Tuesday, July 1, 2008

new month, same crap...

ahhh the drive down the alameda that has become so familiar. each time wishing The Dutch Goose was our destination, but sadly it never is...

another day in chemoville is underway.

the past week has been pretty good to trish. she had her four neupogen shots on wed, thurs, fri and sat.

saturday trish went down to santana row for a birthday tea party for the sisters Gann, Carrie and Christina.

on sunday, trish, caden and i headed over to the menlo park farmer's market to pick up some fruits and veggies.. we actually ran into dr. carlson while we were there... its kinda odd.. like when you are kid, and you see your teacher at the grocery store for the first time... you know oncologists need to shop as well, but seeing them outside their habitat, you sometimes gotta do a double take.

trish has been feeling decent, but as you know, the neupogen shots make her really achy. yesterday and today haven't been too bad, but she made it through the week without any advil or alieve.. so she is hanging in there.


so that brings us to today...


8:10am: driving down alameda
8:30am: arrive at the stanford cancer center
9:00am: seated for blood work with nurse sammie
9:20am: blood draw finished, heading downstairs
9:25am: checked in with dr. carlson's front desk
9:35am: in dr. carlson's patient room
10:00am: nurse jan came in to check in on trish. blood counts look promising, but not all the #'s are back yet

the nurses in the infusion center have always been so nice and welcoming..
trish wanted to do a little something to say thank you, so she baked a few dozen lemon poppyseed, blueberry and coffee crumbcake muffins for them last night.



stay tuned... more updates throughout the day


here is a pic from a few minutes ago in dr. carlson's exam room...
trish was flipping through a copy of People, and came across this advertisement....

ya gotta be kidding me







11:00am update
-----------------

we met with dr. carlson and nurse jan and went over the blood work, the previous weeks, the coming weeks, surgery options, surgeon options, etc..

trish's blood counts came back good, and she is good to go for another round of juice today... she tried talking dr. carlson into 3 shots of neupogen a week, but he wasn't having it. i guess we will have to continue with 4..


blood counts:

white blood cells, Absolute neutrophil count (ANC):
--------------------------------------------------------------------
was 6.05
is 6.52


red blood cells, hematocrit (HCT):
--------------------------------------------------------------------
was 28.9
is 29


trish's (and mine) face lit up when we heard dr. carlson say:


"a really wonderful response here"


and

"i think we you are doing fantastic"




its really good to know its workin...


its 11:00am and we are back in the infusion center waiting room....
1.5 hours late for our appointment... think its gonna be a long day

more updates later..



11:15am update
-----------------

seated in the much sought after spot, C5... theeeee prime, numero uno throne. westwardly facing, with windows of a northern exposure.
the sky is blue, the trees green and the chemo clear.

BRIBING THE NURSES WITH MUFFINS APPEARS TO HAVE WORKED :)


nurse nenita began trish on her bottle of wine (benadryl) and will be back to buy her a round of decadrone and pepcid in a bit








more updates later...


2:00pm update
-----------------

12:00pm: predrugs done
12:15pm: began taxol
1:45pm: taxol done, began herceptin

herceptin should take 30 minutes... we should be on our way home no later than 2:30pm.

trish has been catching up on a little sleep over the last couple hours.

the harp lady was back, and kicked off the concert with a fine rendition of Sting's "Fields of Gold". (this isn't "our" harp lady, but if you want to hear fields of gold on the harp, here is your chance)

11 comments:

Head Baby Wrangler said...

YAH! Glad to hear Dr. Carlson thinks everything is on the up and up! Your such a trooper Trisha! I love you guys, can't wait to see you in a few weeks!!!

xoxo
Monya & Russ

Anonymous said...

Yea! Yea! Yea!
What great news you guys! Thanks for the update, Oak - - You're too funny and may need to start your own column in the Chronicle! We miss you guys and hope to see you all soon! Sending prayers & lots of hugs from the WC!
Love,
Lyndee & Family

Anonymous said...

Seriously Oak, your wit sheds a wonderfully lighter view on the proceedings...Great Job! Trish, you are doing it and we are behind you all the way!

Love Steve Cerena and Lucas

Anonymous said...

Oak and Trish, Hang in there your doing great! I'm here if you need anything! Olga

Anonymous said...

I am so glad that things look good! I am so proud of you.. Oak thank you so much for keeping us all updated.

We love you guys!
Brie and Mike

Anonymous said...

Woo Hoo...such great news! Trish - you're a rock star! And you look just beautiful!

Thanks for the updates Oak. One day hopefully soon - the ride down the Alameda will lead you to The Dutch Goose...and no further! I just know it. And we'll all be there to celebrate with you guys! Thinking of you all. Hope to see you soon. xoxo Monica & Matt

Anonymous said...

Great, Great news to hear from the Dr. Stay strong Trisha - and keep rockin' the yellow bandana, I love it. Oak, thank you so much for sharing your story with all of us. You are all in my prayers and know that I'm sending good thoughts your way!
Love Mia, Armando and Avery Omega

Anonymous said...

Hi!
I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading your blog. I am 29 years old, mother of 5, and I am a 1 year survivor of stage 4 IBC, and did the same treatment as you. I am still on Herceptin + Zometa (for bone mets) every 3 weeks. I am currently "stable". Good luck on your journey. You are not alone. This isn't a path that any of us would necessarily willingly chose, but as you travel this road, you will see many beautiful things that you wouldn't seen if you didn't travel this hard road. I am sure from reading your blog that you have already seen some of those wonderful things, such as the support from family and friends.

Anonymous said...

Hi! Sounds like you're hangin in there ok - you're such a star, Trisha!

I just realized that your BRCA 1/2 tests came back and are negative! I'm so thrilled to learn that!

Let me know if you're up for Bunco on Thursday and I'll come get you. I'm finally well, been on antibiotics again, so I can be around you confidentally!

Good luck again tomorrow!

Love and prayers,
Marit

Anonymous said...

Trisha - I wanted you to know that I will be thinking about you all day tomorrow. Stay Strong.
Love Mia

Jane said...

yes, i am sending positive thoughts your way today... hoping everything goes very smoothly. Will see you guys tonight!

Jane