Snow day! Snow day! Snow day!
You would not believe how much snow we've gotten over the last week - even the old timers are taken aback. Man, if only I had a digital camera and the blog could upload photos...
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Snow day!
Holy cats! I get up this morning, and amazingly, the weatherman did not lie, we did indeed get 4+ inches of snow. So much snow, in fact, that Washington State has decided to close for the day.
Snow day! Snow day! Snow day!
You would not believe how much snow we've gotten over the last week - even the old timers are taken aback. Man, if only I had a digital camera and the blog could upload photos...
Snow day! Snow day! Snow day!
You would not believe how much snow we've gotten over the last week - even the old timers are taken aback. Man, if only I had a digital camera and the blog could upload photos...
Monday, January 28, 2008
Long Time, No Post!
Hello!
Sorry I haven't posted to the blog recently. I got home over a week ago, and have been telling myself over and over and over to update the blog. Dave has mentioned updating the blog. A friend asked why I hadn't updated the blog. Well, gosh darn it. I guess I'd better update the blog :)
My parents brought me home and visited here in Moscow for 3 days. We all went to the WSU-UO basketball game. Despite the last three miracle wins by the Ducks in Pullman, this year, the Cougs beat us. Bah. Since I've been back, Dave and I have been (kinda) busy cleaning the house. While it currently doesn't look like it. Tonight we're gonna clean the living room and kitchen. Hooray! I'm currently only working one day per week at the Forest Service, and trying to finish my thesis on the other days. I've procrastinated long enough. With our future currently on hold, I want to get at least one thing done! I taught myself how to use Adobe Illustrator the other night so I can do some cool figures for the thesis. I'll also be able to tweak my $850 piece of artwork -- the professionally done illustrations of my artifacts. SIGH. I've got a few points to illustrate still, and will have to do it on my own. I'm hoping they turn out half as good as the professional ones. We'll see.
On the the Big C front, I've been a bit up and down. I think the last set of treatments just knocked me out a bit both physically and emotionally. Even though the doctors and nurses constantly tell you not to worry about numbers, Cycle 4 was hard for me to deal with. I was devastated in the hospital when my body only allowed me to get five doses of IL-2. I know in my heart that just getting a few doses is great, but I'm used to getting 10 to 12 doses. My irrational brain sees the 5 doses as failure ... that those doses can't help with so few .. but I'm wrong! Be hppy I can get any doses at all! Some melanoma patients can't have this treatment, and some don't get any positive response at all. Only one in five patients get a positive response (me!), and out of those, only one in four get a cure (me! hopefully!). My oncologist, Dr. Crocenzi, hinted that we may be done with treatment after the 4th dose, but I have a feeling that I am in for the final 5th and 6th doses in the near future.
Early February will be very busy for us. I have doctor appointments on Feb 4, 9, and 13, and then Dave and I are heading to the Blue Mtns of Oregon for a skiing weekend after Valentine's Day. Hopefully we have something to celebrate. We will see the oncologist on Feb 13, and he'll give us the results of the PET/CT scan and endoscopy, which take place the previous weekend, in hopes that they show the cancer has not grown, or decreased and gone. Think positive thoughts for us!
Cheryl
Sorry I haven't posted to the blog recently. I got home over a week ago, and have been telling myself over and over and over to update the blog. Dave has mentioned updating the blog. A friend asked why I hadn't updated the blog. Well, gosh darn it. I guess I'd better update the blog :)
My parents brought me home and visited here in Moscow for 3 days. We all went to the WSU-UO basketball game. Despite the last three miracle wins by the Ducks in Pullman, this year, the Cougs beat us. Bah. Since I've been back, Dave and I have been (kinda) busy cleaning the house. While it currently doesn't look like it. Tonight we're gonna clean the living room and kitchen. Hooray! I'm currently only working one day per week at the Forest Service, and trying to finish my thesis on the other days. I've procrastinated long enough. With our future currently on hold, I want to get at least one thing done! I taught myself how to use Adobe Illustrator the other night so I can do some cool figures for the thesis. I'll also be able to tweak my $850 piece of artwork -- the professionally done illustrations of my artifacts. SIGH. I've got a few points to illustrate still, and will have to do it on my own. I'm hoping they turn out half as good as the professional ones. We'll see.
On the the Big C front, I've been a bit up and down. I think the last set of treatments just knocked me out a bit both physically and emotionally. Even though the doctors and nurses constantly tell you not to worry about numbers, Cycle 4 was hard for me to deal with. I was devastated in the hospital when my body only allowed me to get five doses of IL-2. I know in my heart that just getting a few doses is great, but I'm used to getting 10 to 12 doses. My irrational brain sees the 5 doses as failure ... that those doses can't help with so few .. but I'm wrong! Be hppy I can get any doses at all! Some melanoma patients can't have this treatment, and some don't get any positive response at all. Only one in five patients get a positive response (me!), and out of those, only one in four get a cure (me! hopefully!). My oncologist, Dr. Crocenzi, hinted that we may be done with treatment after the 4th dose, but I have a feeling that I am in for the final 5th and 6th doses in the near future.
Early February will be very busy for us. I have doctor appointments on Feb 4, 9, and 13, and then Dave and I are heading to the Blue Mtns of Oregon for a skiing weekend after Valentine's Day. Hopefully we have something to celebrate. We will see the oncologist on Feb 13, and he'll give us the results of the PET/CT scan and endoscopy, which take place the previous weekend, in hopes that they show the cancer has not grown, or decreased and gone. Think positive thoughts for us!
Cheryl
Monday, January 14, 2008
The news, such as it is
Man alive, I'm tired. And bored. Played hooky from work today because I just couldn't get my bones out of bed today. Color me highly unmotivated.
Cheryl's feeling much better today. Aside from the usual bugaboo of nausea and horribly aching joints (looks like the IL-2 decided to go after the arthritis in her shoulders this time around), she's doing alright. She only managed 5 doses this time, but that seems to be about average for patients on their fourth cycle. If all goes well, this will be the last time Cheryl goes in for treatment, although neither of us would be surprised if another two week cycle is called for.
Methinks I shall whip up a batch of my (in)famous black bean and chorizo chili, which shall keep me fed for the rest of the week, then get to back to the never-ending task of cleaning the apartment. Sisyphus and his boulder have nothing on me.
Cheryl's feeling much better today. Aside from the usual bugaboo of nausea and horribly aching joints (looks like the IL-2 decided to go after the arthritis in her shoulders this time around), she's doing alright. She only managed 5 doses this time, but that seems to be about average for patients on their fourth cycle. If all goes well, this will be the last time Cheryl goes in for treatment, although neither of us would be surprised if another two week cycle is called for.
Methinks I shall whip up a batch of my (in)famous black bean and chorizo chili, which shall keep me fed for the rest of the week, then get to back to the never-ending task of cleaning the apartment. Sisyphus and his boulder have nothing on me.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Time for the midweek update
We are expecting 4-7 inches of snow here in Moscow tonight, and I'm preparing to lounge on the couch and watch the new Futurama DVD (Futurama returns, huzzah! All glory to the Hypnotoad!), watch the snow fall, throw popcorn at the cat and, uh, "self-medicate" myself. Hey, it's been a pretty crappy last-six-months for me too, ya know; I'm entitled to find whatever joy I can in this godforsaken place people call Idaho, and if that happens to be a short-term dopamine boost in exchange for longer-term depressive effects, then so be it!
Besides, red wine has many healthy properties, too.
All the vodka I've been drinking, however, probably not so much. I think it's a bad sign that the clerks at the liquor stores now know me on a first-name basis.
But that's neither here nor there. The latest news from INB HQ is that Cheryl's not doing as well as hoped, as the side effects hit hard and early this go around, and after one dose she was put on neoepinephrine to boost her blood pressure, which was down to a perilous new low of 60/20 at one point (so if you had 60/20 in the blood pressure pool, email me and I'll send you your winnings). It looks like she'll probably top out at five, maybe six doses this go-round.
This, however, is not abnormal for someone going through their fourth cycle, so the nurses have told us, and they've proven pretty on-the-mark in terms of predictions and whatnot.
That's the news for now. If you'll excuse me, I have a movie to watch and brain cells to kill.
Dave
Besides, red wine has many healthy properties, too.
All the vodka I've been drinking, however, probably not so much. I think it's a bad sign that the clerks at the liquor stores now know me on a first-name basis.
But that's neither here nor there. The latest news from INB HQ is that Cheryl's not doing as well as hoped, as the side effects hit hard and early this go around, and after one dose she was put on neoepinephrine to boost her blood pressure, which was down to a perilous new low of 60/20 at one point (so if you had 60/20 in the blood pressure pool, email me and I'll send you your winnings). It looks like she'll probably top out at five, maybe six doses this go-round.
This, however, is not abnormal for someone going through their fourth cycle, so the nurses have told us, and they've proven pretty on-the-mark in terms of predictions and whatnot.
That's the news for now. If you'll excuse me, I have a movie to watch and brain cells to kill.
Dave
Friday, January 4, 2008
Better Late than Never...
Hi All
It's been a week and a half since our last blog post. I have been telling Dave for the past week I would update the blog but just haven't gotten around to it. I have to log on from Dave's computer, as my computer is currently having issues with the internet, so I've been procrastinating. Surprise. Me? Procrastinate? Never! ;)
Last week was incredibly busy!
December 24: Christmas Eve. We celebrated Christmas at my parents house with my brother and his family.
December 25: Christmas Day. We celebrated Christmas at my parents house with my sister and her family.
December 26: Day after Christmas. We celebrated Christmas at my parents-in-laws' house with Dave's parents and sister.
Believe it or not, by the third Christmas Celebration and associated Christmas dinner, I was celebrated out. Not tired of the presents, but I was pretty much ready to go to bed for a week. I got out of the hospital on the Saturday before, and only ate a smidge of of food each night. Dinner(s) was wonderful, but unfortunately my tummy had still not made it back from my hospital stint the week before. We had a wonderful time with both sides of the family, and it was great to see Dave's sister before she headed out to her new job in Michigan.
This week, in comparison, has been low key. We got home on Sunday night. The cats were, to put it mildly, happy to see us. Let's just say, we got little sleep as an old kitty was bound and determined to not only get under the new down comforter but burrow all the way to our feet. We were crawled over, yowled at, purred at, and head butted by Samantha. Pearl was perfectly happy to sleep at our feet. Good grief. Thanks Michelle and Aaren for taking care of our babies over Christmas!
Looks like we're going skiing tomorrow! Whee! We'll see how that goes. My treatments make me slightly anemic, so I may spend more time taking breaks than skiing, but I don't care. We bought me new skis last month, and gosh darn it, I want to use them!
I go back in the hospital next week for Cycle 4 of IL-2. Wish me luck everyone! If you're in Portland, or going through Portland, stop by at Providence Portland Medical Center and say hi! I'll be on Floor 5K!
Cheryl
It's been a week and a half since our last blog post. I have been telling Dave for the past week I would update the blog but just haven't gotten around to it. I have to log on from Dave's computer, as my computer is currently having issues with the internet, so I've been procrastinating. Surprise. Me? Procrastinate? Never! ;)
Last week was incredibly busy!
December 24: Christmas Eve. We celebrated Christmas at my parents house with my brother and his family.
December 25: Christmas Day. We celebrated Christmas at my parents house with my sister and her family.
December 26: Day after Christmas. We celebrated Christmas at my parents-in-laws' house with Dave's parents and sister.
Believe it or not, by the third Christmas Celebration and associated Christmas dinner, I was celebrated out. Not tired of the presents, but I was pretty much ready to go to bed for a week. I got out of the hospital on the Saturday before, and only ate a smidge of of food each night. Dinner(s) was wonderful, but unfortunately my tummy had still not made it back from my hospital stint the week before. We had a wonderful time with both sides of the family, and it was great to see Dave's sister before she headed out to her new job in Michigan.
This week, in comparison, has been low key. We got home on Sunday night. The cats were, to put it mildly, happy to see us. Let's just say, we got little sleep as an old kitty was bound and determined to not only get under the new down comforter but burrow all the way to our feet. We were crawled over, yowled at, purred at, and head butted by Samantha. Pearl was perfectly happy to sleep at our feet. Good grief. Thanks Michelle and Aaren for taking care of our babies over Christmas!
Looks like we're going skiing tomorrow! Whee! We'll see how that goes. My treatments make me slightly anemic, so I may spend more time taking breaks than skiing, but I don't care. We bought me new skis last month, and gosh darn it, I want to use them!
I go back in the hospital next week for Cycle 4 of IL-2. Wish me luck everyone! If you're in Portland, or going through Portland, stop by at Providence Portland Medical Center and say hi! I'll be on Floor 5K!
Cheryl
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