Happy Memorial Weekend...

Hope all of you are having an enjoyable weekend. Saw the neuro radiologist yesterday and got blood drawn for the HLA typing as well. No new info. Passed another neuro check...(FYI to those of you who doubted my capacity to do so before all this!!!) Asked Brent ahead of time if I could mess with the doc by demonstrating a lisp and a limp...but the donkey looked a little distressed and said he'd rather I didn't. It's hard to have fun and cancer at the same time!! Anyhow, I've been cleared by all my docs, except the one I live with, (and my pulmonologist, I guess) to try to restart any exercise I feel like I can do. So...today I took a sort-of brisk 2 mile walk with Brent and Rosie (after they had run 4 and 5 miles respectively!!) and did manage to jog about 1/4 of a mile as we returned home. Sounded like a wheezy freight train, but I managed.

We're making pizzas this evening. Brent is making the dough in the bread maker and Rosie and I are responsible for the rest.

Have a great weekend. Love to all - c

Discharged from thoracic surgeon!

Had my follow-up appt with the thoracic surgeon today. Had a good chest X-ray and SaO2 was 100%! He thinks the cough (which is getting better) is due to irritation from the sutures and the healing process in the bronchus. I will be seeing the pulmonologist next week who will be really the one to ask more about all that. But, the surgeon thought I was doing well. Wants a copy of the PET/CT when I get it and call if I need anything else.

Also have the evaluation of my tumor (or at least part of it) in process to see if there is a DNA match that is needed for some of the new drugs currently in study. Don't know how long that takes, but there you have it. Will also be having some HLA typing done with the blood work in July because certain types have a better outcome with some immunotherapies.

Feeling better still. Have both kids ready to go back to school in the fall. Some of Fred-o's return items just had to be trashed...after 2 years in a dorm...you see what I mean.

Planning on a lazy weekend. Hope it is a great one for all of you. Love always - c

Rose at graduation

 
 
 

Rose and senior night

 
 
 

I finally figured out why...

...I hadn't been feeling well! As signs and symptoms progressed I realized I had a UTI, thanks foley catheter!!!! But after being tested and treated I am feeling much better. I guess a UTI is kind-of a relief compared to some other options...so.....

Anyhow, today was a good, though busy day. Got Rosie set up to go to her GA tech orientation in July with all her papers in order. Fred-o took care of the yard while Rose and I went to her initial visit at the oral surgeon so she can get all 5 of her wisdom teeth out in June. Plus, did a few errands she needed to take care of.

Managed to do my 15 minute elliptical workout with 315 "calories" burned, so I was proud.

As someone with 16 surgical scars, here is my new favorite paragraph from a book: Little Bee, by Chris Cleave

"On the girl's brown legs there were many small white scars. I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and the moons on your dress? I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived."

Love you. c

Busy day, lazy day...

Friday was a busy day for me. :>) Did my 15 minute elliptical with me best effort so far. Had an appt with the oncologist. More of a discussion than examination. There are no clinical trials that I currently qualify for since you have to have "measurable disease" to enter them. Which, hopefully, I do not have. Frankly, I'm not desperate enough at this point to even wish to participate in a trial...since you have to remember that they all have at least 2 arms...with some people getting the "good" drug and other arms getting a less effective drug or placebo. Also, there is no real adjunctive care that is advised for me currently. I could do interferon, but my oncologist doesn't recommend it and I don't want it. So...it is more of a time to try to get strong and watch and see. To that end, I have a brain MRI and PET scan scheduled for July 19 and will be having those about every 3 months.

That evening, Brent and I had dinner with dear friends. It was delicious, fun, and nice to get out of the house!!! Thanks guys!

Yesterday, I was rather tired. I just rested with the kids while Brent worked!! When he was rounding in the nursery at Erlanger, he ran into my pulmonologist who asked after me and reassured Brent that all my current coughing was to be expected at this time in the recovery process. (I've had a dry obnoxious cough for the past couple of weeks...thank goodness it wasn't this bad when my chest was so sore right after surgery!!) Anyhow, I will be seeing him in person next week. This week I am seeing the thoracic surgeon on Thurs and the neuro radiologist on Friday.

Tried to do the elliptical yesterday, but stopped after 3 minutes. We'll see what I do today!!! love to all - c

Great Visit...

Had such a nice visit with my baby sister, Kik. She is back on her way to Houston now. We lazed about and talked. Fred, Rose, Zeno and Kik did take me on a walk (where I used to run!!) so that I could see the Mountain Laurel blooming down near a creek. It was really pretty. If I had waited much longer I would have missed them. But they were very nice. All my chaperons were worried about me, but I took breaks to catch my breath. It was a work-out, but I am glad I did it. Pain is pretty managable. If I could quit coughing and wheezing, I'd be all set!!! :>)

Hope all of you and yours are doing well. Love to all - c