Friday, April 10, 2015

One Year...

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I got a note today from one of Lisa's life-long friends, Pam: "I want you to know that I'm thinking about you and Lisa's m...
Thursday, April 10, 2014

The Fight Is Over

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After a fight lasting more than 3 years, Lisa's body was overwhelmed by the cancer and she passed away this afternoon.  We had want...
Wednesday, April 9, 2014

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I've spent 15 minutes composing and erasing different versions of descriptions of what's going on.  I wanted to give our friends an...
Tuesday, April 8, 2014

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A very bad night... Lisa woke up twice with bad coughing to where it sounded like she couldn't catch her breath.  She actually doesn...
Monday, April 7, 2014

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We're starting to see some improvement in the swelling of Lisa's right arm over the weekend.  This is encouraging -- it is hopefull...
Saturday, April 5, 2014

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We increased the dose on the Fentanyl/Morphine patches, and Lisa's pain stays under pretty good control most of the time and she's ...
Thursday, April 3, 2014

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The radiation treatment went quicker today, since it was just the actual treatment since all the setup definitions were accomplished yester...
Wednesday, April 2, 2014

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Lisa has had a lot more pain last night and all day today, so the oncologist said to raise the steroid dose back up to the previous level. ...
Tuesday, April 1, 2014

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We met with the radiation oncologist today, and there's good news:  he is able to radiate both the superior vena cava and inferior vena...
Monday, March 31, 2014

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Today's meeting with the primary oncologist resulted in some rebalancing of Lisa's medicines.  He lowered her steroid dose to see i...
Saturday, March 29, 2014

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Lisa's med mix is still doing the job, and she actually seems to be doing ok on a slightly lower pain dosage today.
Thursday, March 27, 2014

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We have continued to go to the cancer center each day for Lisa's infusion treatments of pain meds and steroids to supplement what she t...
Tuesday, March 25, 2014

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The current mix of meds is continuing to keep Lisa's pain under control.  Tomorrow morning Lisa will have her pre-radiation CT scan tha...
Saturday, March 22, 2014

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The current mix of meds  is doing the job of keeping Lisa's pain under control without making her groggy.  However, we are now in the w...
Thursday, March 20, 2014

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I took Lisa to the cancer center again for the palliative meds, but they didn't initially help her, even though they have for the last...
Wednesday, March 19, 2014

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Around 2am last night Lisa had an episode where her heart rate got up to over 160 bpm and stayed high for around an hour before coming down...
Tuesday, March 18, 2014

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Lisa was doing very well today right up to about an hour before she had her afternoon palliative infusion at the cancer center of the same...
Monday, March 17, 2014

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We were able to get in to see the oncologist this morning.  He decided that Lisa can't tolerate chemo in her current condition -- that ...
Sunday, March 16, 2014

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A new day, a new symptom.  After Lisa's lower body swelling, she's had more trouble with a feeling like food doesn't want to st...
Saturday, March 15, 2014

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Several rough days.  Last night Lisa's pain woke her up several times, and she hasn't been feeling good this morning.  Both her arm...
Wednesday, March 12, 2014

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We made it home yesterday afternoon and Lisa mostly rested between naps sleeping off the medication.  She actually felt pretty well until a...
Tuesday, March 11, 2014

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I'm writing this from the waiting area at the hospital... When the " interventional radiologist " came in to talk with us b...
Monday, March 10, 2014

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Though better, Lisa is still having "new" problems, so this morning we headed to the cancer center for more tests, followed by a ...
Sunday, March 9, 2014

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Yesterday was Lisa's worst day for pain in the over 3 years since her diagnosis.  We had a lot of people praying for her, and she had a...
Saturday, March 8, 2014

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Today has been one of those days when Lisa has been in pain.  It's been so bad that I contacted the doctor and he gave us new dosing of...
Friday, March 7, 2014

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I haven't posted much, but not much has changed.  Most of the time Lisa feels OK, occasionally she feels really good, but sometimes -- ...
Monday, March 3, 2014

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With the help of the appropriate pharmaceuticals, Lisa said that last night she had the best sleep she's had in months.  Other symptoms...
Sunday, March 2, 2014

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Lisa had a very bad night with a lot of pain and coughing.  She's spent a lot of this morning and part of this afternoon sleeping.  Lis...
Friday, February 28, 2014

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Lisa had her screening and pre-surgery "counseling" with the cataract specialist.  He confirmed what the previous ophthalmologist...
Wednesday, February 26, 2014

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Lisa had a rough night with pain and coughing, and this morning she has pain that she hasn't had to deal with for the last couple of we...
Monday, February 24, 2014

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Lisa had a fairly good weekend -- we mostly relaxed, but we were able to go out to eat one early evening also.
Friday, February 21, 2014

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This afternoon we went to an ophthalmology specialist to get Lisa's eyes examined medically (rather than for a change in prescription)....
Thursday, February 20, 2014

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What a difference a day makes!  Lisa was quite a bit better yesterday, and got her appetite back, starting the day with bacon and eggs and ...
Wednesday, February 19, 2014

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Lisa's blood tests taken yesterday just before we met with the oncologist showed that is generally "tolerating" the chemo wel...
Tuesday, February 18, 2014

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Lisa is again feeling a bit better today than the day before.  We'll see the oncologist this afternoon.
Monday, February 17, 2014

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Lisa was a bit better today, so it does appear that her recent super-bad days were from the chemo.  Although Lisa is having the predicted s...
Sunday, February 16, 2014

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After having a rough day yesterday right up until bedtime, Lisa woke up this morning feeling quite a bit better, but after breakfast she we...
Saturday, February 15, 2014

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Lisa didn't sleep well last night, and this morning her blood pressure is low, hovering around 90 over 50.  She's drinking fluids a...
Friday, February 14, 2014

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Lisa has been feeling weak most of the day, getting a bit worse as the day has gone on.  She's slept quite a bit.
Thursday, February 13, 2014

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Lisa's chemo today was dripped in more slowly, so we were there for over 3 hours.  The slower drip may have made a difference in that L...
Wednesday, February 12, 2014

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Today was day two of the three consecutive days of this new chemo.  Yesterday was a long treatment for Lisa -- we were actually at the canc...
Monday, February 10, 2014

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Lisa had a lot of pain over the weekend and again this morning, beyond what her pain medicine was able to handle, so we went in to see the ...
Friday, February 7, 2014

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This morning we were told that the supplemental brain scan needed to be done "sooner rather than later".  We found out that what ...
Thursday, February 6, 2014

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Lisa had her scans this afternoon.  We haven't gotten the written reports, but we were told that the brain scan showed no cancer there....
Wednesday, February 5, 2014

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Lisa woke up with more pain in her chest and back, where December's scan show the worst tumor growth.  She hasn't had to use prescr...
Tuesday, February 4, 2014

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Lisa has been feeling poorly, including chest pain and bone pain.  After talking with the oncologist and getting examined, his observations...
Sunday, February 2, 2014

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Lisa has had a bit of a 'mixed' weekend.  She's mostly feeling pretty wiped out, and with an elevated heart rate.  This morning...
Thursday, January 30, 2014

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Lisa has done better the past few days, but today the side effects from her white cell booster shot seem to be starting.
Monday, January 27, 2014

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A bad evening turned into a bad night that continued into a bad morning, but thankfully by around noon it started to get a bit better.  Thi...
Sunday, January 26, 2014

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Lisa felt really good this afternoon after her blood transfusion... and later this afternoon she had her final antibiotics infusion without...
Friday, January 24, 2014

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Lisa's pre-chemo blood tests today show her anemia is worse despite the blood transfusion last Sunday, so she is going to have to have ...
Thursday, January 23, 2014

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Lisa seems to be feeling somewhat better and the side effects from this chemo series have been reasonably well tolerated.  Most notably, sh...
Tuesday, January 21, 2014

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The benefits of the daily antibiotics infusions along with Sunday's blood transfusion seemed to have "kicked in"... today she...
Sunday, January 19, 2014

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Lisa's been feeling so poorly, the blood infusion was done this afternoon at outpatient oncology services at the local hospital rather ...
Friday, January 17, 2014

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Lisa woke up feeling much better, and was no longer running a fever, but by late morning was feeling really poorly again. She had a chest...
Thursday, January 16, 2014

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Lisa has gradually been feeling worse over the last few days -- especially at night -- and thinks that the steroids aren't necessarily ...
Monday, January 13, 2014

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This afternoon, Lisa was experiencing additional symptoms similar to early in her diagnosis:  ear pain, and swelling in her neck.  The swel...
Sunday, January 12, 2014

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Lisa hasn't had any new symptoms, so there doesn't seem to be any issues for her with this chemo.  She's still winded and easil...
Friday, January 10, 2014

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Yesterday's chemo treatment went fine, and Lisa slept ok until around 5:30 this morning when she had a lot of very bad coughing, but th...
Thursday, January 9, 2014

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Blue Cross is still doing their "pre-determination" as to whether to approve the Abraxane portion of Lisa's treatment, but m...
Tuesday, January 7, 2014

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The treatment authorization request is "in the system" and "being evaluated" by the insurance company... we're wait...
Monday, January 6, 2014

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A full day with doctors... the radiation oncologist decided that it is best to hold off for now so that radiation treatments don't inhi...
Sunday, January 5, 2014

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Lisa has been feeling consistently poorly, with pain, fever, fatigue and other symptoms.  We're hoping the treatment regime that should...
Thursday, January 2, 2014

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We met with Lisa's primary oncologist today.  He said he was disappointed by the scan but not surprised.  This is common -- cancer is ...
Tuesday, December 31, 2013

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We met with the orthopedic specialist today to have an evaluation of Lisa's vertebrae that show cancer (primarily L4, with a small spo...
Monday, December 30, 2013

Setback

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Today's blood tests show Lisa's blood counts in general are quite good, and she is only slightly anemic now.  However, her resting ...
Saturday, December 28, 2013

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Lisa has been quite fatigued today and also running a fever as high as 100.2 F.
Thursday, December 26, 2013

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We had a very nice -- though quiet -- Christmas.  The last few days Lisa has had both good times and not-so-good times.  She still gets tir...
Tuesday, December 24, 2013

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One of Lisa's friends from her hometown sent a display plate with these words of inspiration that are worth sharing: What Cancer Can...
Sunday, December 22, 2013

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Lisa is still doing well during the day.  She sometimes gets fatigued and sometimes runs a fever at nighttime, but overall has been feeling...
Thursday, December 19, 2013

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Lisa continues to have a good week, and has done well except for a few hours here and there when fatigue sets in and she has to rest.  This...
Tuesday, December 17, 2013

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It took almost a week for Lisa to recover from the chemo treatment, despite the blood transfusion, but this morning she woke up feeling SO ...
Friday, December 13, 2013

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Lisa had her blood transfusion this afternoon, and it went smoothly.  We were there about three hours total which  included some pre-medica...
Wednesday, December 11, 2013

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Lisa's pre-chemo blood tests today showed her anemia continues to get worse, despite Lisa trying to eat more red meat and protein.  Her...
Sunday, December 8, 2013

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Thankfully, Lisa got past the worst of the side effects and has had a better weekend.  Of course, she'll be hit with chemo again this c...
Friday, December 6, 2013

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Lisa is having her bad Thursday afternoon and Friday that usually follows a Tuesday chemo...
Tuesday, December 3, 2013

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Lisa's pre-chemo blood test showed some improvement in her red blood count (so slightly less anemic) but still well below the normal le...
Sunday, December 1, 2013

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Lisa was well enough to travel, so we were able to drive up to Kentucky to spend Thanksgiving with family. She didn't have enough energ...
Wednesday, November 27, 2013

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Lisa had a better day today.  She is doing ok as long as she's resting, but trying to do even little things around the house puts her h...
Saturday, November 23, 2013

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Lisa had a blood test done yesterday, and her anemia has gotten somewhat worse than it was at the last test, back to where it was at its wo...
Thursday, November 21, 2013

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Up, down, up, down... the roller coaster ride continues.  Lisa's been feeling poorly again today, and even worse this evening, running ...
Wednesday, November 20, 2013

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Lisa had a bad evening and overnight with fever and bone pain, but woke up feeling much better.  She was able to do a full day of work with...
Monday, November 18, 2013

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Lisa is doing better this morning.  She has this week and next week off from chemo, though she'll still have to go in for blood tests. ...
Sunday, November 17, 2013

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As I'm writing this at around 2pm, Lisa has spent most of the day in bed.  She feels weak and winded.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013

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Lisa's chemo treatment was uneventful... as usual, she's gone to sleep soon after getting home.  Her pre-chemo blood tests showed i...
Tuesday, November 12, 2013

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Lisa is still running a slight fever off and on, but usually has good mornings and feels a lot more poorly in the afternoon and evenings.  ...
Saturday, November 9, 2013

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Lisa woke up feeling a LOT better this morning.  She slept well, and her fever is gone.  We're expecting a good day.
Friday, November 8, 2013

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Lisa does ok in the morning, but as the day wears on, she doesn't do as well.  She's been running a 100.8F fever yesterday and toda...
Tuesday, November 5, 2013

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Lisa did well the day after her bronchoscopy procedure, but she has been feeling poorly yesterday and today, running a slight fever and ver...
Saturday, November 2, 2013

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Lisa came through the procedure fine.  The doctor saw a lot of blockage and drew me a simple sketch.  The visible blockage was scar tissue ...
Friday, November 1, 2013

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Lisa met with the pulmonary specialist this morning, and we also had short discussions with Lisa's primary oncologist and the cardio-pu...
Wednesday, October 30, 2013

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Lisa's really feeling poorly, but she had her CT scan this morning.  We don't have official results, but in looking at the images, ...
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

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No chemo today.  Lisa is still anemic, and though her blood chemistry is adequate, it's not ideal.  However, the main reason for not gi...
Sunday, October 27, 2013

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Lisa had her final infusion in this series today, and early this evening a home-care nurse came and removed ("de-accessed") the f...
Saturday, October 26, 2013

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Lisa is doing better, though still occasionally runs a bit a fever.  Today's and tomorrow's infusions are her last ones, and then s...
Tuesday, October 22, 2013

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Lisa's daily infusions of antibiotics and getting more rest seem to be bringing some improvement.  She'll be continuing the treatme...
Friday, October 18, 2013

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Lisa was feeling even worse today, so the oncologist's office ordered a chest x-ray to make sure there's no pneumonia (and there is...
Wednesday, October 16, 2013

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Lisa felt a lot worse this afternoon and this evening.  We're wondering if she's going to need an antibiotic infusion after all.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013

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I'm over my head/chest cold other than a lingering cough, but Lisa still has hers a bit, including a slight fever today before our appo...
Friday, October 11, 2013

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Both Lisa and I are over the worst of our "colds", or whatever they were.  Lisa decided to try to get by without having the antib...
Wednesday, October 9, 2013

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I'm off the worst of it, though I'm still too sick to go into the office.  Lisa has had hers for well over a week now.  We've c...
Tuesday, October 8, 2013

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I'm improving, but Lisa has gotten worse.  We'll probably go in tomorrow to get her an antibiotic infusion.
Sunday, October 6, 2013

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Lisa's still got it, and as of this evening, I think I'm now getting it too...
Saturday, October 5, 2013

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Lisa is still sick and coughing with common-cold type of symptoms.  We'll probably go to the oncologist on Monday, and consider an anti...
Wednesday, October 2, 2013

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This week and next week are 'off' weeks for Lisa... no chemo.  Yesterday she had blood drawn, and the results are a mixed bag, but ...
Thursday, September 26, 2013

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This afternoon and evening is when Lisa usually when the side-effects of a Tuesday chemo treatment start to hit, but other than fatigue, Li...
Tuesday, September 24, 2013

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As expected, Lisa's pre-chemo blood tests this afternoon show that last week's chemo has made her more anemic (red blood cell count...
Sunday, September 22, 2013

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True to the usual pattern, Lisa was feeling better by Saturday, and had a good weekend.  She ran some errands Saturday morning, and then we...
Thursday, September 19, 2013

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As is usually the case after a Tuesday chemo treatment, it's Thursday afternoon and the side effects have hit Lisa.  She's feeling ...
Tuesday, September 17, 2013

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Lisa had a very good weekend... but finally today she had to spend the afternoon at the cancer center for her chemo treatment.  It went wel...
Friday, September 13, 2013

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Lisa's blood work looked better, though she is still anemic.  The oncologist concurred that the PET scan images showed more improvement...
Wednesday, September 11, 2013

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Lisa continues to do exceptionally well.  Other than her trouble walking, she's been feeling great.  Her heart rate is back in normal r...
Sunday, September 8, 2013

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Lisa has had a very good weekend, and as is usually the case, the farther she gets from chemo, the better she feels.  The symptoms from the...
Wednesday, September 4, 2013

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I got the image disc today, and it tells a much more encouraging story.  We can see from the images that the current chemo combination is a...
Tuesday, September 3, 2013

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Lisa had a full afternoon with a blood test, PET/CT scan, and an appointment with the oncologist. The blood test shows slight improvement...
Monday, September 2, 2013

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Lisa's doing better today.  Tomorrow afternoon is her PET/CT scan and an appointment with the oncologist to learn the results.
Saturday, August 31, 2013

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Lisa came off her home-based antibiotics on Thursday, but this afternoon she's feeling poorly again and running a fever. What do you ...
Thursday, August 29, 2013

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Lisa's blood counts were much better today.  Although she is still anemic, her electrolyte counts are back in normal ranges and her whi...
Wednesday, August 28, 2013

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Tomorrow Lisa will have another blood panel done, and if the counts are better, it will be the last of the required daily trips to the canc...
Monday, August 26, 2013

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Blood tests today show worsening red cell (anemia) and white cell (immune system) blood counts.  Other elements in her blood count are also...
Friday, August 23, 2013

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Lisa's blood counts and condition have required her to go back to the cancer center every afternoon for additional treatment, and this ...
Tuesday, August 20, 2013

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Lisa had her blood tests and chemo this afternoon.  Blood counts are mostly stable... she's still anemic but not to the point of needin...
Sunday, August 18, 2013

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Lisa has had a pretty good weekend, though by evening each day she's been very fatigued and wiped out. She hasn't had problems from...