Christmas

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas at Lorrie's with everyone but Kathie. Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, pecan pie. Sally was there for about 4 hours and ate well and, of course, enjoyed being with everyone. Here is a picture of the clan. Kathie was not there, but was with us in spirit, and with the magic of photoshop, she fit right in with the rest of us.

Lab Tests today

We went to the Drs. office today and had some blood work--Everything looked good and Sally also looks good and feels well. Her platelet count is 190K and white blood count is 7K -- both normal values. Her hemoglobin is slipping a little to 9. But the values are such that we do not have to go back next week for tests and will return on Jan 6, 2010(!) for chemo. She will of course have tests prior to the chemo being started. Sally says that her brain want her to run around and do all sorts of stuff, but when she gets up her body says "Wait a minute, Slow Down". We are looking forward to Christmas on Friday with all the family (except Kathie, unfortunately) and I will report back after that. To all of our dear friends, have a merry Christmas and we wish you all (or as they say here "all y'all") a happy New Year.

A little less chipper

Chemo was on Wednesday and on Thursday and Friday Sally felt great. Yesterday she said she felt a little fragile and did not eat as well, but she was not nauseated. The was also quite tired and rested most of the day. Today (Sunday) she is feeling a bit better but still not as good as earlier. We think that this is probably the effect of the chemo on her bodies cells. She avoided the acute problem of nausea and vomiting with the chemo but now the Taxotere is probably affecting the rapidly dividing normal cells (as well as the cancer). These cells are in the lining of the mouth and intestine and the bone marrow. I suspect her feelings reflect the effects on the intestine. But this will recover pretty quickly and is to be expected. On next Wednesday she will have blood work done to see how the bone marrow is handling this dose. We are hoping that we can all go to Lorrie's for Christmas dinner. Craig and the boys will be coming in on Christmas day and we are all looking forward to that!

Second Dose of Chemo

Yesterday afternoon was Sally's second dose of chemo. We both had a little nervousness about how it would be tolerated. This infusion was in Dr. Conlon's office where they have lounge chairs for the patients and an attentive nursing staff. She had her pre-dose blood tests done and then the chemo was started. Her blood tests showed continued improvement: Platelets 273,000, White blood cell count 13,000 and Hemoglobin 10.3. So we and Dr. Conlon were pleased and he agreed that the bone marrow was acting much better indicating that the tumor had regressed and he felt that the blood counts would not be a problem after chemo. The regimen was steroid and the Anzemet (dolasetron) for nausea followed by the Taxotere. The entire process took about 2 hours and then Sally was able to come home. She felt great during and after the chemo. She really gets jazzed up with the steroids--kind of manic--and feels really good. She worried that she wouldn't get to sleep last night but a little Ambien helped that fear and she had a good night. This morning she has eaten a big breakfast and still feels good. So we are both very happy at the outcome and this means that future doses should also be tolerated well. We will see how she is later today and tomorrow as the steroid effects wear off but I think she will be fine. One more picture taken before the chemo.

Big day

For the first time since we returned to Texas a couple of months ago, we went on a ride to a park and walked for a while. Sally put on her new wig (the hair is nearly gone now) and some makeup and looked great! We even stopped at the supermarket and she went in with me and got some stuff--first time as well. So as we come up to her second dose of chemo, she is feeling pretty well and we remain hopeful. I even talked her into having a picture taken, so here it is. Isn't she beautiful?

Glad we got the wig!

Sally's hair loss has begun in earnest yesterday and today. She washed her hair and brushed it and had a sink full of hair. Pretty soon she will probably want to shave the rest off, but for now it still covers her head. The wig that Sally and Lorrie got looks great. The color and shading seems pretty close to Sally's hair. They also got a hat and we ordered some more hats and head covering online. So that is a start. Although this is tough on Sally, we are both ok with it and I think with the wig etc it will look great. By the way the wig is called a "cranial prosthesis" so they say. I might post a picture of her in her new wig and/or hat if she allows me.

We are getting ready for the next dose of chemotherapy that will be on Wednesday afternoon. This will be done at the oncologist's office, which is in Methodist Sugar Land hospital and takes a couple of hours. Sally is to eat lunch before going in for the chemo. We're both hoping that she will tolerate this dose a well as the last one and I don't see any reason to suggest that shouldn't be the case. In fact she is in much better shape now than she was 3 weeks ago before the first round of chemo.

We have been told that laughter is good medicine so we are searching for some funny movies or sitcoms that we can get from netflix. If anyone has any suggestions, please leave a comment. We read all your comments and thank you for them. It helps Sally to know that her friends and family are keeping track of her.

Getting a Wig

Well Sally and Lorrie are out wig shopping--there is a place in Houston that specializes in wigs for chemotherapy patients. This is great and the time to do it is before the hair is lost. Sally has begun to notice some hair loss and that will probably accelerate, according to Dr. Conlon. Her attitude is good and certainly has improved since the obvious response to chemotherapy. This is also about the first time Sally has been out "shopping" since we returned from California. She also went to the dentist today for a checkup and to have some repair work on a chipped tooth. A lot of excitement for one day.

I mentioned snow in Richmond, TX the other day and I am going to try and post a picture of it. Maybe an inch fell and then was gone the next day. Because it was cold that night it didn't melt immediately. It has been kind of cold since then but is supposed to be 70 degrees by Sunday. So it goes.

Continued good news!!

We went to the oncologist to have the blood checked today. The platelet count is up to 198,000 which is normal! The white blood cell count is 7500, also normal. The hemoglobin is 10.1 which is low but not much different than before. So it looks like the bone marrow has begun working better. Sally continues to be feeling pretty well without nausea. Her weight is stable at about 120. However, she is beginning to lose her hair. This was expected and she will go with Lorrie tomorrow to a wig store here to see if they can fashion something she would like. She remains on the Aromasin, the acid reducer (currently Nexium), and has cut back on the Zofran to one or less per day. Tomorrow she is also going to the dentist. Getting out of the house is a big step forward.

Next Wednesday is the next blast of chemotherapy. This will be done in the doctor's office and it will be interesting to see how she tolerates this dose. Since she tolerated the first dose well, we think it is likely that this one will also be tolerated well.

Thanks for all your comments, cards, and emails. Sally has seen them all and we both appreciate the support and love that you are sending to this remarkable lady.

Feeling better and better

Sally is regaining some of her strength and her spirit (and mine) has improved by an order of magnitude. There is no nausea any more and she is eating very well. Her weight is now about 120 lbs which is not quite what it was before this setback, but much improved from the 112 lbs about 10 days ago. She remains on the acid reducing medication daily and has reduced the Zofran to about once a day--taken prophylactically. Today is the first day that she has called some of her close friends and was able to talk on the phone without getting sick. The next checkup is Wednesday--for lab work. She has had few side effects of the therapy.

We have decided to hold on sending any Christmas cards this year--For those people we have emails for, we will direct them to this blog. I might even post a few family pictures if I can figure out how to to that.

So dear friends, keep up the good thoughts.

Continues to improve

Sally has had a good week. Since Monday she has been eating well and has gradually felt better and better. Craig came on Tuesday and that seemed to add to her strength. Her weight that had gone down somewhat when she left the hospital is now back up. I am so encouraged. We are all thinking that the chemotherapy must have done some good even after the first dose.

Today it also snowed in Houston, the earliest snowfall in recorded history. Although an inch or less, it must be a sign of some sort (it essentially never snows in Houston). I take it a good sign.

Surprises

Throughout this illness we have been hit with multiple surprises, most of them bad. First the discovery of the cancer 2 weeks after a normal mammogram and no breast mass. Second, the finding of the cancer in both breasts and all lymph nodes on left. Third, the discovery that it was stage IV when first diagnosed because it had metastasized to the bones. Finally the evidence that it has spread to the stomach and has replaced much of the bone marrow.

Today we had a good surprise. One week after the first dose of chemotherapy, Sally's platelets that had been around 50,ooo are now 98,000. This may indicate that the Taxotere is working to regress the tumor becasue it seems that the bone marrow is being unloaded of some of the tumor burden and allowing the platelets to be formed. The white blood cell count is reduced (3,500) as is to be expected after the Taxotere. This bit of good news is welcome and give us impetus to "stay the course". In one week the labs will be performed again to follow this progress. Stay tuned...

Second good day

Two good days in a row may be a new world's record. Sally has been taking her Zofran and Prevacid regularly and that seems to have made a big difference. She has been feeling pretty well the past two days and has been eating--not a whole lot, but much better than before. We go to see Dr. Conlon tomorrow for platelet check. I flush her PICC line daily with heparin/saline. So we are looking forward to some good days ahead. Sally has a few mouth sores that may be related to her chemo. We'll see what the Dr. says about that.