We have some blessedly upbeat news to report today: after a difficult
Friday (more on this in a moment), Melody is
feeling stronger and better today. She woke up this morning after a good
night's sleep, got up at 6am, didn't want to wake me or Chris up, so she
got up, navigated through the dark house and made herself a bowl of
cereal, which she ate at the kitchen table. She says she "felt like
myself" for the first time since the surgery. She also got herself
dressed!
Friday was a little rough because of a phone call with a Kaiser
hematology nurse that kind of made all of this somehow more real.
Unfortunately, the nurse was not exactly touchy-feely, or even
particularly kind - she seemed harried and wanted to just get through
with the explanations and instructions and move on to her next patient,
which is not something we have experienced before with Kaiser. She was
the first Kaiser provider that we haven't loved working with, and it
made the hard to hear information about the process and potential side
effects of the chemotherapy more difficult than it ought to have been.
Even though we had a general idea about this stuff, hearing it,
particularly as it was presented, brought the reality down like a hammer
on our heads.
She's still experiencing some pain and intermittent constipation, but is
eating and drinking more and Anna and the grandkids all tested negative
for COVID, and came over for a couple of hours today. Emma and Gavin
were anxious to show her stuff, broke out all their toys, and were just
their normal selves. It brought all of us great joy to have them in our
home again.
She was pretty wiped out afterwards, but took a nap and was later able
to visit with Robin, who came over to be tutored by Chris to take a turn
on Monday and Tuesday to support Mel and me. Chris will come back on
Wednesday to help with post-chemo whatevers. Meanwhile, Mel has started
working on the 2nd batch of Gayle's chicken soup and vegetable puree,
which is fortifying her.
Yesterday, her short hair was bothering her, so she asked me to whip out
my beard trimmer and buzz-cut her to about 1/4 inch. She has a
fine-shaped head, and carries it off well. We ordered a cashmere beanie
for her to keep her warm through this winter treatment schedule.
This week, we will go in for preliminary blood work on Monday, drive
down to Harbor City to meet with the hematologist for a live pre-chemo
evaluation/visit, then arrive at 8:15 on Wednesday morning for our
reservation for Chair 9 and 6 hours or so of chemotherapy activity
(actually 4.5 total hours on drips, but lots of thises and thats before,
between and after). There is a pre- and post chemo regimen of additional
meds, and we will see how things go over the next 18 weeks.
Calls and emails continue to exhaust her, so kindly continue to
communicate with her via me.
Wishing you all health and happiness.
Glen