how suite it is...

its tuesday again? already?


8:30am: we begin our journey down the boulevard of the fleas, alameda de las pulgas...

8:40am: ahhh... the goose

9:15am: done with the blood draw from newly engaged nurse christy, and heading downstairs to see doc carlson.

9:35am: we got into an exam room, and trish changed into her fine looking baby blue hospital gown

10:20am: dr. mia levy came in and examined trish. we are still waiting on the blood test results, but they should be back shortly.. and then dr. carlson will be in to see her.



so for the ever famous, ever exciting week in review:
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tuesday:
after chemo on tuesday, we went camping... yep... camping... roughing it in the great outdoors... the wilderness, bears, living off the land...
or..
steve, cerena & lucas had already taken the RV down to the thousand trails campground in morgan hill, so trish, caden, judas and i headed down there to "rough" it with them...

well for this post, the definition of "roughing it" will include running water, electricity, microwave, tv, swimming pool and of course wireless internet so i could do my work. anyhow, it was fun and relaxing and nice to get away from the house for a couple days. lucas and caden kept busy playing in the dirt, with the dogs, the swimming pool and everything else they could get their hands on. trish was able to relax, not have to worry about doing anything and get caught up on some reading.

thursday:
we came home from camping in the morning so could go into work, and trish headed to her healing touch appointment in the evening.
the healing touch has been really good to trish. she loves the 1 hour a week spent with her healing touch partner, chanda,
and its really helping her mentally and physically with the effects the chemo/cancer has had on her. she typically comes home emotionally drained, but with a smile.


saturday:
a tiresome day. fridays and saturdays are trish's worst days...
the chemo seems to catch up with her, and by this time she has taken 3 or 4 of her neupogen shots.
during these days, she more achy than normal, gets tired a little easier and the heat/sun tend to make her hands itch.
regardless, trish spent the morning at baptism class for our nephew lucas (whom she will be the god mother of), and the early afternoon celebrating cooper tozi's 1st birthday party at maddux park. we then planned on hitting up my cousin's graduation party, but by this time i knew trish and caden didn't have it in them...

the rest of the afternoon trish and caden spent snoozing at home, both of them getting caught up on some much needed rest.


sunday: a lazy day around the house... trish watched some chick flick, and in the evening we went over to trish's brother casey & jane's house for a bbq.

monday: nothing too exciting, just some gardening around the house and taking it easy.

tuesday: well... thats today and we are back at it again.



ill provide more updates after we meet with dr. carlson and get the blood results back..

camping in morgan hill

trish and caden at cooper's birthday

udpate numero uno: 11:30am

10:40am: dr. carlson examined trish, and again said he was pleased with the progress and thinks trish is doing great. trish's side effects are relatively minor, and expected. i dont have the numbers, but her blood IS good enough to get chemo.
trish's red counts are around 28, which is low, but dr. carlson isn't too concerned.
he said a transfusion wouldn't be necessary unless her counts were around 22-24, or if trish experiences serious fatigue and shortness of breath.

11:10am: back in the infusion center waiting room

11:25am: seated... well... lying
no seat, but a "suite" today.
it is a busy day in chemoland, and we are in here a little later than normal due to visiting with the doc today.

so... no more window seat... hell, there isn't even a seat available, so we have a private room with a bed in it... no windows, but a nice comfy hospital type bed and a tv...

11:40am: nurse arturo is beginning on trish's pre-drugs...
she will be getting a 1/2 dose of the steroid today, so hopefully this will help her sleep tonight. the decadron seems to keep trish up on tuesday nights, even though the benadryl makes her drowsy during the day.

12:40pm: taxol begins...


blood counts:

white blood cells, Absolute neutrophil count (ANC):
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was 6.2
is 7.44 (all time high :) the neupogen is worth it )


red blood cells, hematocrit (HCT):
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was 28.6
is 28.4 (low, but stable, her 8 week average is 28.65 )



more updates later...

the suite life...

2:45pm update
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2:10pm: taxol done
2:15pm: herceptin begins

should be out of here and on our way home before 3pm


pretty smooth day.. trish has been sleeping for most of it.
hopefully she will be able to fall asleep tonight...


thanks for checking in...