Monday, May 24, 2010

waiting

Some days it seems like there's just nothing to write about; it's all we can do to keep up with the "new normal". Right now we are waiting until Mom starts her next round of chemotherapy, but there are some changes to let you know about.

I think I mentioned earlier that we are waiting to start chemo until Mom's liver has recovered from the last bout of chemo. Her counts were improving and coming back to normal ranges and the doctors, after seeing the results from Mom's bone marrow biopsy, were able to decide what course of treatment they would follow. On Friday Mom went in for her spinal tap, or lumbar puncture, called so because they insert the needle between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae-below the point at which the spinal cord stops so there is minimal risk of injury. They removed some spinal fluid for analysis and replaced it with some chemotherapy just in case there are free roaming cancer cells in her spinal column. I think Mom wrote about the procedure. Everything went really well.

Mom's WBC counts have been really high so Mom went to church yesterday morning. She has really missed worship and being at church since she's been sick. It was a very full morning, with wonderful worship and Gretchen dancing during the service. Mom began to get a headache and feel nauseated so she left right after church. At VGH that afternoon for her routine blood work and fluids she found out that her liver counts have gone back up showing high toxicity, likely because of the chemo she received in her spinal column on Friday.

Today Mom is again feeling headachy and nauseated and has thrown up several times. I am not sure if this is because of the chemo she received in her spinal column on Friday or because she has been doing too much and her body is reacting to the over stimulation. Please pray that Mom will begin to feel better. There is a delicate balance between fluids and electrolytes in your body and it is very important for Mom to maintain that balance, but it gets difficult to do that when you are losing fluids by throwing up!

Thank you so much for the support we have received from you, it means a lot to us to know that you are carrying us in your prayers.

Amy

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