VERY brief update - Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008

We have been having a very busy Christmas - and a very enjoyable one ! As a result, I have not updated this blog. We are going out of town today as well, so I will get back to it after we return. Last chemo coming up on Jan. 2 ! Lots to tell, just no time to do a proper job. Everything is going well except my blood pressure, which is not coming down adequately. Best wishes for a Happy New Year in 2009.

Update for Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008

We followed the usual routine yesterday - up at 5:15, out of the house about 6:45, in the parking lot in Windsor 3 minutes before 8:00 (as pointed out by my steady chauffeur!), etc. Everything went well at the lab and with the doctor's visit - she continues to be pleased with how I am tolerating the chemo - and then off to the chemo clinic. They always do a 'vitals check' - blood pressure, oxygen levels, temperature - and that's where things started to go off the rails. My first blood pressure was 163/100. I had been sitting in the waiting room for about 20 min. and had only walked about 100 ' into the clinic and laid down on the gurney - not a tremendous exertion. Protocol says I cannot receive the Avastin (the clinical trial drug) if my top number is over 150 because it's purpose is to restrict blood flow. So I tried to 'meditate/calm myself', and it came down to 138/89...better, but still not good, considering that I am already on medication to lower my b.p. Also, the Benydryl and other anti-allergic meds that I am given should relax things and help lower my b.p. I got the Taxol, my regular chemo, lying down and being quiet for the 3 hrs. that took - nice little drifts again - but when the nurse came to take my vitals again before the Avastin, I was sitting up, and my b.p. was 152/89...lying down brought it to 148.87. So the decision was made that I would skip the Avastin this trip and have it again Jan. 2. We also talked about my regular dosage of b.p. meds and increased that from 10 mg. to 15. They were very clear that it is the effect of the Avastin - 'well-documented' was the expression used - and when combined with 'a previously-existing condition', not a surprise. I will have the Avastin Jan. 2 and 15, and after that it will become a 3-week cycle, so that should also help. It will also be interesting these 2 weeks to separate out the effects of the Avastin from the other chemo - I'll maybe know better what I will be dealing with once I am only on Avastin. I also have an appointment Jan. 5 with my radiologist to set up the schedule for that part of the treatment.

So - an interesting day. We were finished chemo about 3:15 but had to wait for a new prescription for my b.p. meds so actually left the building about 4:00. We stopped for supper in Windsor and then did a bit of shopping and got gas - 69.4 !! - on the way home, so it was still about a 12-hr. day. Only one more to go !

I really have to give credit to the nurses in the chemo clinic. They are so good - professional in their approach to their responsibilities but kind and personal in their approach to the patients. I may be cared for by 2 or 3 of them in the course of a visit - one main one but the others cover over lunch or if my main one is busy with another patient. When I think that they do this every day, I am very respectful of their level of competence. I think that there are 24 places in the clinic; I think that there would be 30 - 35 people come through daily - there are morning and afternoon appointments in part of the clinic. There seem to be 8 nurses who look after all of that, plus the charge nurse. It's a busy place !

Thank you again for your prayers. I continue to do well - feeling pretty good today but I'm on my supplementary steroids and anti-nausea stuff. We'll see what Monday brings, when they are done. Regardless, it is continuing to go extremely well and I truly feel that your prayers are a big part of the reason.

Update - Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008

Good morning! Well, here we are at the end of cycle # 6 - going for my 7th treatment tomorrow. Things have gone really well all this second week and I have felt, one might actually say, healthy! Sleeping well without pills, eating well, doing normal stuff around the house - if it wasn't for my bald head, you'd probably not know there was anything wrong with me. Still going out for those lunches with friends, which are a type of medicine in themselves...still keeping up with meals, Christmas shopping and decorating, etc. Biggest effect of this type of chemo seems to be tiredness and dry skin on palms and soles of feet - not big but have to be dealt with. Thanks again for your prayers.

Yesterday, in a book I was reading, I came across a verse from the Bible that I hadn't thought of in a while - "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." That is not to say that everything that happens is good (like my cancer) but that God works to bring good out of the situation (like the people who are praying for me who might not have prayed in a while.) So I wait to see how this upsetting thing is going to be used to expand my life - what will grow out of this after I am through all these treatments ? Time will tell.

Update - Friday, Dec. 12, 2008

I'm happy to report that it's been a good week - the changes that were made to my supplementary meds were good for me. It has followed the usual pattern - Fri. to Sun. were fairly normal, since I had my meds; Monday did not start off very well, since I was coming off the steroids. I was very tired in the morning - couldn't even read; just lay on my bed and listened to the radio. By suppertime I had come around enough to go out for supper (neither of us felt like cooking). Then it just gets better as I go along - went out for a Christmas dinner Tuesday, went to a funeral visitation and shopping (including groceries) Wednesday, more shopping Thursday, and today I feel pretty normal and plan on doing some Christmas baking. I go to bed a little later every night - less tired as I go along. So - that's the 'bad' week and I still have my 'good' week to go! I do seem to be adapting to the Taxol and I am thankful. The worst thing about it - and it's not a big thing at all - is that the skin on my palms and soles of my feet is very dry and tender; hard to walk some days and I have to put hand cream on every night to stop the peeling. And I have a couple of days of being tired - not much at all.

We're looking forward to Christmas and some time with some of our kids. Thanks again for your prayers - next treatment is Dec. 18 - second last ! I'm so thankful that this is going so well and I appreciate the prayers of you who have remembered me; it's one of the main reasons why I am so well.

Thursday, Dec.4, 2008

It was another long day, but it went well. Up at 5:15, made breakfast and lunches, cleared the kitchen area of 'stuff' so that the cleaning lady could wash the floor - you know how that goes - set up the dog outside and left the house at 6:50. It's an interesting drive this time of year, because you start out in the dark and the highway is a moving ribbon of lights - yellow towards you, red going away, all against this black background. About Tilbury, the background starts to lighten and becomes grayish - clouds appear in the sky as darker shadows. In another 10 min., the clouds become whiter and there are patches of blue in the sky; by Windsor it is full daylight.

We arrived at the hospital just before 8:00, got a good parking place and were in the lab just after 8:00. Every second time I'm there, I have to have extra blood drawn because I'm in this clinical trial. So, in addition to the 2 tubes that are the regular draw, I have to have another 4. There's always a problem with the extra ones - no vacuum in 2 of them, so it takes longer to fill them and then the other 2 have some fluid in them which cannot get back into me, so they have to be held at a certain angle. Well, the first 2 regular ones were fine, but no so the other 4. The decision was made to get them out of my port in the treatment process.

Doctor's visit was next - she's very pleased with my progress - said I was a 'star'. Always good to hear ! We also agreed on a modification of one of my supplementary meds which should help a lot with the problems I have been having 3 or 4 days into the cycle. Then - pick up my meds at the pharmacy and wait to be called into chemo. I almost forgot to put my name in to register for the chemo!

I was called in about 10:30 and thought I was in good time. My port opened up perfectly the first time they tried it ! But then - had to get those 4 tubes of blood first, then a dose of Benydryl and a second drug which prevent allergic reaction, then a saline flush, then the steroid, then a flush, then order the chemo to be made up...all normal practice. I think I started the actual chemo about 11:30 - 4 hr. delivery because it was only my second time and they do not want to trigger an allergic reaction. This time the Benydryl really made me sleepy, so it was no problem to sit with my hands in the ice instead of reading - I had nice little 'drifts', in and out and a very peaceful afternoon. After the Taxol, another flush and then 30 min. for the clinical trial drug, Avastin. So, actually finished about 4:20, a half-hour earlier than last week.

Of course, all the while that I am getting these treatments, David is waiting, and waiting in the waiting room – from 10:30 until 4:20. It’s a long day for him, too.

We stopped for supper on the way home at what is becoming our regular place, a diner at the corner of Manning Rd. and Essex 42. They had their hamburgers on special and it sounded good, but I was surprised to find that it was just too much meat for me - odd to discover that I just don't eat that much meat at a time any more.

We were taking the mail out of the mailbox at 6:20 - away from home almost 12 hours. The dog was glad to see us and we were glad to be back home. As David said, he got me there and back once again and on time !

I continue to feel that one of the biggest reasons that I am doing so well is the number of prayers that are offered on my behalf and I thank each one of you that is taking the time to remember me. I felt at the beginning of this whole experience that God was bringing it into my life for His purposes - one of them might be to give some of you a reason to pray again and to see His answers. One of them is definitely to show me that He is actively participating in my life and that I can trust His care for me.`He is continuing to shape me into the person He intends me to be, as a potter does with clay.

Update - Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008

Here we are at the end of the fifth cycle - off to Windsor tomorrow for my sixth treatment ! I'll be finished chemo in a month - Jan. 2. Hard to believe! Anyhow - my take on this second type of chemo is that 1) it makes me more tired that the first kind 2) the skin on the palms of my hands is drier and peeling - have to use LOTS of really good hand cream 3) I don't get 'chemo voice' so much with it and there is less nose-blowing although my throat is still fairly sensitive and 4) I seem to get a little more emotional with it - although that may just be part of the overall process. So - better, overall.

I was able to attend a social event last night out of town and made it to 11:00 p.m.! There's life in these old bones yet. I also had lunch with good friends yesterday- as I did with a college roomate last Saturday. I will take this kind of medicine as often as I can get it! I am blessed with many friends who take me out and cheer me up.

All in all, it's been a good cycle; I'm hoping that my body will adjust to this chemo as it seemed to with the first and that I will see less impact each time. I'm also hoping for a shorter day tomorrow and that my port will be running clear the first time !

Thanks for your prayers.