January 19, 2022
Home | Previous Update | Next Update
Hi folks -
It's been a while since our last update, partially because we wanted to make it through chemo treatment #2 and also today's appointment with our oncologist/surgeon so we would have a body of information to report at once. Several developments since our last missive: Round 1 of chemo was rough, but Mel was a champ and did amazingly well considering she was still recovering from surgery. At one point, we had to go to the infusion center because she was dehydrated. After that, I watched her get stronger and stronger, just in time to start Round 2 of chemo, which was last Tuesday, 1/11. The treatment itself, with the exception of a continuing issue with the IVs causing pain (more on that below) and the first couple of days after, were reasonably ok - Mel was up and doing things and feeling relatively better.
Then the 3rd day hit like a thunderstorm. Nausea, weird aches and
stabbing pains - she was just miserable for a few days - she was
exhausted and could barely get out of bed, sleeping much of the day. And
then constipation kicked in again. Another 4 days of that, much Miralax
and stool softener later and it's multiple visits to the porcelain
facility per day again. And after that, I watched her get stronger again
day by day. Though she is still experiencing a constant, low level of
myalgia pain in her legs, nausea and neuropathy in her toes, she's up a
lot more, making some of her own meals and today did a ten minute
training via Facetime with her fabulous trainer, Charis, who Mel adores.
She was concerned about her lack of strength, and she's going to try to
do this with Charis as regularly as she can to build back up.
Mel has lost most of her hair at this point, and has no fat on her body,
so she's freezing all the time. You should see her in her polar
Patagonia down blanket of a coat walking around the house like she's in
the Antarctic. Today, we experimented with pumping up the heat in the
house to 75, which is basically like living in a furnace for me - I had
to open the screen door in my office today to stop schvitzing (for the
gentiles among us, that's Yiddish for sweating) and inadvertently set
off the house alarm.
In other hopeful news, the latest bloodwork (taken just before round 2) came back with the CA125 test (one of the cancer markers that oncologists use to gauge the progress of treatment) in the normal range - this is the number I previously reported whose upper limit is 35, and Mel's pre-surgery reading was close to 100 times higher than that @ 2300, then fell post-surgery to just under 10 times higher at 260 - this latest test came back at 30.6, well within "normal" range. It should be noted that this is certainly hopeful news, but is not a complete indicator of Mel's prognosis, but we'll take what we can get! Today, as I mentioned above, we saw the oncologist/surgeon (who is also the lead Dr for Mel's treatment regime), who examined her and was happy with how Mel is doing. She's healed fine from the surgery and is coping with the chemo treatment as well as could be hoped. She added a couple of new meds to Mel's daily regimen and sent us on our way. Because she has had multiple problems with pain during her many IVs, and was told that her veins could be at risk (chemo wreaks havoc on the veins), Mel researched, spoke with a number of people and agonized somewhat over whether or not to get a portacath. She ultimately decided to do that, and is scheduled for this minor, outpatient surgery (under anesthesia) on 1/27. Please send your positive thoughts ahead for that experience. Hopefully, this will make it much easier for her treatments, for CT scans and possibly for blood work moving forward, while also preserving the veins in her arms. Mel just commented to me that all of the messages she has received, all of the kindness all of you have sent, means the world to her, and she feels like one of the luckiest people to have such a vast and wonderful community of support. Mel and Anna talk and Facetime 10 times a day so Mel can keep up with the grandkids and at least see and talk to them. Not being as present in their lives as she used to be is one of her big emotional challenges.
As for me, being the 24/7 caretaker for my beautiful wife has been a
wild, challenging and wonderful experience. I get to be chef, doctor,
pot dealer, janitor, Harry Potter narrator, motivational speaker,
midnight soother and very tired guy, and I would not trade it.
And here she is in all her glory: 
Hope you are all well and steering clear of omicron.
Glen |