vampires

OK, so if you know me, you know I have the family disease: hemochromatosis. (If you don't know what that is - read this) So, I am currently on a treatment of once monthly phlebotomies and a doctor's visit every 3 months. My doctor is pretty aggressive and my ferritin is below 50 now like he wants it, but he uses the hemoglobin count for my red light-green light number for phlebotomy. Anything over 12, I do it. Yesterday I was 12.9. I think maybe... just maybe... next month I might get a "get out of vampires free" pass and be below 12! And if my severe exhaustion today is any sign, I am dancing with anemia already. Ugh. Last time this happened, years ago, it was like I hit a brick wall. One day fine, the next day I literally couldn't walk up a flight of stairs.

Anyway, I go to the cancer center for phlebotomies and I like the nurses there. It's a hard place to explain if you haven't been in one before. There is a sign hanging in the nurses station that reads "with hope, all things are possible". You see a mix of ages, but most of the patients are elderly. And they look tired. They lack color in their skin if that is how to explain it. But, most have a sparkle in their eyes that overshadows the greyness of their complexion. Once you make eye contact, they smile big, broad, tired smiles. Most are alone in the chairs, sometimes a spouse is with them. One time I was there at 7:30am and I watched one lady (maybe 50 years old, if that) tell the man I assume was her husband, "I'll be here about 8 hours today. See you this afternoon." Guess that is why all the chairs are recliners. They keep the room temperature at about 42*, I think! 99% of the patients are covered with blankets and the nurses even have a warmer and will bring you a heated blanket if you need it.

Usually, the nurse will approach me and say, "You're here for a phlebotomy?" and I try to answer as loudly and clearly as I can, "Yes, I'm an easy one for you." so the other patients know I am healthy. Before the true eye contact and smiling (and occasional chit chat between me and the patients) I often see people looking at me with pity. I know they are trying to figure out my age. I don't belong there. I'm not saying I am the youngest one I see there, though. If you are there at the very end of the day, you sometimes hear the nurses talking together and reading over obituaries. In talking with them myself, I have learned several of these nurses have been in oncology for 25-30 years.

But, this post is not supposed to be about the atmosphere of an oncology department. It was intended to be a vent about the lab nurse! For a phlebotomy, my doctor makes them check my "H&H" (hemoglobin and hematacrit) through a blood vial draw. The needles they use for this are tiny ones. (The phlebotomy needles look like a straw!) But, this one nurse can't get blood out of me to save her life. Last month, I ended up with 3 holes in my arms before she went and got another nurse. This time, she tried once - left a bruise under the skin - and went for another nurse. I have not had any trouble with any of the phlebotomy nurses. I have actually come to dread the foolish blood test much more than the whole bag full. And, yes, I have asked why they can't do a finger stick only - and they think I am nuts for asking. I asked this Bloodless Nurse yesterday - even saying to her, "At Red Cross they only do a finger stick." and she claimed Red Cross is only checking for blood type and they don't check iron levels. I know that is not true. They wouldn't take blood from an anemic person. A friend of Lew's gets rejected at the work blood drives because she "fails" this finger stick test. But, the nurse wasn't listening to me. Another strike against her... she's out of it. At least she is only in the lab area and not out on the floor!

Next month, I scheduled my treatment for the week she told me she is on vacation!

signs of a good day at school

1. sand in your hair
2. you are wearing a different outfit than the one you went to school in
3. you have 3 stickers on your shirt when mommy picks you up
4. your teacher has to triple knot your shoes!
5. paint on your body somewhere

three vs eight

This could be the grounds for divorce in some instance, I'm sure. For us, it's kind of a joke and now has become a compromise. We can't even remember who owns the "three" and who owns the "eight".

Three or eight what? C'mon... tell us....

Minutes to cook corn on the cob, of course. Don't you cook most things like your mom does? I normally do, but here, I go for five. (edit to add: I asked my mother if she was the 3 or 8... and she claims she cooks her corn for 6 minutes. The plot thickens.....)

Happy 4th of July!

fireworks

Tonight we took the kids down to Carolina Beach boardwalk for fireworks. They started at 9:00. They shot up one test shot and after that, Gretchen sweetly asked Lew, "Are they coming back?" She was calling them "fire". At first, she thought she was going to a camp fire like we saw at Brian's - she planned on holding her hands up to feel the hot fire.

Even though they were tired, both kids did really well staying in a good mood. Carl was on my lap and Lew was holding Gretchen. Carl never made any effort to cover his ears, Gretchen did. A few times Carl seemed to blink - like they were too bright, but he didn't do it for long. We switched kids at one point and when I looked up at Carl, he was watching them and smiling!

Before the display started, Gretchen had to pee - of course. So, tonight, she had her first experience with a port-o-potty. I never even shut the door, I just helped her and kept saying, "Don't touch anything!" We both survived!

There were a lot of people out there. We left with the crowd after and headed towards the car. There is this homemade doughnut place on the boardwalk and the line of people waiting there was insane by the time we walked by!

We got home at 9:55, had a small snack, glasses of water, brushed their teeth and put them in bed. We didn't hear a peep from their room!

So, 2009 July 4th fireworks were much more successful than 2008 (didn't find a good spot to watch and ended up not getting out of the car) and 2007 (kids cried and we left quickly - actually, we did a test run on the weekly fireworks that they hold down on the beach and since they did so bad, we didn't attempt 7/4 at all). 2006 was up in Corning and they were only 6 months old. We sat by the CMOG and they did fine with them. Seems like so long ago.

4th of July pre-school parade

Today the kids' school had a 4th of July parade. Parents were invited to come and then stay for a picnic lunch with the kids after. Carl & Gretchen's class tie dyed shirts earlier in the week so all the kids would have matching red/white/blue shirts to wear. But, I guess they didn't rinse correctly (I don't know how to make tie dyed shirts, so I don't know what they really did wrong) and the 2 year old class all marched in their matching purple shirts! Oh well, they are very pretty and we will definitely get use out of them! They changed into their shirts upon arriving at school, so here are some shots of the kids on the way into school. (When I pulled this shirt out of the closet to put on Carl, Gretchen took one look at it and proclaimed, "Carl is going to look geeky in that!")Both kids stayed with their class for the 2 laps of the parade. If you remember reading below, Gretchen did not stay with them for the Easter Parade. (read about it here) This time, she did great! And as they circled around the first time, Carl was looking over his shoulder and yelling, "Bye Mommy" to me.It was like 95* out. Once we got to the playground for lunch, they really didn't eat much. I think it was just too hot. Well, that and the fact that they wanted to play with their friends.

sort of wordless Wednesday

in NY taken 6-16-09

*edit* I just added in our June vacation photos on 6/29 and now these appear to be repeats, when they truly were posted first. I am not going to delete them from here. Enjoy them a second time!