Plugging Along

It's been a while, but we're just in the routine of chemo on Thursdays and not much significant has happened, as far as diagnosis/prognosis, etc.

The info we received about chemo - that week-to-week it seems to get progressively more difficult - was correct.  Whereas after week one, Wendi felt OK by the weekend, now it is fairly unpredictable how she will feel.  She has come to Sacrament Meetings on Sunday afternoons until last Sunday.  Each week really has seemed to accumulate the effects of fatigue and just feeling cruddy.  Even yesterday she didn't have that great of a day - the day before chemo.  No nausea, but easy to sit down for a rest and not want to get up AT ALL for anything else.  I'm here at LRMC right now in the waiting room while she is in there for visit 8 of the 12 on this latest drug.

Still, she is a trooper and is doing more things than she should.  I'm still at work, but take her to chemo on Thursdays, usually go back to work, then drive back to the hospital to pick her up, then usually back to work in the afternoon.  I've been walking that thin line of obligations at work trying to work 'full time,' and yet not abusing the time off when they say, 'do what you need to do.'  She is working hard to be the Mom and not feel to 'out of it.'

So, she has 4 more of these chemo visits, then 1 or 2 weeks off, then starts radiation.  We are expecting radiation to be about 5 weeks of every day (M - F) at a German hospital nearby in Homburg.  If you're adding it up, that puts us to mid-December.  With Kayli arriving home from the Philippines on 17 December, that would be a GREAT Christmas present.....

We received sad news from a coworker.  He is in my office, having just arrived in July.  I didn't know this until this week, but his wife was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2006.  She did some chemo/radiation and it actually came back the next year, not a good sign.  They did much stronger chemo and stem cell transplants and such and she was fine  -  until this week.  The went in for an exam and it looks like it is back.  She will know more next week after a PET scan on Monday.  But if it has returned, she will be out of the 'matrix' (known/scheduled treatments) so will be looking at new/experimental drugs and/or non-traditional treatments.  Pretty sad news for everyone here.

Just FYI, Jenna is loving BYU, as I mentioned Kayli comes home on 17 December, Derek & Jessica are living the young couple's life in Orem with Derek continuing his Neuroscience degree and Jess working to pay the bills, and the boys here are fully into school and soccer.  We've had an absolutely GORGEOUS early fall, so that's been nice.

Again, we've received many blessings from family and friends from here and around the world, so thank you for your love and support.

Marküs