I may not have answered some of your emails as yet but thought I’d best get this out to you early. Some of your are recent additions so while you did not get the last update, my recent email to you would have covered most. If interested in Update1, just let me know.
On Monday, I decided I had best have my hair cut shorter … good advice from a friend as it will be less traumatic when I start losing my hair! Gary very efficiently tries to find the most cost effective yet closest hairdresser … after all, I am only renting the haircut .. perhaps for a few more weeks..hopefully longer. We found one fairly close and as I was feeling great, we decided to walk as I would likely not be up to much exercise for the rest of the week. We managed a 5k round trip to and from Supercuts but a wash, cut and dry still set us back $55 including tip. Gary decided to have his cut and was a bit alarmed to pay over $20 for spending less than 10 mins with the hairdresser so I guess he will still continue to use a barber from now on. We had to remind ourselves that these were Santa Monica prices.
After our haircuts, we stopped for a leisurely lunch – fish tacos and chicken caesar salad. After that we thought we’d best stock up with some groceries before my 2nd treatment. We got home around 3.30 p.m. and Gary was ready for a nap… for some reason, I did not feel like one but made sure I got to bed at a reasonable hour.
We had a slightly later appointment with Dr. Bill so a few new faces to see/meet. We met with him to review the side effects from Round 1 — lots of sleeping the first few days and a mild nausea from Wed to Fri with some fatigue and then by Fri afternoon for the rest of the weekend, things just got better and better. I had actually gained a pound in weight as I had forced myself to eat during the nausea days and without any exercise that was probably enough on the calorie scales. I’ll know not to worry if I’m eating enough next time around. When my appetite came back I was still eating the ‘beefed
up’ diet like adding blueberry jam on to my peanut butter toast (something I would not have done before). We even had raspberries and ice cream for dessert one night (again not on my old repertoire).
After my weigh-in, I cleared the supplements that I was taking with Dr. I and my physical went well. He was pleased with the minimal side effects at this stage so all seems very good. We then reviewed our understanding of the treatment cycles going forward to be sure we had not misinterpreted anything. We had originally decided that we would rest for a week or so in Phoenix, return to Toronto and then back here for my 2nd cycle but after today’s review, we felt that we should stay in Phoenix the entire time before the 2nd cycle and return straight to L.A. afterwards.
We had received a very kind offer from Gary’s girls’ stepdad (Ryker) who is due out to LA during the weekend. At the time, we could not think of anything that needed to be brought out. With our now staying on in Phoenix, we quickly realized that we would not have enough of our normal meds to last us till Dec 4, which is the date of the last treatment of my 2nd cycle. This story does not end here. As I was receiving my IV drip, my cell rang and it was Tris wanting to come out and visit and by the time we were through, he and Alexa will be arriving this Saturday to Monday. Yippee! I should be feeling fine by then too so can do some more exploring of LA. Thanks to Liane (Gary’s middle daughter), who has been checking on the house and who will now have to locate our meds and anything else we can think of between now and then, and will be able to pass them on to Tris to bring along.
Yesterday, after checking my blood to make sure that the white blood cell count was ok to receive the treatment, we decided to take the IV drip in the open area (for my first treatment we stayed in the examining room). The reclining chairs were really comfy with lots of blankies to use if needed. Gary had a regular chair and as we were the last to leave, joined me in one of the recliners. He said that he felt like he was relaxing at home in a lazyboy.
We chatted to another patient, Nancy, who had an hour to go. She seemed quite down in spirits. She had a beautiful wig which looked totally normal – in fact, I thought she had not lost her hair. She told me that she had tried numerous wigs and just did not like them. Eventually through a friend, she found this individual who makes the wigs using human hair. Turns out this person does them for Beyonce and other celebrities so the waiting list would be way too long. After chatting with Nancy, she told me that she had missed quite a few treatments as her white blood cell count was too low. They had given her an injection booster but this still takes a while to kick in. She has been told that acupuncture could help to stimulate the production which I think may be possible. I also told her about a herb which I have been taking called Astragalus, which helps to build white blood cells and improve the immune system. I gave her the printout which I had brought for Dr Bill to review. By the time Nancy left, she had a smile on her face.
Hi Everyone:
We hope all’s well at your end and that Hurricane Sandy has not made life too difficult for you. Between the Haida Gwaii earthquake and the Superstorm, it’s just another reminder of how fragile life can be and how important it is for each of us to pursue our dreams and passions.
We had a fabulous weekend with Tris and Alexa with blue skies and temperatures well into the 80′s. On Sunday, we drove through Beverley Hills, Hollywood and then up to the Observatory. From there we drove through the mountains along Mulholland Drive and then decided we would head to Santa Barbara in search of Oprah. SB is very beautiful and we stopped for a late lunch… fish caught off the dock! We also picked up some fresh black cod at a steal compared to Toronto prices and T and A prepared a delicious dinner. We were all pooped and turned in early.
Monday I decided that I needed some rest and quiet time to start preparing my email to advise the office of my situation given that our big conference was now over. Gary went with T and A to an Outlet Mall for some shopping. After doing my email, which was not easy but which took a load off my mind after it was done, I thought I’d better wash my hair. Good job I had that hair cut as quite a bit of hair was left behind so when everyone came back with their spoils, I announced that I needed to get out to look at some wigs. We decided to call ahead to make sure that I would not be competing with the Halloween shoppers (seems to be a very big thing here — with a few roads being closed for a parade later this afternoon). We were told that things were fairly quiet so after lunch, we went in pursuit of a wig, dropping T and A off to lighten their wallets further.
Gary and I had a lot of fun … blonde was just not going to cut it. One long haired wig took me back to my teen days — no nod of approval from Gary on this one ..but we eventually settled on 2 medium length wigs quite similar to my natural cut. A friend of mine had already lent me her wig which is a shorter length so I will have 3 to choose from on any day…depending on my mood. We had to order one of the wigs but they’re certainly much cheaper than in Toronto.
Yesterday was my third chemo treatment. When we got to Dr. Bill’s office, he asked me about my mouth sores, which had just developed and were not pleasant. I was quite surprised that he knew about them and quickly realized that my cousin must have spoken to him and mentioned it as well. My cousin checks in every morning during the week to see how I am doing which is quite amazing given his unbelievable schedule. At times, I try and beat him by just dropping him a quick email as I feel he is already doing so very much for me. I reviewed my growing list of side effects and for some, Dr. Bill gave me a few prescriptions. The mouth rinse was most welcome and seems to have helped already. As a result of the mouth sores, my chemo combo was adjusted downward slightly to allow for the mouth to heal. He also decided to give me some saline as I knew that with all the driving around on the weekend, I had not been drinking as much liquid as I should have.
Since this was the last treatment of Round 1, I was actually going to be leaving my infusion pump at Dr. Bill’s. I have decided to call my infusion pump, Hermione, courtesy of one of my friends who came up with some very creative names. I just had to apply a bit of logic … like, perhaps Gary would prefer that I have a female at my side 24-7? So, yes, I have been suffering a little from separation anxiety having left Hermione back at school to learn and perfect a few more incantations. We’ll pick her up again on Nov 20th when I resume Round 2 of my treatments.
Before leaving, the nurse had to remove the needle which they had inserted into the portacath at the start of my treatments. Rick, from Vegas was sitting with us while his wife was having her treatment in one of the rooms and was explaining to Gary how he had to do this. Gary started to turn pale and was relieved when he found out that Fay, the nurse, was more than willing to do this. How happy do you think I was? The portacath is a small medical appliance which connects the port to a vein into which drugs can be injected and blood withdrawn without any pain. It is inserted under the skin just below the clavicle under local anaesthesia. Best thing I did as I have veins which run and hide the minute a needle shows up.
We are on track to drive to Phoenix this Friday and rest up before returning to LA on the 19th for Round 2.
Thank you for all your emails. I love receiving them especially when I feel tired and cannot do very much (this will probably kick in later today or tomorrow). I may not answer straight away but hearing from you is always a boost as I know that you’re all very busy and it does take some effort to drop a note.
Your support and companionship on this journey is precious to us.
Love and best wishes to you all. Happy Halloween >:)
Maureen (and Gary)