Yes, Thundersnow.  That’s when there’s 2-3″ per hour rate of snow when the temperature is just at freezing.  Yes, it’s accumulating.  Yes, it will melt once it stops, but it’s supposed to continue till 8 AM.  That’s three more hours.  That’s 6 more inches.  And that’s the news, APRIL 6.

Yeesh.

Please watch this eye-opening and somewhat scary video.

Adam.
Danny.
Allison, and
Lil.

Mark my words.

Holy cow.

Tell ‘em what you won in the Side Effects Jackpot, Robin!

Had round two of the Evil Orange Chemo yesterday.
This round’s side effects seem to be
 (drumroll……………) 

(besides the ever popular fatigue):

Nausea
Heartburn
Upset Stomach
Indigestion
Diarrhea
Maybe I should do a commercial? 

Have I mentioned that I watch a lot of competition reality shows?  I don’t like lifestyle shows (Class Reunion, Big Brother, etc.) but dancing, cooking, decorating, singing…love those!  Therefore, here’s my Hell’s Kitchen official pick, now that we are under ten chefs:  GIOVANNI.  Yes, Gio is not only one of the better chefs, but he’s got the VERY best and nicest attitude and demeanor.  He isn’t constantly foul mouthed or mean spirited.  He’s all about teamwork.  For a while, I was voting for Ben, but boy did he let us down this week!!  So my choice for winning it all in Gordon Ramsey’s world is Giovanni!

I also follow Dancing with the Stars, and I have my predictions for the final three:  Gilles, Melissa and Shawn.  I do not like the partners my favorite professionals have this year (especially Maks’ partner) but I like Cheryl and Gilles together.  (That’s my husband’s favorite pro – Cheryl.)  So, Gilles for the win, and Melissa and Shawn for place and show.

Why do I enjoy reality shows so much?  I think it’s become my focus because of the Short Attention Span Theatre my brain has become due to chemotherapy for three years.  Yes, chemo-brain is a real cognitive ailment – I have a newspaper article about it I keep on hand so people don’t think I’m just using that as an excuse.  I used to be able to memorize a new classes’ names in two or three days.  Now it takes me two or three weeks to get everybody down – especially the quiet ones.  Fortunately, I have the best students in the world, and they understand when I get tongue – or brain – tied.    If I had to follow the convoluted plots in “Lost”, or even “Ugly Betty” – I think I’d be turning Mister Television off.  So, reality, I’m your biggest fan!

Cue the music…(Geez, I sound like Ryan…)  Here they are!!

Here’s the interesting thing:  The first seven were in my original picks to be top ten, along with Jorge, Alexis and Jasmine!  So my top ten made the top 13   Also, the order I have them displayed is the order in which I think they’ll finish:  Danny, Adam, Lil, Anoop, Matt, Megan, Allison, Scott, Kris and Michael.  It’s kind of nice – this year there don’t seem to be any clinkers in the top ten!  So I’ll be reporting on them weekly from now on, since we are down to the Top Ten.

Other Stuff
Welcome to my newest readers, especially Melanie, who made my whole week with her email   I have chemo tomorrow, for those who are keeping score – round two of the OrangeAde Express.  It kicked my butt three weeks ago, but it was three hours of juice.  Tomorrow I have only one hour.  I always wonder if I had more would I get well quicker, or sicker?  I mean, I know Dr. T. knows what he’s doing…it’s just the overachiever in me.

Hey, I have three days off!  Today, tomorrow and Monday are “bonus” days because every Lutheran High School administrator in the country is at a conference.  It’s easier to just give us the time off then deal with covering everything legally, so every three years we get this little vacation.  It’s a nice weird break in the middle of March, but more importantly, I can get my grades caught up.  I have a hard time grading papers at night for some reason…all I want to do is climb into my warm bed and go to la la land!

What a night Flamingos Fighting Cancer was!  As you can see, I wore flamingo pink and ovarian cancer teal – pink was the color of the night.  The “kids” up above are 28 or 29 years old, and from the school I taught at BEFORE this one, so literally EVERYONE I know was there! 

You can see me in the first row – the people to the right for three rows up are my family (Mom is next to me in pink, and my hubby has the pink baseball cap on.)  People were told to wear pink to show support

This is most of the faculty team standing for the national anthem.  Notice the pink socks.  The senior boys wore black Tshirts with flamingos on them, hand made for each of them by one of the girlfriends

Cheating was abundant and expected.  In fact, at the half, the seniors were behind by 20.  They were behind by 20 most of the game.  Then in the last minute, they magically gained 20 points for a variety of things (“creativity of the block,” “best use of the backboard,” “best dance move incorporated into a shot,” among others.  Here’s just some of the halftime entertainment – our dance team.  The cheerleaders also participated, and there was a half court shoot off, and a video the students made for me (of course I cried.) 

As the buzzer sounded, the SUDDENLY tied game came down to an at the buzzer layup by the seniors….so they “won.”  But the real winners are the folks that will benefit from the nearly $3000 we raised for the Gail Purtan Ovarian Cancer Research Fund!

Is time going faster because I’m older, or did the world speed up when I wasn’t looking?  Here it is, another week gone, and I’m not quite sure where it went. 

So, I had the orange chemo last Friday – and was sick all weekend.  I didn’t feel better until Wednesday, actually.  I still feel not great, but I have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, and he’ll probably affirm that it’s “just the chemo.”  There was a time when I would have never said those three words together:  just the chemo.

Tonight is FLAMINGOS FIGHTING CANCER, a fundraising event at my school in my honor .  It’s the seniors versus the faculty in a basketball game, with all proceeds going to ovarian cancer research! Everyone is being encouraged to wear pink – it looks like there will be a lot of alums coming back, (it’s spring break for a lot of colleges around here) as well as “kids” (now at least 28!!!) from my old school as well.  I have about a dozen family members coming too…it should be lots of fun!  I’m excited and nervous all at the same time…and I have a couple of special flamingo hats to wear, as well as brand new Hot Pink Converse!  I should have some fun pictures to share, as well as a full report of the event!  Yay!

What a great way to lose twelve pounds in a day!  Yesterday I had my paracentesis, and they took 6.2 liters of fluid off my abdomen.  This is probably my single favorite procedure in all of my medical treatment because of how rapidly you feel better – is immediately soon enough?    When they drained me in 2006, there was 11 liters and it was the color of cola.  This time it was the color of ginger ale, so I’m going to assume that is better, too.  Anyways, I feel great (relatively) and my new chemo is today.

After seeing the performances on Wednesday night, I wondered if they were allowed to let LESS than three thru to the finals in each group.  I was so disappointed in our local boy, Matt, and really didn’t love anyone with the exception of fierce Adam Lambert who I have loved since auditions.  He is, so far, my pick to be in the final two with Danny Gokey.  I sure hope next week’s group is better.  What is with this song choice, song choice, song choice?  Just because it’s a song you love (KAI) doesn’t mean it’s a good song for you!!  How come *I* can see this in Michigan and they can’t see it in Hollywood?  Ah well.  We move on to next week.

And thank GOODNESS The Incredibly Annoying Stalkerish Seth is gone from Hell’s Kitchen.  Thank Goodness.

Kearney.  Out.

So, last Friday I had a MUGA test and another CT scan.  The MUGA was for my heart and to see how healthy it was, baseline, because the next chemo he’s using is a bit more aggressive.  Well, apparently I have a heart, and it works really well!! My MUGA was 65% (normal range is 50 to 80%, optimal 65%, so I’ll take it!!) By the way, the MUGA is really cool. I saw my own heart. I saw it beating. And I saw the number of 65% come up on the screen. Thank God for kind technologists, too, who kept saying things like “Look at that beautiful heart!”

Then yesterday I had my doctor’s appointment to set the plan.  This is where I found out about the CT Scan.  Apparently there was lots of fluid (duh, I could tell that by the ten plus pounds I’ve put on while not eating ANYTHING)  but there’s no new involvement of the organs, and the recent tumors are unchanged or smaller! (YAY)  So on Thursday, I go to the hospital for a Paracentisis, which, simply put, means they are gonna drain me.  (One of my students said I was being “juiced” like Violet in Willy Wonka!)  I should instantly feel better after that.  Then Friday I start the new chemo, which is specifically designed to attack tough tumors and fluid.

My team of physicians: