Journey with Cancer

Stephanie here:
Shauna says to tell you all that she is doing really well.

She had a pleasant, pampered Thanksgiving with friends. Even though she isn’t eating much these days, she still managed to stuff herself like the proverbial Thanksgiving turkey. And she allowed herself to sit on the couch and be pamper.

On Friday evening, they went to another friend’s and played a game called “Time’s Up” and had a thoroughly great time. Such a great time that she stayed up past her bedtime!

I delivered dinner on Saturday and visited for a while. She took off her kerchief and showed me her bald head. It’s a very odd thing to see her bald, but not scary. We talked about a lot of things, some of them not even cancer related!

She’s trying to live her life as “normal” as possible. Working part-time at her job, where she is getting such warmth and support. Her lounge chair is in an empty office so she can rest if she needs. She is glad to be back at work and I’m sure her boss and co-workers are happy to see her.

She thinks the chemo is working, feels like the lumps are getting smaller, but there has been no official diagnosis of that yet. She looks good, and despite a few teary moments between us, is in good spirits.

Stephanie here:
Shauna went to work today for 5 hours! She was exhausted when I talked to her but sounded happy. Her hair started falling out in clumps at work and getting all over everything, so she stopped on her way home and got her head shaved. “I’m a little baldie now.” She’ll be going back to work for about the same length of time tomorrow and has permission to get a lounge chair put in an empty office so if she needs, she can rest.

Stephanie here:
The chemo is doing what it’s supposed to, Shauna started losing her hair today. She is very emotional about it but knows, intellectually, that it’s all a part of the process. She says it still covers her head but is very thin now.

Other than that, she is very weak and says yesterday (Saturday) is a big blur. She’s drinking tea and eating toast and not nauseous at all.

She said Craig was holding her hand while she talked to me about her hair. She knows we all love her no matter what.

Please keep the comments, the cards and the positive energy going her way. And don’t forget to sign up to take them dinner on the calendar.

Stephanie here:
Greetings, Shauna fans! I spoke with Craig about a half hour ago. Shauna is doing really well after her 2nd round of chemo. She is weak and tired but not nauseous. The doctors have her on 3 different anti-nausea meds and they are working this time around. Yay!

Shauna here:

Tomorrow is Round 2 of the chemo. I sit here realizing that I can do this. I was sooooo scared the first time. I mean, I had just learned the day before that I was at Stage IV so I had put myself in a very down place. When the nausea and vomiting lasted for days it just made it worse. But as I got to eat a little each day I felt a little stronger and a little more optomistic. Now that I know more of what to expect I am not fearing it as much. I certainly don’t look forward to it, other than knowing that the more chemo I get the less cancer I will have - or at least thats how it’s supposed to work - but I don’t fear it as much. In fact, I hope that we can get the nausea and vomiting under control sooner then I can bounce back faster.

I discovered that popscicles are very good for you when not much can stay down but you are powerfully thirsty. Water is just so plain. Popscicles gets you a little suger, too, for energy. Then I discovered that a Slurrpee is one big non-stop popscicle! Whoo Hoo. There is a 7-11 around the corner and they have cherry Slurrpees. I have had one each of the last 3 days. Here’s hoping that my taste buds choose to like cherry Slurrpees for a while.

Thanks for all the cards and letters and comments. I love getting them.

The meals have been a god-send. Honestly! I get tired (from doing what I don’t know) by the end of the afternoon and Craig has so much to do when he comes home that it is a blessing to know that at least the evening meal is taken care of. Everything has been delicious. Its kinda neat to not know what’c for supper. It just magically arrives each evening around 6 or 6:30 pm. Sometimes that means a visit with whoever brought it. Some of our friends are out of the area and so a delivery guys brings it by. No problem. That means I just need to remind myself that I should call the person responsible. (If I haven’t gotten to you yet, I will!)

I or Stephanie will keep you posted on Round 2.

Love to you all,

Shauna

Stephanie here:
Moments in time:
Shauna pats the hair on the top of her head, all the while looking at me and saying, “I haven’t lost any yet. They told me it’d be 7-10 days after my first chemo session before I’d notice.” (It’s been 10 days.)

Standing in the driveway, she shows me the big purple X they drew on her to indicate where the port should go in, then she stretched her neck and showed me how you could see the tube that was attached to her jugular.

“Shauna, stop picking at it!” I admonished her for picking at the adhesive from the bandage around her port. It’s starting to pull away and just like a little kid, she was picking at it.

We sat on the couch and watched tv together, chatted and laughed at Dr. Phil and Oprah. She told me about the errands she had run on Monday and how a bunch of the stuff around the house was finally getting done because she was calling repairmen and puttering around the house while she had energy.

As expected, because Shauna is always cold, she was under 2 blankets and still complaining about how cold the nights were getting. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that GIR and I had yet to turn the furnace on.

All in all, she is doing really well. Loves the email, comments and cards she has gotten. Need I tell you that we should send her more?

Stephanie here:
Shauna and Craig got out today to take Tricia to ref a soccer game. They stopped by on their way home to pick up the crock pot full of tonight’s dinner.

She looks good, although extremely tired, like she could sleep for a week and not even notice. I got a look at the Pirate Map, tiny little pin prick purple bruises going from her neck down the clavicle to the port. No pictures since they were in the car and I was standing outside, she was tired and wanted to go home.

It’s been a busy first week of treatment for Shauna and she seems to be holding up well. Let’s all pray that she continues to hold up as well.

Stephanie here:
Shauna got her port put in today. It’s attached to her jugular vein, right where the doctor wanted it to go. Her white blood count is very high, higher than before the chemo but since they know she’s injecting herself every night they’re not worried about it.

She said the procedure went very well, they gave her vicodin and she felt no pain for quite some time! She says she has a big black X on her collar bone where they marked the spot they wanted the port to go in and little bruises from there up her neck so it looks like a pirate map. (I will see if she’ll let me take a picture of it.)

Pizza and salad were delivered for dinner tonight and she was able to eat a piece and a half. So glad that she’s able to eat and enjoy it again.

She hasn’t had energy to write anything but did read all your comments and is thankful for your love and positive energy. Keep your messages coming, they mean a lot to Shauna and they will go a long way to helping her and her family in this fight.

Stephanie here:
Had a really nice long talk with Shauna tonight. She sounded so good, tired from all the walking between doctor’s offices today. If her white blood cell count is good, they are going to install her port on Friday which will make chemo so much easier for her.

The big news is that she is enjoying some food. Tonight was pot stickers and teriyaki chicken and she loved them!

We set up a plan where she can let us know if they have too many leftovers and want people to bring day to day groceries instead of dinner. They are being overwhelmed with food for which they are very grateful but don’t want to waste any of it. I’ll be helping her get the word out for those weeks.

Grocery staples are always welcome and I am sure that if you wanted to do that instead of taking dinner that would not be turned away.

She sends her love to everyone and thanks us for her prayers and positive energy.

Stephanie here:
Shauna left voicemail on my cellphone last night. She sounded good if tired. Said that her neice, Amber, had delivered Outback for dinner and Shauna enjoyed the potato soup a lot. Yippee! Maybe the anti-nausea drugs are helping. Soup is much more nutritious than jello!