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A Very Happy Fourth of July

Sherryl has been feeling better the past few days and her energy has been pretty good -- just in time to celebrate another Fourth of July get-together at her house.  The entire family was there.  After a yummy barbecue, we gathered on the front deck where we again watched in silence close to a dozen fireworks displays occurring simultaneously from Vallejo to San Francisco.  It's always a beautiful sight.  And the party continued into Sunday as several family members stayed overnight at Sherryl's house.  We love tradition, and sometimes the simpler it is, the more treasured it becomes.  Here's a musical reminder that it is the simple things in life that make it so precious.

~xoxo~

Loving the Simple Life

Sherryl saw her doctor last week and learned she is still anemic.  She was told there is nothing for her to do to increase her red blood cell count and that chemotherapy medications will be adjusted for this reason.  Overall, she feels great.

Sherryl has commented lately how much she is enjoying "living a very simple life."  Family and friends, work and play.  There is uncomplicated routine and she loves it.

She had another fun weekend doing the things she loves most: spending time with family and friends of all ages.  She rested on Friday, and on Saturday she had a massage, took Haley to her gymnastics class, had lunch with Austin, Haley, and Arleen, then made lollipop trees with Austin and Haley. 

Always crafting frugally, Sherryl took the children to buy lollipops and Styrofoam cones.  Simple, fast, inexpensive, and fun, creating those trees was the activity for Saturday afternoon.  Another slumber party at RaRa's house for Austin, Haley, and Annie, and then home they went on Sunday with their parents. 

The finished lollipop trees are absolutely adorable.  As for the time RaRa, Austin, and Haley had together, a picture paints a thousand words.  But a thousand words may be too many when you're loving the simple life.  These pictures seem to say it all.   

~xoxo~ 

 

Austin, RaRa, and Haley ~ June 6, 2006

Good News ~ Tumor Marker is Down

Sherryl met with her oncologist today and learned that her tumor marker has dropped from 168 in February to 107 today.  This is great news!  Sherryl's oncologist also told her that she is anemic again, so a course of shots were prescribed to boost her red blood cell count.    

The timeframe for the next bone scan was also discussed today; the next one will probably be scheduled for 8 weeks or two chemotherapy cycles from now.  

Except for some fatigue, Sherryl is doing well.  Her appetite is good and she feels OK.  She experiences no nausea and, in general, is thrilled to be able to function fully under the current treatment plan. 

Sherryl needed to stop into the clinic yesterday and one of the nurses approached her to tell her she had a "message from a friend."  Nancy, who has moved on to her new job, had asked the nurse to tell Sherryl hello for her.  Sherryl was truly touched that Nancy had thought to send her that message.

Sherryl continues to work at Day Care every day and this weekend will entail attending Austin's last Little League game, a massage, and spending time with family.  

All things considered, life is pretty good right now and we're all grateful for it.       

~ xoxo ~

Feeling Better ~ Friends, Shopping, & Little League

Sherryl is feeling pretty good this weekend.  She's just begun the "2 weeks off" segment in the second monthly cycle of this chemotherapy course.  A new tumor marker will be ascertained in about 2 weeks.

She has taken advantage of feeling well by spending time with family and friends, and by attending Austin's Little League game.  This weekend, she also bought a farewell gift for Nancy, which was a good reason to head to one of her very favorite stores, Anthropoligie.    

Nancy, Sherryl's favorite nurse at the Marin Cancer Institute, is making a career change.  Her knowledge, skills, and caring ways have been recruited by the University of California at San Francisco, and she has accepted a new position with UC in the area of lymphoma and leukemia.  She told Sherryl it was a hard choice to make and that the thought of telling Sherryl she is leaving was devastating.

Sherryl is deeply saddened to learn Nancy will no longer be seeing her on a regular basis but understands the career choice she is making.  She told Nancy she will miss her gentle ways and expressed her appreciation for "always making [her] feel safe."  Sherryl will see Nancy once more before the transition in jobs occurs.  There will be lots of tears and, in typical RaRa fashion, we have feeling Sherryl will be in touch with Nancy in some way.

On Saturday, Sherryl enjoyed watching Austin's late-afternoon Little League game.  Below are a few photos of our favorite little slugger at play.

~ xoxo ~

   

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Sherryl seems to be metabolizing the new chemotherapy pretty well.  She had a good weekend.  Even before Friday, her resilience kicked in by way of humor.  We didn't know until last week that she gives names to each of her chemotherapy medications.  For example, Adriamycin was named Adrian.  And now that it has stopped working, Sherryl told us, "Adrian broke up with me.  We spent a lot of time together -- since before Halloween.  I really wanted that relationship to last."

The new chemotherapy is called CMF by both Sherryl and her team of providers.  We won't say here what Sherryl says the "MF" stands for because this is a family-oriented website.  Given that hint though, it shouldn't take very much imagination to figure out part of the name for this one.  Regardless of its name, Sherryl wants to become very, very good friends with CMF.   

From time to time, Sherryl speaks about the cancer cells that are still inside her body.  Last week she told us that she wants to "kick the cells' little butts."  Really?  Gives a whole new image to the detailed cell anatomy we learned in high school biology, doesn't it?

Sherryl just ended her first two-week cycle on CMF and now she'll go 2 weeks without any chemotherapy.  Overall, Sherryl is feeling great and went for a long walk both Saturday and Sunday mornings.  Beautiful spring California sun shone as Sherryl walked and talked about life and those she loves.

We'd insert here the "Walking On Sunshine" video by Katrina and The Waves, but, because there have been so many other videos posted here from the same era, some of you might begin to think we "live" in the 1980s.  Nope, not us.  Much.  If you don't live in the 80s either, click on this link:  Walking On Sunshine.

This week, RaRa reminded us that laughter truly is the best medicine.

~ xoxo ~

Chemotherapy #4, Cycle #1

During the first month on a new chemotherapy medication, there are many unknowns.  Although specific side affects are indicated, the manner in which each patient responds varies.  

For the previous chemotherapy medication, Sherryl felt agitated during the first month, and then she felt fine.  During the first month of this new chemotherapy medication, Sherryl initially felt jittery.  Now she feels "funky" and "worn out."  She's not depressed and she's not tired.  She's just worn out. 

She's experiencing some nausea and has been given a medication to offset that specific side affect. As she rides out this first cycle of the new chemo cocktail, she continues to push herself while getting lots of rest, too.  It was a busy weekend, but lots of fun as we combined birthday celebrations for Nadine (March 1) and Haley (March 9).  Sherryl spent time with Austin and other friends, too.  

Sherryl has been busy the past few weeks and weekends, so she's decided to spend a full weekday at home this week.  No appointments and no plans.  She may dabble in a few craft projects, or she may not.  She may just rest all day.  If that's the case, she's let us know that she'll be taking "coffee breaks between naps."    

No News Is Good News

Sherryl attended a birthday party on Saturday for our cousin Lynn and she had a great time catching up with family we see only once a year or so.  Lynn told Sherryl that she checks this website often and, when there have been no updates for a while, she knows no news is good news.

Lynn is exactly right.  Sherryl is doing very well these days -- to the point where little is new at all.  She is living her very cherished routine: working at day care full time and spending evenings and weekends with family and friends.  We celebrated her birthday on Super Bowl Sunday, as usual, and she continues to feel great, paying close attention to when she needs to sleep.  She is experiencing no pain at all.  Her white blood cell count is still a bit low, so chemotherapy is adjusted accordingly.     

It's amazing to realize that it was 2 years ago last week when Sherryl was diagnosed, and last year at this time, she had lost all her hair and too much weight.  Her progress is more than remarkable, but it is because she continues to push herself beyond any physical limitations that exist. 

In the left column of this page is a "category cloud" where all the topics covered in this blog are displayed.  The larger the font is for a specific word, the more that category is covered.  Note that the three largest words in the cloud are Resilience, Family, and Chemotherapy.  They could easily translate to Attitude, Love, and Care.  Sounds like a perfect combination for beating just about anything. 

Go RaRa!

Excellent News: Tumor Marker Is Down!

Sherryl was scheduled for a round of chemotherapy today, and popped in to see Nancy prior to receiving her "cocktail."  Blood tests indicated that her white blood cell count was marginally low, so a slightly lower dose of the chemotherapy was administered.

As Nancy was studying the other numbers that came back from the lab, she said, "Hmm.  78."  When Sherryl asked what the 78 meant, Nancy told her that was the tumor marker.  Sherryl couldn't believe her ears: the tumor marker has dropped from 127 mid-December to 78 today! 

Sherryl told Nancy that, although she's getting far more sleep than she used to get, she's feeling better now than she did before she was diagnosed nearly 2 years ago.  For those who have not talked to RaRa, you should all hear the lilt in her voice tonight.  One of the sweetest sounds in the world. . .

Our cousin Marie is doing better these days, too, so we're happy for that reason as well!

In honor of Sherryl's birthday, the new year, and other changes underway, we've freshened up the design here with help from the talented Jo-Lynne over at DCR Design.  The hands in the banner at top are littler than they used to be in order to make room for more hands and more white space, and we picked a different font for the title.  We also made a few minor changes to the purple background, but not very many.  Those little hands finger-painted that background, after all, and, well, art is art.     

There will never be too many thank yous from us to you for all you have done to support Sherryl.  We are so very appreciative of every thought, prayer, and gesture of kindness you send her way.

Happy Holidays to All!

Sherryl had blood drawn today and took the opportunity to deliver to all her doctors and nurses gifts she chose specifically for them.  And last week she threw her annual day care party, which entailed much work and many labors of love.  She enjoyed every moment of preparation and every moment of the party.  This coming Friday, she's scheduled for another round of chemotherapy.  She's losing her hair again, but she could care less because the treatment is working as indicated by the huge drop in her tumor marker.  So for us this year, the lyric in the Christmas carol "Silent Night" is true.  All is calm, all is bright.   

Our family will gather again at Arleen's house this evening for our traditional Christmas Eve celebration.  It's fun to have 4 generations enjoy each other's company.  Our Christmas tradition was begun years ago my our parents.  Below is a photograph from our early years, and you can read more about our family Christmases here. 

We thank each and every one of you for all the love and support you have provided to Sherryl and to our family.  It means the world to us.  We wish you and those you love a very happy holiday!

 

Christmas 1962
Left to right: Sherryl, Dad, Arleen, Nadine, Mom

* * * * *

On A Holiday Roll, and Merry Christmas to Ireland!

Monday morning:  Sherryl received a call from Nancy this morning and learned that her tumor marker has dropped from 283 383 to 127!  Her tumor marker has not been that low in a very long time.  (To follow the history of Sherryl's tumor marker, click here.)  She is thrilled beyond words, and so are the rest of us!  And now it's on with our lovely holiday season!

* * * * *

The following update was written before Nancy's call to Sherryl.

RaRa is feeling so great these days that she just keeps going.  In fact, she is wearing us all out!  Her level of energy could not be more perfectly timed as there is always much to do during the holiday season.  Decorating, gift-buying and wrapping, and food preparation are on the docket for both home and day care this week, and RaRa is on schedule to finish it all in time for the big day.  Hurray for her!

Sherryl saw Nancy last Thursday and, after learning Sherryl's experiences over the past couple of weeks, a few options are on the table relative to chemotherapy treatment.  The dosage can be lowered or the schedule can be rearranged.  For the latter, what is currently 3 weeks on and 1 week off would change to perhaps 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. 

Sherryl and Nancy also discussed Zometa, which is causing some havoc with Sherryl's knees.  Based on new information Nancy learned at a recent conference, changes in the prescribed treatment plan are being considered here, too. 

As for blood work, tests show that, although she is not anemic, Sherryl's white blood cell count is low.  She was told this is not uncommon and she only needs to continue prescribed therapies; there are no related proactive opportunities to improve the count.  Sherryl had her blood drawn last week, too, which she has come to refer to as "giving blood."  She should learn very soon the most current tumor marker.

She has two appointments scheduled for next week: "giving blood" on Christmas Eve and a round of chemotherapy the day after Christmas.  In the meantime, be assured that RaRa is making spirits bright!

Our cousin Marie is doing a bit better, so thank you all for the prayers you're sending her way.  They are working and very much appreciated.  And, thanks to connections our Auntie Pattie makes with just about everyone in the world, Sherryl received an email from one of our cousins in Ireland! 

For those of you visiting from "the old country," lest you think we've forgotten our roots, we've not!  We're queuing up an Irish version of our mother Anna Mae's favorite Christmas carol, we're handing out hankies to Auntie Pattie and a few of us cousins who are known to cry at the drop of a hat (ahem, we'll start with Arleen, Nadine, Marie, and Jeanette, then others will join us!), and we're wishing an early Merry Christmas to those of you across the sea! 

In honor of our relatives in Ireland, here are the Celtic Women performing "Oh Holy Night."