Category Archives: friends

by | March 26, 2012 · 8:11 pm

Small victories

If you were to talk to anyone enduring a chronic disease, or to their caregiver, you will hear how valuable the small victories are. There are no Pyrrhic victories because winning means they are still here to fight.

Saturday was the toughest day Lucy has had since her surgery almost two years ago. She started having really painful stomach issues before going to bed Friday night. Several rounds of nausea later she started feeling less miserable. It’s a tough victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Lucy’s had two nights in a row that she has not had to get up. The Ativan seems to have helped her stomach a bit. One thing that has also helped is staggering her Pradaxa and Hexalen in the morning and evenings. Both drugs use quick dissolving capsules. Quick dissolving capsules are acidic and can cause stomach irritation. We’ll take this victory, too.

Her menu has expanded a bit. That’s a victory because Ensure and Activia get boring after a couple of weeks. We’re being careful with introducing foods that are more solid. She is finally able to take her SlowFe, which should help her anemia problem. To help with her stomach gurgling, we found that simethicone gel caps that work better than the Zantac.

Lucy still has very little energy. Her transfusion didn’t seem to help much with her energy level. This might be a cumulative effect of the Hexalen. She is as wiped out today as she was a couple of days after her Taxol round.

Lucy’s coworker Cathy stopped by tonight and dropped off a fun gift basket. Her coworkers have been so supportive and generous. Julie called tonight and helped cheer Lucy up some more.

It’s been a long month with the setbacks and slow recovery. She hasn’t been able to get out much. During our warm spell, she managed to get into the sun porch a couple of times. Today was actually below normal for temperature, with some light rain this morning and several hours of strong wind this afternoon. The forecast for tomorrow is warm, sunny, and windy. That might help with her energy level.

Your love and support help Lucy immensely! Thank you so much!

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by | March 18, 2012 · 7:56 pm

“Summer in the City”

The old Lovin’ Spoonful song from the mid-1960’s is very appropriate for the weather we have experienced the past ten days. Temperatures have run 25°F – 35°F above our average of 42°F. Yesterday was the earliest 80°F reading the Twin Cities has had since official records started in 1871 (but only by six days) and we were flirting with 80°F again today.

Our forsythia bush has started to bloom even before the squills, snowdrops and crocuses have poked up. The maple trees are quite messy now that they are shedding their red fuzzy flowers because the leaf buds are opening. We have already had a bluebird in the birdbath, the grass is getting green, and the lilacs have leaves forming. Our gentle March breeze isn’t gentle because we were dealing with 20 – 30 mph wind gusts today.

Lucy is still having stomach issues. She is managing with Ensure, Activia yogurt, and an occasional Immodium. The stomach noises are quieting down gradually but the noise keeps her awake at night. She still has some stomach cramping, but they are lessening.

Her legs are back to normal size and she shows no sign of clot formation. She has tolerated the Pradaxa well. Once her stomach problems abate and she starts walking more, her ankle stiffness will subside. Lucy also started her Hexalen oral chemotherapy yesterday. We’re a bit worried about the Hexalen since stomach problems are a common side effect. It’s only the second day, so it is too early to tell how well she is tolerating it.

Diane called yesterday and helped Lucy’s mood improve. She heard from Steve and Julie this morning.

For my Northern California cousins, stay warm and enjoy your snow. For our Upper Midwest readers, enjoy summer in March, and for all of you, remember Lucy and I are blessed to have you supporting her!

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by | March 12, 2012 · 9:51 pm

Hexalen en route

Lucy’s still having some stomach issues. She has had stomach problems with every oral antibiotic she has taken even before her cancer. The Augmentin is done Thursday morning. She called the doctor and was told to take some Compazine for her stomach upset. The stomach problem might take a few more days to resolve. As such, her oncologist extended her disability to April 5th. She was originally scheduled to go back to work this Friday. That was disappointing for her, too.

Lucy’s legs are almost back to normal size. Her ankles are still somewhat stiff but are getting better. She still needs her walker because of her ankles, but her movement speed is getting faster.

Her Hexalen will arrive tomorrow. It sounds like she will be taking five capsules per day, but we can spread the dosage throughout the day.

Lucy’s sisters have been very supportive the past couple days. I ran into a long-time (I hate the word old in this case, because he isn’t even if I am!) friend yesterday and had a nice talk with him. Thanks Dave, you don’t know how much you helped! And thank you to everyone who sent emails of support!

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by | March 2, 2012 · 10:08 pm

Home on Sunday?

Diane visited Lucy this morning. She always manages to cheer Lucy up and today was no different.

Lucy received some good news today. The Infectious Disease group is very comfortable that the fever spikes and redness in her leg are both clot related. She is still on antibiotics. Her Heparin Factor X is at 0.29. Therapeutic range starts at 0.30.

Dr. Thurmes came by and gave her some better news. She will be going on either Arixtra (injection) or Pradaxa (oral), so her heparin level can be close to therapeutic range. Her IV heparin will be stopping soon, and she will switch to oral antibiotics. He mentioned Sunday as a possible release date. Lucy must be off the IVs before going home.

Lucy’s left ankle is still extremely stiff. She has not tried walking with her walker yet. Maneuvering is interesting enough without having to coordinate with someone pushing the IV stand. If she gets rid of her IVs tomorrow, she will start walking around and get used to being on her feet again.

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by | February 28, 2012 · 10:57 pm

“You put your left leg in, you put your left leg out…”

The weather was supposed to be very challenging today. The Twin Cities was under a Winter Storm Warning due to anticipated heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain and high winds. As the morning went on, the storm shifted farther to the north. The Warning was then downgraded to an Advisory. As of this writing, it is raining hard. There is still a chance of freezing rain tonight and a chance of a couple of inches of snow tomorrow. The day had an unexpected turn of events, but it was in our favor.

Lucy’s day had an unexpected turn of events, but in her favor. Marynne from Minnesota Oncology visited with her this morning because Dr. Thurmes was unavailable. Lucy’s leg is improving very slowly. Dr. Nashawaty feels that since Lucy had not had a nosebleed in several days, perhaps the TPA catheter option is available.

Her next visitor was Dr. Dittes, an Infectious Disease specialist. He felt that Lucy may have cellulitis but acknowledged to her that her blood cultures and blood tests show no obvious indication of a bacterial infection. He also told her that her blood clots could be the majority of the fever spikes and redness. He changed the antibiotic she was on to two different IV antibiotics. There is no cause for concern.

Marynne came back a bit later. She was going to see if Interventional Radiology wanted to do the TPA procedure. The best guess was that Lucy would have it done tomorrow morning. They had time today and got to her about 1:30 this afternoon.

The procedure went very quickly. They completed it by 2:45. There was a very large clot in her thigh. The clot in her calf was small enough that they were going to let nature take its course. Her left leg was less clogged than her right leg was a couple of weeks ago. We hope that means she will not need subsequent procedures and her recovery time will be shorter. It will be a couple of days before she will be able to do the Hokey Pokey.

Of course having the procedure means she also moved from 8th floor to 3rd floor. The first move was into a two bed room. She moved again about 20 minutes later to a private room.

Her evening is winding down now that there isn’t as much activity. She knows sleeping will be tough tonight because they have to wake her every two hours to do a neurology check. Lucy talked to Diane and Julie on the phone tonight and that helped brighten her day. I found the beaded owl pictured below in the gift shop. It is beaded and stands about 6″ tall.

Here’s hoping Leap Day goes well for her. We wish all of you a good evening and have a Happy Leap Day tomorrow!

beaded owl

Lucy’s newest owl friend

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