Improvements continue. Today Val is more alert, in a lot less pain, needing fewer drugs, and breathing so much better than last week it is truly amazing. Tonight she was quietly talking and laughing and even singing a little, with only the occasional dry catch or cough. She went up Continue Reading
Tabor top
Radiation side effects are beginning to make themselves felt: the sensation of something lodged in her throat cost Val some breakfast today and caused discomfort all day, and she is beginning to feel the predicted fatigue (on top of her current fatigue levels). But she was able to numb her Continue Reading
a little kind care
Our friend, ally and tenacious advocate Kyla got us an in-clinic appointment with Kaiser Oncology’s new (as of September) Palliative Care team. The doctor and nurse (the social worker was away) were compassionate, direct, and wonderfully useful in offering suggestions to help with Val’s pain, nausea, and difficulties breathing and Continue Reading
just brains
One week of radiation and antibiotics down. So far Val isn’t feeling any of the predicted adverse effects of radiation, but those are likely to show up toward the end of the week. On the up side, Val’s cough, while still a misery and a menace, still causing her to Continue Reading
qualifying
I received a notice yesterday that I no longer qualify for protected family leave. Of course I never did qualify for FMLA, on account of being a woman in relationship with a woman, fourteen years of rich and complicated interaction the feds don’t deign to recognize or assist. But Oregon, Continue Reading
First day of radiation
The first radiation appointment went fine. On Friday they tattooed Val with a few scattered dots, the size of a pencil lead, based on info gleaned from her CT scans. (Did you know they actually tattoo you for this? I didn’t.) This afternoon they connected the dots with permanent marker Continue Reading
groggy
It was a miserable night. Intermittently miserable, anyway, interspersed with chunks of sleep. Val coughed and coughed, coughed and puked. Remember that time you had the really croupy flu? And you coughed so hard it felt like you’d crack your ribs, and then your abdominal muscles were sore (not to mention your Continue Reading
staying up late
Val had a rotten day yesterday, the worst she’s had so far. Unremitting coughing that led to puking twice; lots of pain and some nausea; and finally a fever. The advice nurse and on-call oncologist were consulted around 10:00 pm, but I knew enough from experience to call in sick for Sunday Continue Reading
next up: radiation
Spent the entire day, a hard day, meeting with pulmonologist and radiation oncologist at Kaiser. Good guys both. The upshot: Val begins an intensive two weeks of palliative radiation on Monday to try to help with the coughing. More info will be added to this post soon. D More detailed Continue Reading
Another medical day
Val spent some more time in the ER this afternoon. Pain and quite a lot of swelling on the side of her neck where the blood clot is. Periods of racking coughs that sometimes jar a little something loose and bring up blood. Good? Bad? Neither? It is very tiring Continue Reading