Workout

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, I got Evan up for school.  He didn't seem like he was in a good mood, though he didn't give me a hard time.  I just think he was tired.  I think he's just about ready for the school year to end.  Not that he doesn't like it, but it's been nearly 9 months of school now.

Noah got up while I was in the shower.  I got breakfast for him when I got out.  He seemed to be in a good mood. Rachel said he kept testing her later on though.  He asked for bread and jelly and then said he didn't want it...things like that.

This afternoon, Gabby came to babysit.  Rachel dropped her and Noah off to get Evan and then they all walked home.

I took Evan for a free class to test out this baseball program today.  They teach fundamentals but they also work on strength and how to throw right to gain velocity on pitches and bat speed.  It turns out that there was a boy there that Evan played tee ball with in his first year in tee ball.  For the first hour, they worked on core strength exercises.  They did many exercises up and down the stairs.  Then they used a heavy ball to twist their mid-section.  They got a band and exercised their arms and shoulders.  I wasn't sure what Evan would think of that.  He had never done it at all.  In the last 30 minutes they worked on throwing mechanics and moved into pitching as well.  I think Evan really enjoyed learning how to pitch.  I was very curious to hear what he thought at the end.  He said he really enjoyed it and wanted to do it again.  He liked it so much that when we got home, he went outside and played more baseball while I made dinner.

Rachel came home and we had dinner.  Then we put the boys to bed.  We're wondering if Evan may be sore tomorrow.

Until next time...

Getting Ready for Chemo #4

Well, it’s almost that time again. Tomorrow I have the 4^th and final chemo treatment. Boo and Yay! I’m so looking forward to being done with this part of my treatment.

I’m feeling a little better than the last time I updated. I’m still not great. The two most annoying symptoms this time have been the extreme fatigue and hand problems. I’m still very tired, but at least my hands are getting a little better. I have gotten some feeling back in my fingertips and my hands don’t hurt quite as bad. They are mostly just peeling right now. I still have a hard time doing fine motor skills. Morry has to help me open certain things and it’s difficult getting the kids changed and dressed.

Even though I’ve been tired, I have tried to start doing a little bit of exercise. I have a DVD of 10 minute dance workouts. I have done a few of them – just 10 minutes at a time. I didn’t want to overdo it. I was pretty tired after just 10 minutes. I’m looking forward to having the chemo out of my system so that I can really start walking, running, and doing other aerobic stuff again.

I’ve been reading a book our neighbors bought for me. It’s called Anticancer: A New Way of Life. It’s very interesting. The author is a doctor who underwent chemo and treatment for brain cancer and did a lot of research on natural ways to fight cancer. He stresses how important a good diet is with more organic foods and less processed products. He talks a lot about following a Mediterranean diet. I’ve been trying to do more of that. We just bought a juicer yesterday so I can make vegetable and fruit juices.

Morry and I went out a date last night. I was finally feeling up to going out. We had a nice, relaxing dinner and dessert. Things have obviously been a little stressful around here. I just want to say how amazing Morry has been through all of this. Not only has he supported me and shown we are in this together (ie shaving his head), he has been taking care of the boys, the house, the animals, etc. Luckily he was so hands on before all this. He is great taking care of the kids, in fact Evan wants Morry to do everything with and for him. It’s cute, but it can get exhausting. Morry is doing a great job balancing everything. I just wish there was some way I could give him a break and let him relax a little.

Michael and Jen get in this afternoon. We are all looking forward to seeing them and having their help.

I’ll try to update you again in a few days and let you know how my last chemo treatment went.

Doctor, CVS, and Newflower

Evan was up at 6:24 am this crying for Daddy and did not go back to sleep.

This morning I made a doctor’s appointment for Evan. He’s had this little bump on his butt for a while, but the last week he’s been scratching it and it got bigger and more irritated. I was able to make an appointment for 9:45. Evan, Noah, and I went to the doctor. It took a while. We were there for about an hour. The doctor said Evan has Molluscum Contagiosum, a skin condition that causes raised, round, bumps on the skin. We have to give him an antibiotic cream 3 times a day for a few days.

After the doctor we went to CVS. There were a lot of items on sale there that we needed. We were there about an hour. Evan was not well behaved and it made the shopping take extra long. I also had to take him to the bathroom twice. I guess it’s not in a good neighborhood because when I was trying to get out to the car I realized the shopping carts don’t fit through the door. I had lots of big items (toilet paper, paper towels, ..). There was no way I was going to be able to get that stuff and the boys to the car without a cart. The checkout guy offered to help me to the car. That was very nice of him, but I was annoyed at the store.

Then, we went to Newflower, across the street. I got our groceries for the week and also got some good deals there. Evan and Noah were better behaved there. I gave them both apples to eat to keep them busy. After checkout I took the boys to the bakery to get their free cookie (kids get free cookies).

We came home, ate lunch, and the boys took good naps.

For dinner, we ate rotisserie chicken and leftover potatoes.

After dinner, I made Morry run with me. :)

I want to try and start exercising more. Maybe we’ll try running after dinner and see how that works out.

Evan and Noah are in bed now, but Evan is still awake.

Noah hates the gym

Evan and Noah woke up at 8:00am. I got them dressed and fed and we left for school.

As we were parking Evan told me he didn’t want to go to school. Now, that we don’t have the infant car seat it makes it harder to get both boys out of the car. I had already gotten Noah out and was holding him. Evan did not want to climb out of his car seat and the car. I had to put Noah down on the seat of the car and pull Evan out of the car. I was already holding Evan’s lunch, jacket, and water bottle. Evan wanted to me carry him too. Some how I managed to carry all that stuff and both boys to the outside door, but I had to put Evan down to enter to code to the door. Evan was still crying when we entered the classroom. Once we got all the way in the classroom he seemed fine and started playing.

After dropping Evan off at school I took Noah to the gym with me. I wanted to try another class. I was able to do 15 minutes of an ab class and 1 minute on the treadmill before the child care woman came and got me. Again, they couldn’t get Noah to stop crying. I guess we won’t be able to join they gym now. It’s not worth it to go for maybe a 15 minute workout.

Noah took a good nap when we came home. I was able to relax some.

After lunch, I put Noah in the stroller and I ran/walked to pick Evan up. Since I didn’t really get to exercise this morning I figured I’d at least run/walk to get Evan.

Blanca came at 3:00 so I could tutor. I came home at 8:00. When I got home Evan was still eating dinner. He eats very slowly.

Evan and Noah are in their rooms, but not asleep yet. I hear Evan, though the monitor saying, “I want Daddy. I want Mommy.”

Walked to school

I walked the boys to Evan’s school this morning. It’s about 2 miles and took about 30 minutes each way. It was such a nice day out and good excuse for exercise.

While Evan was at school I cleaned out the pantry. What fun. We kept getting these little bugs in everything like our flour and cereal. Those bugs have even gotten through Ziploc bags and unopened packages of flour. I hope cleaning out the pantry will help.

Evan had a good day at school though he didn’t eat much of his lunch. When we got home he sat at his little red table, opened his lunch bag himself, and ate more of his lunch.

Both Evan and Noah took a good nap. While they were napping Blanca came over and I left to go tutor. I had 3 students this afternoon and got home around 7.

Morry made pizza for dinner. Morry bought a big box of like 30 dough balls at Sams Club a while ago and we are slowly getting through them. If you have any ideas of other ways to use dough balls let me know. I was thinking I would try a dessert pizza some time.

So, I love those pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks and found a recipe for a pumpkin coffee drink. I tried it out today and was not very good. I still feel like I have that taste in my mouth. Basically the recipe has you mix coffee, evaporated milk, pumpkin, and sugar. Maybe it was the taste of the evaporated milk I didn’t like?

Evan and Noah are in bed now quiet, but Evan is at his gate at the door.. Pretty much every night before we go to bed, Morry moves Evan back to his bed.