tom's blog

chemo (day 14)

Posted Mon, 09/29/2008 - 21:32 by tom

We're up to day 14 on the official chemo schedule. Today was a double dose of chemo. One part delivered via IV and the other part delivered via shot. She responded pretty well in that the vitals were all ok. It was a bit of a tough day from a physical stand point, in that she was extra tired and had some extra pain. All in all, the important numbers are doing well and she's getting through this. The doctor initiated a discussion today about going home at some point. We're still a ways away from that, but the fact that he initiated a discussion about it is certainly a good thing.

Four weeks ago today, she woke me up around 6:30am and said "babe, we have to go to the hospital. I've been up all night and I don't feel well" and so our journey began. Not exactly the wake up that I was hoping for and I would have never imagined this is where we'd wind up. Perhaps it's a bit too early in this process to be overly reflective as we have a long path ahead of us, but we've been through some real ups and downs over these past 4 weeks and she's come such a long way from the day we heard the initial diagnosis, the start of chemo and the trip to the ICU. Now, she knows all the nurses and has made quite a few friends. Her room resembles a college dorm, in that she has a fridge, a ton of snacks, a bunch of games, a ton of cards, a bunch of red plastic cups.... and all the nurses come by to chit chat.

She wanted to thank Yesy (college friend) for sending the care package with Anna's favorite chocolate bars and a webkinz. Also, thanks to Ira and Chris with sending a musical Dr McDreamy card. I'm sure that made her feel better. Also, thanks to Ursula (aka maltamamma) for sending the "WOW, I FEEL GOOD" singing card. When did these musical cards become all the rage? I must get out more often.

couple pounds and a lot of stuff

Posted Sun, 09/28/2008 - 19:39 by tom

This will be one of the few times a man can actually publicly state this about his wife and not get shot.... Anna put on about 6 pounds over the last week or so. This is a good thing. She had dropped a few pounds since she first checked in and this past week, she started to reverse the trend. She's still below where she started and the doctor's have never been specifically worried about her weight, but it is good to see her put a little weight back on given that appetite and weight loss are two of the generic things that they watch. It really goes to show how strong her body is and how well she is reacting to the overall treatment plan. She still has a little bit of the same crummy feeling that she's had since Friday, but Saturday was better than Friday and Sunday was better than Saturday, so that's good. We think tomorrow is another chemo day so chances are it may be a bit of a tough day.

My parent's came down to take their turn in the rotation and they came bringing a lot of stuff! I think half of upstate New York sent something down with them. So, a few extra thank you messages tonight:
Gram (my grandmother) - Thanks for the PJs. They are fantastic. Good choice.
Joe & Connie (parent's neighbors) - Thank you for the card and masses. Your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated.
Mary Alice (family friend since the days of T-ball) - Thank you for the book and cross. She has already provided instructions to put the cross on the rear view mirror of the truck.

And then there were two sunshine baskets that were put together by folks that work with my mom at the Center for Rheumatology in Albany (www.joint-docs.com). She received so many things including cards, bracelets, metals from the shrine, lottery scratch off tickets, games, lotions, books, bathroom supplies, cash and many, many thoughts and prayers. There were too many people to thank individually - so thank you all! Your love and support is truly appreciated. I realize most of you have never met Anna or me, so to go out of your way to send so many thoughtful things really does mean a lot. We're looking forward to taking the trip up and hopefully thanking everyone in person once we're back to full strength.

Can't believe the Muts are out of it. The performance of Johan and CC over the last two days really prove the old adage about the importance of starting pitching in baseball. They both went 9 innings with just a couple runs between them. Absolutely awesome. Oh, and Moose got 20 wins. Good for him. Too bad it didn't mean anything. J-E-T-S scored 56. wow.

me and Mr. TJ

Posted Sat, 09/27/2008 - 22:17 by tom

Xiomara and Abuela went home earlier today. Anna's parents were here for a while, but not it's just me and Mr. TJ. I'm trying to fend off his hands as I type this, so not sure how long this one will be. For the moment, he's distracted with his Thomas The Train fake laptop. We're both sitting in bed typing on our laptops. Kinda cute, but perhaps a bit geeky. He's got a bit of a runny nose, but I'm still optimistic we'll get a good night's sleep.

Anna felt about the same today as she did yesterday. Her body is a bit beat up and she's pretty fatigued. She hasn't been sleeping too well at night and when she tries to sleep during the day there always seems to be an interruption. I know this is counter intuitive, but the hospital really isn't a great place to rest. There is always something going on or something that is beeping. Her vitals and other important statistics are doing well, so medically we're making great progress. She'll just have to battle the pain and fatigue for a while. Her spirits are still high and emotionally she's feeling great.

Her appetite was great again today. Her mom cooked up a feast as she usually does on Saturdays (if you've ever been here on a Saturday, you definitely know what I'm talking about). I think we had enough food for the entire 32 bed oncology unit.

She's losing a little more hair every day. At this point, it is noticeable in that you can see her scalp and there are a few spots where it's pretty thin, but she is still gorgeous to me. I can't wait until the day comes that we can have a huge party to celebrate!

We've had a few people ask about charitable donations. If you are interested, our preference is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page.adp?item_id=8477). I'll try to add this to the links on the left so it's easy to find. Please don't feel obligated. A couple months back, prior to all of this, Anna and I were talking about how we should really look to donate more to charity. Beyond donating some old clothes and the occasional thing that you get suckered into in the office, I've never been real good at donating despite the fact that a few things have previously hit pretty close to home. I suspect this one will probably change that bit.

She wanted to thank Brigida (Mario and Stephanie's mom) for the prayer and journal. I suspect Brigida doesn't check the blog, so hopefully they can pass along the thank you. Also, wanted to thank everyone else for continuing to check-in, post comments, send well wishes, etc.