The Guns N Hoses MC Ride was Saturday, and we couldn't have had a more beautiful day for it! The picture above was the ride start point in Lenexa, KS and rode 60 miles to Worth Harley Davidson in KCMO. I almost didn't make the ride, and actually barely made it to the finish, but wasn't going to miss it with all the generosity of friends and family and complete strangers who rode for us.
There were miles of motorcycles in the ride-made me tear up as we got on 435 N and all I could see for as far as I could see highway was the center lane full of bikes riding in twos-side by side. Bike cops from all over-as far away as Topeka-rode ahead of the group and shut down the highway entrance ramps so the bikes were the only traffic on the highway. It was a sight to see, and many of the folks in the cars waiting on us were out of their vehicles taking pics and videotaping it all. I'm sure it pissed some people off that they had to wait for the 300+ bikes to roll by, and normally I would care-but if they would rather trade places with me than wait for that magnificent show of support and unity-feel free. I'm guessing they wouldn't.
There were bikes......
bikes.....this is Troy and Andrea on your right and Jason and Heather on the left.....
And more bikes......this is us on the right and Rick on the left....and many more bikes behind us......
When I say I was moved to tears, I'm not kidding. People came up to me the entire day and hugged me and said they were riding because they had been following my blog and I was inspirational to them. One gal had a gorgeous white and pink Harley and yelled "we will find a cure" and put a big thumbs up to me as I walked by. To all of you who follow this blog and rode for us--we thank you so much. For the friends and family who rode and who continue to support us- we thank you so much. For the volunteers of Guns N Hoses, Diana Mendoza of the Lenexa PD, Lori Maher, all the staff at Worth Harley Davidson- we thank you so much for your kindness and generosity and for all the hard work we know it takes to pull off such a successful event! We will forever forward be supporters of this ride and the families it helps! This ride also benefit the Barenklau family, a volunteer firefighter battling colorectal cancer. I'm sure they were as overwhelmed and thankful as we were by the outpouring of support.
I almost didn't even make the ride that day, because when they told me I would feel like I had been run over by a truck on Day 3 & 4, they weren't joking. My chemo was Tuesday, and by Thursday night I started feeling crummy. Went to bed early and sleep was non-existent. I tossed and turned for hours, just couldn't get comfortable. I woke up Friday and really couldn't get out of bed. One of my besties, Tricia, called that morning to see how I was and I told her I was ok. By noon, when Brian had to leave to go mow, leaving me with Ethan, I was no longer ok. Brian called her back and she came right over. She made me eat a sandwich and drink some water and take some meds and made me rest while she hung out with the bald kiddo. I'm sure she rearranged some stuff in my kitchen and did the dishes and had she the time she would have cleaned the entire house cause that's just who she is and why I love her!
I felt terrible all of Friday. And when I say terrible, that is putting it mildly. My legs burned and hurt and tingled. My hips and lower back ached. Every joint in my body ached down to my toes. To get downstairs I sat on my butt and scooted. And I was freezing with the chills. Then I had a low grade fever that night. I had a headache and a neck ache.
It even hurt just to touch my skin. My darn skin hurt. really.
Just like they said-I felt like I had been run over by a truck. then backed back over. a few times. But hey, no nausea! Woopty doo. I would rather have had the nausea and even welcomed spending the day puking than feeling the way I did Friday. Andrea and Troy came by Friday night, and they were pretty sure I wasn't going to make it to the ride the next day.
But I'm a little stubborn, and I did feel a little bit better. And most of all, as with getting through most of this cancer crap, I just told myself to suck it up and get out of bed and go. I find alot of getting through this is simply mind over matter and making myself do things. If I let every little ache and pain keep me in bed, I would never have gotten out of bed after my mastectomy. Oh, did I mention this pain and aching is worse than that? But I have a reputation to uphold, so I slapped a smile on, took a muscle relaxer and tried not to limp around too much. People noticed, and for once I finally gave in and went home to my bed, and other than dinner stayed there til Monday!
My counts have been pretty low. Low enough to warrant a second shot of Neulasta. My insurance company ought to love me for that! I have to get my labs checked again on Friday to make sure they are coming up, which I'm sure they are, because I feel tons better. Still having a hard time sleeping because as soon as I get in bed my legs ache from my hips down to my knees and I toss and turn for hours before finally catching some zzzz's. I can't even drink myself into a sleep because alcohol with this chemo is a no-no. What a buzzkill.
I'm sure I will feel awesome by next week. Yep, right in time for another 7 hour dose of toxic juice.
Oh, but I did get some good news!! As of right now, unless we find that there is a benefit we don't yet know about, I don't need radiation. That is based on the current guidelines of having tumor size less than 1cm (mine was .9) and less than three positive lymph nodes (I had two). So, I'm really right on the fence of needing adjuvant radiation, but Dr Sheehan is ok saying no at the moment. I was warned this could change before I'm done with chemo, but for right now, Woo freakin hoo!
Hailey is enjoying volleyball camp this week and summer league play, and really enjoying Parker being gone. Parker is having the time of his life fishing in Canada with the Williams. Brian really wishes he could have gone fishing-and be there when Parker caught his first walleye, but after he saw how crappy I was after chemo, he was glad he stayed.
There's always next year.
Heck, I may even want to join them next year.
not.
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