Last Sunday, we had a missionary family back in the states home on leave or whatever they call it for their vacation, and spoke at church telling us the things they have been doing in the past several years. It was interesting. The husband had an engineering degree and the wife had an entomology degree and the two taught hygiene and he build toilets in third world countries of China and such. We take all that for granted here, but it is huge for countries that are dieing from diseases and illnesses that could be prevented from the simple act of washing their hands and better toilet practices.

I was feeling well enough to stay for lunch which was to get to know the missionary family. In these past several months it has been overwhelmingly tiring for me to just go to church because of the chemo effects. I have been feeling great and very thankful.

I started in the evening my pet sitting job for the week of a bird I had taken care of in the past. I was forbidden to take care of birds or cats during my chemotherapy, but now I am over that. His name is Tango and is a Conure Parrot. A beautiful green parrot and very smart. He likes men better however, and wants to bite me, but loves Pete. So Pete went with me, and Tango was very happy to see us. He does this cute little head bobbing which I found out is a good interactive gesture. Pete walked him around for a while on his shoulder and we talked to him, and all was well with the world of Tango the Conure Parrot. Then he was ready for his bedtime which a blanket is put over the cage for the night time.

Yesterday on Monday, I made an appointment with the Podiatrist to remove a toe nail that has been bothering me for years. It was giving me much pain and I decided that I wanted it done while I was finished with my chemotherapy and to have it done before my surgery on August 27th. The toe was painful to groom when I am well, and I knew it was going to be more difficult to manage after my surgery. I know that the mastectomy will not be a difficult surgery from what I have heard from a friend who had a double mastectomy, but I suspect that the reconstruction surgery will be rather uncomfortable. My surgeon told me there would be pain, and I read that some mobility issues will occur. I got permission from the Oncologist, my white count was good, so it was a good time to do it and get it over with.

I had plans for some house work to be done and I wanted to paint two pictures while my paints were out, but just standing and sitting up caused throbbing in my toe. I had to lay down the rest of the day, and the Podiatrist told me I needed to take it easy the rest of the day and keep my foot elevated due to bleeding. I still managed to have lunch out with my friend who took me because I wanted to take advantage of being out while I felt relatively better since starting the chemotherapy road. I would like to say it was nice sitting out side at one of my favorite restaurants, but it was fogged in and on the cool side. I still enjoyed it and the company of a wonderful friend. I did have to have her go into the store to get a couple of supplies for me for soaking my foot for the next couple or so weeks. After I was home, I did manage to do some laundry, but I ended up having to dump it on the bed and have Pete finish putting most of it away because my toe throbbed too much. I laid on the couch with my foot elavated the rest of the day with a good book. It is amazing how a simple procedure can make you feel fatigued too.

I will try to complete what I meant to today, or at least most of it. My sister and brother-in-law will be coming for a few days for a visit, so I won’t get everything done, but at least I will have a wonderful visit while I feel better. I hope I didn’t ruin our visit with my minor toe surgery, because I was looking forward to hiking and such. That might not happen. I want to be active and get a little bit back into shape before I am not able to do anything for six weeks.