Post #75: Long break but I'm back!

Hello friends and family!

I realize that it has been about ten days since my last entry and that has caused some concern among you. I am sorry if any of you became unduly worried. The reasons for the break are multiple and I won't bore you with them all, but here's the short of it:

Went on a short two-day trip to France with my husband on Sept. 17 to celebrate my birthday, had a wonderful time, but came down with food poisoning after eating some delicious, but apparently not quite up to snuff langoustines. I can truthfully say that on my birthday I got bread and water while my husband dined sumptuously on foie gras, skewered-scallops St. Jacques and a moelleux chocolat for dessert! Well, whatever bugs were in those langoustines were not user-friendly ones and it took a few days for me to finally recover. Then our dog got an eye lesion followed by a systemic skin allergy and during it all we acquired a new client for our business while another client developed urgent problems, etc., etc. In other words, life's been happening!

Additionally, although Mother has not been feeling too well the past week, she asked me not to write a post about it because she was trying to wait it out thinking that her feelings of discomfort would subside, as has been typical in the past after she has had a Rituxan treatment. As it turns out, she is still not feeling too well.

Her last Rituxan treatment was on Friday, Sept. 14. The following Sunday she started feeling lousy, which followed the usual post-Rituxan pattern, but the discomfort continued throughout all of last week and until today. Specifically, she started feeling pain again in those areas where she has her remaining (and historically largest) tumors, the upper right abdominal quadrant and on the left side around her kidney area. Fortunately, the pain has not been as bad as what she experienced back in June and she has not felt the need for morphine drops or pain patches. However, it has more or less persisted and this is of concern to her. It has also been accompanied by a tendency to get tired and achy (for example, if she sits at the computer too long she gets aches in between her shoulders). She thinks perhaps she has been doing too much.

This morning she said she awoke and "can all but feel what seems to be a new lump or mass under her ribs on the right side." This, of course, is not good news as it might indicate a new growth. However, it is possible that the pain she is feeling is the treatment working on the final and toughest areas and this "mass" may be a byproduct of that. So she is calling the oncologist today to arrange to see him regarding these latest symptoms.

In any event, she is determined to be optimistic and is "hell bent on getting remission after her next chemo session (Oct. 3rd)!" She is not happy about these "red flags" coming up, but even with them, she is remission bound! Her weight is up a bit and she is maintaining it 135 lbs. She is as active and busy as ever. Can't keep this woman down! She is excited about the improvements at the house. The new living room sliding glass door and outside patio are proving to be the perfect touch to the house. She and John are planting lots of beautiful flowers and bushes to add that extra touch of privacy and lushness. Combined with that tornado of a dog, Tristan, her spirits receive a pick-me-up everyday. So keep sending those healing thoughts and wishes her way. We all want to see her successfully through this journey!

Melissa