Monday, September 29, 2008

Good Day's Sunshine



I guess I should start this post the same way I started off the last post...apologizing. I'm sorry. Life has just been so dang busy lately...if I could just get two more hours squeezed in the day, Id be golden...not gonna happen...oh well.
Anyway, so moving has proven to be more of a chore than any of us imagined...we worked at it all day and when I woke up this morning, it looked like we had a party instead of working. bleckh...whatever. This week's activities also include, chemo, doctors appointments, visiting with a very dear family friend, saying goodbye to my boyfriend's mom...she is moving to New York this week, and attending a weekend wedding starting on Thursday, in Joshua Tree. Yikes. See why I need two extra hours?
Also, please note how I did not even once mention infusions, IV, or Vancomycin. Unfortunately, and fortunately, my mom actually suffered an allergic reaction to it on Friday night...weird, a full TWO weeks later. Don't be alarmed...the allergic reaction was pretty minor considering all of the other allergic reactions we had read about...it ended up feeling like the insides of her body were itching...creepy. We phoned the doctor on call and he said to stop the infusion until Monday when we saw Dr. Paroly.
Today, my friends, is Monday. This means that we went to the doctor...this also means tomorrow is the first day of chemo...with the PICC line...I hope this goes smoothly. My mom has been having some vein issues as of late...well, her veins are just pretty much shit.
Anyway, back to the doctors visit...hang on to your pants, kids...this is a good one!
Lets start off with this...
Dr. Paroly agreed that it doesn't seem as though my mom is needing the infusions anymore. However, we do need to keep an eye on her temp...just in case. This is a victory! This means that we can go to Target and not be tethered to that dang pole anymore! Woo-who!!
And now, we will move onto this....
If you all remember, and I'm sure you do, (especially with my constant reminding) my mom gets her blood taken a few days before the start of chemo to determine her WBC, to see how the kidneys are doing, check out the sodium levels...yadda yadda yadda, right?
So, today, Dr. Paroly tells my mom that
a) her sodium level is a little low...she needs to salt her food a teeny bit. no biggie, we can do that.
b) her potassium level is a little low...no biggie, they have already given her a prescription for that.
c) her WBC are just fine...pretty awesome
d) her platelets and red blood cells are just fine as well.
e)she's a teeny anemic...the doctor says that we all are...just watch it a little better right now.
This has the two of us smiling away. We are so happy to hear that her body is so healthy. I think we wanted to hug each other...but Dr. Paroly is kind of a serious guy and I think we might frighten him if we behaved like we normally do, so we held it in...with big deep breaths.
He also told us that this course of treatment is usually about 6 cycles...we are on the fourth!Woo-who!!! Talk about wanting to hug each other!
He then asked my mom HOW she was feeling...asked about her headaches (there are NONE) chest pain, etc. he then says to my mom..."You really have no symptoms and that is good." Then he knocked on wood and my mom knocked on her head. Funny...shes so crazy.

Today was such a good day. Tiny miracles.

hugs and love to all of you
xo

"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."
Mother Teresa

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hoorah~~~~! Now breath a little bit! Good news Michelle. Thank for attending to the blog even though I know its a lot of work, we all appreciate getting the first hand info and not blowing up your phone..Smile..

have a blissful week with this good news deeply pressed in your thoughts...and sail on..

Love(defined)
Aunt Nancy

Anonymous said...

Well hello there happy people!

Super exciting news to read about.

bLaH to chemo but hooray that it's kicking cansers BOOTAY!

I found this quote today, I like it.

"Four letters, two vowels, two consonant, a long 'o' and a silent 'e'--HOPE. If you have hope in your heart and hope in your life, you can get through the next challenge."

A canser survivor wrote that.

His name is J.D Dudek, read about him. If he can do it, so can my buddy!

Love you<33

-jenna & babies

Anonymous said...

BTW

I miss you all very much!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh that is great news like you said baby steps!!! that is what it takes as long as mom is feeling good ans healthy, the rest is well I shouldnt say a piece of cake, but in hindsight i think it is...Prayer are being answered..Hurray!!! Love ya Mel

Anonymous said...

All of it wonderful news! Keep up the great work, the both of you! You are always close in my thoughts. Love, Bev