Journey with Cancer

As promised, here’s the picture of the family taken at the Andrea Bocelli concert. (Can you spot the person not related to Shauna, Craig or Tricia?)

I am about half way through my radiation treatments. I am still sick to my stomach most of the time. The meds help some but it just seems that I will have to endure this for a few more weeks. I get over 10 hours sleep a night because of the fatigue but I am able to putter and do one or two minor things around the house each day. My blood count has stayed good so I don’t have to get a weekly blood test any more. I am surprised that I haven’t had blisters or severe burns yet. I am a very pale skinned woman of Irish and English decent and have always burned never tanned in the sun. I am taking care to stay out of the sun during the day and have this big floppy hat to wear too. Looks silly but works.

The kids are out of school for now. Tricia will start summer school for the month of July. She is looking for babysitting and/or pet sitting jobs in the area. Katie passed her California High School Profiencency Exam and has earned the equivilent of a high school diploma. She will start looking for a job soon (I will give her a few weeks for summer vacation) . She wants to work and save up money before starting college. As long as she is doing one or the other, that’s fine with us.

The temperature has risen so Craig got the window air conditioners got taken out of storage and put in. Wow, what a huge difference that makes.

Well, stay cool everyone.

The two giagantic antibiotic shots I got in my bum has done the trick with the toe. Still no way of knowing how it got infected but at least I can walk again and wear shoes and socks.

The tummy thing is a little better but not great. I am also taking Prilosec in addition to the anti-nausea drugs. Most days I can keep most food down but I never know when it will hit me.

Last Saturday my family and I had a wonderfull time at the HP Pavilion. Families Can, the wonderful charity that paid for Tricia’s braces, had a penthouse suite donated to them for the Andrea Bocelli concert. He is the blind Italian opera singer. What a voice. The performance was specacular. The first half of the show he sang traditional opera songs. You didn’t have to understand the words, just feel the music and the emotion. The second half he sang more contemporary songs, including Elvis Presly’s ‘I can’t help falling in love with you.’ It was a terrific evening shared with other cancer survivors and their families. I hope to get a photo posted up here soon. It meant alot to us to have a special night out. Something like this would not be possible based on our tight budget. I plan on writing a thank you letter to the owner of the box for his kind generousity. The box’s owner? Evgeny Nabokov.

I am starting to have problems which may or may not be related to the radiation. First my nausea and vomiting has returned. I am back in two of my anti nausea meds and a very blanf diet. Then, last week for no appearant reason, the 4th toe on my left foot got all swollen, red and painfull. A 5 hour visit to Urgent Care (a misnamed center if ever there was!) got me a shrug, ‘not sure what it is but here are some antbiotics in case it is an infection’. He at least gave me a shot for the pain before sending me home. A follow up with my primary care physician on Friday had me tested for gout (negative) and given a very potent antibiotic shot. I came back Sunday for another one. That seems to be working. I can walk on that foot again. Still a little red and swollen but doing much better. Now if I could kick the nausea thing. I was started liking food again. Maybe next month. Until then ‘Embrace the Suck’.

Yesterdays mail included a nice surprise. It was a postal money order for a generous amount. There was no return name or address on the envelope or the money order. So, to the kind person or persons who sent me the money order, thank you so much. I will honor your wish to remain annonymous but know that you have touched my heart and made a difference.