12 December 2013 update

Well the blood count has not recovered enough from the hit it took with the Halloween dose of Chemo. So we have decided to take a break until after the New Year to see if they have recovered or not. I feel fine, but it sure explains why I tire  so easily these days.


I'm still attempting to walk only 10,000 steps (which is about 4-5miles) a day with the dogs. it gives us something to do.  Nothing much else going on here, getting ready for Christmas with the family.

Thursday 21 November 2013

So the fun begins again. Not much else to report

Thursday 31 October 2013 Happy Halloween

I’m Sad to say that after a 22 year long relationship I have had to change Oncologist. Since Dr R, was transferred to a clinic 1.5 hours away.

It appears from my latest CT Scan that my cancer has decided to work on the “other” spots that have been dormant so far, and that I’m going to need to be seeing an Oncologist on a more regular basis, I/we have decided that the 1.5 hour drive to visit with Dr R. (since his move) is going to be a bit much.  I am also most likely going to have to have intravenous Chemo infusion again and that would be done up here. 

well we've met with the new DR, Dr B. she's really nice. she doesn't sugar coat anything. she's blunt and to the point, but she's not rude----make sense. She shoots from the hip very straight forward with her answers.

It was decided that I would start with drug #7 today and see how that one works or doesn't.  It's a 3 hour infusion once every 3 weeks. fun and games NOT!

The view from my infusion chair today.

12 Sept 2013 - 17 Oct 2013

I am remiss in that I have not been keeping my blog updated well at all. My last Dr appointment was 12 September 2013 at that time Dr R ordered blood test and a CT Scan to see where we were.

On Thursday 10 October 2013 I had my CT Scan done. I received an email with some not so good news.  The current drug is no longer working, and Dr R is recommending another IV medication. Said that he would call me in a day or two.

Well a week later, DR finally called back and we are going to start the new drug, #7 next Thursday 24 Oct 2013 that is if we can fit in on the clinics schedule. this one is only done once every 3 weeks.

Thursday 11 July 2013

I had my follow-up appointment today Thursday 11 July 2013, with Dr R.  As I expected he didn’t have any more/different information than he did last time.  This drug appears to be working its magic still and the tumors continue to remain status quo.  For which I am very thankful as I’ve been quite ill this past month with the “Crud”.  I had it all; some people only get one of these symptoms, not me I got to do them all, the upper respiratory, nausea vomiting and the runs, along with the fever.  I’m finally down to the annoying nagging cough that seems to linger on forever with the junk.  In the pass when I’ve gotten ill the tumor has taken that as a sign to grow again----this time it’s behaving.

Asked me if I was still walking and I told him, no, just staying close to home and the bathroom. He just laughed at me and told me my lungs were clear and that I definitely sounded like I was on the mend.  YEAH!!! I can hardly wait. But I do hope to start back to walking next week. I’m finally feeling better, and not as friendly with the “ivory throne”, and able to stay away from it for longer periods of time.  

I see him again in two months.

Thursday 25 April 2013

I had my follow-up appointment last Thursday 25 April 2013, with Dr R. As I expected he didn’t have any more/different information than he did last time. This drug appears to be working its magic still and the tumors continue to shrink.


This was our first visit with him at his new clinic location down in Salem, OR (about an hour drive south of here). It was a pleasant drive as the weather was great, and since it was the middle of the day, traffic was light also. He told me to keep up the good work, and he’d see me in three months around the end of July 2013.

Asked me if I was still walking and I told him, “No, not since I broke three toes and the Orthopedic DR told me to stop my walking and let the foot heal”. He said “oh is that what all the flurry on your chart was about?” yeah klutzy me, and of course I blame it on the dogs. He told me to take it easy and no more broken bones. Yeah yeah

So we will continue on with this drug as long as it continues to work. I'll Check back in after my next appointment which should be around the end of July 2013.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

I had my follow-up appointment today with Dr R.  As I expected he didn’t have any more/different information than he did last time.  This drug appears to be working its magic still and the tumors continue to shrink.

He reminded me that this would be his last visit with me at this clinic and asked if I was going to follow him to Salem (about an hour drive south of here). I told him yes! I wasn’t about to break in a new DR. He Laughed at me. So I will see him around the end of April 2013. He told me to keep up the good work. 

Asked me if I was still walking and I told him, “no my feet are acting up, I’m now getting blister BETWEEN the toes, and they are very painful”.  He says that’s a strange reaction and he’s pretty sure it’s not from the drug.  I told him to leave it to me to find an obscure reaction to a drug.

My friend Jean B who opened her home to me when I first started going to National Institutes of Health (NHI) in Bethesda, MD, was out on the West Coast for a very brief visit and I had a chance to go and visit with her.  It was great to see her again, so sorry it was such a short visit but it was a good one. I really can’t thank her enough for her hospitality in 2010, to me, a total stranger to her, to see if I qualified as a candidate for their study, which I did get into, however my Tumor didn’t care for, or liked their brand of drugs as it thrived on it instead of shrinking. So that was short lived experience, traveling back and forth for treatments.

So we will continue on with this drug as long as it continues to work. 

I do want to thank you all for your support as I travel this rocky road to remission. ONE day I WILL OVERCOME and get there again.