Friends, Val had a painful night culminating in a trip to the ER at 4:00 in the morning. Three of us went with her. She sometimes gets these intensely painful muscle spasms in inexplicable places: around one side of her rib cage; along part of her spine… Last night’s was in Continue Reading
cancer
maybe radiation
My friends, Val’s breathing is shallow and labored these days, and we can see it worsening weekly. To sleep, she props herself with pillows into a half-sitting position, but violent coughing episodes jerk her awake for an hour or two most nights, leaving her even more exhausted. Two and three and Continue Reading
traveling
Dears, We are heading home to Portland for a short time. Betty probably has days to live, but Val’s energy and breathing are worsening, even with oxygen, so we need to get her back for treatment. OHSU is trying to get us an appointment with a radiation oncologist for Thursday to see if Continue Reading
all in Montana
Now I’m in Montana too. Flew in to Kalispell yesterday (thanks, S, for the miles), picked up the car at the airport (following Brooke’s photgraphic clues, feeling like a spy) and drove up to the ranch. At the moment the household contains siblings Val, Brad, Sandy and Jane; parents Miles and Betty; and Continue Reading
Safely in Montana
Val is safely in Montana with her mom and family, Brooke is safely home, I am still in Portland, and the dog is on the couch. Phew.
oxygen obstacles
Dears, The oxygen people delivered the wrong kind of oxygen: large home canisters instead of a portable oxygen concentrator. This meant Val couldn’t take them on the airplane this morning. However, since the airline people saw she was using oxygen, they also wouldn’t let her on without it. Calls to the on-call Continue Reading
oxygen
Val’s been cooling her heels at the ER for over 6 hours and counting. They finally saw her around 9:00 and determined that yes, she could at this point benefit from oxygen. The current plan is for her to fly to Montana tomorrow, but it turns out the airlines require Continue Reading
CT results
Dear all, Dr. S just called to let Val know that the scan results show her cancer continues to progress. This confirms what her symptoms suggested to us. It also means she no longer qualifies for the Tarceva trial, so at least she can recover from that set of side Continue Reading
CT scan will be Friday
Because of the symptoms Val’s been reporting, the docs have scheduled her CT scan for tomorrow, Friday. We should know more next week. D
sorrow and pie
My dears, It’s been a hard week or two. Val returned from Montana so glad to have seen her family, but exhausted and with a nasty cough. The doctor prescribed antibiotics, and Val felt improvement for a couple days, but since the weekend she’s been intermittently feverish, coughing more, breathing worse, Continue Reading