Sorry I did not post yesterday after the kind of gloomy Sunday post but it was my turn to get sick. I had a touch of a stomach bug and spent most of yesterday asleep on the couch, I digress, this is not about me :)

Monday was a much better day for Holly, she got an okay night sleep and was able to put in a full days work at home. The nausea seemed to subside and other than being tired Holly had a pretty good day. I drove her to work today and we are hopping she is on the mend, we are actually planning on taking the RV out this weekend depending on how Holly feels after this Friday's treatment.

John

Sunday, Sunday...

Well, Saturday went fairly well, Holly was a little tired at the end of the day but it otherwise it went well. Today started out about the same, we helped Brenda out this morning, went grocery shopping then headed home. Our little morning outing tired Holly out so we crashed on the couch and turned on the TV. Dinner rolled around and thats when Holly started to feel a bit "off". She only managed a few bites then it was pajamas and back to the couch. Feels a bit nauseous and tired but is upright now. Hopefully a good night sleep will make a difference and she will be able to get a little work in tomorrow, it helps make the days go by faster.

I will report back tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

John

Bring it on...

It is Friday night, the M's won big but the Sharks lost in over time, one for two, not bad. Last night was a long one for Holly and I. We were both a little nervous about the new treatment that started today. I was up half the night with my acid reflux and Holly had a nervous night sleep. Today rolled around and Holly scrambled at work to get ready for this afternoon. We got to the infusion center and had a little problem with her port, it seems it scabbed over a bit at the end of the catheter so the nurse had to put a drug in the port to dissolve the blockage. After a bit of a delay and a goofy doctor filling in for our regular doc, who is in Australia visiting the in laws, Holly got plugged in. The gave her the pre-chemotherapy drugs and let them absorb for about 30 minutes. Once the drugs were absorbed the Taxol was hung and started. They let the Taxol run for about 15 minutes, checked Holly's vitals and any signs of an allergic reaction. Holly tolerated the initial infusion well so they turned the tap back on and got down to business.

We are now sitting here at 10:45pm watching the Deadliest Catch and Holly seems to be doing well. The nurses told us she would feel really tired for a few days, which seems to be the case. Hopefully she will be well enough for work on Monday, we will just have to wait and see.

We are both a bit tired but feeling very relieved to have this first treatment behind us. Thanks for tuning in to the blog, we will let you know how the weekend goes.

John

Dear Abby...

This post is dedicated to Holly's dear friend from choir, Abby. It has been brought to my attention that I have been derelict in my duties as information provider so I will attempt to rectify that starting now :)

I will start with a quick review of what has happened since the last treatment, and what is to come. Week one following the last treatment was a bit rough, but week two and three were progressively better. Holly was able to put in a full work week last week and is on track to repeat that feat again this week. Holly was able to attend choir the past two weeks and last Saturday we actually ventured out to see a friend's daughter perform in a school play. Both of us have been enjoying a few days of semi normalcy, which has been quite nice.

Now on to what is to come, I think we are both getting a bit curious and perhaps nervous about what is to come. Holly is scheduled to have one treatment every Friday for the next twelve weeks, and we have been told it will feel like having the flu for that period but, hopefully, the nausea will be less with the Taxol. We are cautiously optimistic about what is to come and are looking forward to getting this behind us.

Sorry Abby for keeping you in the dark for so long, I guess I figured no news was good news. Thanks to those of you who follow the blog, it means a lot to both of us.

John

Sometimes shrinkage is a good thing :)

Last week was full of up and downs. Friday's treatment and the few days following, were nasty as usual, Wednesday and Thursday morning got a little better, then Thursday night was nasty. By Saturday things got better and Holly has been on the mend since.

We had an ultrasound today to measure the tumor and decide on how to proceed. The deal is if the tumor stays the same size or gets smaller, we would start with the Taxol chemotherapy drug; if the tumor got bigger, we would go straight to surgery. Well, as you may have figured out from the title of this post, the tumor has shrunk by around 50%! This is great new! This means we get to continue with the the pre-surgery treatment which will commence one week from this Friday. The new treatment of chemo will take place every Friday and last for twelve weeks. The Oncologist says the side effects from the Taxol drug will be like having the flu for twelve weeks but hopefully the nausea will be mild. I will provide more Taxol related details as the first treatment gets closer.

This was a good birthday for me, the best present I could get is news that my wifes health is headed in the right direction!

John