Hopluv's Vox Blog

[this is not good]

nobody@vox.com(Hopluv) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:03:41 -0500

Support Groups

I struggled with a title, hence the one you see above. I thought this looked cool!
5 days post chemo treatment. I'm hoping I start to feel better over the next few days. Mainly muscle and joint aching has been the culprit following this cycle. I experienced this with the last treatment but it wasn't as bad as this go around. The is a side effect of Taxotere. The pain is making it difficult to sleep. I meet with my Oncologist tomorrow, I think I will have her prescribe something for the pain. The hot flashes started with is cycle too. I feel like I've aged 20 years!
Still going to support group meetings at Gilda's Club. It's going "ok" what I'm starting to see though is that they do a lot of conversing about non cancer related topics/issues/concerns. I mean this week, 1.5 hours were spent with folks talking about their recent vacation to Ireland, walking dogs and grandchildren with about 30 minutes of participants speaking on their status and sharing. And there is one women that monopolizes the entire session! She talks too much, and when anyone else speaks she takes that over with her stories. I can tell that it annoys the faciliator and the other people too. Its called "group" for a reason biatch!
Gilda's also has another support group that meets at their clubhouse once a month called "Sisters Network." C and I thought this would be a great opportunity to connect with African American women who have experienced breast cancer. So, we went to the meeting to check it out. It was very structured, with a formal agenda and everything - a little too structured - actually, I thought I was on a conference call for work! Anyway, it seems the purpose of the organization is to raise money for breast cancer awareness and community outreach - essentially knocking on doors to talk to African Americans about breast cancer. This is all fine and well and something I will be interested in doing once I get on the other side of treatment, however right now I'm looking for support groups to get through this ordeal. I was so syched for this organization too! The perfect group for me would be gay, African American women with breast cancer - I honestly don't think that exists.

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In The Cocktail Lounge: 3rd Chemo Treatment Completed

nobody@vox.com(Hopluv) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:52:43 -0500

Voluntary poisoning at it's finest.

Me on my work laptop (not working) maxin and relaxin in the Chemo Lounge:

Kickin Back During Chemotherapy

Voxing During Chemotherapy

I've reached the middle ground, 3 of the 6 treatments completed today!
3 weeks following the 6th treatment I start radiation therapy - everyday for 6 weeks. Blahs!
Met with Dr. M., my Oncologist before chemo today. She said my CBC (Complete Blood Count) looked great and my limited number of side effects was very positive! At this point with the exception of increasing fatigue, I shouldn't experience any new side effects.
My blood pressure has been increasingly high, something she is very concern with. I have had a problem with high blood pressure before the Breast Cancer diagnosis and at one point was on medication. She said we have to get it under control quick fast and in a hurry!
C, T and my brother came to treatment with me today, thanks family!
I will try hard to have an enjoyable weekend, before the after effects of treatment kick in around Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
Next chemotherapy treatment August 8th, yeah-boo-hiss!

Other non-cancer related ramblins...

The "Air" is doing great, still loving it! The Steve Sleeve showed up, I don't like it as much as I thought I would. Definitely not worth the 50 clams I paid for it. Probably will be replaced PDQ (pretty, damn, quick).
T got all four wisdom teeth removed on Monday. Monday was the toughest due to all the bleeding, she had a lot of soreness but experience no pain - mainly because I kept her loaded up on the pain meds they prescribed - Vicodin. She has a little swelling looking rather "chipmunkish." She insisted upon going with me to treatment today even though I suspected she didn't feel totally up to it - which she confirmed this evening. The worst of it is over and overall I think she feels pretty good. It was actually kind of weird, I enjoyed babying my 19 year old daughter the last few days! It made me feel good :)
T told me today she plans to take real estate classes early next year and then take the licensing exam to become a Realtor. The plan is to partner with me to sell homes next summer. How cool is that?! I've had my license since 2003 - although I have a full time job I like to sell homes on the side!
I had doubts, but I'm really enjoying the Wendy Williams Show! How yooooou doooin? The show debuted on Monday of this week, for a 6 week run in a few selected markets - New York, Detriot, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Went to Urban Taco for dinner tonight following my brother's recommendation. Didn't like it! Everything was blan and I felt it was overpriced too. $9.25 for 3 tiny tacos, don't think so. I called him afterward and told him, I didn't care for it. This place puts them to shame - Tin Star. The tacos at Tin Star are flavorful and much larger and much cheaper!
The local Smart Car dealer called me this afternoon to tell my triple black Smart ForTwo Passion Coupe will be here Aug 14th! She wanted to know if I was still interested in it. Of course I am! I reserved this car back May 2007, so its been a long wait. It will be a second car for me as I purchased a new car the end of May this year - AKA "Benzie" which I really love! The Smart Car is something cute, fun and gas efficient to possibly add to the household.
My Smart ForTwo

Here are the specs:


fortwo passion coupe, 1.0 L, 70 HP, 3 cylinder engine


Base price		$ 13,590.00

body panels in deep black		N/C

tridion safety cell, black		N/C

Black leather seats

Standard equipment

Engine/drivetrain

1.0 L, 70 HP, 3 cylinder engine

5 speed automated manual transmission

Paddle shifters

Wheels

9-spokes alloy wheels (15") with front tires: 155/60 R15; rear tires 175/55 R15

Tire pressure control system

Exterior

body panels in deep black

Panorama roof (sun screen included)

Projector beam halogen headlights

Side indicators in yellow

Exterior mirror cap in tridion color

Interior

3-spoke leather sports steering wheel with steering wheel shift paddles (incl. leather gear knob)

Basic seat with weight detection and seatbelt recognition

Flat folding passenger seat with backrest adjustment

Storage areas beside the steering wheel and in both doors

Coin holder

Dome light

Mirror in passenger sun visor

Storage

Lockable glove compartment

Audio

smart radio (AM/FM, single CD; incl. 2 speakers, Aux input jack for MP3 device)

Safety

Hydraulic dual-circuit brake system

Tire repair kit

Top Tether for child restraint system

Panic button on key

esp - electronic stability program with hill start assist

Anti-lock braking system (abs) with electronic brake force distribution

Full-size driver and passenger airbags

Head/Thorax-Side Airbags

Integral safety seats

Seat belts with belt tensioner and belt-force limiter

Drive lock - auto-activation of the central locking when driving

Functional/electrical equipment

Air conditioning with automatic temperature control (incl. dust, pollen filter)

Power windows with one-touch lowering function

Electronic and heated side mirrors

Central locking system with remote control

Instrument cluster with multifunctional display (fuel-level indicator, coolant-level indicator, residual fuel indicator, service interval indicator, trip mileage indicator, clock)

Outside temperature indicator

Indicators with lane changer function

Front windshield wiper with speed-dependent interval wiping and wiper-/wash function

Intermittent rear windshield wiper with wiper-/wash function

Electric rear window defroster

Electric tailgate release

Locking gas cap

12-volt socket, with cover

Special equipment

Comfort Package - includes the following features		$ 850.00

Black leather seats

Heated seats

Electric power steering (eps)

Rain sensing windshield wipers

Light sensor (autolight)

Auto-off headlamps with exit delay

Total price[*]:

$ 14,440.00

I will probably go test drive one next week. If I don't simply love it, I will leave it!

Nuff said, enjoy your weekend!

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Upgrade me...

nobody@vox.com(Hopluv) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:45:25 -0500

T needed a new laptop for school since the logic board on her iBook crashed her first semester in college. She suffered through without one all last semester. However, I was a bit tired of having to print her assignments from a jump drive and stuff. Besides, she needed the portability of a laptop to take notes in class and use on projects.

Since she often gets my gadget hand me downs, she inherited my Macbook aKa ZenBaby. I got ZenBaby a little over two years ago and she JUST got a brand new battery and AC adapter that cost me $200 bucks. So, since T got ZenBaby I had to replace her. I replaced her with a MacBook Air.

Macbook Air

Right now I'm referring to her as "the Air." I love, love, love it! Its paper thin and super light. I spent the majority of the weekend configuring it. At set up one of the features offered is to migrate your information and applications from another Mac computer to it. Since I have many, many gigs of music and photos I thought this would be great to allow me to automate the transfer of these items along with my contacts and iCal entries to the new laptop. It told me it would take about 15 hours to complete the transfer. I had a cookout to go to, so thought I would set it up and let her rip!

When I got back home it had about 5 hours remaining. Then after about 30 minutes, it experienced an error and the transfer stopped! 10 hours wasted as the data migration failed and no information made it to the Air. Pissed off, yes I was! I spent the better part of Sunday manually transferring data using my external hard drive. I was so nervous about syncing my iPhone to the Air for the first time. I crossed my fingers, and connected the cable - no problems.

I purchased the Steve Sleeve (gotta love the name) from Timbuk2 to "tote" it in.

Timbuk2 Steve Sleeve

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alfresco

nobody@vox.com(Hopluv) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:51:54 -0500

adv.

In the fresh air; outdoors: dining alfresco.

adj.

Taking place outdoors; outdoor: an alfresco conference.

Been looking for modern patio furniture for my front courtyard and back patio for some time. Since the majority of my summer will be couped up at home because of treatment it became even more important to fine something so that I could at least sit outside to get some fresh air. I wanted something modern or contemporary in a bright color. Everything that I liked was in the thousands - I can't stomach paying that for something that will be rained on, sun drenched, bird shitted on etc.

Look what I found on one of my favorite resources Craigslist. It meets the modern requirement, its black but that can be changed. But the best thing is it was only $60.00 - yes, $60 bucks for a 5 piece Italian patio set! It's made by emu who specialize in metal contemporary outdoor furniture. Here are pics from the ad, and the bottom pic with the succulents in the yellow flower pot is in my front courtyard I snapped with my iphone.

Now what color to paint it? I heart Craigslist!

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Pleasant Surprises!

nobody@vox.com(Hopluv) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:21:29 -0500

Romanicos1

Romanicos2

Romanicos3

Wow! Is all I can say to these chocolates! Totally unexpected delivery from FedEx this morning from my brother. I'm a sucker for fine chocolates. These are from Romanicos Chocolate the Chocolate Art collection. There is a note in the box that says the chocolates where hand made on June 30th. And also "We suggest you to consume them within five days after receiving date" NOT A PROBLEM! The white ones with the leopard-like art are White Pistachio I think I inhaled those! The taste is incredible. All I need to accompany them is a nice dessert or ice wine to wash em down.

The content of the box:

1st Row - Fishes - Sunny Orange
2nd Row - Leopard- White Pistachio
3rd Row - Fishes - Pineapple Delicacy
4th Row - Marble - Cookies and Cream White
5th Row - Purple Flowers - Raspberry Delight

These made my day today brother. Thank you!

Harrods Dark Chocolate Biscuits1

Harrods Dark Chocolate Biscuits2

Soul and I have been friends for a number of years. I honestly don't know how we became friends - we started reading each others personal blogs back in the day. She is such a fabulous person, caring, well spoken, well written, funny as hell which allowed us to connect on many levels. Soul surprised me with these chocolate biscuits from across the pond (London, if you need help with that) a few days ago! The tin is simply gorgeous! And the treat insides - wonderful! Soul is on my "must meet" list. When I get to London we are going to do it big girl! And you know when ever your ass lands in Dallas it's on!

Family and Friends, what a blessing!

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Bouncing Back and other randoms...

nobody@vox.com(Hopluv) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:37:09 -0500

On my 4th day since my last chemo treatment - other than starting out the day a little nauseated I've been doing good. Yesterday I had a tremendous amount of joint and muscle aches which is a side affect of Taxotere. You kind of feel like you are coming down with the flu....it ain't pretty!
I literally washed some of my hair out! I noticed that it had started to come out, but I surely didn't expect that when I looked in the mirror after rinsing the shampoo out of my hair I would have huge bald spots - shocking. It actually bothered me more than I thought it would. A short hair cut is one thing - bald is another! Just so I didn't look like I had the "mange" about the head I decided to shave it all off. The Puma hat collection is now in heavy rotation.
I'm a bit disappointed, I was supposed to be in Greece this week damn it!!!! Instead of dealing with breast cancer treatment!
Hancock starts tomorrow, I love Will Smith! Although, I haven't heard great reviews about this film. Still going to see it.
Group at Gilda's Club is going extremely well, the Wellness group is so informative and beneficial. C and I went to the new member dinner Monday night, enjoyable!
Picked up "Benzie" on Friday. The body shop did a phenomenal job with the bumper ding it is as good as new.

Benzie@Gildas

Ok, after leaving the body shop C and I go to the mall to grab a bite at Dave and Busters and walk around for a bit. After a couple of hours we depart and discover that someone keyed the passenger side of my car!!! There was absolutely no reason for this. None. I honestly don't understand why. There was hardly anyone in the parking garage when I parked, I didn't make a mean face at anyone, didn't flip anyone off, didn't beat anyone out for the parking spot - nothing. The guy at the body shop couldn't believe I was back the very next day. $1300.00 repair - for no reason.

One of my best friends that works at the hospital my Oncologist is located and also where I go for treatment surprised me today. I received in the mail a page of stickers to put on the back of my tickets for the parking garage. This allows me to not have to pay for parking whenever I'm at the hospital. Totally unexpected! How nice is that? The littlest things...
Mr. B is looking good these days.

BentleyBoo

Considering he was attacked by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier on June 9th. There were no internal injuries to his head or neck, so I'm thankful for that. I don't know what I would've done had he died in the attack. He shook Bentley around so vigorously; as if he was a little rag doll. Because of the attack, the owner of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier put his dog to sleep. As you can see, the hair on his face is a little short and his eyebrows are a bit jacked up, but he looks great compared to how he looked in the picture below immediately following the attack about 3 weeks ago.

Bentley Injured

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In The Cocktail Lounge: 2nd Chemo Treatment Completed

nobody@vox.com(Hopluv) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:58:59 -0500

Voluntary poisoning at it's finest.

Toxic Warning

2nd Chemotherapy treatment was done on Friday successfully. The voluntary poison begun after blood was drawn from medi-port to be tested in the lab. I met with Dr. M before going to the Infusion Room (The Cocktail Lounge) for the chemo drugs. She reviewed the blood work that came back from the lab which indicated my blood counts were good! She wanted to look at my hands for thinning nails and detachment - which is a side affects from the chemo drugs. I'm starting to get a deep purple line at the base of my thumb nail bed, she said it was a side affect from the drugs also. We discussed other side affects that I experienced none of which were out of the ordinary. The treatment was started and was shorter in duration, about 4 hour vs. the 5 for the first one. The Oncologist Nurse explained that the first treatment takes longer because the meds were administered slowly to see if I would have any reactions. Since I did not, the 2nd treatment (dose) was set to run faster.

I saw the claim for the first treatment today on a statement sent by my insurance company - for saline, Benadryl, anti nausea, and 3 chemo drugs - charges were $26,300.00! For drugs! I have several more treatments at $26K a pop - whoa!. Thank god for insurance!

I have noticed that my hair is coming out somewhat easily, not by brushing, but if I pinch a bunch together and do a slight tug it all comes out, no pain or anything - very weird! I anticipate total baldness by sometimes next week. The wierdness and fatigue are supposed to set in after the 3rd day following treatment which is when the steriods wear off - so Monday or Tuesday of next week, I might be flat out! My plan was to really enjoy this afternoon and tomorrow as much as possible. I'm a bit bummed because I was scheduled to be in Greece next week, however those plan were spoiled with the Breast Cancer show stealer. Since the vacation days were already planned I decided to take them anyway so that I can recuperate from the Chemotherapy without worrying about work.

I had visitors join me in the Cocktail Lounge - thanks Miss "C" and thank you Miss "J". Both your presence were wonderful to have today :)

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A Fraternity of Assassins

nobody@vox.com(Hopluv) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:36:30 -0500

Caught a preview of Wanted last night! We stood in line for about 2.5 hours to ensure we would get in. It was worth the wait. I have to say a little "Matrix-esque," if I were to compare Wanted to the first Matrix (and of course I did, and also the 2nd and 3rd Matrix installations) it loses. However, a definite worth see! I won't review the movie do to possible "spoilage." If anybody has seen it, or plan to see it let me know your thoughts.

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