Tuesday, September 2, 2008

er... ugghh...

its been another interesting week at the oak ridge estate.

trish has been fighting the nausea, fatigue, the cookies & the #2's all week...

this past friday night / saturday morning everything kinda caught up with trish.
after a couple hours of dry heaving and the runs, it was about 1:30am when we decided to take a trip to the ER at sequoia hospital.

not having much of an appetite, nor the desire to drink a lot of fluids... coupled with the fact that diarrhea and throwing up is robbing her of her fluids, trish needed some hydration.

if it woulda been 1:30pm in the afternoon, we would just make a trip to dr. carlson's office, but since it was the middle of the night, we headed to the ER at sequoia hospital....
i wouldn't call it an emergency, but there just isn't too many options on where to go in the middle of the night... so sequoia it was, a whole 1.2 miles away.

so trish made it in right before the 2am last call... her cocktail of choice was double sodium chloride IV and a shot of zofran. about 30 minutes into it, trish was catching up on some much needed sleep in her hospital bed. we got home around 4:30am, and back to bed we went.

trish was feeling better over the weekend, but took it easy around the house and didn't do much.

so aside from fighting the side effects, the week was pretty much spent watering the garden in the backyard, and hanging out in the front yard while caden was playing in his little swimming pool.

so today... back at the stanford ITA for our 10:30am appointment.
we were actually out of the house around 9:50am, and arrive well before our scheduled appointment... amazing...

trish took the stairs up again, and for those that haven't seen the staircase here at stanford... is pretty damn big, so trish gets a gold star for making it all the way up on her own.

this weeks special guest stars are julie and eric. with the entourage today, trish was setup with a suite that is right across from chemo-buddy christine and her husband russ' suite.

by 11:00am we were hanging out at the suite, and nurse mary collete drew blood for trish's blood work.

the herceptin IV began at noon, and should be done no later than 1pm today.


thanks for checking in...

julie, trish & eric




12:30pm update
----------------------------

herceptin done... the port has been flushed with heparin, and we are outta here...
trish wants a burger, so its off to the goose we go



the maiden voyage...
caden breaking in the master bathroom tub last night...
FINALLY...







blood counts:

white blood cells, Absolute neutrophil count (ANC):
--------------------------------------------------------------------
was 5.9
is 2.14

* although its lower than it has been, 2.14 is still within the normal range of 1.7 - 6.7
trish had an ANC of 3 before her very first treatment in april.


red blood cells, hematocrit (HCT):
--------------------------------------------------------------------
was 29
is 26.1

* this is the lowest the red counts have been, and probably are contributing to trish's fatigue.
considering she hasn't eaten much in the last couple weeks, its not a suprise that they are down from her standard of 29.
dr. carlson has previously said that a blood transfusion would be a consideration if her counts dipped down around 22.

trish had a burger today, and we are gonna try and keep her eating this week and see how high we can increase the reds before we meet with dr. carlson next tuesday morning.



we are really hoping that the next 7 days will be unlike the last coupla weeks.

in hindsight, we are thinking all the nausea/cookies/two's aren't just a result of the chemo alone, but because trish has been a little sick as well.

caden has been a little sick lately...
i was sick last week, and im thinking it wasn't food poisoning, since no one else got sick from the food.
trish's brother, wife and son have all been hit by this bug as well..

so... hopefully she can kick this, take a nice long bath and have a decent week going forward...

the 3 day walk begins this saturday with opening ceremonies at the cow palace at 6:30am, and trish plans on being there.


thanks for reading..

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Trisha & Oak,
Hang in there! Sorry you have been so sick, Trish! Hoping that you will have a better week ahead! On a side note, the bathtub looks beautiful!! What a cute picture of Caden. :) Be well and stay strong, you're in our thoughts and prayers.
Love,
Lyndee & Family

Unknown said...

SOrry you had a hard week. Stay strong girl. Hope to see you soon. KEll

mamafish said...

Sorry it was another rough week! I will be thinking of you this week, and hoping you can get a break from the icky side effects. Take care!
Hanna

Anonymous said...

one more week down, you are doing so great. you have more perseverance than anyone i know. love you guys.

-nicholas

Anonymous said...

Well on an up note your bathtub is finally done! Now on days you are not feeling so great you have a place to soak. Hang in there, your kicking ass!

xoxo,
Monya & Russ

Anonymous said...

Fish,
I am praying you have a better week & that you can eat a lot more this week. Love, P
ps. Love the bathtub!!!!!

Anonymous said...

What a week..Trisha I admire you soo much. Taking the stairs, just like a champ! Love it! I believe it is true, that there is strength in numbers...and you my friend have so many people on your team, helping you through this...in thoughts, prayers and actions. Stay strong. We love you.
Mia

Cristina Capoot said...

Hi Trish
You do not know me, I live in Colorado. My sister lives in San Jose and she is part of a team that is supporting you on the 3 day breast cancer walk this coming weekend. I have been following your blog every week for many months and felt compelled to finally write to you. You have an amazing and I mean AMAZING support system of family and friends - you should feel so blessed. Your husband is a one in a million gem who writes his love for you so well every single week. I pray for you every day and I know you WILL win this fight! Hang in there and I hope you feel better. Many thoughts and wishes from Colorado.

Anonymous said...

Oh Trisha.... I'm so very sorry you've been so sick. You poor thing. When you're feeling up for it, I'd love to stop by for a visit. Thinking of you always -
Love,
Marit

Anonymous said...

Trish and Oak you are amazing! Can't wait to cheer your trailblazers on tomorrow morning. If you EVER crave a home made totally organic soup chunky or smooth or anything else I would love to make some for you. Just say when. Again you both are amazing!
xoxo
Bethany