Status Update

Hi everyone.

I thought today would be a good one to provide a status update on many levels.

First, Kenny's wisdom teeth removal. Kenny had his wisdom teeth out on Wednesday, January 30th. Everything went very smoothly. The only way I could tell that he was nervous was that he was a little more talkative than normal beforehand. We had a great conversation driving there in the car and then continuing into the waiting room while we waited. Kenny went in fairly close to time and I knew before they told me that it was an easy removal as the next patient for his oral surgeon was called from the waiting room about fifteen minutes after Kenny went in. As I have experienced in other waiting rooms lately, I was given a buzzer like they give you in restaurants so you know when your table is ready. I was told when the buzzer went off that I was to proceed to the recovery area and given instructions on how to find it. As usual for me, I did not understand the directions correctly the first time and had to ask again before I ended up in the right spot. I was greeted by my 'sister' Gayle in the recovery area, how very nice to see her. She went over Kenny's discharge instructions with me and we chatted a bit. She told me Kenny took a bit to wake up but once awake, he was 'on'. We arranged for me to go and get the car and drive up to the door and she would bring him down. Seeing as how there was a wheelchair beside us as we talked, my assumption was that she would wheel him down. It was very amusing to see them as I drove up, Kenny and Gayle were walking side by side, he was almost twice the height of Gayle and clearly she would not have been able to catch him had he decided to faint. Kenny remarked to me after he got in the car that he kept saying over and over to himself as they came down - 'You can't faint'. Now that he is home, he has done very well; what more could I expect with all the good care he received.

I received a phone call from the rehab facility team lead yesterday a.m. to inform me that the plan is to discharge Mom on Tuesday, February 5th. That should work very well and I am so pleased to have that amount of time to prepare. I had been calling the Red Cross about her equipment daily and I was told on Wednesday afternoon that two pieces of the equipment were in and ready for her but there was still no wheelchair. I went to pick up those pieces yesterday afternoon and when I did they also wheeled out a wheelchair that had just come in that morning. We now have all the equipment needed for her for six months, which should give enough time for the authorization and acquisition of her own wheelchair during that time period.

Yesterday morning was my book club. We had a wonderful discussion about the book we had read, it is so very interesting to have the benefit of other people's shared viewpoints and experiences to enrich and enhance my own reading.

Next week I have another radiation oncologist appointment on Thursday afternoon. I have seen several recent studies that point to the benefit of radiation not just locally but systemically (over chemo alone) for high risk breast cancer, references to a couple of the studies were provided by this radiation oncologist. We will discuss this next week with the expectation that I will then proceed on to radiation therapy following the appointment.

My nails are really looking sad lately. There is more lifting occurring, no pain, just ugliness. My hair is slowly starting to make it's appearance. It is not yet the length it was when I had it buzzed prior to chemo and it is much patchier than it was in those pictures but I have hope. It started out fuzzy and white. Now I can see dark hairs growing and filling in. I find myself rubbing my head frequently when just sitting around home, it is so different to feel hair there again.

Energy wise, I find it is kind of like one step forward and two steps back at the moment. I had about a week where I felt that I was regaining my energy and not feeling so short of breath with activity. Now in the past couple of days I am finding myself once again short of breath and tired easily. I guess it is about the right timing for my last Herceptin infusion to be causing some of that and, apparently the Tamoxifen can also have an effect. If I go ahead with radiation I know it will also drain my energy so I will need to exercise some patience with myself, but it is definitely not my strong suit. I am continuing with my daily treadmill sessions which I think helps, I am maintaining a 3.0 mile/hour walking rate but can't seem to push the rate higher than that at the moment.

Tomorrow is my workshop on singing harmony at Well Spring. The weather has been beautiful over the last couple of days, I don't mind getting out and going places when the weather is nice, I just need to remember windshield washer fluid. I had to make a quick stop at Rod's shop yesterday afternoon on my way over to get Mom's equipment, I could just barely see through the windshield as I drove up.

On Tuesday evening a group of us ladies are going out to see 'Quartet', a movie directed by Dustin Hoffman. It promises to be a great evening with the added possibility of tea and dessert with the ladies following the movie.

There you have it. Not much to complain about, is there? ;)

Take care everyone.