Hello Everyone,

I went to the oncologist on Monday and had a good report.  My blood test looked good and my spleen felt a little softer than right after the body scan, so things are progressing well.  I did have one new comment by the doctor that I didn't like.  I have a virus in my system that produces a cyst in my tailbone area every once in a while.  I haven't had one for quite some time, I was hoping it went dormant.  But in the last couple weeks, FOUR have popped up, some on a nerve that was quite painful.  My doctor said my chemo is likely the culprit for irritating the virus, thus they are popping out like crazy.  Boo!

On the other hand, my doctor said it is possible that my chemo is helping my Sjogren's, an autoimmune illness I have had since diagnosed in my 40s.  Apparently, the lymph nodes are a conduit for autoimmune diseases, or something like that.  The gist of his comment is that my Sjogren's may be cured, or at least be far less symptomatic.  Joy!  Who knew I could be so happy about chemo.

My next treatment is on March 6, #5.  Only one more after that, then another body scan to see where I am with this disease.  Hopefully as well as the doctor expects it to be.

On a more pleasurable note, the boys were here last weekend and we were quite busy.  The whole family got home at the same time on Friday, the girls from their Santa Catalina Island getaway and the boys, who were picked up at school on the way home.  I was so happy to see the whole gang, as were the dogs, who were beside themselves with excitement.  It was a very noisy reunion.

On Saturday, the boys had their first ball game of the season.  We all went to see them win their first game. The boys were quite happy about that.  I like the new coach, he seems to know what he is doing and is very good with the kids.  On Sunday, we were up BEFORE the crack of dawn as we had to leave at 5:15 to drive to Pasadena, then catch the train into Chinatown in LA at 6:15, so Andrea could be there to get registered for her 5K Firecracker run.  The boys also ran a Kiddie Run a little later.  It was so fun, and the entertainment beforehand was great.  Dancing dragons going through the crowd and 100,000 firecrackers going off all at once.  We all had to plug our ears, the noise was so loud.  Needless to say, I came home right after the boys run, said good-bye to the boys for another 2 weeks, and went to bed.  I was exhausted.  That's it for now.  Thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers, they seem to be working.  Love you, Chris.

In the dugout, getting ready to head out to the field.
Camden is the catcher, so has to put on all his
protective gear.  Finn is checking out the other team.

The architecture in Chinatown is awe inspiring.

The dancing dragons walked all through the crowd
and then back to where they started so they could
dance among the 100,000 firecrackers when they went off.

None of the shops were open but there was a stage with
entertainment by young dancing girls, it was very
festive.  And there were tons of runners, I don't know
the exact amount.  There was also a 10K race.  

Hello friends,

Well, I had treatment #4 last Thursday, only 2 more to go.  It was a long day at the chemo center, 8-5.  They got a late start, not till 10, not sure why as I did my blood work the day before.  Then on the last bag of medicine, the IV machine got turned off by accident and it wasn't discovered until 40 minutes later.  So I was the first one in and the last one out that day.  Wore one of my new scarf caps, got a lot of compliments. I  haven't lost all of my hair, but it has thinned out quite a bit.  The only really noticeable side effect this time was my taste buds were way off.  Nothing tastes normal, not drinks or food.  That could be a good thing, I eat less when it doesn't taste good.  The prednisone that I have to take for three days after treatment causes me to swell up in my face and hands and feet.  A little annoying but doesn't last long after my last dose.

       

Loved the peacock scarf, all my colors.

\

I came home and got immediately into my nightgown.  Sat in my living room to watch the news and my sweet Lily came up to keep me company. She sprawled across my entire body.  I think my cats know when I have had my treatments, they both want to be close to me the whole evening.

I thought I would post some pictures from when

my sister was here.  We had such a good visit,

it was just what I needed.  Lots of laughter and making new memories.  I wish the weather would have been a little warmer for them, but they thought 60s felt like summer.  It was a little windy too, but it didn't stop us from doing anything.  Now it has been in the 80s for a couple days.  I know Nancy McConnell is out here for her dad's birthday, I'm sure she is loving these warm temps.  Enjoy.  

Fun at the park with mommy.

Swings are so much fun!  Hazel loved them.

Aunt Chris and Kate enjoying the sun.

Meeting up with Finn and Cam at Kid Space,
an awesome place for kids to have fun.

Andrea and Courtney brought their
 two small dogs over to meet Hazel.
Good dogs, Moxie and Wally.

Hazel and her Grammy, all dolled up with
some scarves from Chris' collection.
Hazel's scarf is going on one of my caps.

All the young girls at the Gentle Barn.
Hazel loved petting all the animals.
We all had our first vegan hot dogs for lunch.

The two cousins just chillin'.

Hello everyone.  I have been away from this blog for a while as I had company for the last week.  My sister and her daughter and her granddaughter were here for a visit since Jan 30.  I took them back to the airport yesterday, and took the rest of the day off to recuperate.  I was not used to that much activity or the early hours waking up, but when there is a 15 month old baby here, that is what you do.  Their visit was so much fun, my great-niece was just precious and was extremely well-mannered the whole visit.  I miss them already. They arrived back to Chicago last night in the midst of a snowstorm, but all got home intact.

Since I last wrote, I saw my cardiologist on the 29th.  She said my vitals were OK, and increased one of my meds to the maximum she wanted me to take.  She started me out on a low milligram prescription and has been upping it slowly since I started taking it.  Since I was not having any bad side effects, she put me on the maximum dosage she had been working up to.  In three months she wants to do another EKG to see how my heart is doing on the two medications I take, one for blood pressure and one for blood pressure and to help my heart to not work so hard during my chemo treatments.

I also had my full body scan on the 29th, but would have to wait til the 3rd to hear how it came out.
On February 3rd, I saw my oncologist.  He said my blood work looks great at this halfway mark of my treatments.  My platelets are pretty high considering how low they were when I started, 25,000 at the lowest point to almost 200,000 currently.  My red and white blood cells look normal at this point in my treatment. Then I asked him how my scan came out.  He wanted to see the results at the same time I did, so he pulled up the report then and there and here are the results:

1.  The lymph node in my upper body had shrunk from 16mm to 12mm
2.  The lumph node near my belly had shrunk from 26mm to 11mm

Woohoo I said.  That sounds like my treatments are working.  Then he said there was one more improvement:

3.  My spleen, which had enlarged to 23.2cm, was now down to 13.8cm.

The doctor was ecstatic about that, as was I.  My liver had not gone down much but he wasn't too worried about that, the spleen was a huge improvement.  He said my bone marrow had been full of cancer when he did the biopsy, but was now producing healthy blood.

So I and all my company went to Courtney and Andrea's house for a celebratory dinner of grilled steak and salad.  It was a lovely way for my company to end their vacation and celebrate with me on my great results from the cat scan.

I started a new chemo cap right before my company arrived so have not worked on it since.  But I will be back at it tomorrow.  I have the scarves I ordered, so I now have to go to the yarn store and get some yarn to match the scarves, then I will start making more of those.

My darling girls came over for dinner one night and had a surprise for me.  They planted a bunch of lovely spring flowers in my pots, which were full of dead flowers from last year.  Courtney rearranged the pots into a more symmetrical pattern, and they look awesome.  I just hope I can keep them alive till summer.  I did not inherit my mother's green thumb!