happy st. patricia's day...

years back we may have awoken at the crack of dawn and headed to the local pub for some green beer... needless to say, times have changed a bit.

it wasn't the wee hours of the morning, but st. patty and i headed to stanford this morning for a few shots and thee ole pint of herceptin...
(trish hates being called patty/pat and this will probably result in a kick to my crotch later)

the jameson, bushmills and baileys have been swapped out for pepcid, decadron and benadryl...
and that green beer chaser has been traded in for the herceptin.

im not saying the nurses woke up early to sling a few back, but things are running a little slow around here today... we arrived around 9:40am and the herecptin didn't get going till 11:30am-ish. if there is any luck of the trish on our side, we will be heading out of here around 1pm today.

trish did get a nice surprise today, as the cancer center nurses were walking around and handing out green vases full of daffodils to all the Survivors.

trish is doing great. she is recovering very well from the radiation. all the blisters have dried up and gone away, and her skin has shed that winter coat to reveal some nice new (albeit tender) skin. the new baby skin is a little itchy, but nothing comparable to what she dealt with during the 6 weeks of radiation.

trish's next herceptin appointment, and visit with doc o'carlson will be three weeks from today... April 7th, 2009.

this is a pretty significant date, as it is 366 days after trish was first diagnosed on April 7th, 2008.


anyhow... thanks for checking in.
here are a couple pics from today, i didn't have the real camera with me, so the crappy blackberry pics will have to do for now.

who needs green beer when ya have green herceptin...

Survivor daffodils

No Mas

trish graduated from radiation today.. and she has a diploma to prove it (seriously)...

her last dose went smoothly, and her radiation team congratulated her on finishing up.

dr. horst met with us and basically said to relax and she will see us in a coupla/few months..

we met with the nurse to go over some skin care procedures for trish's blisters, but other than that... its the last time we need to go downstairs!

so whats on tap...

trish continues on her tri-weekly herceptin for a another couple of months. we aren't exactly sure the end date, but its 2-3 months away..


we will continue our visits with dr. carlson every 9 weeks.


trish next surgery (left side mastectomy, and tissue expanders in both sides) will be no sooner than 6 months away. they want trish's body to heal up, and her skin go back to normal before they do anything else..

after that surgery, trish will keep the expanders in for probably at least 6 months before having the final reconstructive surgery...

so.. another two surgeries in the coming year, but beginning around october.. caden's birthday is in september, and she doesn't want to be recovering during that time... herceptin is coming to an end here soon, and radiation is a thing of the past.

slowly but surely we are getting things crossed off the To Do list..


trish is feeling good physically, excited emotionally, and right now is hosting the library moms & kids over for a play date.


thanks for checking in

¡ Una Mas !

back at the radiation factory today..

fresh off the 1 week vacation prescribed by dr. horst, trish was able to get a taste of the linear accelerator today.

doc horst took a gander at trish's blisters, and since they are pretty much dried up, decided to proceed with the radiation treatment..

tomorrow will be trish's 28th and final dose of radiation!

three three shall set her free


as much fun as radiation is, the highlight of the day goes to running into trish's (former chemo) buddy, christine, who was at the radiation joint for a checkup.

christine, who finished chemo in september and radiation in december, looks great and has a nice lush head of hair.

trish and christine haven't seen each other in while (although they have talked on the phone), so it was good to see the ladies yapping away, comparing hair and getting caught up..


thats it from here... thanks for checking in