Anniverary photo at Coco’s 14th birthday party
Gusty winds were blowing light rain in from the northeast when we arrived a Waialae Beach Park for a small gathering in honor of the 14th birthday of one of our favorite morning dogs, Coco. Being our anniversary, we enjoyed a low-key celebration of both events.
And below are Coco, the birthday pup, along with Jake, who is a treat-a-holic.
It was Tuesday morning, the day after Day #3, which was lost to post-chemo side effects.
But I felt pretty good on Tuesday. The background headache was gone, the brain fog back to a low level. After getting up early, as usual, I wrote a blog post describing the prior day’s sad tale.
No walk to beach to see the sunrise sunrise, though. I learned that lesson.
After Meda emerged from the bedroom, we had a light breakfast. Then she asked me to troubleshoot why she wasn’t able to use Microsoft Word on her relatively new MacBook Neo.
And that led to an intense and frustrating 45-minutes or so going mano a mano with Microsoft’s almost impenetrable online maze. Meda’s prompt said that she had to subscribe, but I know she shares my paid subscription. I was finally able to maneuver to a page that macknowledged the shared Microsoft 365 account. But when I tried to activate it using the button provided, it would send me right back to the original “buy a subscription” page.
I tried a number of different approaches, none seemed to show promise, and I could feel my energy reserves running down quickly. Mental effort, not physical effort, was starting to drag me down.
I finally broke through and got the job done. But by that time, I was ready for a 45-minute nap that seemed, at the time, to be restorative.
Over the rest of the day, I did a few small tasks.
• Swept up around one of the cat litter boxes that Kiko had happily played in, kicking fresh cat litter out at least two feet on all sides.
• Finished sorting through a stack of old pants, at least a dozen or more, selecting just a few to keep and bagging the rest to give away.
• Did a small wash of my clothes.
• Cleared assort “stuff” out of our car in advance of having it detailed the next day.
Nothing strenuous. I thought I was safe.
But I wasn’t.
By mid-afternoon, I was drained once again. I lost the rest of the day, and the evening, with along night in bed.
Woke up again feeling better, but spooked by how easy it is to try to do “too much.”
We have a lot to celebrate over the next few days.
Our wedding anniversary, my birthday, and the fact that I’m still here!
But we also have an approaching tropical storm, predicted to soon grow to a hurricane, although it’s looking like a run-in with Mauna Kea will divert it safely south of Oahu and Honolulu, so we should okay.
And, if I’m not feeling too woozy, the muted celebrations can continue, weather permitting.
I caught a couple of sweet pictures this week. One shows Kinikini soliciting Bessie for a few reassuring licks to his forehead. And the other is Bessie asleep in her “nest” on top of a 6-foot storage storage shelf in our pantry/storeroom. The soft light through the window is about perfect!
In any case, it was a week shortened by my loss of two days to post-chemo side effects. I was lucky to get Feline Friday ready to go on time!
I didn’t see it coming.
As usual, I was up early on Monday morning. I sat down, drank most of two glasses of water, and felt pretty good looking ahead to the new week.
It was Monday, the start of a new week. I apparently should have paid more attention to the fact that it was Monday, Day 3 after a 4-1/2 hour chemotherapy session with side effects that had not run their course.
Since I was feeling pretty good, not too fuzzy, I picked up my camera, put on my walking shoes, grabbed my cane and a baggie with some small dog biscuits, and headed out to walk down the street to Waialae Beach Park. It isn’t far, about .2 miles to the corner of Kahala Avenue and you’re entering the park. But it’s still the longest walk I’ve been making the past few weeks.
I was quickly greeted by Bono and his person. We chatted while walking across the park toward the ocean. Then I sat and watched the sunrise, getting up a few times for photos. As I was leaving the park, I ran into Makana and his person, and I updated him on my situation. Finally on the walk home, I ran into another acquaintance who lives a block away, and she was concerned and wanted to hear more of my story. And then I heard Bailie barking and had to stop and share a few dog treats with him.
By the time I got home, I was getting tired.
And that’s when I learned something about Day 3 after chemo: feeling good can be a mirage.
I ate a serving of Greek yogurt, enjoyed a cup of decaf coffee.
But before long, I decided to just go back to bed and lie down for a while. After a 40-minute nap, I felt something new, a headache coming on. I got up, took a Tylenol, and went back to bed.
And from there, it was all downhill with the wheels coming off the cart.
The headache started acting like a migraine, with nausea tagging along. So I went to my reserve of pills for nausea. That helped, but the drug also slows down your system, contributing to constipation, which in turn can feed back into the headache.
And by then I was woefully behind on the day’s fluid intake and could never get close to catching up.
By noon I just gave up and gave in. The day was over for me. I never checked email, never let myself peek at the latest bad news. Late in the afternoon, I managed to drink a protein shake, but I’m afraid that was the only sustenance of the day. I just turned on the a/c, cocooned ed myself in a comforter, and dozed fitfully for the next 18 hours.
This morning, I’m moving very cautiously. I’m out of bed and Upright.
And I’m writing these notes as a reminder.
Beware Day #3.
Feeling good first thing in the morning isn’t the final word. Sometimes it’s just a trap drawing you into doing more than your body can handle.
Live and learn.
And go slow.