Val update: When I spoke with her yesterday Val reported the following:
TerriSue (oncology nurse supreme) says Val’s white and red blood cell counts are down. This is a good thing, because it means the chemo is successfully affecting her body. So yay. (This also means we should all remember that – even though she’s feeling and looking pretty good – Val is unusually susceptible to contagion. So if you have a sniffle, or if you are living with somebody who has a sniffle, or if you think you’ve even been exposed to anything, it would be best to keep your visits virtual until you think you’re in the clear. We have hand sanitizer available by our front door, too, and plenty of face masks, which Val will be wearing in crowded places like stores, movie theaters, etc.)
Also – and remember I’m getting this third-hand by phone across time zones so the scientific details are a bit murky – evidently when the cancer cells are being killed, they release an enzyme. [Or else the body releases an enzyme in response to the toxic goo the dying tumor releases; I’m not clear on this point, and I avoid doing my own research because it is so easy to stumble accidentally on terrifying information/hearsay/data/anecdote.] Anyway, Val’s most recent bloodwork (Wednesday) shows that this enzyme is elevated, which is an indication that there is some tumor-death happening. So this is exciting too.
Val says TerriSue sounded enthusiastic about these indicators, and even went so far as to say she is looking forward to seeing Val’s first inter-chemo CAT scan (which is coming up in a week or two I believe). They schedule CAT scans about every 6 weeks, toward the end of every second round of chemo. At the beginning of all this the oncologist and nurses had said there are rarely visible results by the first CAT scan, so we shouldn’t necessarily expect to see any visible changes (in the tumor) for 12 weeks or more. So TerriSue’s new interest in seeing the first scan is encouraging.
Meanwhile, this weekend Val is entertaining several musical out-of-town guests, and sends me occasional photos via text message of women playing banjo in the porch swing, with Tuley sitting companionably on their knees.
As for me, I’m home in Indiana for the rest of the weekend for my 20th high school reunion. Miraculously my entire crowd of best friends from high school agreed to show up, most of us driving or flying in from other states. I can’t tell you how great it is to see them. There is something about hanging out with the people who’ve known me forever (some since 4th grade) that makes me feel twice as real.
covered in bug bites but happy,
Deborah