Hi All,
Sorry that I missed last weeks notice. Friday, October 6th, Posy went to have her blood transfusion just four days after her last Gemzar chemo. She received two units of type O+ blood. This was done because her red blood count was very low and the Epogen she has been getting just wasn't bringing up the count. (At least it was holding the red count level). The idea was to get her red count up and hopefully increase her energy. It didn't seem to help much on the energy front, however, although it did add some color back into her cheeks! She also had a Gemzar chemo treatment this last Friday. The doctor reported that her red count is currently in the normal range which is good, but her energy is still down. There was no new word about a CA-125 level as a test was not taken last week.
Side effects of the chemo have been bothering Posy lately. For the last few months she has had a difficult time concentrating and can't write or do creative things. This has obviously been frustrating to her, as she is such a creative person. She has also lost some of her equilibrium lately and has a difficult time walking without being a little out of balance. Most of this is probably from the chemo drugs but part may be also from the return of liquid on he abdomen and lung which will create a shortage of oxygen and difficulty breathing. We will be scheduling an appointment to have her 'drained' some time this next week. Our hope is that this will make her much more comfortable and help get more oxygen into her system. Her hip has also been bothering her, so that adds to the difficulty in walking. We now have a wheel chair so that if we go out she doesn't have to walk and it won't be so painful.
We have scheduled Posy for a visit to another doctor. She's scheduled for November 6th to go up to UCLA Cancer Center in Los Angeles for a second opinion. Since we don't know the primary source and not yet sure how the new regiment of chemo is doing, we just wanted another pair of eyes to look over the data and help us out with possible alternatives.
We have also scheduled ourselves a little break. We are going up to Big Bear for a week from the 27th to November 3rd. Hopefully Posy will feel up to the entire week, but if not we will be there a few days and just rest and watch the pretty scenery.
On the people side, we had a nice visit from some old friends Bill and Cherie Andrews last Tuesday. They came back to San Diego for a short vacation from up in Oregon where they live now. Posy and I both enjoyed the evening with them very much. It was good to see old friends. (They aren't old, we have just known them for quite some time.) It really cheered Posy up to have a nice visit from friends.
Posy's good friend Marita (a fellow cancer patient) passed away last Wednesday. We went to her memorial service on Saturday. Posy has been down from the loss of her fellow fighter of cancer. Marita has always been an inspiration to Posy in fighting with cancer. Posy has often said that "if she can do it, then I can do it too". And Marita did do it for over four years!
It looks like we will be having a big family gathering here in San Diego for Thanksgiving. So, Posy has been enjoying planning for all the people and the affair the last couple of days.
As you may or may not know, my brother Pace is here helping us with some construction projects. We are currently building a fountain in the front entry after we removed the tree from the area. I have posted a few construction pictures at: http://www.snyderville.net/construction.html if you are interested. Pace will also be helping to complete the bathroom next to our bedroom. I'll report more on all that as time goes by.
Well, more next week.
Bob
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First created: November 12, 2000
Last updated: June 18, 2005