Curtail -- Word for the Day -- Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Curtail
DEFINITION: (verb) to shorten.

Okay, Kids... Curtail your complaints. I know I haven't written since the end of last week, but, Hey... had honey-dos to do. I have heard through the grapevine of several of you wanting to catch up on Chemo Sabe and there wasn't any new news. Well, here we go...

We had a long, deserved weekend. We did get to ride on Saturday with 30 min. of that being in the rain. It had chased us all day. We got out in the Tahoe on Friday to do some necessary shopping and it poured on us -- IN THE TAHOE. My sunroof is leaking again. Chemo Sabe used at least a half box of Kleenex to stop it, but it came on through to the front and collected in the rear air controls. There we have God's sense of humor again.

We had the Cook port inserted yesterday. Remember that is the spaghetti sized insert with the three tubes for collecting labs, doing transfusions, platelets and the chemo. It was a little painful because a new kid on the block was learning. Got four deadening shots. No step for a stepper.

Had a little confusion today on our schedule. We were told last week that our 9:00 a.m. Big Dog appt was not necessary. Only the chemo bag hook up at 3:00 p.m. Chemo Sabe got a call from a nurse asking if he had been in an accident. He was certainly confused. She informed him he missed the 9:00 a.m. appt. So we both took off work early (1:30) and met at the Myeloma Center. Got the MRI results. Curtail your excitement. This is where, if you remember from last week, we felt we were too excited about the Remission results. See next paragraph.

The lesions that appeared in the beginning are still visible. The exact word used throughout the report was "unchanged". That should have been the Word for the Day, actually. BUT, unchanged is not bad, because there are not any more reported. There is mention of three on the area of the right and left rib cage on the 3rd and 4rd ribs. Don't tickle yourself as you count down your own. They should be right under your breast area.

There are still some lesions along the spine with a small fracture still being reported, but as before, no mention of a cement repair surgery, as yet. The left hip has some indication of lesions, but the right hip that supports the prosthesis shows no signs of lesions.

So, you see, no changes are good. His weight is staying normal. I can't tell you that as he is watching me write this. His blood pressure is excellent since is usually is a low recorder. He is now normal.

We were incorrectly informed of labs today, also. We didn't know anything about them so the chemo bag could not be hooked up until we received the labs back.

WBC -- 3.83 on Thursday and 3.73 today
Platelets -- 111 on Thursday and 85 today
Crap -- staying way below the normal level meaning no sign of infection.

We have been blessed. We received the Thalidomide today. If you remember, some of our chemo friends had a deductible of $860.00 and $650.00. Ours was charged to clinic last time because of insurance matters. We haven't gotten that bill, yet. This is the drug we were informed is $1,000.00 a pop. Well, picked up the second set today with check book in hand. I will have to admit this morning I transferred big bucks out of our savings account so I wouldn't write a hot check! ha... Well, our deductible was a whooping ------ are you ready??????

$50.00

As I mentioned, we are truly blessed.

Started on the steroids this morning again, along with four other prescriptions. We take ten each of the steroids for four days. He will be King Kong by week's end. He takes about the same amount at night to put him down of the Thalidomide.

Things have been up and down in the families this week. My mom is getting over her cataract surgery. She is having pressure problems and had gone back for follow up visits twice. They increased the meds she inserts into her eye, but she did tell Chemo Sabe she could see his bald head through the phone.

His mom is currently in the hospital with some urinary tract infection issues, Please pray for her strength in health and strength in personal decisions she needs to make.

All is well here at the home front. Had two sick pups yesterday, but they ate some good ole steak bones we brought home last night. So they seem fine today.

We will be working the rest of the week. We got hooked up with a 3:00 bag change out so that schedule will make it a lot easier for us to make our commitments at work. The bag comes off on Saturday.

Oh, Oh, Oh..... we also heard today after this chem is finished and the labs and the growth factor shots, there is a possibility of a two to three week break before the transplant. Gosh, won't we be wild and crazy before he has to go back. Think we could go AWOL?

Please try to curtail your complaints. Be patient or I may go AWOL myself. ha
Love you all...... Pepper