Just back from a trip to Mom and Dad's house. Mom was in bed resting and reported to me that she wasn't feeling very well. She couldn't go into much more detail than that, however.

She's spent a good bit of time in bed this past week and does appear to not be bouncing back as we had hoped she would by taking this week off from chemotherapy treatment. It's unclear right now whether or not she will get her treatment as scheduled on Tuesday afternoon.

Dr. Aurora did say that delaying two weeks would not make any difference in the effectiveness and it seemed to me that his contention was that if Mom didn't appear to bounce back this week, that we should delay one more to give her a chance to regain some strength.

When she does get up, she is pretty weak and has trouble getting from one part of the house to another. I say "trouble", but I guess I mean it is a struggle and it tires her out.

It's now been six months + ten days since her initial hospitalization and diagnosis.

For everyone who has been thinking of Mom, thank you. For those who have been helping out, in whatever way, be it food, cards, poems, thoughts, yard mowing, or simply saying hello, it is appreciated.

No chemotherapy treatment today.

After examining Mom, Dr. Aurora felt that she wasn't as strong as she should be to receive a treatment, and he recommended that we take a week off. We have a treatment scheduled for Tuesday, June 1. Dr. Aurora said that if necessary, we could even take two weeks off. It wouldn't make any difference in the effectiveness of the treatment, due to the overall amount that she has received to date.

We then discussed quantity v. quality of life again, and all agreed that we are going to have to make some decisions in the near future. Mom understands this and we talked, and she agreed that getting chemotherapy only to allow her to spend all her time wiped out and in bed isn't what she wants. We are probably nearing the point where the treatment could be as bad as the disease.

To be clear: We are not there yet, and we are not discontinuing treatment, but we are thinking about what the future holds.

Dr. Aurora is also concerned about spinal cord involvement, and has ordered an MRI to look at that.

Mom was comfortable with the decisions that were made today and seemed to be in a relaxed mood once we arrived back at their house.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, notes, and support. We certainly appreciate it.

It's been quite a while since I've updated everyone on Mom. Sorry for that, but I've been out of town for the last two weeks and haven't had much to add.

Today, I visited for a short time and Mom seemed to be doing about the same. She is noticeably weaker than prior "off weeks" from chemotherapy. It could be that the chemotherapy's cumulative effect is beginning to take a toll. She's not out of bed much any more, but does get up occasionally.

Tomorrow, we are scheduled to see the doctor and get another treatment. It will be interesting to see if Dr. Aurora feels that Mom can tolerate it. It would not surprise me to see him put it off for a week to see if her strength improves. Hard to say.

If I could ask those that are reading a favor: If any of you have had any experience with home health care agencies (self-pay or supplemental insurance pay) could you please drop me a note and let me know the name of the company? I have two brochures from companies that I am going to research, but if anyone has any first-hand experience, it would really help.

More updates after the doctor tomorrow.

Post-chemotherapy Update

Mom's chemotherapy treatment went well yesterday.

We saw the doctor as well, and he was very happy with Mom's condition. Her blood counts are all good, and more importantly to him, her weight is being maintained. He indicated that weight was the single most prognosticative factor for a cancer doctor. And he was very happy that hers was where it was. And no, I won't mention what it was. I don't think Mom would like that.

The plan now is to do two additional treatments with the Taxotere, which Mom seems to be tolerating better than the previous drug combination. Dr. Aurora wants to do the two more treatments and then do the scans to see where we are.

Mom appeared to be pleased with the news and happy with the results of the doctor's appointment. Her cognitive abilities are about the same as before, but the "loopy-ness" that she experiences as a result of the dexamethasone (steroid) that she takes before, during, and after chemo seems to be a little reduced this time around. Hopefully the dosage adjustment that the doctor made has helped with this.

She's giving the fight all she can and is holding her own.

I'm sorry for the lengthy delay in posting an update on Mom.

I was over at their house yesterday, doing a grocery run, and Mom seemed to be doing pretty well. She had physical therapy in the morning and was happy that she was able to do all that was asked of her by the physical therapist. She looked good, seemed stronger than she has in the past, and we had a good bit of conversation. She asked about the kids and was able to talk back and forth with me about them, and also about some other things.

This is pretty typical for the days leading up to a chemotherapy treatment. She will have her next one on Monday, May 3rd. These have been going well and she is tolerating the Taxotere just as well as she tolerated the cisplatin and Alimta.

So, things aren't really changing much, which in her circumstances is probably a good thing.

Thanks to everyone for the continued support, thoughts, and visits.

Not too much has changed over the past week. Mom had her chemotherapy on the 12th, as I mentioned, and has spent this past week recovering. She is extremely tired and we wonder if the effects of the chemotherapy are cumulative (they probably are) and so recovery takes a bit longer each time.

Her physical and mental states have not appreciably changed, either, with the exception of her being so tired.

We have a lab appointment this Thursday for blood counts and then the next chemotherapy treatment is scheduled for May 3rd.

Mom had her chemotherapy treatment today. It was a bit of a challenge, actually.

Her cognitive function was significantly less than it has been recently, and whether that's due to the steroid that she gets prior to, and during, her treatment or the disease, is unknown.

At any rate, we did get her to the oncology office and get the treatment done. I'm not sure that she said anything that made any sense the entire time.

That said, you can tell it's not delusional or demented in any way. What she is thinking is up there, but she just cannot get the words to match up with the thought. She has expressed to me in the past how frustrating it is, and you can see it when she tries to say something.

The human mind is a remarkable thing, but when there is a short somewhere in that circuitry, the strangest things can happen.

Mom's lab work looked good, and physically, she is doing pretty well. She's begun using her walker to get around the house and is very good with it. She has mentioned that it gives her more confidence when she is walking around and makes her feel more comfortable.

I took her outside Saturday afternoon to sit on the back patio. She really enjoyed it and we talked about the flowers and the overall condition of the yard. She had enough going on to tell me that something needed to be done about "that backyard" and that her flower garden "needed seeing to". It was a nice time and one that I'll remember. She loves being outside and one of her goals early on was to be able to go swimming this summer. We'll see how that turns out.