Last cycle...?...

Mom had an appointment with Dr. Porubcin today before she started the next chemo cycle. Overall he was happy with the progress... all of her blood counts were good (liver, kidney, white blood, etc). The last CA125 count was down to a little over 700, but he didn't have a count to go on today because it takes a couple of days to get the test done. They took a CA125 count yesterday so hopefully it will be ready in a couple of days.

Depending on what the next CA125 number turns out to be, she may have to go through another cycle of the chemo. She was a little disheartened because she thought this would be her last cycle, but, as he said, if it doesn't go down enough then she will need another cycle to bring the count down to where it should be. She could go into February if he feels she needs another cycle.

We had a great Christmas weekend. She spent a couple of days at our house and lost a little sleep because the Rock Island snow plows were going by every 30 minutes to clear the snow. There was a lot of food - we had steaks for Christmas Eve dinner and then plenty of cookies and chocolate nut clusters. The Monday after Christmas we drove to Ottawa to meet up with her cousins Marge & Myrna (from Grandma's side of the family) for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. They looked the same... just a little older, as we all do. It was nice to see them and we all discussed doing the same thing again next year.

Third week - time for a break

This series of chemo has been much better than last month. Mom didn't have as many "clotting" episodes, probably because of the increase dose of Lovenox (twice a day). This week has been ok, barring the headaches and bone pain. Hopefully in a few days she'll have fewer aches and pains and will be able to enjoy Christmas next week.

Scotty and Ethan are home and Chad will be flying in next week sometime. We also have a new addition - a 7 week-old puppy named Peter. Ethan and his girlfriend adopted him a few weeks ago and brought him back from Iowa State with them (are on winter break). Puppy cuteness aside, he is quite a good little fella and get along with Paddy and Lucy just fine, so Grandma Barb will have her lap full when she comes to visit next week.

Second week

This week has been pretty good thus far. Mom had her second session of chemo on Tuesday and it went along without a hitch. The nurse had her CA125 report and the number had dropped quite significantly - down to a little over 700. Compared to what it was a couple of months ago, she seems to be responding well to the treatment (other than the clotting issues).

She said she felt pretty good today, other than a headache, so hopefully she won't have any harsh side effects for the rest of the week.

Scotty's birthday is this Friday so we are all going out to The Cellar in Geneseo for dinner. I'm sure Scotty would be just as happy at Culver's (like his Grandma) but there are some good things to celebrate this week: a birthday and the CA125 drop.

Next week will be her third week of chemo, and then she gets a break on Christmas week so I'm sure we will have a good holiday as well.