Almost there......5 cycles 1 more to go!

This week, at chemo, Mom learned that her hemoglobin levels (red blood cells) were down to a point that they offered her a blood transfusion. Mom declined the transfusion and after talking to the nurse Mom wants to wait and see if it goes up in the next 2 weeks. The Nurse agreed that this plan was reasonable and said that since next week is her NO CHEMO week, it could very well go back up to a better level.

Today is a fairly typical 'crash' day, she has been in bed most of the day BUT she did rally to go to Jack's afternoon basketball game.  She and her trusty side kick, Chiyo snuggle in bed and the boys float in and out of her bedroom.

The season seems appropriate, winter*, time to rest and hibernate and this spring will be her time to bloom again:)
*although winter in Santa Barbara is not typical--it's been in the 70s and 80s this week--simply gorgeous!

The end of the 5th cycle of chemo

Going Green with our new Blendtec

Mom with her Kale Green smoothie! 

A new RED blendtec, Julie's birthday gift! That is a gorgeous bouquet!

Rest assured, those who know my mom, know that she has a crazy sweet tooth especially for pastry, and she still loves them:)

We have had this Blendtec for over 2 weeks now and we have all consumed MUCH MORE dark green leafy vegetables in that time:) Yes, we also make a yummy chocolate peanut butter milk shakes and fabulous fruit smoothies!  Friends of ours who have completed or are currently going thru chemo and other treatments have helped us figure out many great recipes for green drinks (Thanks Syd & Susan and Yog & Hil) and 2 other girlfriends (Kelly & Patrice:) bought a blendtec at Costco at the same time that we did and it's been fun (yes, fun) to figure out how to make yummy & nutritious drinks for our families!
Tomorrow is chemo at 11:00!
Cheers!

Last days of the NFL season

Making fresh OJ

Jeremy picking oranges

Mom and Pete have watched the two games today. Patriots won ( good for Ugg) and the 49ers are tied with the Giants as I type this post. The boys wander in and out from playing outside. 

Mom has orange juice each day with her Iron pills. Jeremy helped today as we made the juice.

It's a good day.

a better day

Reading the Magic Tree house with a trusty watch dog

Last Saturday Mom did not feel well enough to go to the boys basketball games but today she went to both games and looks much better than just a few days ago.

The scan results. The results were not very satisfactory but now I am ready to try to explain them as I understand them.

The opening line of hearing the results was 'comparing a bone scan to a PET scan (which is the test she had before treatment started) is like comparing apples to oranges'. And so we were told that the tumors are not bigger and there are no new tumors. They seem to be some what less in size or they could be much less in size but the bone scan only looks at bone not at tissue (not at lungs or liver or tumor tissue). I asked if the fractured vertebra is healed and the answer was "we can't tell by this scan, we can't answer that question with this scan". We asked, WHY then did they do this scan. Apparently insurance often rejects payment of the PET scan if it is done too frequently. Upon seeing the unsatisfactory looks on our faces, we were told that she could have a repeat PET scan in 8 weeks. 8 weeks from now she will be beyond her 6 cycles/months of chemo.

Obviously we were hoping for a more definite answer...something along the lines of "yup, it's worked and the tumors are gone!". Instead we will go with the idea that the tumors have shrunk even if they can't see it on this particular scan.

At the same time that we heard the scan results, we also learned the Mom's sodium has dropped a bit again which would account for way she was SOOOO fatigued. She is still anemic and therefore will be tired easily and need frequent rests.

Since the weeks before Christmas her fatigue has worsened but we are fortunate that she hasn't had some of the other common and more debilitating side effects. 

We are glad that today is a better day.

scan results=apples to oranges

Pretty Flowers that Betty gave Mom, thanks Betty!

Pretty Flowers that Jane sent, thanks Jane!

Julie's Birthday

Beautiful flowers from Jane to Mom!

Yummy cupcakes!

Scan today!

Today Mom had a bone scan. This is the first scan since treatment started.

We all (the boys were out of school) took Mom to get the injection for the dye at 11am today. When she was done she said she couldn't be around the boys b/c the dye is nuclear. YIKES! So she has been sequestered in her room today.

Her scan was at 3:00, I took her to the scan and then I went for a jog on the beach (it's time for me to work off some of this lovely comfort food that we have so genergously indulged in for months now).
While I was at the beach I was thinking about my birthday which is tomorrow. Now that I have 3 kids of my own, I think it's a nice tradition to give thanks to your MOM on your birthday (Take note boys:). So I drew this heart in the sand, thanking her from the bottom of my heart!

We hope to know the results of the scan in the next few days.

TGIF--Thank God It's Football!

Yesterday was another crash day where mom was in bed most of the day or on the couch watching football. I knew she wasn't feeling well when she decided she could not go to the boys basketball games, I know that she was looking forward to watching them play all week.

This morning she is up and dressed and ready to watch Football play offs so that is a good sign!

Crash day, right on schedule!

She was feeling pretty lousy today. Fatigued and nausea and food doesn't sound good or taste good. She did perk up a bit this evening. She did enjoy some of the mac-n-cheese that i made for Jonas tonight:)

Nice Nails!

Fun with an 'at home mani/pedi'!

Tomorrow we see Dr G. for Mom's monthly appointment. Then chemo to follow.

New Blooms

It's fun to watch the Amaryllis bloom!

Mom continues to see her trainer, Dayna, 2-3 times a week.

Thank you to Betty for giving Mom this pretty flower, the Red Lion indoor Amaryllis!

Play Off Sunday

Football Saturday

Playing Free Cell with a perfect lap warmer and watching the game

GO Lions!

An evening stroll....

watching college football with the boys

Chiyo, Mom, Jonas & Jack watching Football

This is Mom's week OFF of Chemo. Today I came home to find her cleaning out the fridge (how nice!) and then she took a nice long nap.

Sunset

Jack had just come home from basketball practice and told us to look at the sunset!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Football was on the TV all day. We boxed up all the decorations and are preparing to get back into a regular (non holiday) routine.
Here's wishing us all a HEALTHY & HAPPY 2012!