yellow crocuses

Dears, just a quick note to say we are fine. Val had a gorgeous desert adventure (even if she didn’t bring me a chuckwalla) and her tough and tender body was able to carry her scrambling over rocks and up some trails. She wore herself out but in such beautiful places. Her skin roughened some and became a little red and sore, but so far she seems to have avoided the painful Tarceva rash the doctors predicted. She always was an outlier. Her guts are doing all right but she often has heartburn from the drug, which has to be taken on an empty stomach. She’s often tired, sometimes she’s in a fair amount of pain, and the inexplicable but debilitating spasm in her back comes and goes.

The second infusion treatment and associated appointments took us all day Monday and included an introductory visit with the palliative care doc. He was an attentive listener, asked to see her travel pics, and suggested (among other things) that steroids might help increase her appetite and energy. She is not a big fan of steroids – hates the way they make her face puffy – but is trying them out for a few days to see if she notices a difference. She did say yesterday that she thinks she’s eating better, which is good, and today she had the energy to start the day walking the dog up Mt Tabor’s hill for the view.

My mom has come to visit for a few days, and in her honor the sun came out today, and my yellow crocuses bloomed.

Love,

Deborah