Three days into my last, hopefully, week of chemo. I am prepared for pretty much all of the side affects but had actually forgotten the chills. I am sitting here with my beautiful quilt made and given to me by the North Ranch Quilters. Thank you so much ladies. Today was #20 out of 33 radiation treatments. When I saw Dr Lee on Monday, he was quite surprised and pleased that I am still not in pain from the radiation. Let's hope it continues this way. Tomorrow I get the chemo pump removed but the port will stay in a couple of months  until I get the all clear. That is a procedure that has to be done in hospital.
I am still trying to stay upbeat although some days are harder than others. The treatments are taking their toll on my energy level and I can't sleep through the night. I do know that I am going to beat this nastiness  and live at least another 20 years. Oh, and I have lost 7-8 pounds. It's a crummy way to lose weight and I won't go into details, just keep buying stock in Imodium.

Since this blog is titled Travels with Kirby and Kelsey I will take a moment to comment on "the kids". I think I have the two laziest dogs in the world. This morning Jerry was getting ready to take them out and they were up and about. He sat down to do something and they went back to bed and didn't get up until he had their leashes in his hand. They do not like to waste any energy, sorta like me right now.
I had my 12th radiation treatment today and then had a short chat with Dr. Lee. He painted a very bleak picture of my last week or two of treatment and probably the month following. He said I will probably want to be laying on my side most of the time. Whoopee, I'm sure glad I have that to look forward to, especially since I feel pretty much OK right now except for the radiation quick step. Buy stock in Imodium.
I'm not supposed to lose my hair, but guess what? I am. I fall into the 10-29% who experience hair thinning. Hopefully it will only be thinning. I had lots of hair so it doesn't look bad yet. Oh well, I've always loved hats.
I guess that's all for today. Hopefully we are having lunch with friends the next couple of days. It helps pass the time since I don't have a lot of energy for shopping.  Maybe we will go to a movie one afternoon.
Please keep me in your thoughts.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Boy what a change. Last night I ate a REAL dinner of pasta and a small salad. My stomach is back to 95% and my mouth is about 75% and I have two weeks to improve before I feel yucchhy again. We stayed home last night instead of going to our usual NYE party because we thought it wouldn't be wise for me to be exposed to a lot of people in close quarters. In bed before midnight and I slept for 10 hours. Another great sign of improvement.
A certain calmness has come to me and that can only be for the good. My son, Pete, wrote some very interesting thoughts on his blog about Peace and I have given it a great deal of thought. I feel and inner Peace and calmness that I haven't felt in a long time. This experience is making me realize it's not worth it to get worked up about small things. I know when I'm not feeling so very good that I get irritated easily, but all in all I think I am becoming a more calm person.
I wish you all Peace, Health and Happiness for 2012 and forever.