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Home Sweet Home

Sherryl arrived home from the hospital Monday evening and is enjoying the comfort of her own bed.  She is cautiously moving about without her walker, and Richard took her out today for radiation treatment as planned.  She also spoke briefly with her radiology oncologist; radiation will continue daily for a couple of weeks.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being low and 10 being high, Sherryl describes her level of pain today at a 2, which is a tremendous relief from the intensity of pain she felt just a couple of days ago. 

She's already making plans for how she'll spend her time at home until she can return to work.  There won't be any painting projects, but there will be much thinking and planning. 

Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes for RaRa.  We may use the same words to say it each time, but we can never thank you enough for your love and support of our sister.

~xoxo~   

Wiped Out

Living with cancer can be tricky and skillful navigation is required to get through the physical and emotional ups and downs.  All can be going relatively smoothly, and then the disease kicks hard.  Cancer has kicked Sherryl hard over the past several days.

Although she continues to push herself, Sherryl feels wiped out.  She's had Nupogen shots, but she's had nno chemo medications for 2 weeks.  She typically feels more energy during the off weeks of chemotherapy; that's not the case this cycle.  She's frustrated that she doesn't have the energy to do small tasks around the house. 

The PET scan is scheduled for this Thursday, and an appointment with the oncologist will be scheduled the following week.  For now, she's staying cool since there is a heatwave, and she's getting as much sleep as she needs.

Our family will celebrate the 4th of July holiday together, a tradition Sherryl began over 20 years ago.  We're all hoping Sherryl's energy returns by then so she can enjoy every moment of it again this year. 

~xoxo~ 

Tumor Marker is Up

Disappointing news, Sherryl's tumor marker increased from 107 on May 14 to 160 as of this past week.  Another PET scan, which is due about now anyway, will be scheduled for this week.  Sherryl will receive Nupogen shots next week and the next appointment with her oncologist is the first week in July. 

Although Sherryl has been tolerating CMF chemotherapy treatment relatively well, she has felt much fatigue the past several days.  As usual, she is paying close attention to her energy level and resting whenever necessary.

When Sherryl does have some energy during her free time, she spends a bit of time on the computer reading email or playing one of her favorite word games.  We know she loves Scrabble, and she also loves an AOL game called Word Zen. 

And when her energy is higher than expected, as it has been today, she talks a mile a minute, sounds as perky as ever, and takes on projects the likes of which would exhaust most of us.  Today, since her laundry room painting project is finished, she is cleaning out the very huge craft closet at home.

A very Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers who are RaRa fans!

~xoxo~   

She's Painting Again!

There is a song on the movie soundtrack for Miss Potter called "I'm Painting Again."  It's the perfect music for Sherryl this holiday weekend.  In the past three days she has gone to a paint store, selected two shades of gray, and painted her laundry room.  With Richard's help, appliances were moved out and back as Sherryl worked her magic with rollers and brushes.  She needs only to add to two cabinets adorable pink knobs she found at her favorite store, Anthropoligie.

Health-wise, Sherryl is getting over a little cold but is feeling pretty well during these two weeks of "no chemo" in this cycle.  She stayed home most of the weekend and, in addition to thoroughly enjoying her home project, got plenty of sleep and played a few games of Scrabble online.  

All in all, it's been a lovely holiday weekend, and the week ahead brings more cherished daily routine for RaRa: working at day care and spending time with family and friends.        

                                       ~ 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."    

Tumor Marker Is Up

Sherryl learned today that thetumor marker is 168, up from 78 on January 23.  Sherryl is disappointed, but for some reason she had a feeling the number would be higher this time. 

Sherryl did not see Nancy today, but will see her on Thursday.  Discussions will involve whether or not Neupogen injections are influencing the tumor marker. 

Aside from this disappointing news today, Sherryl's spirits are good.  She is tired this week, so she is going to bed early every night. 

We will let you know more information as soon as it becomes available.

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.

Chemo Sleepy

Sherryl is adjusting to the new chemotherapy and is noticing it is making her very tired.  She's tired when she gets home from work, so she goes to bed and has had what she calls "one of those weird chemo sleeps," which she describes as just keeping her eyes closed even if she's awake.  An appointment with Nancy last week revealed some reasons for this sleepiness. 

Sherryl's white blood cell count is down from the chemo medication, plus anemia has surfaced again.  There is a non-cancerous spot on the upper lobe of the right lung that, for some unknown reason, becomes inflamed from time to time resulting in a cough.  Sherryl was prescribed a cough medicine to take at night as well as a very strong antibiotic.  Unfortunately, antibiotics have always resulted in fatigue.

Sherryl also learned that her iron is low, so, rather than taking iron tablets, she'll look to iron-rich foods to increase the count.      

Sherryl didn't expect to experience this fatigue, but was assured by Nancy that this is a common symptom for this course of treatment.  As a result, the frequency for this chemotherapy has been changed to 3 weeks on and 1 week off.  Sherryl is feeling a bit better as of this morning and is optimistic her energy will return in the next couple of days. 

In an email from day care mom and friend, Michelle, Sherryl received the following photograph and thought how great it would be if little girls wore T-shirts like this one.  Thank you, Michelle!

Still Resting

Sherryl still felt some soreness early this morning and was briefly queasy, so she stayed home today.  She is uncertain if it was the anesthesia or the new chemo that made her feel nauseous, but she felt better as the day passed.  Her spirits and appetite are good.  This evening, she is feeling some tenderness in the area where the port was inserted, but she is looking forward to resuming her routine tomorrow.

Procedure Went Well

Richard took Sherryl to the hospital this morning to have a port inserted into the right upper chest area as scheduled.  Although her mouth was dry due to fasting since midnight last night, her mood was chipper as she headed for the operating room.  The doctors' plan included partial sedation, full sedation if necessary, for the 2-hour procedure.  One of Nadine's friends who works in the hospital had told the surgery staff to treat Sherryl "like a rock star."  And they did. 

Sherryl tolerated the procedure well, and then headed to the cancer center to receive her first dose of the new chemotherapy medicine.  When she arrived in the chemo room, the three nurses who had each struggled on various occasions to find a vein in Sherryl's arm, were ecstatic to see that she now has a port.  It makes their job easier and they know having a port is far easier on patients like Sherryl. 

Tests results were revealed today, too.  The x-ray of her leg shows nothing is present on the femur.  And all blood tests look good relative to red and white blood cell counts, etc.  A new tumor marker will be ascertained in about 5 weeks. 

Once home, Sherryl felt groggy but good, so she spent the remainder of the day resting and sleeping.  She plans to return to day care on Thursday.   

Thank you all once again for your love, prayers, and support.  In case we have not said so lately, we are so grateful for you and your setting good intentions for RaRa.