. She actually isn't so bad for a little girl who will be three on the 9th of April. When she wasn't pole dancing she was with my niece Rachele staring in a mirror. The food was good but the cake was better. I had to work for my piece of cake. The server came and gave Kaity a piece of cake. Then all the other tables were being served. I was really not happy.Obviously she didn't recognize who I was. Why would they serve one piece of cake to a table and instead of coming right back with the rest. They went to all the other tables instead. It was just very cruel and unusual punishment. Sally didn't help matters by laughing at her sick husband that was all flustered and talking to his self.

I am feeling better now. Tired but that goes without saying. Today I was able to get outside with the kids and enjoy the weather. I have the weekend off. Please pray for my niece Rachele. She is 4 and is having surgery tomorrow morning.

Thanks for visting and hope to post again this Sunday. God Bless you all!

They were huge!!

I usually try to write my blog on the weekends when possible. With the combo family birthday party for Zach and kaity and myself being sick throughout my 3 plus days off. My sinus's were really bothering me. My throat was a little scratchy and slightly sore. I would have to cough only when I needed to clear my throat and that would cause me to get a headache that would get worst each time I coughed. Poor Zachary was off from school last week for spring break. He started the week sick with a fever. When he started to feel better Kaity came down with the same thing. Then I think I must have gotten it and Michael became sick on Saturday. It seems to be that when ever Zachary has a break from school we are sick. hmmm

Saturday we celebrated Zach's 8th birthday and Kaity's 3rd. Zach's real birthday was 2 weeks ago and Kaity's isn't for another 2 weeks. It's easier to combine their birthdays for the families. We had their party at Edwardo's Pizza again. They have one of the better pizzas around in our area. As the kids were eyeing their pile of gifts I was eyeing the pile of frosting on the cupcakes . I know I wasn't feeling well but come on these were not your ordinary cupcakes. The cupcakes were more like miniture cakes. The frosting itself left a delightful experience in my mouth. It was like Christmas all over for the kids but honestly I don't remember what they received. The cupcakes still consume all my thoughts and most of my memories right now.

Today had a couple of interesting happenings(anything that happened before the party I still can't remember). Michael was at Walgreens and he spotted his grandma. He wanted to surprised her so he sneaked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her give her a nice size squeeze.To Michael's surprise she turns around and said "Oh My! Do I know you?" Nice job Michael .He is lucky the elderly nice lady didn't file assault charges against him and/or didn't suffer a coronary.I think all he had to do was to walk her across the parking lot to her car and she was all better. I wouldn't be surprise when the next time I walk into Walgreens and there is a mug shot of Michael posted up.

This evening I went to have blood work done for this Wednesday's chemo session. Zachary wanted to come with because he wanted to go to Target. When they called my name I told Zachary he could stay in the waiting room. He's just like his dad and does not like needles. While I was getting the blood drawn I heard a "WOOOOooo WWWooooooo" The lady drawing my blood and I looked over at the next area and saw my little boy in fear making his I am scared sound effects. We immediately looked at each other and busted out laughing He tried to use his scared pathetic look to manipulate me to buy him something at Target. It almost worked, until we started to laugh again.Then I remember my scare pathetic look never works on Sally and she is one who keeps tight control over the money I work hard for.

Like I mentioned earlier I have chemo this Wednesday. Saturday is my sister Lisa.s wedding day. My oldest sister is performing the wedding. I am sitting here wondering about the wedding cake. I hope it will out perform the cupcakes but I know that is a stretch.No pressure Lisa.

I am still not 100% so there is a possibility that I may not receive Chemo. I hope I will be able to. I want no delays in my treatment.

Hopefully, I will get a chance to write during the week. Have a great week. God Bless you all.

How can you call it a cake walk without cake! Title two: "Bedtime for Salzo "

Today I had Chemo and it didn't go exactly well. I was getting some on and off dizziness, not nausea but, dizziness.That was kinda frustrating for me.My side effects with this new preventative treatment is better for the most part. My tingling in my mouth when I drink something cold isn't nearly as bad. So I think this summer will be better,as long as I could drink the cold liquids. Last summer was bad as far as that went. I always had to wait to drink or eat cold things until about 4 days before my next treatment. My numbness in my hands and feet is a little better. Although I do feel that it easier for me to have minor hand injuries.I will explain later what I mean some other day. This is going to be a long blog. It was a little at chemo too ,because most of the other patients were just getting shots or just went to see the Doctor and left. So I was mainly the only one there for four hours all by myself. I did all that I could not to tear up. Sally was gone to get our plates for our car. When she did return, she did not fail me. I was not bored no more. Sally was at my rescue. She came and we just talk a little and then she fell asleep in one of the Chemo beds. You could imagine what that did to my self esteem.I quickly got over my esteem issues when I started hearing what sounded like farm animals. Mostly sounds of pigs. I looked over at Sally and couldn't believe it was coming from her. Of course I had to share in my joy. I tried to get Angela, Stacey and Goody's attention but, they were to busy in another room to share in my joy of laughing at my near perfect(?) wife? So I was still all alone. Get over it I thought to myself. The only thing missing was the drool.
I wanted to make a quick mention that Kaity isn't having as many issues with the pain in her hands and legs. We still haven't heard anything from the Doctor. Sally and I both think it may be some sort of arthritis. Now that is is getting warm her problems have lessen. I want to thank everyone for all the prayers for my little girl,God Bless you all.
This past weekend was Zach's birthday (Sunday). I wanted to make his Birthday special,so that is why I haven't posted in awhile. On Friday was Zachary's fun fair at his school.There was numerous things for the kids to do, like the cake walk, oh yeah! I coax Zachary to the cake walk. I was walking with Kaity at my side and Zach walking on his own. I didn't want to look at the prize delicacies so I would be pleasantly surprised if we won. I knew that Zach being the special boy that he was plus he was getting his own cake made by his mom, would undoubtedly let me pick out the cake. Kaity and I only went around 5 times and we won. I couldn't control my joy. Basically what I am saying is I was embarrassing myself.You don't see a adult man clicking his heals together like Ron Santo did in 1965 to often if at all and most of us knows what happened after that.. After the applause I worked my way to the cake table like Ralphie did in a Christmas Story after he wrote his essay on the Red Rider BB Gun. I looked at the table and my pleasantly surprise turned to you gotta be kidding me.Who took the cake. All they had was cookies,rice krispie treats ,brownies and Hostess Cakes(?). I grabbed a baggy that had 3 cookies in it. I had to make a important decision on what to do now. So I got back in line so I could be pleasantly you gotta be kidding me again. Zaity and I went around about another 6 times and won again, Zach was still winless.I had Kaity pick something out this time. Guess what she picked, cookies. They were chocolate chocolate chop cookies, good choice Zach finally won after going around for about 50 times. He went and picked out cookies on a stick. After the cake walk Zach wanted to go elsewhere and play some games and do other things.He wanted to make a sand bracelet. He was standing in line when a guy with 4 kids jumped ahead of Zach. So I did the first thing that came to me. A gave the guy a mean look. Good thing he wasn't looking at me. He no doubt would of ran out of there screaming. I saved him some embarrassment because his kids were there so I didn't press the issue. I am normally a nice guy by nature.

Sunday was Zachary's 8th Birthday. He wanted bacon and bagels for breakfast so that is what the master received. He had Faith Formation in the morning and we went to mass afterwards Kaity was crabby so we took a break in Zach's "fun" day so she could have a nap. Zach didn't mind because he was anxious to play with his new Star Wars lego set. We also got him an electric scooter but UPS didn't deliver it until the day after. After Kaity's nap we took the kids to the movies. We saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks". The movie kept Zachary's full attention. Sally and my attentions were mostly focused on Kaity. We enjoyed watching her watching the movie. Seeing her eyes lit up and dancing to the music. After the movie the master chose "Tylers Tenders" for dinner. It's one of those places the food is so-so but the kids really love the atmosphere which makes up for the mediocre food. We sat up at the counter so we could have our food delivered by the train. Afterwards, Kaity and Zachary went on a train ride. They both wanted to ride in front. Zach wanted to play with the bell and Kaity just sat there with a huge smile on her face. On the way home we stopped to pick up the masters ice cream. I was hoping he would choose rocky road or something with chocolate but he picked out "take the cake" ice cream to go with his banana birthday cake. Before he went to bed he kept thanking us and told us he had a great day. It made me a proud dad. I hope he remembers this birthday. I am hoping to get the computer fixed so I can start posting pictures again. My nephew will be home from school for a week so we are hoping he will want to come over to look at it.
I hope the next blog won't take me as long to post. Isn't the waiting worth it though(be nice ).
Thanks for visiting and god bless you all!

Bad bad wife

Today, I had an infusion treatment. It's been a month since my last treatment and over 2 months since I had the chemo pump to wear at home. I was afraid this treatment would be hard on me. I left the clinic just 2 hours ago and I am already starting to feel some side effects. My chest feels very heavy and I am extremely tired. I figured I will write tonight because I am not sure how I will be feeling tomorrow. Plus I have something fresh on my mind I would like to share. My supposedly loving and adoring wife abandoned me at chemo today. She chose our 7 year old son over me. I sat there alone and waited and waited for her to show. She said she was going to do a little shopping at Target which is next door. I thought maybe she would be gone an hour at the very most. Unfortunately for me, one hour turned into two and two turned into three. I sat there sad and lonely, wondering if she would ever return, realizing now that I may be an orphan. I was left there to sit there and ponder how will I get home if she didn't pick me up. Plus, I was wondering how could she choose Zachary over her handsome, sexy, hardworking, compassionate, understanding, sexy, devoted, sexy and ect, ect.............. husband. She did manage to call me and tell me Zachary had called her (by the way he has memorized mine, Sally's and Michael's cell phone numbers) crying because he missed her. So she left to be with him.When ever I call her sobbing saying how I need her and miss her, all I ever get is get over it. I was almost in tears and had nurse Angela almost in tears telling her how sad and lonely I was. I work hard to bring home a pay check so Sally can go out to lunch with her friends, eat chocolate bon-bons, read romance novels( she isn't even a book reader), relax at the spa, take long bubble baths( even though she doesn't like baths she prefers showers), and lives a life of a queen in a cardboard box for a house), And how does she reward me? She ditches me. My eyes and nose are red and swollen for the river of tears that are streaming down my face( not from the booze that I have been sneaking-please don't tell my devoted compassionate and loving until today wife). But yet, I know she has everyone fooled and no one is going to believe how terrible she is to me. Please keep this quiet, I don't want to get locked up any more.

Enough about my pathetic life and being second class to my wife. I think everyone enjoys the stories about our kids better. The other day we were talking and Sally mentioned she hated her name because it's old fashion and very few people in her age group have her name. She told Zachary that is why we gave him a cool name. Zach said he didn't like his name(" Oh hell no", I said to myself). Sally asked him what he wished his name would be. Zach replied "Big Belly Button". He honestly said this and I don't know why. The next day I addressed Zach as Big Belly Button and he got mad at me. This happened about a week ago or so. I would every once in awhile address him as big Belly Button. So today Zach was playing with some of his Christmas presents that he got. A Star Wars light sabre and a Star wars gun that he got from our family friends Ron and Lynn. Zach was twirling his Sabre and shooting his gun. He was really getting into it. I had to say "Hey,Big Belly Button tone it down a little bit, you might break something". He came to me and said that he was "Master Zach" and preceded to clock me in the melon with his light sabre(he didn't hit me hard)." Why did you do that"? "Cause I am Master Zach. I'm going to have to remember that so I don't get beat up any more.

Kaity keeps getting cuter and cuter. Just when I think she can't get any cuter she does. We no longer help Kaity with her showers.Most kids her age and a little older will play in the shower. She takes her shower time quite seriously. In fact she cleans herself better then we would. She cleans herself better then I clean myself. She scrubs every nook and cranny of her body even the bottom of her feet and under arms. She is so clean we could serve our food on her instead of our fine china (she is probably cleaner then our fine china, if we had fine China).
Sally and I took her and her baby doll out for lunch today. We usually go out for lunch or breakfast depending on my appointment time. She kept asking me "Do you like it?" after each bite I had. Remember how Kaity pulled grandma's baby lashes out? Well..... Sally was in the shower and when she came out Kaity was sitting in the living room on the floor with her doll. She had scissors in her hand. Sally looked down and there was clumps of hair on the carpet. Sally said "Kaity no! That is naughty!" Sally grabbed the doll to see how much damage was done. The doll was from Santa and Santa (Sally) spent hours researching dolls to make sure she gets the "right" one. Sally is more attached to the dolls then Kaity is. I would not be surprised if I found out she played with the dolls when no one is looking. Sally realized the doll's hair was fine which meant one thing. It was Kaity's hair. Kaity was crying and crying. She buried her head into Sally and then she ran to her crib and wanted to take a nap. I was working midnights but I woke up to Kaity's pathetic cry. Before she climbed in the crib she cuddled up to me and sobbed. During this time Sally was trying to examine the damage. Every time Sally would touch Kaity's hair she would get a clump of hair. Kaity finally had enough of Sally touching her hair and talking about it she pushed Sally away, climbed into her crib, buried her face with a blanket and cried herself to sleep. She did cut a bunch of hair but she did it in such away, it's unnoticeable to everyone else except for her mother who still makes comments every time she combs her hair .

I work this weekend. Sally and I have tickets to see "Noises Off "at the preforming Arts Center in Munster on Saturday night. Take Care and God Bless you all. I want to say thanks for all the words of encouragement from the friends and family that have been there and my new Facebook friends and the ones that I have reconnected with from past friendships and the good old high school days at Bishop Noll.

Sorry that there hasn't been any pictures posted as of late. Sally is having trouble with her computer. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.

I am 45 years old now and proud of it!

It's funny how a little word like cancer can have such a huge impact on how you perceive life. When I turned 30, I thought I was old. When I turned 40, I was like I'm going to die soon( how little did I know how true that almost could have been). I didn't think I would live to be 40 honestly because I was sort of the wild child in my earlier days.I liked to go out with the boys.Hey,wait a minute the ladies too. Lets not forget about the ladies. I often look back and can't believe how I survived my stupidity at times. 40 seemed to be old and I felt life was down hill after that. Then I was diagnosed with the dreaded cancer. For sure 40's suck. But now I am glad to celebrate another birthday. I am looking forward to turning 50 and the 60's and even the 70's don't look so bad seeing how well my mom and mother in law are doing. Not to forget how I would like to be around to see how my kids turn out and I how I did as a parent raising them. Although I do have soon not so good news for Zach , that I willmention in a later blog. So hold on to your hats or ear muffs or whatever you have on your head.

My birthday always brings a lot of memories. Good and bad but I welcome them both. The good times reminds me on how lucky I am. The bad memories are just learning lessons that make me even more grateful for the good times. When I was young and foolish I got married on my birthday. I will never recommend to anyone on getting married on their birthday. The marriage was short lived and she was out by my next birthday( it was all her). I actually proposed to Sally the day before my birthday. It wasn't that I was trying to create new memories to wipe out my failed marriage. My birthday is 3 days before Valentine's Day which is the time everyone expects to be proposed to. Sally and I rarely talked about marriage. I did propose to her a month after we started dating but she just laughed at me, but I was serious. We were dating for over a year so I figured she might be expecting a ring on Valentines Day and I wanted to really surprise her. I put an add in the Times news paper and ask her and Micheal if they would marry me.I was hoping she would read it with me( my brother Mike did the same thing, that's how original I am). Instead someone at her work saw it and cut it out and put it on the time clock so she knew before I had a chance to get on one knee and show her the paper. I was the one with the surprise. Thank God, I was able to spare my knee.

Last year on my birthday was hard for me. I was given my dreaded diagnoses and prognoses a week before my birthday. Plus I was in a lot of pain from just being cut opened. I wondered if being 44 would be it for me. I must admit though I did get better gifts last year. I even had a cake plus cup cakes. Did I ever mention that I like cake.

This year my birthday was peaceful. Michael treated me to breakfast at Round the Clock. I had an omelete that was as big as a small island.I couldn't finish it. As I was eating it there was a lady watching me. I was thinking that I still have it, if I ever had it. This was going on for a while. I thought that she was admirring the masterpiece on my plate or the handsome chap eating the masterpiece. Before Michael and I left, I went in the restroom to clean my hands. I was in front of the mirror rinsing my hands when I noticed a catsup spot on my shirt( I like to mix catsup with my eggs). Now at that point I think I know what the lady was looking at. I went home to never be seen again ay least not there for a while. I later had to go to my mother in law's and shoveled her neighbors sidewalk, waering a ski as not to be reconized. When I finished I went home and took a nap. Sally and I later that night went to see "The Blind Side" followed by dinner at Giovonni's. They have the best spaghetti I have ever eaten. While we were waiting to order an older couple was seated at a table near us. They caught are attention because of the way they presented themselves they looked well to do and the fact they were pickering with each other. It kinda reminded me of ummmm, me and Sally,minus the well to do part. After hearing the waitress talk to them we realized the woman was Jewell Cadet who owns Rogers & Hollands jewelry stores.( Rogers and Hollands jewelry creations for now and forever) After dinner we went home and I had my cake and ice cream. Most people look forward to presents on their birthday for me it's the cake and ice cream part. Sally made a banana cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting. She served it with my favorite rock road ice cream. It was delicious.

God Bless you all and hope you liked this weeks blog. Next posting will be Thursday or Friday. Thank you for visiting.

Happy 45th Birthday Bill!

Bill, Wishing you a great year and many many more Birthdays. We love you!

Hide your dolls!!!

I promised I had a good story about Kaity last time. Well... Sally's mom had to watch Kaity back to back a couple of weeks ago. The first day she was there, Mary let Kaity play with one of her "special" baby dolls. She left the doll out for Kaity to play with the next day. Kaity was in the front room playing with the babies. She was very quiet so Mary thought it was a good idea to check on her( when a child is to quiet, it is time to investigate and hope it isn't to late). Kaity was on the couch with her back turned to Mary. When she saw Mary, Kaity bent over tried to cover up her wonderful handy work. Which was removing one by one all of the baby's eye lashes. Of course she couldn't do it to her much less expensive doll, she had to wait for Grandma's costly baby. Grandma of course was shocked to see and yelled a little. Kaity was heart broken. How could grandma yell at me, I am the cute one? She sat there with her head buried in the couch and sobbed. Silly Grandma felt bad and tried to bribe Kaity with candy, which didn't work. Grandma sat on the other end of the couch crying as well. Finally, Kaity realized the TV was on and turned her attention to the TV. She slowly started to be back to normal. Three days later, Kaity had to go to Grandma's again to be watched. Usually she loves to go there and doesn't want to go home. This time she said "Nooooooo!" "Grandma mean". Then she said baby and pointed to her eyes. Sally and I couldn't help but laugh at her. On the way there Sally told her to be good or she was going to pull out Kaity's eye lashes if she wasn't good. Kaity started to cry and covered her eyes. Now she will laugh when we mention it but she was scarred for a couple of days. We have to find a doll hospital so we can get Mary's doll repaired.

Right now our computer is on the fritz. Kaity turned the electrical strip off for the computer. Ever since, the computer is not running right. When we get the computer fixed I am hoping we can post a sound clip from Zachary's DSI. Zachary was recording and wanted to record Kaity. He kept telling his little sis to "say something" and then she would respond "say something". He would say," no Kaity Say something", again Kaity would respond," say something".After about ten minutes he started to get frustrated and moved on to making more weird recordings of himself and left Kaity out of it.

As for me, I am doing the same since last time which is good. I had the weekend off. I spent much of yesterday cleaning up around the house. Sally and two of her sisters went to a home party. Afterwards, they were going to have a couple of drinks. Sally told me that I should come meet them at the bar, so I could "pick her up". I get to the bar and she isn't there. I was standing there waiting and waiting. Finally, one of her sisters , Stacie came in and "picked" me up instead. After the first drink the sisters decided it was time to switch bars. So we went down the street. It's amazing what is revealed by 3 sisters who had a couple of drinks. I thought I knew everything about Sally and I was wrong. Some info I could have lived without.

Tonight, Zachary and I watched the Super Bowl. I had a feeling the Saints would win. It didn't matter to me either way which team won. I felt both teams were deserving to win. Sally made home made pizza and tempura vegetables for us. Even though she isn't a sports fan she wanted to make tonight special since last year I was in the hospital during the Super Bowl recovering from colon surgery.

Happy Anniversary

Just a little update to prove that I am still here. I have been working a lot because of the project that I was in last week and I worked the weekend because it was my weekend to work. I also picked up a shift last night, other wise I would have had only a 36 hour pay check. I go back to working in the morning and I am looking forward to having the weekend off.

We haven't heard any news about the kids and their blood work. We should have heard by now if something were wrong. Kaity was whimpering through out the night Sally had said. When I got home this morning she was crying because her leg and hand were hurting her. She isn't due to go back to see the doctor until her 3 year old check up in April but not sure if we want to wait that long. I will talk with the doctor about her when I go see him.

This morning I had an appointment with the oncologist. Sally usually goes with me but stayed home this time because Kaity was in pain. I went to register and found out my appointment was at 1:30 and not at 9:30 which I had thought wooops.I worked midnights and thought that I scheduled it earlier. Luckily for me, they squeezed me in. In the mean time I fell asleep in the waiting room. I woke up to a crowd of people hovering around me and drool running down my face, wooops again. The doctor is letting me skip treatment on my Birthday so I will have a month off. I am hoping to get into see the dentist during the time I have off. I couldn't get a cleaning last time because of the chemo treatment. Who would have thought?

Last week when I went in for an infusion, Sally dropped me off because she had Zachary with her. She and Zachary went to Target which is almost next door to the clinic. I asked Sally to bring me back a drink when she came back. Sally decided to drop off the drink before she took Zachary back home. Zachary has always asked if he could go to chemo with me. We had to explain he isn't allowed in the room because he is under 16. Sally took him with but told him he had to stay in the door way and he could peek in. As soon as he peeked in I hear nurse Stacey laugh and say " Little Bill!hahahahahahahahah". "Little Bill, hahahahahahahahahaha". I think Zachary was a little embarrassed because he hid his little face in my chest. At least he got to see where I go for treatments and that it wasn't scary.

Sitting during chemo sometimes gets boring. I am either with a group that likes to talk which makes it go so much faster or I am with a group that mostly sleeps. Those times I dread. It seems like the 4 hours are more like 8 hours. The nurses talk to me which helps but they can't sit with me during the entire time. When Sally is there it's better but if I have chemo on a day my mother in law is working Sally isn't able to be there. A couple of weeks ago it was one of those days. Sally didn't have a sitter for Kaity. Everyone that was receiving treatment was sleeping and I was bored out of mind. What does one do in this case? Well, I decided to provide my own entertainment on nurse Angelia's expense. The pumps have alarms on it to let the nurses know when the IV's are empty. When the alarm goes off the nurses drop what they are doing to see who's went off and to start the next unit of treatment. Me being my clever self, tried mimicking the alarm. Every so often I would make the alarm noise. Angela would stop what she was doing and tried to find out who's pump it was. Of course she couldn't find the unit but every time I made the noise she ran to look. It was hilarious. It was hard to sit there with a poker face. I knew even if I let out a slight grin she would catch on and my entertainment would be over. As soon as I walked out of there, I had to release my laughter. I finally had to tell Sally what had happened so she could understand the reason for laughter and not misconstrued it for me going mad. She is such a party pooper though. Even though she shared in the laughter with me, she confessed to the nurses of my dirty little secret. So I am going to have to find another way to entertain myself when Sally isn't there.

As I am writing this, I just realized that last week was my one year anniversary of the colon surgery and being diagnosed with cancer. Honestly, I didn't imagine life resembling it to be what is now. Meaning I figured in a year I would either be dead or very sick and bald. Well, before anyone comments on the bald part I was loosing my hair before I was sick but I am still not bald. Being close does not count. Not sure what it's going to be like a year from now, so in the mean time I will just enjoy my life for what I have and for what it is.

Thank you for visiting and God bless.
Stay tuned for my next blog. I have a story about Kaity and her special day with Grandma, or was it a special day.

Quick Family Update (medical)

Bill wanted me to give a brief update about today's events. As some may know, Kaity has been having leg pains which have traveled to her feet and arms. I took her into the doctor a couple of weeks ago and X-rays and blood work was ordered. This morning both Kaity and Zachary had a doctor's appointment. In Kaity's X-rays it showed some indication of lead. We do live in an older house with a flaky kitchen ceiling , which could contribute to it. It doesn't mean she has lead poisoning either. Also, with the blood work she tested positive for Lupus. It doesn't mean she has it either. The doctor thinks she may have a form of arthritis. Needless to say both kids had to have blood work done. Zachary was very scared. started crying in the waiting room. He didn't run out of the building though this time and he did good. Kaity was fine until she saw the chair and she started crying. She did good too. She didn't try to move and I was told that crying is good because it makes the blood move faster. They were both mad at me when I tore off their bandages when they weren't looking. Zachary started to have a reaction and Kaity had one last time so I thought the best thing was to take it off when they weren't expecting it. I am glad my mom went with us. She made it so much easier on me. Afterwards, I rewarded them with lunch and I promised Zachary I would take him to the store to buy him something if he was good.

After that, Bill had his weekly infusion. He slept during a good portion of it but we did have some good conversation with two other patients. Bill is going to skip treatment next week but has an appointment to see the oncologist. He is going to go back to wearing the pump, so the treatments will be every other week again. The nurses suggested he skips treatment on his birthday(which he deserves because last year he had the colon dissection surgery right before his birthday and wasn't feeling that great). Which means he will have another month off chemo. Not sure if the doctor will go for this but I will keep my fingers cross.

Bill is working through this weekend so hopefully at the beginning of next week he will think of some good stories to share.

Zack, Why Why!

Welcome back! I am back on the 12 hour shift starting this weekend. I am involved in a special project this week which means I am on days plus I get breakfast, free snacks, and lunch. I am feeling well. Not digging going in every week for treatments but I do feel better this way. Tonight, I am trying to decide if I want to go back to the pump when I go Thursday or not. I really really despise the pump. Going every week is a pain as well. It will be more difficult to go every week with the 12 hour shifts. I worked 6 days last week and now I am working 9 days in a row. Only half of the days I am working are 12 hours the other 4 days are 8s.

Now for my family life. It's amazing and/or scary (not sure which one) how I am never short of material about my family. Remember last week how I said Zachary told Michael that he smelled like a dead fish? Now Michael is saying his car smells like rotten fish. I couldn't help but laugh when I heard it. Sally told him at least people know when he is near.

Sally was telling me that Kaity is now hitting with a closed fist. Not that we condone violence, but I do want my children to defend themselves. Which is the reason we got into an argument. I was like good for Kaity, she is learning to defend herself. If she is going to hit then she should make it count, go for the jewels I would say. Sally said that hitting with a close fist is wrong and that she should not be taught to hurt others but hitting with an open hand is OK at times. Sally and I bickered back and forth for over an hour. We never came to an agreement( I am right though).

Last weekend after I finished my blog, I gave Zachary a choice of things to do with me. Sally was helping with suggestions and mentioned ice cream. I just gave her the look. I knew right then and there what was about to erupt. The next thing we hear is a little voice saying "Ice keam! Ice keam!" Sally crushed her heart by telling her that I will take her the next day. She cried and cried. So I came up with a brilliant plan and took the kids to McDonalds for sundae's ( only a dollar) So I bought 8 and got the kids theirs. After wards, I dropped her off at home and she was happy and I took Zachary to the destination of his choice which was Chuck E Cheeses. The first thing he wanted to do was play the basketball game. The very first throw he managed to have the basketball hit a lady in the head. After it hit her the ball went straight in the air. I caught the ball over the lady's head before it hit her again. I looked at Zachary and said "Nice shot Zach!" and then my first thoughts were "Oh crap! what did I just say?" I was expecting a mean glare at the very least and some choice words to be flying my way around with a hand, but the lady acted like nothing ever happened and kept playing her game. That even scared me some more( you know when a women acts like nothing is wrong, there is something wrong and your in it deep poop). So obviously I still didn't feel safe. I kept looking out of the corner of my eye waiting for some buff wrestling dude to come up to me to defend his woman. I was relieved when we got into our car and drove away. I had a vision of the "Ikea" commercial as I opening the door to the car "Start the car! Start the Car", but there was nobody in the car to start it for me, "Oh crap!" I thought. "Did make a clean get away?." As Zachary was in the back saying "Whoooooooo!" Every time a car was next to me and the person would look at me, I would look over and yell " What are you looking at?", and speed a way in my fast looking Impala( teach them to stare at me). This past Sunday, my nephew had his birthday party at Chuck E Cheeses. Zachary again ran up to the basketball game and I held my breath the entire time. I kept trying to redirect him towards a different game but he insisted he needed to practice. I told him that this wasn't the time or place to practice, but not before he ran into a little boy and knocked his cup of tokens on the floor. "No way, this can't be happening to me" I thought. Oh, I just knew some lady is going to jump on me on me now, and hit me with a closed fist. Kaity, Daddy was just kidding, open fist open fist. Luckily, that didn't happen. I picked up the little trouble maker and said be more careful as I scoped the area out. I sent him on his way with a little smack on the back of his head.

I have this fascination with watching bobsledding. Not sure why but lucky me it's on TV tonight. So I am going to cut this short (which I am sure some are relieved) so I can watch it and give Sally her computer back. Even though she is in denial she is addicted to her imaginary mob or are they.Thank you and God Bless.