Addie

Red, I think. Red is a happy color for me. Years ago, in the big 64 box they used to have a color called Heliotrope. Anyone else remember that color? It was sort of a purple color and back then, it was my favorite. As a young girl I did "fashion design" and one of my best dresses, on paper, was made of a Heliotrope colored fabric. It was designed for Patrice Munsel. Anybody remember HER? Needless to say, y'all don't go out and buy my label...so my fashion design "career" began AND ended during my childhood. Ms. Munsel doesn't know what she missed.

Ann....bless your heart AND thanks for reminding me about Oriental Trading....I LOVE that place. What a neat thing to package all the goodies in a can. Heck...if you do it again, lemme know as I might have stickers and a few other things here that you could use...ok? Well, Missy Newspaper Photographer either changed her mind about the "human interest of toilet paper" or I broke her camera with the sheen off my bald head...but nothing has been in the paper! Now...today, hubby and I went to Costco again after radiation. They had NO Purell but for the large countertop size but the guy in the pharmacy REALLY liked my idea of the 2 oz size in bulk and suggested I leave a suggestion in the suggestion box! Made sense to me....so I did. Maybe Costco will start carrying the wee bottles in bulk. But aside from that we got diapers, toothbrushes, paper towels, water again...and then we went to the Dollar store and got about $50 bucks worth of coloring books and those preschool type work books for spelling, the alphabet, numbers, etc., plus crayons, colored pencils and markers. Paul will drop them off at Town Hall tomorrow while I'm in the toaster. Today, I saw the rad onc too...and guess who gets to start weaning off Decadron AS SOON AS RAD IS OVER!?? Can you guess who? I go immediately to 2 mgs. daily for a week, then 2 mgs. every other day for another week...THEN DONE! Maybe I can start to have a normal sleep pattern again, huh? Jeez...I think I just hijacked my own thread here...so I'll quit and go take a nap!

Well, shoot....40-60 days down the road I'm gonna be OFF the Decadron...so it will take me longer to eat my way thru all the recipes! Thanks, Andrea, for all you've done with this cook book...AND to your readers/proofers/assistants. I am looking forward to ordering. Like Ry, I think it will make a great Christmas gift Did anyone submit a good recipe for Thai pork or chicken satay?

Don't know how I missed this...but Lucie always has my very best thoughts anyway, so I'll just ratchet them up a bit to cover this little setback. I hope the chemo cocktail wipes it all out...and I also know having you by her side, Don, is like a magic weapon too!

Great to see you back and in fine fettle, Miss Cindi! You have been missed....LOTS. Now hie your butt down to the Pub, open up and start slicing some limes, will ya? You got a bunch of parched people here waitin' on one of your famous Margaritas!! Seriously......glad to have you back and hope the ( ) holes in your side heal up real soon. Watch them carefully....and make sure you RUN to the docs if you see any signs of infection...you hear?

Dean & Gay...nothing but warm and appreciative thoughts of you, now and always. Your courage and dignity in how you've faced everything...is quite phenominal. I wish you peace on the rest of your journey.

It took me a few days to absorb it all myself...and so initially I just told family and my closest friends. But in rather short order, I didn't care who knew. I knew I was gonna go bald with tx, and having no other "good reason" for showing up at the golf course without hair...I figured I'd best explain what the heck was going on! The only time I feel "awkward" about it...for lack of a better word....is around little kids. They really don't understand a bald woman...and if they ASK me (I love that kids are so honest! ), I just say I had to take a very special kind of medicine that made my hair go away. I'm careful to say it's a kind of medicine that isn't "normally" given...because I don't want kids to fear getting an aspirin or cough medicine or something. But otherwise...I don't care who knows. Like Rich I told everyone who seemed to have a sorrowful reaction to SHED NO TEARS FOR ME. That I'd tell them when the time came for tears...but for now...Onward and Upward. Strong positive thoughts that there was treatment and I was going to get thru it. I still feel that way...altho hubby and I have shed a few tears in two very short pity parties, when the cancer came back twice. Still...I've beaten it back once and I just know this current radiation is taking care of the brain boogers. Played nine holes yesterday and am doing the same thing today, so a BIG OL' RASPBERRY ON CANCER!! LIVING is a lot more fun...right?

Mark.....my Onc always says that how I look and feel tells him as much as the test results/scans do!! So the fact that you're feeling good is sorta like money in the bank! Hoping for continued shrinkage...and know that radiation is often not as fearsome as we think it will be. I got thru 31 days of chest rad, relatively unscathed....but you might ask your onc about Amifostine shots. It protects the esophagus but not everyone can tolerate them. I had to take an anti-nausea pill 1/2 hr before the injection...and then you have to stay put for 15 minutes to make sure your b.p. doesn't drop. Mine never did and I tend to have sorta low b.p. anyway. Good luck with whatever comes next and keep us posted...but so far, it all sounds like great news. Keep that up!!!

Most individuals cannot come close to doing what a large company or corporation can do...whether it's donated $$$ or goods. But every little bit adds up, I figure. And it is a nice feeling to do something tangible...so we have the next Costco list all made up to buy and deliver to City Hall. There should have been a more rapid response...and I don't know if we'll ever have the truth on why it didn't happen. But one thing I DO know...is that I don't blame the helicopter pilots for going away when people on the ground were SHOOTING AT THEM. The looting of water or food makes some sense. I heard even some police officers looted a kitchen somewhere for food and water so they could continue to do their jobs. But the looting of beer and electronics or anything other than food/water is unconscionable. On my one and only camping trip of my whole life...I was miserable. Had to hike nearly a 1/2 mile uphill to use the john. No shower for two days. My hair turned to brillo pads from the mist off the lake and the mere thought of putting a worm on a hook at 5:00 while the guys were eating baloney sandwiches and drinking beer for breakfast made me want to puke. It was impossible to get comfy in a four person tent, lakeside, without even an air mattress under me...so didn't get much sleep. Oh, and one of the guys snored to beat the band. And it all was NOTHING compared to what is happening to the poor victims of Katrina. If we all do what we can...it WILL help...even if it seems small compared to the enormity of the destruction. The more people who donate something...the more people who get some relief. P.S. Nothing in the paper today. Think I broke the camera? Maybe tomorrow...Sundays they are usually scrounging for news other than Saturday night DUIs!

Well this news just might UP the liquor consumption for the weekend, eh? A few toasts to Joel's good health being made, perhaps? Congrats to you both and an oversized WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO. This is fabulous news! By the time Cindi gets back to open up the Pub, there's gonna be a lot of parched people lined up. Think she'll lob cocktail onions at us?

Today was a feel good day. First, it was announced in our newspaper that Danbury Town Hall would collect donated items for hurricane victims, for transport to one of the state Armories. All the Armories are accepting donations of water, packaged foodstuff, etc. Since there isn't an Armory within 35-40 mins. of us, we loaded up on water, batteries and toilet paper at Costco and took it to City Hall. Wouldn't you know, a photographer was there from the local paper and apparently I was the first one to think of toilet paper ...so after we carried in all our stuff, the gal w/ the camera asked if I'd carry in the t.p. again so she could get a picture. Too bad I wasn't wearing a LCSC tee shirt too, eh? Anyway, I struggled my way through the door again with a 24 pack of t.p. and she snapped away so I guess The Decadron Lady could end up in the paper with An Armload of Toilet Paper. Then...last evening I wrote to Pfizer...the maker of Purell, the hand sanitizer you can carry in your purse or pocket. They make 2 oz bottles and I use the stuff a lot when my counts are low. I requested that they donate as many of those little bottles as possible to Katrina victims. I did get a reply saying my email had been forwarded to "the appropriate personnel". But hubby tells me Pfizer just lost a humongous law suit...so how amenable they'll be to my suggestion...I dunno. I just thought with as much filth, debris and even dead bodies floating in the water down there...that anything that would help sanitize would be a good thing. We're gonna see if they carry those single wipe, individually packaged sanitizers in bulk at Costco next time we go up for stuff to donate. Also diapers, baby wipes and even some of that pedialyte stuff. I may even send some more toilet paper and some paper towels this time. I don't imagine even a 24 pack of t.p. will go very far. At least it was a start...and it felt good to do something!!

I guess I'd just take it to the police and let them AND Ginny go nuts! It would be tempting. I'd be curious. But I'd be afraid if I opened it, something would dye my hands...like they do with cash in a bank to identify a thief. So...I'd just take it to the cops.

Jen....as always, you know I send you my best. I'm glad the back pain and flank pain are improved and hope the gastro stuff clears up real soon. Did you ask if the Topo might be causing it? I'm just past cycle 10...and was going in the other gastric direction....but stepped up my fiber and fruit intake. That helped. Holding good thoughts for you to find a way to...uh...er....put a cork in it, if ya know how I mean. Good, healing thoughts and lots of love coming your way....

I was 14...still too young for a work permit. I worked at a furniture store where my aunt ended up having a 57 year "career". I worked the elevator, the switchboard, did flyers up in the warehouse on the mimeograph machine (that tells ya how long ago this was, eh? ) and also worked a little in the office, which my aunt ran. The only time I wasted was listening to my aunt tell me NOT to waste time because it reflected poorly back on her!

My car takes premium....so hubby only drives it to the dump (my car has the dump sticker on it...it's a wagon). But he filled his tank today and it was about $44.00. The only good thing is that I can't drive right now ...so it's not like the both of are out there. But we have to drive 20 mins. one way, five days a week to the hospital...and he still says he goes thru a tank in about a week. Not too bad. When I was driving...a tank lasted me three weeks I only really drove to the grocery, the golf club, Michael's Crafts and TJ Maxx!

I just hope for that cute doc's sake, that his name isn't Ned...because we know our Cindi...and next thing you know she'll be telling us she was in a hospital bed with NED AND Ned! So glad you're doing well, m' dear. We miss you...and look forward to drinks half price at the Pub when you return. P.S. How's the green jello?

So sorry I missed seeing this, Don...but CONGRATULATIONS, YOU NERD!! I hope you celebrated this news in grand style. We always like to hear such good news. Joanie suggests you jump up and down....but if ya ask me, I'll tell you to head straight to the pub and hoist a something along with the rest of us!

Thanks, Lindsey. Guess I don't check the hall pass forum often enough. Hope Bethie is doing okay. I worry about her. ************ I'm such a dork. Or maybe it's the brain radiation. I POSTED to Beth's request for a hall pass. It just seemed like it was longer ago than the 25th....and I was missing her input. Ah well, if she is lurking at all...it can't hurt for her to know she's missed...can it?

Jackie dear....YOU come first...so take care of you and do what you have to. We know you'll be sending good thoughts our way just as we always do yours. Don't worry. We'll be here when you feel up to posting again...and will welcome you back with a multitude of open arms!!

Dear Beth.... It's been about a month since you posted your last update. Just wonderin' how you're doing by now? Feeling any better....more upbeat? We miss your input. Miss your humor. I do understand that some days finding one's humor is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack ...but I'm hoping that you ARE, INDEED, finding some things to smile, chuckle or laugh about daily...because it releases all those good endorphins from your brain. Know we're all missin' ya and thinkin' about you...and hoping you'll show up here soon. Hugs....

A used, brown, stock VW Rabbit. Only had an AM radio in it! Hubby bought it, parked it outside and said, "It's yours when you get your license!!" I was 33 years old with two kids and finally decided getting them to the pediatrician, having to TRANFER buses to get there...was NOT my idea of fun. Lived in a big city at the time...never really had to learn to drive prior to that. That car was SO basic...but I didn't care. It ran and it was mine!

In a hospital bed with NED. Leave it to our Cindi, eh? Thanks Pam...and tell her we all miss her and love her!

Dunno how I missed this one, Debi...but let me add my big ol' WOOOOO HOOOOOO to everyone else's. Great news. Fabulous news. Stupendous news....and it couldn't happen to a nicer "chick"

I heard somebody say that so much is a complete loss and insurance will cover it anyway....so what's the big deal about looting?....and I wanted to SCREAM!! Looting is stealing. I just don't understand the mentality of going into Wal*Mart and helping one's self ~??? The devastation is so far beyond what I've seen anywhere else in my lifetime....it's hard to believe. I cannot imagine. And yet most people plan to rebuild and stay in the area. I think I'd be making plans to get outta Dodge after something like this. We are getting rather heavy rains here this morning...and I wonder if it's some tail end of Katrina hitting the northeast? While we all vibe, pray and send good thoughts out for each other...let's not forget to send a few to Katrina's victims down south.

The thing about having good, strong hands...is that you can PUNCH OUT anyone who wants to make fun of your other BELOW AVERAGE parts.....eh? Lets' face it...how many people are gonna go around exposing their washboard abs anyway? But YOU....YOU can show off those hands everywhere you go...and if you don't get no respect for them....don't forget that strong middle finger!!