Saturday, August 25, 2018

8/25/18 A+ visit yesterday!!


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Dear Friends and Family,

Steve here.  Yesterday was another chemo day.  We have gotten into a pretty set routine with these days.  It goes like this:  
1.  Before chemo appointment, I usually race around the house collecting things for the upcoming long day and stuff them into my backpack.  Essential items include crossword puzzle, snacks, bottled water.  I try and surreptitiously leave Scrabble out, but Gabrielle always asks for it, and “forgetting” isn’t an option, so it goes in the bag as well.
2.  I then start pestering Gabrielle that it is time to go, but she always tells me to chill, that we have plenty of time.  We usually reach a compromise on when she would like to leave and when I want to (allowing for traffic).  We then argue halfway down I-5 on which exit to take: opt for side streets or “punch it out on the main line”.  If Daniel is along, he usually chimes in with his Google Maps advice on the quickest way, which I ignore about 95% of the time (what does it know??).  
3.  Gabrielle gets her labs drawn and then kills time for an hour waiting for them to be processed, often with a walk along the Montlake Cut.
4.  Meets with either the nurse practitioner or the ob-gyn fellow to go over the labs and discuss how things are going.
5.  If all the labs look fine, then chemo is a “go” and we wait for the pharmacy to mix up the meds before it drips in.

That’s how it went yesterday, but Daniel was the one who took her while I slipped off to work.  At the visit with the nurse practitioner, Gabrielle learned that her labs were “A plus!.” Her liver tests, which had been quite elevated had all dropped to “almost normal,” and other labs looked good too.  She was quite pleased with Gabrielle’s progress and how she is feeling.  The only test that hadn’t come back was the tumor marker, CA-125, but ARNP Diane said that she would track Gabrielle down in chemo and give her the results.
As a matter of background, this was in the mid 100’s when she was diagnosed and then dropped, then rose, then rose some more.  Earlier this summer it quickly went from 400 to 800.  A few weeks back, it spiked even more ominously all the way up to over 3,300!  Not a good sign, not by a longshot. 
Midway through chemo, Diane showed up with a huge smile on her face with the news that this had dropped by over 2,000 points to just over 1,000!  What a wonderful bit of news that was!  We are all so happy that the Taxol is knocking the tumors back.
But this round of chemo is also pretty rough on her.  Hair is falling out in clumps, and as I write this, Daniel is dusting off his barber skills and finishing the job, getting rid of the wayward tufts of hair.  It is hard on her stomach as well with alternating bouts of bloating and constipation.  She still is collecting abdominal fluid and needed to go in and have it drained again this week.
But do you think all of this would slow her down?  Not a chance!  Two days ago, we went for a day trip to Whidbey Island, and she walked for an hour at a beautiful spot called Ebey’s Landing.  And in half an hour, we will leave for a wedding in the greater Portland area in which Renée is officiating.  You go, girl!
All in all, we are quite pleased with her progress, a far cry from how she was feeling just a few weeks ago.  To me, it is an answer to prayer, and the medicines too, of course.  Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go pack.  I might accidentally leave Scrabble behind.  As for the crossword puzzle, I almost have last Sunday’s NY Times done, but am stumped on: “box of 12 question marks?”: four letters: J, blank, blank, Y.  Any ideas? 
Love,
Steve


Re-charging our souls at Canon Beach!

5 comments:

  1. Jury? (12 Angry Men, etc etc)

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    1. yep - I finished that one (miraculously) on Monday. It had me stumped too Steve, but Claire is right :). Hope all the travel goes well.

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  2. Gabrielle makes Wonder Woman look lame. My hero!

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  3. Hey Steve, I bet there is an online version of Scrabble. Just trying to be helpful.:-). Best wishes and love to you and Gabrielle and the family.

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  4. So happy for you ALL! I'm so glad she's feeling better and able to get out and enjoy the beautiful scenery! Give her a "high five" for me! 😘🙏

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