I know I have been scolded for not posting - might make some of you worried. Things have been busy - so sorry! Here are the updates:
Friday Morning I worked from home from 6-7:30am, then drove in with Frank to Group Health.
I had chemo buddies Kass and Judi meet me there again for my Taxol treatment #3 . It was so nice to have them in the room and I do appreciate the company and time they are giving me to watch the clear liquid drain into the little tube hooked up to my chest.
After the chemo session, they went shopping with me to pick out a hat to wear to the wedding reception this weekend and Kass took both Judi and me to lunch at Agave in Redmond. Those guys have some good fashion sense and found a cute little british straw hat and a white flower pin that coordinated with my dress really well. We had a nice morning and afternoon.
After that trip, Judi came back to the house for awhile to hold Grady for a few minutes before the man came in the replace the screens in the house. Wow - was that a welcome addition as we had not been able to open up the windows for a week - it had gotten really stuffy. After that, I finished up some phone calls for work and started getting the dinner ready. As the eveining progressed, I did not feel that well; pretty nauseous, tired, "buzzy" and had a bit of numbness in my hands and feet. I was bummed because we had a big weekend planned for going to Bellingham for the wedding reception, staying overnight and then up to Blaine to visit Marcia and Gary Sunday morning.
Well, went to bed early and when I got up Saturday morning, things were much better. So, off we went to Bellingham. Kevin and Nancy met us at the Best Western there near Bellis Fair Mall and we had dinner with them at the Thai restaurant. We then headed over to Lee and Jessica's reception at her aunt's place in rural Bellingham. It was a lovely night and then had lots of room to spread out on the lawn for the party. Since they were married the week before in Mexico, this was the local celebration for friends and relatives that couldn't make it there. We enjoyed the party for a couple of hours, then headed back to the hotel. We spent the rest of the evening visiting with Kevin, Nancy and Griffey in our hotel room. So nice to catch up with them. Griffey and I conked out on the bed before the rest, as I cannot stay up late any more.
Sunday morning we met the kids for coffee in the hotel breakfast room, then headed up to Blaine to visit Marcia and Gary. It was a beautiful morning and their house is in such a lovely setting right on the bay before you get to Canada. Their daughter Stacy was visiting so we got to catch up with her as well as Marcia and Gary. They have done so much work on the house - it is amazing. They served us a nice breakfast while we caught up.
After that , we drove back home with a cruise down memory lane through the WWU campus, Fairhaven and Chuckanut drive, stopped at Costco and Albertson's in Woodinville before finally hitting home.
We saw Ryan, Chantal and Grady for a few minutes before they headed out to dinner with Michael and Sara.
Shortly after that, Juanita and Kathy Roach came over with a casserole and a gift for Grady - good to catch up with them as well.
It was a great weekend, I enjoyed it immensely, but this old lady is tired now! The numbness is coming back into my fingers and toes, so I think I need to just get some sleep.
Thank goodness I will have this next Friday off to recuperate before the next round. We are excited to have a couple of dinners planned for Saturday and Sunday with friends and family. Got to get this stuff in while the summer is here!
Sweet dreams to you all,
Love Jan
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Taxol II
Friday, July 20th I went in for Taxol treatment #2, again riding in with Frank in the morning. I was lucky to have good buddies Judi and Kass meet me there! Everybody was talking about the Batman movie massacres from the night before - what a tragedy. Judi, Kass and had a good visit during the chemo session and it went by really fast since we were all chatting away...
Things have gone pretty well so far this time. I was able to hang in there to go out to lunch with Judi and Kass, visit with Grady and Ryan in between treatment and lunch. Honestly, Kass is suffering much more than I am with her broken tailbone!
The only side affects I have noticed so far are the usual tiredness that hits you pretty quickly when it comes and a little "buzziness" from the medications they give you before treatment. I am to expect getting some numbness in hands and feet; so far I have not felt that. I am losing more hair all over - my eyebrows and eyelashes are almost completely gone now - looking more and more like Uncle Fester from the Adams Family!
There is some more good news; I thought my Taxol treatment schedule was going to be extended out to finish at the end of October - the current thinking is that it will still be the end of September, with three weeks of chemo, one week off and then two more rounds like this. Woo hoo!
Yesterday, Chantal, Grady and I attended the bridal shower for Sara Eshe, my nephew Michael's fiance. Doreen and Samantha put on a great party - lots of nice food and a couple of fun games. We all got to know Sara, her friends and relatives a little bit better. Of course, Grady was a big hit being the only guy there! He got to visit with a few surrogate Grandmas and Aunties - even got a few minutes bonding time with his Godfather, Michael at the conclusion of the shower.
I hope you all are enjoying your weekend, more updates later.
Lots love,
Jan
Things have gone pretty well so far this time. I was able to hang in there to go out to lunch with Judi and Kass, visit with Grady and Ryan in between treatment and lunch. Honestly, Kass is suffering much more than I am with her broken tailbone!
The only side affects I have noticed so far are the usual tiredness that hits you pretty quickly when it comes and a little "buzziness" from the medications they give you before treatment. I am to expect getting some numbness in hands and feet; so far I have not felt that. I am losing more hair all over - my eyebrows and eyelashes are almost completely gone now - looking more and more like Uncle Fester from the Adams Family!
There is some more good news; I thought my Taxol treatment schedule was going to be extended out to finish at the end of October - the current thinking is that it will still be the end of September, with three weeks of chemo, one week off and then two more rounds like this. Woo hoo!
Yesterday, Chantal, Grady and I attended the bridal shower for Sara Eshe, my nephew Michael's fiance. Doreen and Samantha put on a great party - lots of nice food and a couple of fun games. We all got to know Sara, her friends and relatives a little bit better. Of course, Grady was a big hit being the only guy there! He got to visit with a few surrogate Grandmas and Aunties - even got a few minutes bonding time with his Godfather, Michael at the conclusion of the shower.
I hope you all are enjoying your weekend, more updates later.
Lots love,
Jan
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Taxol I
I am so sorry that I haven't posted for two weeks - yikes!
I guess the reason is that I have been doing a bit better, but also work has been so busy and I have been working extra hours. The last thing I have wanted to do is look at the computer since I've already spent 8-10 hours in front of it!
Anyway, here we are with the new chemotherapy drug which I took yesterday for the 1st time. I met with Dr. Chen and he has filled me in on the expected side affects and thinks they may need to alter the schedule a bit. The main side affect that people seem to complain about is numbness in the hands and feet and tiredness. For this reason, I may need to do three weeks in a row of chemo, then take a week off and then repeat for three more sessions like this. This will stretch things out for another month or so, taking it until mid-November. I guess we will just have to see how I do.
I drove into Group Health with Frank and then met Kathy and Nancy there for my chemo session. This time they had to have me lying down and check for any allergic reaction to the drug (swelling of the throat, hives, rashes, etc.) Since I did not get that, they were able to give me the whole treatment just fine and I will likely not have that reaction in the future. It was so sweet to have Nancy come by on her way home from work (after her 12 hour shift) and Kathy on her day off to keep me company. Always great to have extra nurses for back up too! The treatment went well and will not take so long in the future.
Nancy brought miniature cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then we all went to the 3 Pigs barbeque across the street when we were finished for lunch compliments of Kathy. Thanks guys! Afterwards, Kathy drove me home, so things were easy for me this day.
Finished out the day at home with watching Grady for a little bit while Ryan and Chantal did some shopping for a crib mattress in Bellevue. Dr. Chen says I am not toxic with this treatment, so I was able to feed him, change his diapers and give him little kisses with no worries - just have to take the hand washing precaution of course. Yay!
Last night I had a little trouble sleeping since they gave me the Dexamethasone (steroid) before starting my chemo. It is not prescribed again, so hopefully tonight I will sleep better. So far no nausea, heartburn or numbness, but we shall see how things progress.
We're looking forward to a nice dinner here with Kirk and Heather tonight - catching up with our good buddies! I'm hoping the weather cooperates and we don't get thunder, lightning and hail like yesterday!
Until later,
Jan
xoxoxo
I guess the reason is that I have been doing a bit better, but also work has been so busy and I have been working extra hours. The last thing I have wanted to do is look at the computer since I've already spent 8-10 hours in front of it!
Anyway, here we are with the new chemotherapy drug which I took yesterday for the 1st time. I met with Dr. Chen and he has filled me in on the expected side affects and thinks they may need to alter the schedule a bit. The main side affect that people seem to complain about is numbness in the hands and feet and tiredness. For this reason, I may need to do three weeks in a row of chemo, then take a week off and then repeat for three more sessions like this. This will stretch things out for another month or so, taking it until mid-November. I guess we will just have to see how I do.
I drove into Group Health with Frank and then met Kathy and Nancy there for my chemo session. This time they had to have me lying down and check for any allergic reaction to the drug (swelling of the throat, hives, rashes, etc.) Since I did not get that, they were able to give me the whole treatment just fine and I will likely not have that reaction in the future. It was so sweet to have Nancy come by on her way home from work (after her 12 hour shift) and Kathy on her day off to keep me company. Always great to have extra nurses for back up too! The treatment went well and will not take so long in the future.
Nancy brought miniature cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then we all went to the 3 Pigs barbeque across the street when we were finished for lunch compliments of Kathy. Thanks guys! Afterwards, Kathy drove me home, so things were easy for me this day.
Finished out the day at home with watching Grady for a little bit while Ryan and Chantal did some shopping for a crib mattress in Bellevue. Dr. Chen says I am not toxic with this treatment, so I was able to feed him, change his diapers and give him little kisses with no worries - just have to take the hand washing precaution of course. Yay!
Last night I had a little trouble sleeping since they gave me the Dexamethasone (steroid) before starting my chemo. It is not prescribed again, so hopefully tonight I will sleep better. So far no nausea, heartburn or numbness, but we shall see how things progress.
We're looking forward to a nice dinner here with Kirk and Heather tonight - catching up with our good buddies! I'm hoping the weather cooperates and we don't get thunder, lightning and hail like yesterday!
Until later,
Jan
xoxoxo
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