Chemo Number Three

Today Susan was able to receive her third chemo. She was taken in for her blood test at 9:40, and after some poking and siphoning from the harpy of the day (just kidding), she was escorted to the “party room.”


The nurses were happy to see her. They commented how much better she looked compared to the last two visits to the “party room.” She met a French lady named Henrietta, French accent and all, receiving her chemo. The two of them conversed. Overall, it seemed, according to Susan, a more upbeat visit than usual.


At some point, Dr. Nguyen came by and paid Susan a visit. He was more cheery than normal. Though her hemoglobin was down a little, her platelets were at 108 (pretty amazing when you consider that in the beginning of all of this the level was at 16), and her white blood cells were good, too. She still needs a blood transfusion tomorrow, but he was very pleased with her results. He said that from the very beginning he told her that he’d be straightforward with her and not sugar coat anything. But today he was “Pleasantly surprised” by her blood count. He attributes her success to her positive attitude. Susan attributes her attitude to her family and friends.


Keep it up. We know it’s working.

Ray

My Thoughts on the Swing

Hello, everyone!


Not much news to report today. I had my blood work taken. Hopefully we’ll hear from Dr. Shree tomorrow. We’ll post more once we hear from him. Keep praying for normal sodium levels so that I can go off the antibiotic and drink more.


Tomorrow at 9:30 I go in for my blood check, and hopefully chemo therapy session number 3 in the “party room”.


I had my second shower and I feel doubly clean. I sat on the patio swing for the very first time in what seemed so long. The last time I was on it was moments before I had to go to the hospital emergency room in early March. Sadly it was also my favorite haunt for smoking, and I had my worst craving yet while on it. But I am staying strong and not smoking again.


Here I am sitting on my swing. See? No cigarette in my hand. Nothing under my hat, either.



We’ll have a lot more updates tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the Walstads family arrival on Thursday. Love and blessing to y’all.


Susan

Sue's Good News from Doug....

I got a news flash update for you,THE DIAPER( Kaylee's nickname for Sue) HAS SHOWERED!!!!!!!We got Sue into the shower, and was she happy. I rigged up a dining table chair next to the tub, Sue sat on it swung her legs in the tub and stood up for the great shower Mom assisted her, but she did it mostly by herself !! Hooooray!!!. So that is the best news of the day as Sue said"I feel almost human again". Take care and talk at you later. Dad

(Sorry no shower picture...)

Susan Says....

Hello, everybody – I can hardly believe that it is already the end of the first week of April. March is such a blur to me. I spent time on the blog today getting caught up on everybody’s comments. And again I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for everyone’s love, prayers, and concerns. It overwhelms me so. Also, thank you for all the beautiful cards and letters that were sent. They really brightened up my day.

Speaking of receiving great things in the mail, I can’t believe that I was remissed for not sending a huge thank you to my Sis Kaylee for the great package of wigs, scarves, and hats. Kaylee you are the best. I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Here I'm donning one of the wigs Kaylee bought for me. Next to me are the other gifts she gave me - hats, scarves, etc. Thank you, Kaylee!

Me and my wig.
Me with wig and hat!

The week ahead holds Monday physical therapy. Tuesday some blood testing that hopefully will show my sodium at A-Okay levels, and then I’ll be able to get off the antibiotic and finally get off the no-fluid restrictions. But we will see. Wednesday I hope to be in the "party room" having my third chemo session. So keep your prayers coming so that my blood levels will be so high that it will blow Dr. Nguyen away.

I send prayers to each and every one of you.

All my love

Susan

Doug's Update!

I, Like alot of you check this blog to see updates and tonight I thought I'd share my dad's end of the day emai with you! Please keep Susan in your prayers!

Not much news here, all is quiet on the western front. We are going to watch a movie that Sue wanted to see, we had a flying pizza night as Mom and the Kook came over so that was fun.Sue is doing great, I finaly got her out on the front patio to sit with me for a while it was so nice,we gabbed and had a nice time. she can walk out there all by herself and in by herself, "piece of cake" as Sue says. So our little diaper is doing the very best she can to beat the beast within her.We can not forget the struggle ahead even as Sue improves she still needs every bit of strength and love and support we can muster for her which includes doubling our prayers from everyone.

Hope your weekend is going well!

XOXO Kaylee

On Cloud 9

Last night was the first night Susan had with the couch. The following morning she reported having slept really well on it. Indeed the chair has rightfully earned the name the Coma Couch, and thus it will be named so. Not only is the couch astoundingly comfy, it’s much easier to rise from when Susan needs to. In fact, when she had to make her nocturnal visits to el bano at the wee hours of the night, she did so with absolutely no assistance from either Doug or me. Three times in the night – which included rising from the sofa on her own, doing her business, and returning to the sofa, then situating herself, and falling back to sleep without hailing her father or her husband for help. THAT is a huge triumph for somebody who hasn’t had that type of independence for quite some time.

After lunch Susan had the urge to visit the front patio. Doug and I went ahead of her while she carefully attempted the feat. You don’t need me to tell you what happened next. You can guess it. She stepped out there on her own. Well, Doug did hold onto her arm, but that was more for reassurance and not so much for support. Then she tried returning to the living room from the patio on her much weaker foot. No problem, she did it. She came back out and went back inside. As she demonstrated, her legs are becoming stronger. The little leg exercises she learned from the therapist and Susan’s own recipe for stamina that she practices daily is giving her strength.

Susan and me on the patio. She seems awfully proud of herself. I know I am - proud of her, that is.

We couldn't resist a congratulatory kiss.

Velma , the therapist arrived today. She was impressed with Susan’s new variation of a technique that Velma showed her a couple of days ago. Susan was originally taught how to move her legs in a marching fashion while sitting down. Well, Susan had to up it with an adaptation of it: She marched around the house – from living room, down the hall, to the kitchen and back. Velma was pleased.

Since Susan is standing up longer, Velma gave her additional exercises to work on her legs. At the end, she massaged Susan’s “tick hand” and arm and scheduled for another visit for tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Here we have Susan and Velma. The Therapist is massaging Susan's troubled arm. In no time Susan should get full use of her right arm.

As I was prepping dinner, I answered a knock at the door and a delivery person was there with what looked like a bouquet for Susan. A large balloon was attached to it that said “Thinking of You.” It was a bouquet of fresh fruit cut into shape of flowers – pineapples, grapes, melons, strawberries, and chocolate covered apple slices.

Here is how the gift looked before it was unwrapped, balloon and all. Hey, it's blocking my view of the TV!

A closer view of the bouqet of flower-shaped fruits.

The lovely gift was from Susan’s long-time friend Deb Haas. In case you’re not familiar what Deb is doing for Susan, Deb and Kari Wells are planning to do the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk, which benefits the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund in Dallas on November 7th (if I have the date right). They formed the Captain Susan’s Pirates team. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the walk is a 60 mile journey, and it’s no easy task for anybody to take. Susan is blessed with such friends to do this for her.

Okay, here's another photo of Susan having unwrapped the gift from Deb. She can't wait to dig into the orangutan food.

Here's a more subdued Susan posing with the bouquet and balloon.

If there was ever a time to feel blessed during these trying times, we do. We have great families, great friends, and great doctors working together, praying together, and doing things that I thought I’d never see happen. Thank you for all the blessings. May it return to you a thousand fold.

Ray

Happy Wednesday!

A quick rundown of what happened on Tuesday that made her and everybody at home proud:


What may seem small to most of us who do it on a daily basis without thinking, but for Susan who hasn’t been able to do it for over a month, it became a great accomplishment. She made her own lunch. That’s right! She walked right into the kitchen, warmed up leftover Chinese food, and prepped a bowl of what she calls orangutan food consisting of raw vegetables and fruits. If you really think about what all is involved in making lunch, you’ll realize all the effort that it requires. Walking is involved. Lifting and arranging the food from the refrigerator, opening containers, spooning them into plates and bowls, and popping them in the microwave oven can be a challenge when only one arm functions normally, and your legs are not always certain of one step to the next. Plus, you have to walk your achievements to the table to truly earn your prize. And Susan did that.

Hooray!
Here we have Susan just about to sit down and enjoy the spoils of her victory.


Today’s Update:


Susan had to visit two doctors today: Dr. Shree and Dr. Nguyen. Typical visit, you think? I don’t think so, and I’ll tell you why. Susan, unlike her previous visits since she left the hospital, did not enter either doctors’ offices in a wheelchair. She walked the distance from the car. She visited each office with only a walker to assist her.

Susan and Kay WALKING to the elevators to meet with her doctors.

Susan walks from one office and ventures to the second one. Where's the wheelchair! Oh, wait...that's right. Susan doesn't need it anymore.

Susan is shown here signing in. What makes this picture signifcant is that Susan is standing at the receptionist window filling out the check-in form when in the past she had to reach up from her wheelchair to reach for the clipboard. Not anymore.

This is what Dr. Shree had to say:

He said that all her numbers are normal. In fact he’s adding 500 fluid ounces to her fluid intake, adding to her 1000. What does this mean? She can drink more liquids. What she was doing was eating ice chips and only very small sips of herbal tea, Gatorade, and water. Now she can have significantly more. The good thing is that she won’t be so thirsty all the time.

He’s also cutting back on her antibiotics. She only needs to have one per day instead of the regimental two. Which is great, since the dosages she’s been taking makes her feel yucky. If her sodium levels are normal again next week as they were today, then he will take her off the antibiotics altogether.

Here's Dr. Shree (I know I'm seriously misspelling his name; but geez, have you seen the length and spelling of his real name??? Cut me some slack, Doc)

Now, as far as Dr. Nguyen is concerned, this is what he had to say:

He said her blood count is where he guessed they’d be. Good, bad? Neither, actually. He had hoped it would be higher, but the numbers continue to climb, and they are higher than what they were from last count. Nonetheless, he was very pleased that she able to walk to his office.

He’s scheduled her to return next Wednesday for another blood test. If they’re good then she can have her third chemo. I believe they will be. Keep the prayers coming.

After the examination Dr. Nguyen paraded Susan to the “party room” so that everybody there could see her walking and standing for her office visit instead of using a wheelchair.

The last thing he requested was the address to Susan's blog. So, if any of you guys want to say anything to him, I'm sure he'll be reading this. A Shout out to Dr. Nguyen! Woo-Woo! Great job, Doctor. Thank you for saving my wife's life.

Okay, now for a smaller bit of news. This afternoon, the new couch with the recliner ends arrived this afternoon, even though they gave us a window between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. they managed to make the delivery right after lunch.

As soon as the movers installed the pieces, Susan sat on it. It didn’t take her long before she fell asleep on it. She loved it. I felt very pleased that it was everything I hoped it would be for her. One, it’s comfortable. Two, she can lift herself out of it easily – much easier than the previous couch. And three, she has a little more independence to get out of the couch, go to the kitchen, bathroom, wherever she wants to go without asking for that much assistance.

Here we are, just before the coma occurred.

Thank you everybody for your prayers.

Ray