It's been an eventful Christmas season for our family...we were able to go to Hawaii finally with the plane tickets that were provided for us a year ago from friends. Unfortunately, we were there in early December when the same storm hit the Northwest. We were able to experience it long distance in Maui. The home that we stayed in had a papaya tree blow down, along with numerous palm fronds, etc. The wind blew the rain so hard it seeped under the master bedroom sliding door/windows. It got so wet, it required pulling out a section of carpet, cutting out the padding underneath, and setting up a dehumidifier and wet/dry vac. to dry the place out. The beaches were closed during the storm, and even a few days afterward. So we spent some time driving around the island, checking out the boats blown up on shore, and doing a little bit of shopping. This was intermingled with putting lots of beach towels down to collect water in that bedroom, and rotating them through the laundry. The home we were in was incredible though. Lots of space for all of us, a large kitchen, pool, outside dining area, a barbecue and a really nice view of the golf course, (wind-swept) ocean, and when the clouds cleared, other islands in the distance. It was great to have the space while it was stormy so everybody could sprawl. The family who let us stay there was incredibly generous-they'd never met us before, and through friends of ours told us it was ok for our entire family to stay there for no charge. Thank You!! Before the storm hit, we were able to swim, snorkel, and boogie board a little, and Sarah drew the wrath of a Puffer Fish that chased her around baring his teeth and looking quite threatening!
We got home from Hawaii, got settled, then began getting ready for Christmas and getting more wedding preparations underway. Christmas day began early, with a few eager beavers wanting to get a jump on things early (6 am) and was very peaceful. New Years was also pretty laid back, with Nicole's fiancee and a couple of other friends coming over to share in it. We actually stayed up until midnight and shot off some fireworks.
As far as health issues go, it's been a bit of a challenge to see what's coming next. A few months ago I was given Taxotere as an IV, and was on Xeloda, an oral chemo drug. This combination gave me mouth sores and thrush which eliminated solid food for a while (liquid diets REALLY aren't as enjoyable.) The skin on my hands and feet peeled off, and left me pretty tender, so I did a lot of couch time. Walking was tough. The doc and we agreed to delay the next scheduled chemo treatment, to give a bit of extra recovery time.
At the next treatment, the doc. tried me on a full dose of Taxotere only, with no Xeloda. We were all filled with great expectations. These hopes were dashed when the mouth sores reappeared, the skin on my hands and feet began to re-peel, and then to top it off my hair came out (after 3 years of chemo, I should have expected this maybe???) and my fingernails and toenails all came off. A true lizard! While I was again on the couch, all the girls spent time trimming my skin with tiny scissors. I left quite a few nails in Hawaii and all over.
Three days after we got home from Hawaii, I had chemo, but this time only received 60% of the regular Taxotere dose. This seems to be very tolerable. All of the stuff that I was doing before-the salt water mouth rinses, two other special mouth sore preps a couple times/day, and slathering up with lotions of all kinds- helped me tolerate the reduced side-effects. The acupuncture treatments twice per week also are helping. I felt like I had more energy than I'd had in a year!!
Despite all of the side effects, the big question is: is the chemo working? I had scans this last week, and will get them interpreted tomorrow (Monday, jan 7th) at our appointment with the medical oncologist. As per my non-trained "how to read the scan report" eye, it looks like there was just a little bit of cancerous growth in my liver. The bones are doing pretty good, but there are more spots in the brain. The doctor may suggest either the Gamma Knife again or whole brain radiation. Of course there's the option of none of the above.
I believe there is a new drug combination that can be fairly effective against brain mets, but I don't know how long it takes to kick in, and as with any chemo combo, it's not possible for me to know if it will be effective. These are questions we'll kick around with the medical onc. as well as the radiation oncologist, the acupuncturist, and hopefully Jonathan, the herbalist. Toward the end of the year, the med. oncs. have a big conference where they review all the new and improved treatment options, so maybe the oncologist will have some other tricks up his sleeve.
Hope you all had a great Christmas, and that the New Year will bring blessings, grace, and peace to you all. Once we have a more concrete plan of action, and a more definitive interpretation of the scans, we'll let you know-as always, keep those prayers a comin', and treasure each day with one another.
Thanks for being a part of our lives. Lots of love to you all,
Jeanne
