Making some progress on antique rug and

the mat for Jimmie Dean's little chair that sits at the front door so he can see out!

First, here's the antique adaptation.  It measures 19" by 42" and there's really not that much more to do.  Just sit down and Do It!!!

I think this shot depicts the colors the best.

Very muted from my usual color palette.   (That's why I think I totally lost interest in it right in the middle of the rug.  When we hooked at JoLynn's a couple of weekends ago, it was my intention to get all the red diamonds hooked around the border.  That made it seem like there's not so much more!  Just fill in some lines now~~~LOL.

And this little mat for J.D. has been what I've been doing while I lost interest in the big star rug!  He sits on this little chair every day and watches the children walking to and from school.  I think he likes his little mat!

Had some not so good health news over the weekend.  I spent all of Saturday night in the ER.  I had seen my MD two weeks earlier for what I thought was asthma.  He gave me an inhaler and it did nothing.  So my radiation oncologist said her husband is a pulmonary specialist and sent me to his office that very minute!  He gave another inhaler, which also didn't help.  That was last Wednesday.  Well, by Saturday afternoon I Could Not Breathe and told Mick to take me to the Urgent Care Clinic.  They did tests that showed a suspected pulmonary embolism (from the surgery)  He said go to the ER immediately!  Your husband can drive you~I don't think you need an ambulance!  Scared the shit out of me!!!  Got to the ER and thank God I was expedited and didn't have to sit in the waiting room with sick babies that don't have health insurance~~~totally another story,  don't get me started on that.  But that's just not right for a mother to have to go there to get treatment for her sick child...

The ER physician comes in and checks the EKG and chest x-rays from the place I had just come from and suggested "congestive heart failure" especially since my breathing was almost impossible when I tried to lay down.  He explained that the left side of my heart showed damage and inflammation~~~ probably from the chemotherapy!!!!

He called my oncologist who said it Was Not from chemo, it was from radiation.  The ER doc was ready to admit me and start running all the heart tests and hook me up with a cardiologist.  Looking back, I wish that's what had happened.

He did, in the hospital start an IV with Lasix and Prednisone to try to get rid of some of the fluid on my lungs.  Then prescribed Prednisone for eight days.  I dread that.  Last time I took it I gained 20 pounds overnight and it took over a year to get it off.  Guess that's the least of my troubles right now though.

Yesterday I saw both oncologists/ the regular one and the radiation one.  Boy are they protective of their special fields of medicine!!!  Again the radiation doctor said it wasn't possible to have any heart damage from only 10 treatments (which makes since to me) but the regular oncologist keeps saying the chemo I took doesn't cause heart problems.  WRONG..... Now I should have known better than this because before I could have the chemo I had to have a MUGA(sp) test to make sure my heart could handle these drugs.  (This is what Tammy does all day in her job in nuclear medicine).  Of course me being me, I came home and read every thing I could find out about the drugs I received.

1. Adriamycin: side effects:  COMMON:

Damage to the heart with the symptoms of:

swelling of the hands and ankles 

shortness of breath

difficulty breathing

2. Cytoxan: side effects: Rare

Damage to the heart muscle.  Symptoms include difficulty breathing, swelling of the legs and feet and tiring easily.

I was supposed to have a radiation treatment today, but just can't do it right now.  Although the RA Dr. PROMISED ME this wasn't the problem.  Yesterday she said, "do you want this cancer to come back?  Then march down that hall and get your treatment!"  Which I DID!!!  But I just couldn't do it today.  How are you gonna know what's the right thing to do?  I will always question myself now.  what if.....what if...

Good news~~~This Thursday at 4:00 p.m. I am scheduled for an ECHO cardiogram.  This will answer all the questions about my heart.  Even congestive heart failure can be treated with medicine and the breast cancer is gone! Please send out some positive vibes my way!  I truly believe in  Prayer and Positive Thinking.  And I promise to keep you guys informed.

Peace and love,

Sheri