Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Lynn just wrapped up the sixth and final chemo today. This one went very well - no problems with the IV, no weird side effects, timing worked out just right. She went in to the hospital on Monday morning, and was done by 6PM Wednesday night. The side effects are liable to be a problem, but just knowing that the whole process is done is going to make things a lot easier. Some of the people in the neighborhood decorated up the place for her. They put up all kinds of smiley faces, and set up balloons and streamers all over the place. It was really a big surprise for her. They were all over the front yard, in the kitchen, in the entry way, the halls - even a couple in the fridge and on the toilet! Thanks to Barb, Susan, Trish and Mary Anne, and their stalworth assistants.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Two more days, and then Lynn heads out for the sixth and final chemo session. By this time Wednesday, the whole series will be done. She got the go-ahead from Dr. Blair Friday. Her blood counts are down, but not so much that she cannot go ahead with the procedure. They also are not as bad as they were two sessions ago, which is certainly good news. She is still pretty fatigued, so that is something to be concerned about. Part of the trouble is that she is not able to sleep well at night...hope fully, once this last routine is out of the way, and when there will be no more upcoming ones on the horizon, that will be a big help in that respect.
Mac and I are off for MLK Day on Monday, so we will take Carlee to daycare, then take Lynn to the hospital. Since Dr. Blair was able to streamline the procedure somewhat, it is likely that Lynn will be out on Wednesday, instead of having to hold off until Thursday. Susan Mathew will be by on Tuesday; she is going to stay around for a few days and help out with the kids and to visit Lynn. My sick time just reset for the year, which is a good thing, since I can now spend some of that kind of time taking care of Lynn and the kids if necessary.
I'll try to be a little more timely next time there is news. Right now, the big thing is to get through this next phase and knock out the lymphoma for good.
Two more days, and then Lynn heads out for the sixth and final chemo session. By this time Wednesday, the whole series will be done. She got the go-ahead from Dr. Blair Friday. Her blood counts are down, but not so much that she cannot go ahead with the procedure. They also are not as bad as they were two sessions ago, which is certainly good news. She is still pretty fatigued, so that is something to be concerned about. Part of the trouble is that she is not able to sleep well at night...hope fully, once this last routine is out of the way, and when there will be no more upcoming ones on the horizon, that will be a big help in that respect.
Mac and I are off for MLK Day on Monday, so we will take Carlee to daycare, then take Lynn to the hospital. Since Dr. Blair was able to streamline the procedure somewhat, it is likely that Lynn will be out on Wednesday, instead of having to hold off until Thursday. Susan Mathew will be by on Tuesday; she is going to stay around for a few days and help out with the kids and to visit Lynn. My sick time just reset for the year, which is a good thing, since I can now spend some of that kind of time taking care of Lynn and the kids if necessary.
I'll try to be a little more timely next time there is news. Right now, the big thing is to get through this next phase and knock out the lymphoma for good.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Latest
December 28, 2009
Lynn will be heading in for a fifth chemotherapy session today. Things are definitely looking good. First off, the fact that she is going at all is a testament to the fact that she is improving. Dr. Blair had been worried that her blood counts were down. Her hemoglobin had been low before the fourth trip, but not so much that she could not go. However, the trend was such that it looked like they were recovering less and less each time. Well, she went in today and had her blood work done, and she is back up to where she should be, both with hemoglobin and with platelets…that means that she can press on with number five.
Dr. Blair also told us that she is doing very well as far as the lymphoma is concerned. Her lymph nodes are back to normal, with no enlargement, and the fluid level in the sack around her lungs is much smaller. Those mean that the cancer is definitely going into remission. He told us that he will do one more regimen after this one, bringing us up to a total of six, and then she will be finished. At that point, it will just be a question of recovering from the effects of the drugs.
Another piece of good news, well, sort of. It turns out that this is not directly due to the chemotherapy, and will not affect her program. A day or so after she gets each round of chemo, she is getting a shot of a drug called Neulasta. This drug stimulates the bone marrow to produce additional white blood cells. Most of the white blood cells already in the body are forced by the body’s immune system to attack the cancer cells during therapy…there aren’t a whole lot left when it is done. Neulasta brings the white cell count back up. Well, one of the symptoms of this drug is an overall achiness and pain in the body a few days after the injection. This is exactly the symptom that was affecting Lynn. There is not a whole lot to be done about it, but at least she knows what is causing the problem, and that it will go away quickly.
Dr. Blair is also changing around the timing of the chemo. He wants to try to get her to wrap things up on Wednesday, instead of Thursday, so she can get the Neulasta injection on Thursday. Otherwise, she would have to get it on Friday, which is January 1st, and their office will be closed. Not too sure how that will pan out, but if so, it will be great having her home a day early.
January 4, 2009
Sorry about the delay - as some of you may or may have known, my email account got deleted a while back, and I have had to settle for using one through g-mail. Had some trouble logging in as I was unable to get it to recognize the old account. That, and the fact that it turned into a zoo around here Christmas time.
Today, Lynn has been back from chemo for four days. While she was in the hospital, Dr. Jordan had a doppler done of her heart - sort of like a sound based radar. He was quite pleased with what he found out. Her heart function, called the EF factor, is back up to where it was before all this nonsense with heart surgery started early in 2009. She was showing about a 40%. This is not quite up to what passes for normal, but it is is certainly better than the 25% she had right before the chemo, where the cardiologist was talking about putting in a pace maker. And, once this weather clears up and we can get back outside, I am sure that we'll be getting some good cardio - who knows...she might be shopping for Ironman triathalon equipment before long!
The chemo went pretty well this time. Dr. Blair made some changes to drip rates and such, and got her done a lot faster than before. I was able to get her out Thursday morning, same as before, but she had not been able to start until 2AM Tuesday. Riverside also finally got wise and brought in a specialist for her IV. This nurse used an ultrasound to get her bearings around Lynn's arm, and then took all of five minutes to get the whole thing done. And, the IV held this time, instead of blowing out like it did 4-5 times for round four. Always great to get off to a good start.
Lynn is still having trouble recovering, at least for the first few days. We have had a spell of cold weather - one night it got down to 4-deg, and it is very hard for her to stay warm. Fortunately, one of her presents was an electric blanket. And, sometimes the kids let her use it!
Jo went home on New Years. She had been with us for over a week, and really helped out a lot. With the kids out from school, we would have really had a hard time finding someone to keep an eye on them when she was in the hospital. Before the end of the year, I had just about wiped out all of my time off, including sick leave. Now that the year has rolled over, and my sick days have reset, I'll have more time to stay with her and the kids.
Last round is set to start on January 18th - that should be it, hopefully for good. We are thinking seriously about heading out on vacation the end of March, to coincide with Mac's Spring break. That will give Lynn and me two months to build up the time off (and save for the darned thing!) and to get Lynn back up to speed. We are probably going to go to an area near Cancun called Playa del Carmen. We'll find a nice all inclusive resort, soak up some rays, put on about 10 pounds, and try to forget all about 2009!
Lynn will be heading in for a fifth chemotherapy session today. Things are definitely looking good. First off, the fact that she is going at all is a testament to the fact that she is improving. Dr. Blair had been worried that her blood counts were down. Her hemoglobin had been low before the fourth trip, but not so much that she could not go. However, the trend was such that it looked like they were recovering less and less each time. Well, she went in today and had her blood work done, and she is back up to where she should be, both with hemoglobin and with platelets…that means that she can press on with number five.
Dr. Blair also told us that she is doing very well as far as the lymphoma is concerned. Her lymph nodes are back to normal, with no enlargement, and the fluid level in the sack around her lungs is much smaller. Those mean that the cancer is definitely going into remission. He told us that he will do one more regimen after this one, bringing us up to a total of six, and then she will be finished. At that point, it will just be a question of recovering from the effects of the drugs.
Another piece of good news, well, sort of. It turns out that this is not directly due to the chemotherapy, and will not affect her program. A day or so after she gets each round of chemo, she is getting a shot of a drug called Neulasta. This drug stimulates the bone marrow to produce additional white blood cells. Most of the white blood cells already in the body are forced by the body’s immune system to attack the cancer cells during therapy…there aren’t a whole lot left when it is done. Neulasta brings the white cell count back up. Well, one of the symptoms of this drug is an overall achiness and pain in the body a few days after the injection. This is exactly the symptom that was affecting Lynn. There is not a whole lot to be done about it, but at least she knows what is causing the problem, and that it will go away quickly.
Dr. Blair is also changing around the timing of the chemo. He wants to try to get her to wrap things up on Wednesday, instead of Thursday, so she can get the Neulasta injection on Thursday. Otherwise, she would have to get it on Friday, which is January 1st, and their office will be closed. Not too sure how that will pan out, but if so, it will be great having her home a day early.
January 4, 2009
Sorry about the delay - as some of you may or may have known, my email account got deleted a while back, and I have had to settle for using one through g-mail. Had some trouble logging in as I was unable to get it to recognize the old account. That, and the fact that it turned into a zoo around here Christmas time.
Today, Lynn has been back from chemo for four days. While she was in the hospital, Dr. Jordan had a doppler done of her heart - sort of like a sound based radar. He was quite pleased with what he found out. Her heart function, called the EF factor, is back up to where it was before all this nonsense with heart surgery started early in 2009. She was showing about a 40%. This is not quite up to what passes for normal, but it is is certainly better than the 25% she had right before the chemo, where the cardiologist was talking about putting in a pace maker. And, once this weather clears up and we can get back outside, I am sure that we'll be getting some good cardio - who knows...she might be shopping for Ironman triathalon equipment before long!
The chemo went pretty well this time. Dr. Blair made some changes to drip rates and such, and got her done a lot faster than before. I was able to get her out Thursday morning, same as before, but she had not been able to start until 2AM Tuesday. Riverside also finally got wise and brought in a specialist for her IV. This nurse used an ultrasound to get her bearings around Lynn's arm, and then took all of five minutes to get the whole thing done. And, the IV held this time, instead of blowing out like it did 4-5 times for round four. Always great to get off to a good start.
Lynn is still having trouble recovering, at least for the first few days. We have had a spell of cold weather - one night it got down to 4-deg, and it is very hard for her to stay warm. Fortunately, one of her presents was an electric blanket. And, sometimes the kids let her use it!
Jo went home on New Years. She had been with us for over a week, and really helped out a lot. With the kids out from school, we would have really had a hard time finding someone to keep an eye on them when she was in the hospital. Before the end of the year, I had just about wiped out all of my time off, including sick leave. Now that the year has rolled over, and my sick days have reset, I'll have more time to stay with her and the kids.
Last round is set to start on January 18th - that should be it, hopefully for good. We are thinking seriously about heading out on vacation the end of March, to coincide with Mac's Spring break. That will give Lynn and me two months to build up the time off (and save for the darned thing!) and to get Lynn back up to speed. We are probably going to go to an area near Cancun called Playa del Carmen. We'll find a nice all inclusive resort, soak up some rays, put on about 10 pounds, and try to forget all about 2009!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday evening
Lynn seems to be doing better - the little device that Dr. Conaway got for her has helped out a lot. She got a good night's sleep last night, the first in several days. The cough is still there, but it is not nearly so scary. One side effect was that she has almost completely lost her voice now. She literally cannot talk on the phone. Our friend and neighbor, Cynthia Cassidy, had what must be the exact same illness a few days ago, and she was without her voice for quite a few days. Lynn has two or three under her belt, so we should start seeing some improvement soon.
Had yet another issue come up, but it is not nearly so serious. Lynn hurt her hand on Thanksgiving, playing, of all things, Twister! A tendon in her left wrist hurts to the touch. It doesn't hurt her when she moves it, but it hurts like crazy when someone touches it. Carlee brushed her hand against it today, and when Lynn yelped, she really freaked out. Lynn is pretty sure that it is a tendon. If it does not get better soon, we will have to have it looked at.
I got the Christmas lights up, so that cheered everyone up...at least until we get the electricity bill! Mac and I also made a couple of trips up to my Mom's house and started working on the yard. It is too bad that Lynn is ill - she would really like to jump in and get to work on that! Possibly in the spring
Kathy Allen will be coming to stay with us next Saturday night, before Lynn gets started on round 4. The one after that will be a real bear - it falls between Christmas and New Years. Things wrap up March 1st if all goes well...definitely looking forward to Spring this year!
Lynn seems to be doing better - the little device that Dr. Conaway got for her has helped out a lot. She got a good night's sleep last night, the first in several days. The cough is still there, but it is not nearly so scary. One side effect was that she has almost completely lost her voice now. She literally cannot talk on the phone. Our friend and neighbor, Cynthia Cassidy, had what must be the exact same illness a few days ago, and she was without her voice for quite a few days. Lynn has two or three under her belt, so we should start seeing some improvement soon.
Had yet another issue come up, but it is not nearly so serious. Lynn hurt her hand on Thanksgiving, playing, of all things, Twister! A tendon in her left wrist hurts to the touch. It doesn't hurt her when she moves it, but it hurts like crazy when someone touches it. Carlee brushed her hand against it today, and when Lynn yelped, she really freaked out. Lynn is pretty sure that it is a tendon. If it does not get better soon, we will have to have it looked at.
I got the Christmas lights up, so that cheered everyone up...at least until we get the electricity bill! Mac and I also made a couple of trips up to my Mom's house and started working on the yard. It is too bad that Lynn is ill - she would really like to jump in and get to work on that! Possibly in the spring
Kathy Allen will be coming to stay with us next Saturday night, before Lynn gets started on round 4. The one after that will be a real bear - it falls between Christmas and New Years. Things wrap up March 1st if all goes well...definitely looking forward to Spring this year!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday Evening
Lynn had a follow-up a few days ago with Dr. Jordan. He was quite pleased with the status of her heart. Her blood pressure was very low, but he said that it was exactly where he wanted it. At that point, Lynn was concerned that she was picking up a bit of a cold. His response was "I don't do colds!" I think he was kidding, but you can never tell. Anyway, a few days went by, and she started picking up a non-productive cough that got worse and worse. It got to the point that she was unable to lie down in bed and had to sleep on the recliner sofa. She said that she felt she had to cough, and that there was stuff down there that she wanted to get out, but that it would not work for her. She didn't have a fever or anything like that, but she definitely felt that something was not quite right.
Things came to a head last night - she simply could not stop coughing, and was up most of the night. I managed to convince her to call her personal doctor, Dr. Conaway, and ask him if he could come up with something to help her out. He called back, heard what she had to say, and was convinced that she has some sort of infection. He arranged to get an inhaler for her that would help get the congestion broken up, so she could get her lungs clear. I also went out and got her an old-fashioned vapo-rub steam machine, which we'll run all night long for her. Hopefully that will help as well.
Lynn had a follow-up a few days ago with Dr. Jordan. He was quite pleased with the status of her heart. Her blood pressure was very low, but he said that it was exactly where he wanted it. At that point, Lynn was concerned that she was picking up a bit of a cold. His response was "I don't do colds!" I think he was kidding, but you can never tell. Anyway, a few days went by, and she started picking up a non-productive cough that got worse and worse. It got to the point that she was unable to lie down in bed and had to sleep on the recliner sofa. She said that she felt she had to cough, and that there was stuff down there that she wanted to get out, but that it would not work for her. She didn't have a fever or anything like that, but she definitely felt that something was not quite right.
Things came to a head last night - she simply could not stop coughing, and was up most of the night. I managed to convince her to call her personal doctor, Dr. Conaway, and ask him if he could come up with something to help her out. He called back, heard what she had to say, and was convinced that she has some sort of infection. He arranged to get an inhaler for her that would help get the congestion broken up, so she could get her lungs clear. I also went out and got her an old-fashioned vapo-rub steam machine, which we'll run all night long for her. Hopefully that will help as well.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
November 19, 2009
Thursday Evening
November 19, 2009
Lynn has just wrapped up the third round of chemotherapy. Things went pretty well. She was able, once again, to avoid the confusion brought about by one of the chemo ingredients. And, she did not have any of the nausea sometimes common for people taking those chemicals. However, she has had some issues with her IVs. It is getting increasingly difficult to find good veins for her IV. This time, she had some problems with the first one that was put in. It got a clot in it, and the flow of her IV had to be slowed down. They took that one out, and put in a new one. Fortunately for her, she had higher blood pressure than she usually did, and it was much easier to get a good stick. Never-the-less, for the first time, there was talk about a shunt, a permanent inlet into her blood stream. It would be in place for the rest of her treatment. Maybe it would make things easier to get the drugs in her, but it sometimes has a habit of getting infected.
Lynn's heart seems to be doing pretty well, although she still has the persistent cough. Dr. Jordan still is tweaking the Lasic, as she gains and loses lots of weight, all fluid, during short periods of time. The cough, interestingly enough, goes away when she is in the hospital. Only when she leaves does it return. She thought at first that we had mold in the house or something, but it is probably due to a combination of her moving around more and of getting away from the relatively dry air found in medical facilities.
Barb and Bob came by with dinner tonight - It was great seeing the two of them - they go to our church and are in our small group. They brought pot roast: Lynn's favorite. She has lost some of her ability to taste, so having something really good was a big help. Over the week-end, we had lots of visitors, and have had all kinds of people drop by to see if they could help us out. It has really been terrific. The first week after the chemo is always the hardest, as Lynn is the weakest. We try to stay away from public places where she can pick up germs and bugs, so she cannot get out. Having visitors boosts her spirits.
The next round of chemo begins in December. After that, there will be one in between Christmas and New Years. We wrap things up in March...just about the time this whole saga got started. Hope I won't have anything to write about after that!
November 19, 2009
Lynn has just wrapped up the third round of chemotherapy. Things went pretty well. She was able, once again, to avoid the confusion brought about by one of the chemo ingredients. And, she did not have any of the nausea sometimes common for people taking those chemicals. However, she has had some issues with her IVs. It is getting increasingly difficult to find good veins for her IV. This time, she had some problems with the first one that was put in. It got a clot in it, and the flow of her IV had to be slowed down. They took that one out, and put in a new one. Fortunately for her, she had higher blood pressure than she usually did, and it was much easier to get a good stick. Never-the-less, for the first time, there was talk about a shunt, a permanent inlet into her blood stream. It would be in place for the rest of her treatment. Maybe it would make things easier to get the drugs in her, but it sometimes has a habit of getting infected.
Lynn's heart seems to be doing pretty well, although she still has the persistent cough. Dr. Jordan still is tweaking the Lasic, as she gains and loses lots of weight, all fluid, during short periods of time. The cough, interestingly enough, goes away when she is in the hospital. Only when she leaves does it return. She thought at first that we had mold in the house or something, but it is probably due to a combination of her moving around more and of getting away from the relatively dry air found in medical facilities.
Barb and Bob came by with dinner tonight - It was great seeing the two of them - they go to our church and are in our small group. They brought pot roast: Lynn's favorite. She has lost some of her ability to taste, so having something really good was a big help. Over the week-end, we had lots of visitors, and have had all kinds of people drop by to see if they could help us out. It has really been terrific. The first week after the chemo is always the hardest, as Lynn is the weakest. We try to stay away from public places where she can pick up germs and bugs, so she cannot get out. Having visitors boosts her spirits.
The next round of chemo begins in December. After that, there will be one in between Christmas and New Years. We wrap things up in March...just about the time this whole saga got started. Hope I won't have anything to write about after that!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
November 15, 2009
Sunday 11/15/09
Boy, does the title of this blog, "Lynn's Memorable Spring" seem inappropriate now! Here we are, speeding into Winter, and yet the saga lives on! If everything goes according to plan, it will indeed be Spring when we wrap things up...only, just a year later!
Good news, however. Lynn had a cat scan done...one of the things that you look at to see if the cancer is regressing when dealing with lymphoma is the size if the lymph nodes throughout that body. When the nodes are swollen, thus larger, it is a sign that the body is attempting to fight the cancer, and, basically, that it is losing the battle. Lynn's earlier catscan showed that her lymph nodes were much larger than usual, and that the cancer was really taking hold. Well, the last series of cat-scans showed that the lymph nodes have decreased in size dramatically. In other words, the chemo is working just like it should. The cancer cells are taking a major hit, and are retreating exactly like we would have hoped. More good news: her blood counts, including red blood cells and white blood cells, are actually better after this round of chemo than the one before. Chemo has the effect of damaging her blood cells, and so her doctors try to manage the chemo so that they do not do something that will hurt her ability to basically get oxygen to her body. Her blood counts are great right now - she is handling the chemo very well, and her basic "life functions" are not significantly impaired.
In addition, she is not loony! If you recall, one of the components of her chemo, Ifex, the "I" in RICE, was breaking down into a chemical that was causing her to have some severe confusion and disorientation. That was from the first round. Well, Dr. Blair, her oncologist, decided to start massive dosages of methylyene blue to be injected into her periodically throughout the chemo process. This chemical, usually used as a stain, per my Mom, has the effect of "soaking up" the by-products of the Ifex. Bottom line - it worked perfectly, Lynn had none of the confusion or other problems, and she was able to handle things perfectly. Really great to see that happen.
We start round 3 on Monday. She goes into the hospital that morning. Hopefully, things will progress along the same route as we have seen so far at that time.
One major issue, that has nothing to do with Lynn, but that affects me. My Mom passed away on November 5th. This was totally unexpected, but I guess that you have to be ready for something like this when a relative is 80 years old. She had all kinds of input to give me regarding Lynn's treatment, plus lots of positive encouragement...she was, after all, planning on going to Med school. I just wish that she had been able to stick around long enough to see Lynn make it through this latest series of medical problems.
Boy, does the title of this blog, "Lynn's Memorable Spring" seem inappropriate now! Here we are, speeding into Winter, and yet the saga lives on! If everything goes according to plan, it will indeed be Spring when we wrap things up...only, just a year later!
Good news, however. Lynn had a cat scan done...one of the things that you look at to see if the cancer is regressing when dealing with lymphoma is the size if the lymph nodes throughout that body. When the nodes are swollen, thus larger, it is a sign that the body is attempting to fight the cancer, and, basically, that it is losing the battle. Lynn's earlier catscan showed that her lymph nodes were much larger than usual, and that the cancer was really taking hold. Well, the last series of cat-scans showed that the lymph nodes have decreased in size dramatically. In other words, the chemo is working just like it should. The cancer cells are taking a major hit, and are retreating exactly like we would have hoped. More good news: her blood counts, including red blood cells and white blood cells, are actually better after this round of chemo than the one before. Chemo has the effect of damaging her blood cells, and so her doctors try to manage the chemo so that they do not do something that will hurt her ability to basically get oxygen to her body. Her blood counts are great right now - she is handling the chemo very well, and her basic "life functions" are not significantly impaired.
In addition, she is not loony! If you recall, one of the components of her chemo, Ifex, the "I" in RICE, was breaking down into a chemical that was causing her to have some severe confusion and disorientation. That was from the first round. Well, Dr. Blair, her oncologist, decided to start massive dosages of methylyene blue to be injected into her periodically throughout the chemo process. This chemical, usually used as a stain, per my Mom, has the effect of "soaking up" the by-products of the Ifex. Bottom line - it worked perfectly, Lynn had none of the confusion or other problems, and she was able to handle things perfectly. Really great to see that happen.
We start round 3 on Monday. She goes into the hospital that morning. Hopefully, things will progress along the same route as we have seen so far at that time.
One major issue, that has nothing to do with Lynn, but that affects me. My Mom passed away on November 5th. This was totally unexpected, but I guess that you have to be ready for something like this when a relative is 80 years old. She had all kinds of input to give me regarding Lynn's treatment, plus lots of positive encouragement...she was, after all, planning on going to Med school. I just wish that she had been able to stick around long enough to see Lynn make it through this latest series of medical problems.
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