Slow but steady recovery

Hi there everyone!!

Well things are slow but going the right direction. The mornings are the best for me when I have the most leg strength (after a coffee that is). I can make it down the stairs from the second floor to the main but not ready to take on the basement stairs yet (concrete landing, no carpet and steeper). Getting up the stairs is better than before but certainly still more difficult. By bed time I use a lot of Sandy's strength to make it up them.

My puffiness from the steroids is still sticking around. Have gain 7 pounds since my big weight loss in the hospital. But sitting around and not getting out doing much walking (Rylie is complaining too) makes the weight gain easy. My hair is still showing up on the vanity which is a real concern to me. I will ask the Dr. when I see him next.

Nothing else on the home front.

Thanks for still reading this blog.

Love Carolin

PS Take the time to go for a nice walk in the fall colored trees for me. Maybe we will try to take my walker or wheelchair to Bowness on the weekend. I think the whole family would enjoy that - and the fact that Sandy always buys Jess and I ice cream. See what I mean about the weight gain - sit in a wheelchair and then have ice cream!!!

Long day at the hospital

Well yesterday I spent from 1:00 pm till 6:00 pm at the Tom Baker. What a long day of waiting. The nurses were run off their feet and there were no beds or chairs to treat people. I think Monday's are usually busy days anyways. But 5 hours was a bit long.

I had a chest and abdomen x-ray done just to make sure all the air in my bowels was gone. There is no free air. Good.

I get to drop my steriods to once every second day. Hurray!!

My doctor agreed that I will not do any more treatment (other than my regular pills) until January. This will allow us to take our trips with no chance of an adverse reaction to drugs. He will scan me in November just to make sure things stay under control.

In January I would like to try new drug called Tykerb. I don't believe it is released in the States yet but it has really good reports. Dr. Webster is going to work on seeing if I can get it in January. I hope so. Herceptin may be working some (liver spots are smaller) but it doesn't seem to be keeping the cancer away totally.

So all good news.

Walking is getting better, legs are getting stronger, and I have gained 5 pounds. Sandy's mom Lorna still comes to stay with me everyday in case I fall, drives me to appointments and keeps me company. I also cannot do stairs by myself which means it is hard to take care of Rylie when no one is here to let her out. So she spends lots of time next door with her "Grandparents". I have received a handicapped parking pass which makes things much easier when I do some walking (errands) and working with the wheel chair when the walk is too long.

Well that is the update.

Nothing on the doctor side of things for the next 3 weeks until I have Herceptin and see the Dr.

Love to you all

Carolin

Nasty little surprise

Well my hands have totally peeled. It did not hurt but I spent about a week peeling off all the dead skin. They look just disgusting. Sandy will post a picture when he gets a chance. Come back and look in a few days.

My nasty little surprise is that I am losing my hair. Maybe not a lot (only about 15-20 hairs on the vanity) but I usually don't see ANY hairs when I dry my hair. So what the heck in happening. I have blood work, Herceptin and see my doctor on Monday and find out about the bone scan. So I will ask because this didn't happen with the first 2 rounds of chemo.

Now some very exciting news - Sandy, Jessica and I are going to Singapore. Sandy and I went to Singapore about 4 or 5 years ago and both came to the conclusion that it is the most beautiful place we have ever been. So now we want to share that with Jessica. We are going Oct 25 - Nov 3. We are very excited and will stay on Sentosa Island where we stayed last time. Hopefully this will make up some of our disappointments when we had to cancel our trip to China, our cruise to Panama, and our shortened trip to Parksville. Jessica was a good trooper and never made a fuss about having to cancel everything. We are however missing the James Blunt concert (many tears from Jessica) that we had tickets to, but hey wait until she sees Singapore.

We have a quiet weekend this weekend but with the rain what the heck are you going to do outside anyway. I use a 2 wheeled walker at home, have a wheelchair for any big excursions, a handicap parking pass and bath seat for the shower. So things are OK at home. And thank goodness for Lorna coming everyday to stay with me. If ever I fall (usually at least once a day) I am like a turtle on my back and I can't get up. So I have Lorna or my friends staying with me all the time. I am very lucky to have such great friends.

Well time to sign off.

With all my love,

Carolin

I will write on Monday night about the doctors appointment.

Slow and steady

Now that the weather has cooled off a little, it's not as bad to be spending so much time indoors. Since getting out of the hospital and dropping a lot of the meds I was on, I've steadily got stronger. Still there's a way to go. Lorna (Sandy's mom) spends most days with me and has been good enough to run me between chores and appointments. Karen, Collette and Michelle have all been generous with their time. They're all darlings to help so I can get pretty much all the things done that I want.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to return all the aids-to-daily-living stuff we have around the house sometime in October. I'm getting better at walking but the walker is great to have when I get tired. Falls are still a problem. It's a lousy feeling to know you're going over but not be able to stop yourself.

But the trend is positive. I'm getting a little stronger each day. (And Sandy is doing the vacuuming)

Carolin

Good news

Well I can drop some of my meds and a few meds I only have a few last dosages to take. That is good news for me. Then I can start cleansing by body. I get to drop my steroids by half on Monday. Down to 2 mg once a day.

The MRI of my brain confirms that the tumor was enlarged because of radiation necrosis. It has decreased in from 2.1 cm x 2.6 cm to 1.8 cm x 1.8 cm. My doctor and I are very happy with the news.

So my main job right now is to build up my muscles. The steroids is what is causing my muscle deteriation, leg and upper body weakness. More walking and building up some muscle. When my mouth feels better maybe protein will be more of an option. Right now everything is still too dry - bread, meat, etc. Fruit is good and soup but I need to watch that I don't take in too many non-starching things that may cause bad bowels again.

So we are on the mend. I had a bone scan today and will get the results on Monday.

Time to go.

Love to everyone.

Carolin

Home from Pincher

I am home from Pincher Creek. I had the most wonderful weekend. I got a lot of pages finished and was really happy with each one. My friends all pitched in to help me move from building to building, from table to computer, made sure I took my pills and did my exercises. You could say I had my own complete set of angels. I had a nap everyday and even had a massage.

Not too busy of a week. Jessica starts school tomorrow. I have an MRI and will see me neck/bone doctor. No problem or pain with my neck anymore but I do go for physio every 3 weeks to keep things in check.

Well time to read with Jessica.

Good night and love to you all.

Carolin