Carlene doing well

Carlene is doing great now. She is about a week away from the next infusion. She is right where she needs to be. Her appetite is good, she has been exercising, and she hasn't had any trouble with her eyes or with the skin rash she had before. We're going to get together with our family this weekend to celebrate Easter a week early. Carlene will need to avoid contact with people as much as possible the weekend after the next infusion which, unfortunately, is Easter weekend. So we just go with the flow. The really good news is that she will be half-way done with chemo after next Thursday!! She is handling this so well. Her faith and overall good health are getting her through this.
God Bless.

Good weekend

Carlene had a good weekend. She is feeling better day by day. We had a great day yesterday. Didn't go to church, but listened on the internet. Carlene felt like having some breakfast out, so we went to one of your favorite spots. We went for a nice walk around the lake at The Broadmoor hotel. The grass is getting green out there....must be all that money. We had an early dinner and a relaxing evening. Carlene hasn't had any bone pain from Neulasta, which is wonderful. The next infusion is 4.01.10, so she should be fit as a fiddle by then...
Thanks for your continuing prayers and support. It means the world to Carlene, and me.
God Bless.

Carlene's week

Carlene is doing well in the process of recovery from her chemo infusion last Thursday. The weekend was up and down, like the last time, but not any worse. The really good news is that she has not had any bone pain from the Neulasta injection. It would be wonderful if she can avoid that side effect after every treatment from here on out. She has a "foggy" head most of the time these first few days, and is fighting off nausea. But she has been finding food that sounds good and eating well. Fatigue sets in usually very afternoon. She has been exercising and drinking lots of water.
Carlene asked me the other day when she was struggling a bit if I thought she was going to make it through 4 more treatments. We discussed it for awhile, and decided that we wouldn't worry about that. We just need to get her through the next one, and the rest we will take one at a time. And after she is done with the next treatment, she will be halfway through!! That's part of living each day, right?
I've been dealing with this much better lately. What Carlene is going through now is not problems with the cancer, if there are even any cells left floating around in her body. She is experiencing the results of the treatment, which will come to an end. So I just pray every day for minimal side effects, and no long-term damage to any of her tissues or organs. God is good, and He has given Carlene (and me) the strength to get through each day. And we've had a lot of joy in our lives too. Kaleb is doing well, and finally sleeping better for Kevin and Lori. We are having dinner tonight with Kristin and Andy, and get to see little Jackson. Seems like somebody in our family always has the sniffles. Looks like everyone is well at the Gordley house today. We can't wait to see them.
God Bless...

Getting through the weekend

Carlene is doing OK. Her stomach has been a bit sensitive since Friday, but the anti-nausea medication is helping. Carlene received another Neulasta injection yesterday to help with the generation of white blood cells. Thank God, she has so far escaped the side effect of bone pain, which is a common occurrence after an injection. She didn't sleep well last night. She thinks it's due to the steroids. They are part of the chemo regimen, taken the day before, the day of, and the day after the infusion. We went for a three mile walk this morning at Cottonwood Creek Park, one of our favorite places. It's amazing how many walks we've taken there over the years, talking about how hopes, dreams, and fears. We're going to try to walk our way through this ordeal as well. Mac and cheese sounded good to her tonight, so that was the menu. It tasted great to her, and me too. We've been relaxing at home tonight, watching a recorded Hallmark movie. I think Carlene will get over the nausea over the next few days; that's what happened during the last cycle. The chemo doc told us that Carlene's experience during the first cycle can be indicative of what she can expect during the entire treatment plan. Let's pray that is the case. Thanks for your prayers, cards, emails, calls, and kind comments on this site. We love you all. God Bless You.

She's a warrior

I'm married to a 5ft 5inch, 120lb warrior. She handled her second chemo treatment with aplomb. We are in a post-infusion routine: we head straight for the mall (hopefully to a park real soon if the weather will ever cooperate) for a walk of a couple of miles, then to dinner at Outback. Before this started, I had a mental picture of rushing Carlene home after the infusion, puke bag at the ready, and putting her straight to bed. But it sure isn't working out that way. We hope the next few days aren't any worse than they were last time. Kevin was able to drive down from Littleton to be with us during the treatment. Kristin wasn't able to make it today. Kristin, Andy and Jackson just got back from Florida last night, so she was busy catching up today. Kristin ran a half-marathon through the Disney World property while they were there.
All in all, Carlene and I are pleased with how the treatments are going so far. We're trying to slice and dice the process into digestible pieces. She's now 1/3 done!! Only 12 weeks left until the last treatment, if she can stay on schedule. The chemo nurse said her white cell count is great. By the way, the chemo nurses are great. That is a calling, not a job.

Another pic

Carlene asked me to post this pic of the two of us taken just after her fitting for the wig. Off to chemo this morning. Her spirits are high. Much less anxiety this time, for both of us. Our love to you all.

Carlene's new wig

Here are a couple of pictures of Carlene in her new wig. She is very pleased with how it turned out. It's great to see how confident she is even though she has lost her hair. Tomorrow is her second chemo treatment. We are hopeful that the after effects from this round will be no worse than they were following the first treatment. Again, thanks for your prayers.

Wigs and such

Carlene had all her hair cut off yesterday by the lady from whom she purchased her wig. It is a beautiful human hair wig. It' amazing - the wig looks like her real hair, same color, same cut. Carlene is very pleased. We found a new use for duct tape - removing dead hair follicles. I went through about half a roll last night, lightly applying it to her scalp to remove the dead hair.
We went for a walk this morning in our neighborhood, trying to walk up all the steep hills we could find. She has her next chemo treatment this Thursday. Her strength is good, she has been eating well, and getting lots of sleep at night. She was a little bummed yesterday about her hair, but I think she is doing great today. She is going to meet a couple of friends this afternoon to show off her new wig.

There it goes

Carlene is doing very well. She feels great, looks wonderful, and her spirits are high. We went in for labs yesterday, and the chemo nurse said she wants to put up a poster of Carlene as an example of a patient who is figuring out how to get through chemo. The nurse said her positive attitude is a key to getting through it. High praise for someone who has only been through one treatment. But I think the nurses expected Carlene to have a bit more trouble than she has. Today her hair started to fall out. That's almost right on cue according to the timeline they gave us. Carlene has an appointment Monday with a lady who is going to take her hair off and fit her with her "cranial prosthesis." If her hair starts coming out by the handful, she may have to go in earlier than planned. We are going to a show at the Air Force Academy tonight. Carlene applied some extra hair spray in order to hopefully keep things where they need to be for one more evening. I've offered to shave my head in sympathy, but she doesn't want me to. Her second chemo treatment is Thursday, the 11th, at 10:45am.
We've been trying to keep up with normal activities as much as possible. Unfortunately, we haven't been to church, and Carlene had to skip Kaden's 5th birthday party last week, attended by a gaggle of Kaden's buddies. (We got to celebrate at Kristin and Andy's house with him after the party.) She is trying to avoid public places with large groups of people where she might catch a virus. Her white blood cell count could be low, and we don't want her to become ill and have to miss a treatment. It's important that she stay on her 21 day cycle to keep any possible rogue cancer cells on the run.
Please pray that Carlene will be protected from illness that would stop her treatments, that a rash on her back will disappear, she can continue to sleep well, that she will not have bone pain from the Neulasta injections, that she can keep her exercise going, and that the loss of her hair will not be too traumatic. We appreciate all of you so much.
God is on His throne, and Jesus is sitting at His mighty right hand, interceding for us all.