In the single digits

Mom's treatments are now in the single digits. She has 7 more to go and then she will be able to ring the bell in the radiation oncology department's waiting area. (The bell is to symbolize the end of treatment, or on occasion a round of treatment, and gives those still in treatment hope. The day that I took Mom to UMMC, two patients rang the bell and everyone in the waiting room clapped. It's pretty emotional because of what each patient and their family goes through.)

At Mom's appointment with the medical oncologist today, she learned that her white blood cell count had increased (good thing) and therefore is to increase her nightly chemo dose from two pills to three until the end of treatment. She also lost 7 pounds (bad thing) so she has to increase her meals from 3 to 5 per day. If the surgical oncologist decides that she is not strong enough to go through surgery then he will not perform the Whipple procedure. Mom is okay with the number of meals-she even said tonight that she has a bit of an appetite (good thing) and wants to eat rather than what she has been doing which is eating because she knows it's good for her.

After all the treatments are finished, Mom will have another CT scan in about 6 weeks. Once the doctors have the results, her team will meet and decide what to do next. Hopefully, the decision will be to do the surgery, which has a recovery time of 5-12 weeks. Please keep Mom in your thoughts and prayers while she finishes her treatments and that the doctors have the power to heal her.

Messy

Our house is a mess. It's in a mess because we're getting new bamboo floors. The wood was delivered on Friday. The moisture test was done on Friday and we passed so that means work starts this morning. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Jason and I have been trying to get the majority of stuff put away so that the workmen can move the furniture more easily. We've been doing this since before we knew the work would start today. It's definitely more difficult to move things around with an 11 1/2 month old wanting you to play with him and not wanting to take his naps.

We made sure the recycling went out (so that was one less thing to worry about), made sure DJP's bag was ready to go so that Jason would not have to worry about that in the morning, and Ophelia is having a mini vacation at Spa Grandma (Thanks Mom!!!). You would think there wasn't much more to be done. HA! There were still the throw rugs to be picked up as well as the toys. The dishwasher to be emptied (since they're moving that). The pictures and calendar and magnets from the fridge (since they're moving that too). Of course, I forgot that there was stuff ON TOP of the fridge that needed to be moved too...Thank you dear husband for taking care of that!!!

We shall see how the progress goes...the company said that they would be finished in 2 days...updates later on that!

Plan 2.5

Mom had her doctor's appointment and radiation treatment yesterday. She did not have her chemo treatment because both her white and red cell counts were low. So the newest plan is to have Mom take chemo pills (since they are a lower dose of chemo) two times a day each day she has radiation (Monday thru Friday). Hopefully the chemo pills will be delivered by Wednesday afternoon so that Mom can start taking them and see if there are any side effects that she can discuss at her next appointment on Monday with the doctor. If she doesn't get them by Thursday, she will have to reschedule her doctor's appointment for the next Monday. If the chemo pills cause Mom's red and white cells to remain low she will not do chemo at all and just stick with the radiation.

Another change, but still moving forward.

The Count Down to a Year

DJP is well on his way to being a year old! One month to go... This year has flown by with all his milestones, which keep on coming.

The newest editions are that DJP can:
-stand on his own (tentatively but still on his own);
-plays well by himself and with others;
-can move cars, trucks and trains around without "throwing" them;
-can climb on various objects (like the IKEA container to get into a chair; the ottoman; on his parents to get onto the sofa);
-feeds himself apple, peaches, pears, puffs/O's, and bananas (these are his favorites);
-has tried strawberries, blueberries, kiwi and mandarin oranges (likes these);
-likes spoons-to chew on not to eat off of;
-enjoys pulling all his books off the shelf and then picking a couple to sit and 'read;'
-will sit and push a toy back and forth with Mommy and Daddy;
-loves to listen to '70s and '80s music and apparently his favorite genre is disco because he definitely 'dances' to it! He will even tap his knee (while sitting) to the beats;
-can turn on his 'seahorse' while in his crib to listen to lullabies (Thank you Counsins K & A) and also throws it out of the crib (the boy likes to throw);
-likes to cuddle with a few of his stuffed animals-a teddy bear with a rattle (Thanks, Aunt Rosalie), his 'Tub of Cubs' (Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa) and his Rays panda, Asta, which also plays lullabies (Thanks, Nina and Papa);
and
-has started to repeat some of the things that we say...one day I was playing with his toy camera (Thanks, Aunt Megan and Uncle Stan and Cousins G, J & L) and I started saying "Say Cheese!" What DJP repeated was something like "ay, chee!" We also think we've heard him say "nigh, nigh" for "night, night." However, these are not said on a consistent basis and could just be DJP getting the right sounds together at the right time. He has definitely become more vocal with different sounds including an ear piercing scream (Mommy's eardrums will never be the same again!) and using his hands to make all kinds of sounds.

Dry Run

Mom goes for her dry run of radiation tomorrow afternoon. This is where they walk her through exactly what will happen and to make sure that all the radiation markers are in the right place.

Mom is doing well both mentally and physically. She's been out and about-to the grocery store, to the eye doctor (for check ups after the cataract surgery which went very well), to the library and even cleaned off her own car after Monday's snow. (A neighbor plowed the driveway for her-Thank you, Mr. Gary!)

On Monday, Mom is scheduled to have both chemo and her first radiation treatment. Hopefully this will go smoothly and not be too long of a day for her. The last couple of times the doctor's office and phlebotomy lab have been super duper busy and Mom has had to wait and wait.

New Plan

After a nice weekend spent playing with DJP, Mom went to see the medical oncologist yesterday. He and the team have devised a new plan for Mom's treatment. Here's how the new plan works:

Mom will go to the radiation oncology department to have her radiation markers reapplied (they had to be removed from the first time due to the gallbladder surgery). Then, on Monday the 21st, Mom will have her second chemo treatment. Hopefully the chemo will not cause any problems with the red or white blood cells this time and Mom will have a chemo treatment every Monday for about 5 weeks. On the 28th, Mom will have her first radiation treatment. She will have radiation treatments every day (except for Saturdays and Sundays) for 5 weeks.

Once these treatments are completed, the team will take another look at Mom's case and determine if she is ready for surgery or needs more chemo and radiation treatments.

Let's hope that this plan is the right one for Mom.

Gone Cataracts Gone

Since Mom has had a hiatus from chemo while she waits for her white cell count to react (and hopefully improve) to the shot that she got a week and a half ago, she was able to have her cataract surgery.

She went in yesterday at 7:45am and was finished about 9:30am. Mom said that she could see better than she could before the surgery, but had a bit of the "halo effect," where objects have halos. That should disappear as her eyes heal.

Mom goes this morning for her surgery follow up and on Monday she meets again with the oncology team. More updates to follow when I know more!