First week

Today marks a week since Carlene's first chemo treatment. We don't know why, but it seems to both of us that the clock has been running at a snail's pace this past week. Carlene has been up and down the last few days. She feels "pressure" in her head, but not a headache. Tylenol has helped with that. Nausea has been minimal, but she is struggling with her desire to eat. Carlene's taste for food changes from meal to meal. She hasn't had any bone pain at all from the Neulasta injection, which we are very thankful for. She went to a group meeting at the cancer center on Tuesday night hosted by her nurse-navigator, Sharon. This week a physical therapist spoke about the importance of exercise as a part of cancer treatment. Carlene told me that she is the only person in the group who makes exercise a priority. She has gone for a walk every day since her first treatment, including the day of the infusion. We think staying as active as possible has helped her get through this first week so well. She is now coming up on the period of time in the 21 day cycle when she will probably experience a drop in her white blood cell count. Please pray that Carlene will be protected from any infection that might set her back in her treatment cycle, and that she can keep up with her exercise. To get the best results, she needs to keep her white cell count up, and stay on the 21 day cycle for the six treatments. She has labs today to measure how she is doing.
We are trying to fix our hearts and minds on positive things. The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Philippians while he was imprisoned. He exhorts us, in Philippians 4:8, to think about whatever is True, Honorable, Just, Pure, Lovely, Gracious, Excellent, or Worthy of Praise. That's what we are tying to do. We hope you will as well.
Thank you for all of your prayers, phone calls, and cards. God Bless.

A Good Day

The end of the 3rd full day after the first chemo treatment, and Carlene is doing well. I was concerned about her this morning. She didn't have much of an appetite, and she felt weak during our walk. She ate a little soup for lunch. We went out for a ride in the snow this afternoon up to the Palmer Divide through Palmer Lake and back through Monument to the old highway. But she perked up tonight, ate mac and cheese for dinner, and had a couple of snacks while we watched the Olympics. She seems to have more energy, and she is getting over the nausea. Tomorrow we see the radiation doc for a followup visit. Our car seems to find its own way to the hospital these days, we've been there so many times. Carlene is amazing. I'd be a whimpering pile of mush if I was going through this. She claims Psalm 91 every day.

Carlene slept well last night, finally! She had some nausea Saturday night and had trouble eating. She has a pill to act against nausea that she needs to take before she gets into "deficit" with it. A milkshake helped with that last night. But she is feeling better this morning. Gonna take awhile before we figure out what foods she prefers. Lots of beautiful snow on the ground this morning. Think I'll take her for a long ride and maybe a walk at the mall. We think it's better to skip church this morning and avoid all the coughing and sneezing at close range. The mall is good to stretch her legs in bad weather. And with the lousy economy, not many coughers and sneezers there to worry about :-) Carlene and I have been enjoying the Olympics. Kathy and Jim O loaned us 2 seasons of the Big Bang Theory. Laughter is good medicine.

Meet Kaleb

Gotta post this picture of the newest member of our family. We have sent it to many of our family and friends, but you may not have seen it. This is Kaleb, the "little" guy our son Kevin and his wife Lori recently adopted from Ethiopia, our new grandson! He is estimated to be about 8 months old. Kaleb was left on the street and found by a policeman in Ethiopia, so his exact birth date is not known. "Kaleb the Ethiopian" will soon also become "Kaleb the Proud New American Citizen." Kevin and Lori have to go through a court proceeding here in the US for legal adoption and citizenship. Now he is the holder of a Green Card. Kev and Lori's other boys, Kaden and Oliver, love this little guy as a brother already. He is full of joy, with the biggest eyes you have ever seen. It's been a long process for Kevin and Lori, but they finally got it done. They came back from Ethiopia with their lives changed forever, in many, many ways. We were having lunch with our family at a sandwich shop when Kevin starting tossing Kaleb around and making him laugh. A flag was right behind him, and made for a couple of perfect pictures. I hope you can meet Kaleb soon.

Day 2 after the first chemo infusion

Today is Day 2 after Carlene's first chemo treatment. Yesterday she had the injection of Neulasta, intended to spur the production of white blood cells. When she got the injection, the nurse told Carlene about the possibility of bone pain in the large bones that produce bone marrow. The nurse said the spectrum of pain patients experience is all the way from minimal to such intense pain that Vicodin is required. We have been anxious about this, naturally. This morning the news is good. Carlene has not noticed ANY side effects from the Neulasta injection. She is going to receive an injection the day following each chemo treatment. So we hope this streak continues. Oh, by the way, the nurse told us that each injection costs $6,000!! Incredible. Anthem Blue Cross has become our best friend. Not sure the feeling is mutual though. Thanks so much for your prayers.

First chemo

Yesterday (2.18.10) Carlene underwent her first chemo treatment. She was in the infusion room about 4 hours. Carlene had her "power" port inserted the day before, which went off without any problems. So the final leg of her treatment has begun. She has 5 more chemo sessions, each 21 days apart. Her medical team is going to keep close tabs on her white blood cell count. Part of her treatment is to receive an injection the day after each chemo round that is intended to help her body produce additional white blood cells. That will probably result in bone pain from the large bones in her body that produce bone marrow, similar to the "growing pains" we all experienced as youngsters, only much more intense.
Please pray for minimal side effects and maximum knock out blows to any rogue cancer cells not crushed by the radiation treatments.