Look who's finally back online.

All is well. I'm still here, and I'm still OK.
And, after a "little" delay, I'm able to blog. Thanks to the IT dept. There is quite a bit left to tell, but my procrastination so far has left me with too much to write, and to little energy to write it with. So, here are some teasers.
Chloraseptic/ Rubbing alchohol lozenges, inflatable beds, salt water gargle and look at all the drugs.
So, I'll let you know tomorrow about all of these things...and more.
Night night
-Elizabeth
PS: Besides....Katrina got you all over 20 comments...I owed you.

Taking a vacation.

Well, not really. Less vacation and more incarceration. However, this is me and I try to make the most of everything. So, let's see. Positive things about being stuck in the hospital for three weeks. Ok. I can do this.
1. I don't have to listen to mom nag me to clean my room.
2. I get a call button that brings me servants. (OK so there actually nurses. It's still cool.)
3. A chance to work on my thesis that the color white on a wall, will eventually drive you nuts when stared at for too long.
4. Don't have to go out in the cold.
5. I could pretend to be a patient on Grey's Anatomy OR I could compare my doctor's to those on House. (Erica's suggestion. Just like being on my favorite TV shows)
6. I will be unable to commit felonies. (I'm not sure why this popped into Drew's head to suggest as a positive, but he has. Actually, he suggested that I can't commit a crime. Why did I type felonies and not misdemeanors then, ? Who knows, I might swipe something from the nurses station)
7. Chuck has suggested that I will be able to fulfill my exhibitionist side by walking around in the fun back bearing gowns. (I'm really not quite sure who these boys think they are talking about)
8. ooo! Sponge baths! (Another Chuck suggestion.)
9. Steve has suggested that the only way this experience could possibly be good is IF they have a wireless for a connection. (techno geek strikes again. However, I shouldn't make fun of him...he is lending me a laptop for a month since my laptop ate it self last summer, and my desktop might be a bit unwieldy.)

The suggestions I am getting are coming from my lovely siblings or psuedo sibs. I escaped mahopac from wed - sat. I went to vermont. I only skiied for a little bit, but it was still very fun.
Now I'm packing, and getting ready to go into the hospital. Tomorrow. At 9 AM.
I will have more than three days of chemo. I will start tomorrow and go until next monday. I asked if I get sat. and sun. off, but no dice. On tuesday, march 6, i will get my stem cells back and they I will be recovering. I will attempt to update or update by proxy as much as possible.
Hmmmm. Final things. I can get gifts. Yes to most things. Just no plants or fruits. And I would love cards. but only if they are humorous. In fact, mom is running a funny card contest. I don't know how she intends to pick the winner or what the prize will be, but all are welcome to enter.
If you would like to write to me, the address is
Westchester Medical Center
Main Tower
95 Grasslands Rd.
Valhalla, NY 10595
Attn: Elizabeth Bauerlein

I will let you know how tomorrow goes.
Wish me luck!
-Elizabeth

I kick ass!

They wanted 2 million stem cells and I gave them 7. …in one sitting. (I really didn’t intended to sit in that chair any longer than necessary.)
So here is how it went. I went in Tuesday morning and had another catheter put in. This time in my neck. That is a picture of what it looked like. Not mine, because I was to lazy to take a picture. But it is the same thing I had. Creepy little alien-like tentacles coming from my neck. I had planned this whole graphics thing about the doctors stabbing me in the neck and the pain. And I decided against it cause it really doesn’t demonstrate the creepiness as much as this picture.
Anyway, after the doctor stabbed me in the neck with the catheters, I went back over the oncologist office for the first, of what I thought was going to be three or four days hooked up to a machine to suck out my platelets. It was boring and I slept for about an hour. Then played with my nintendogs for about an hour, than spent the last two hours wishing it was over because I needed to go to the bathroom and the machine was too large to drag with me.
It wasn’t until later on that evening that I realized exactly how much pain I was in. (Jules- It was kind of like the whole getting my ear pierced thing in college.) I was so doped on the medication the doctors had given me, it was sort of like “oww. What happened?” Then I would remember that they stabbed me in the neck.
Mom and I waited up pretty late hoping to get a call that said they received enough stem cells and that I wouldn’t have to inject my self again, but no call came. I injected myself and went to bed. Or tried to go to bed. It was probably the most painful night I’ve had yet…including the port. Want to know why? They stabbed me in the neck!
The next day we got the call saying they had enough but that we should come in so that they could remove the catheters. I was all for that. That was until I relized that they just yank that damn thing out. That’s right. Snip the sutures, put a cotton ball on top …. "OK now. Take a deep breath.” …than yank. Right out. (shudders) Don’t get me wrong... Thrilled to have it out…but still.
So "yeah me", for the many stem cells. (Mom wants to check if there is some sort of record that I broke) The next stage is the hospital. I’ll be going in on the 26th.
I think that is all to report. I’m sure if I forgot something someone will remind me.
-Elizabeth

Katrina at the wheel...

As a child sneaking an early peak at Christmas presents, I am feeling simultaneous guilt and exhileration at posting on Elizabeth's blog. It is I, Katrina. (You can tell Elizabeth is feeling lackluster, when it becomes "all about me" through someone else's eyes...)

Do not fret, Elizabeth is fine. In fact, shouts of "King! King! Good! King! Lie down! No, not walk away! I'm very specific! Roll over! No.... you're walking away...alright one more time, JUMP!" emanate from the room next to me, where Elizabeth is trying to tame her new pets on Nintendogs, a portable computer game for Nintendo DS gifted to her by Kathy and Paul Stefunek. [Since the thank you card will be long in coming (this is after all Elizabeth), please know she is exceedingly grateful, as is my mother who is happy not to have a real dog in the basement. ]

Having been given the task of updating the reading community on the foibles of Elizabeth's life, I ponder my first draft:
Elizabeth's blood counts were low on Friday.
So she had to have transfusions.
Which sucked.
So she was angry and sad.
And now she can't go to church or out in public.
Because you all have nasty germs.
So please leave her a message to cheer her up.
(And take a shower.)
Although I was told I had to write more, feel free to read the above and skip to the commenting.
I would.

So here is the humor-filled story I was instructed to relay: Since the mobilization chemo (Does anyone wonder why it is called that? Doesn't it actually immobilize various functions of the body? Like, um, bone marrow activity? Perhaps it should be called IMmobilization chemo....?) Regardless, since the mobilization chemo last week, Elizabeth has had to inject herself twice a day with neupogen, a drug that jacks up her production of stem cells; simultaneously her platelets, red & white blood cells are not as plentiful...hence the necessity of the aforementioned blood transfusions of Friday.

But I digress, yet again.
(This is so the last time she will ask me to do this.)

Insisting that she administer her shots to herself, Elizabeth, aimed and fired the first dose with success. However, at shot number two, she encountered a dilemma: 1 lonely Sponge Bob Band-Aid. What to do, what to do? Ah ha! Our clever heroine decides to inject her second shot directly next to the first thereby maximizing the coverage from the sole survivor of the once powerful Sponge Bob force. As she gently squeezed the second syringe, the liquid flow seamlessly into her thigh; the suddenly, it spewed forth like a geyser from the crater left by the first injection. (I tried to convince Elizabeth that this demanded a graphic, but to no avail.)

Thank God for mothers, especially those who realize the emotional value of a good adhesive bandage. Mom rushed to K-Mart to purchase Care Bear Band-Aids, saving the day (and thereby becoming the second person to purchase Elizabeth themed bandages....I am still on the look-out for Wonder Woman Band-Aids).

My final remark is a plea for comments. Elizabeth also loves cards, cookies, pina colados and getting caught in the rain (but not right now). I need to go now--Elizabeth is finished painting and needs attention (yes, she switched from training dogs to painting because hyper-ADD is also a side effect of chemo). Besides, she is whining. Please stop the whining.
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