Well, friends, here’s the info we’ve got so far today. The CT scan shows disease progression. Almost all the “target lesions” (specific nodules of cancer they’ve been tracking) show some growth. There are now a few lesions in Val’s liver, as well. Evidently this is typical of non-small cell cancer Continue Reading
2012
the daily routine
Consisting of: Physical therapy at the pool (Deborah). So many kind folks at that pool. Today a woman I’ve never met cheered me on the progress I’ve made in walking since she joined the pool in February. Haircut (Deborah) by excellent former library colleague turned talented stylist. Trade Oaxaca tips Continue Reading
home & sleeping
Val is home, full of blood thinners, exhausted, and sleeping. Doing okay. Not excited about giving herself daily blood-thinner shots in the stomach. 🙁 Blood thinners suck, but word is that folks with lung cancer are susceptible to blood clots, and now that Val’s had one, they want to make Continue Reading
okay so far
Surgery to remove the port last night was successful. Val is awake this morning but “drugged to the gills” and feeling cruddy. No bleeding! Incision looks good. She is on the blood thinner Heparin. There are some risks with that, because of the cancer, but the risks must be taken Continue Reading
today’s amusements
Challenges: Val’s port shows has been showing signs of infection. The end of the suture has been a bit puffy and red from the outset, but up to now they just encouraged her to swab it with antiseptic stuff. It’s been bugging her more this week (not to mention the Continue Reading
coughing
Dear hearts, Val is coughing. Lately she coughs in fits and starts throughout the day, although mostly she sleeps well. Some days she coughs with every sentence she utters, her breath hitching on words as she tries to squelch the impulse. There is a faint, asthmatic wheeze behind her words. Continue Reading
we continue
Good news: Val’s most recent scan results (scan was last Friday, results shared Tuesday) showed something approximating stability. We had the scan done too early in the treatment cycle to corroborate with the study protocols, so they’ll do another scan at the end of this cycle in a couple weeks. Continue Reading
Also, I like this poem.
Meditation at Five Islands There is no help for it after all, nothing to keep one’s unlived lives from dragging their heavy chains along the bottom of the sea, full fathom five and so forth. The heart wants what it wants, which is everything. The brine air and the hundred-year Continue Reading
honeycrisp
Dears, Today we went in for Val’s treatment and to meet with the oncologist. I’ve been worried because it seems to me that Val’s condition — especially her breathing and energy — has worsened rapidly in the last month. She’s been wheezing audibly; taking shallow breaths to avoid coughing;and her Continue Reading
port is in
Just a quick note to say that Val’s port implantation surgery today went well. She’s groggy tonight and on pain meds, but she can take the dressings off in a couple days and we anticipate the port will be much less of an encumbrance than the PICC line. She’s bummed Continue Reading