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
chemo
port
Hello dears, They took Val’s PICC line out last week. Tomorrow she will have a port surgically implanted instead. Next week she’ll begin her second three-week cycle of Navelbine. At the end of those three weeks she’ll have a CT scan, and around then we should also get results from Continue Reading
the next thing, and the next thing
Lovelies, here is the latest. Val opted to join the trial with Eribulin, but was randomized into the control group. Therefore she does not get the trial drug, but instead the drug selected by her oncologist, which is Navelbine. This is so caustic to the little veins that it requires Continue Reading
Gemzar
Oh, cancer. You are such an exhausting prima donna. Go home. Get a day job. Take up fly-fishing. Become a cabbie, maybe? Turn all that energy to something productive, for once. Val had a CT scan Friday. We got the results this morning, and they were not we hoped or, Continue Reading
the underside looking up
i am waking up this morning. if my body is under me, or on top of me, hard to tell. then i am standing. and the slant in this old floor pitches me sideways more than usual. that is a clue. there are thousands of clues. the feeling of ten feet tall Continue Reading
breathing
Val did two rounds of chemo on the trial drug, her white blood count flattening out each time. Then the first scan showed that cancer continued to grow by millimeters. It was decided to ditch the trial and try a different chemo cocktail. It is now two weeks after the Continue Reading
4-year election cycle
today we parked in the parking garage at 9:25am and rode up the elevator area of trauma. at various times we’ve tried to run and hold our breath to be spared that rear brain memorial to the past terrors. the smell near the elevators at kaiser interstate holds in its Continue Reading
(clinical) trials and tribulations
A week ago I came in from taking out the compost to find a message on the answering machine from Dr. T., the oncologist: “I’ve got some new information about the clinical trial you’re on; give me a call this morning so I can fill you in.”
Today’s treatment: all fine
Val had her regular treatment (infusion) today, and all went well. All numbers: good. Health care professionals: upbeat. Deborah: sleepy. Val: an old hand.
Ack! i feel so much better!
It’s crazy to have this much gumption. To realize that i could do anything. really anything any mostly upright human adult could do. anything… I didn’t see it coming but this is a lot of pressure. What should i do? I should do it all– now. I should work on Continue Reading