Hello everyone!
Last night Anita was more her normal self than we have seen in the past couple of weeks. She was alert and talkative, even laughing and making a joke or two. She had occasional feelings of nausea, but these were kept under control by punctual taking of anti-nausea medication.
We are experimenting with making nutritional shakes for her consisting of various formulations of protein powder, veggie powder, immuno-booster, etc. Last night we tried the first blend on her and received a definite "No way!" Didn't pass the taste test. She does know what she likes! So back to the drawing board - or should I say blending board! Today we hope to be more successful.
In general, she is taking "doctor's orders" well. She is supposed to drink at least two liters of water a day and she is making every effort to do so. She has also consumed a bit more solid food today.
This morning and early afternoon she was similarly alert as she was last night but got tired easily and is now sleeping. She is also feeling more nausea this afternoon and a few other discomforts. But all in all, her spirits are good. She feels that she has gotten a reprieve. The oncologist did tell her that he has saved the most potent and dangerous drug for later - most likely her next treatment. He wants to make sure that she has tolerated her first treatment well and gains some strength before he administers it. Again, she will be seeing him this coming Monday.
Thanks so much to those who have posted comments. I print them out and either give them to Mother or read them to her. She is very cheered by them.
My best wishes to all,
Melissa
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2 comments:
Hi, Anita. Glad to hear from Missy's note that your first round of chemo has gone well. Hope your two in-house nurses can come up with the right combination of stuff in those nutritional shakes to give them a decent taste so that you can keep your calories up. That will help you manage the chemo better. The 70% remission rate sounds very encouraging.
My family and I returned to Peoria, IL, from South Florida on March 1st after eight years. I don't think I've heard Fidel Castro mentioned in the press more than once around here since we moved. Quite a change from the daily diet of Cubo-centric news that we used to get from the Miami Herald. I do miss the Cuban coffee, the sounds of Spanish, and the travel in Latin America, but I don't miss the hour-plus commutes in to work, the weather most of the year or the weekly grass-cutting and tree trimming. Miami's a great place to visit in January, but the rest of the year is like August in the Mid-West - 95 degrees or more and 100% humidity.
We bought a partially-finished house in a new subdivision in a little town called Dunlap just north of Peoria, IL. Even though we're out in the country, I'm only 20 minutes from work in Peoria (Caterpillar's head office is here). Amazing. The subdivision is a cool little place - the streets are built out along the ridge tops so the homes are interesting to look at - lots of families of 30-somethings with knee-knockers running around plus a few old farts like us.
We've been fighting a "drool" list to get the house done ever since we moved in, but the end is in sight. Finally got the last of the sod and other landscaping in today. The living room is finally painted - all that we've got left to do now is to get the front door painted. Hopefully, we'll be out from under the last of the boxes soon.
In the midst of the new house and the new job, our son Phil got married in early May. It was really great to have Missy join us in Chicago for the wedding. It was a lot of fun. Phil's new in-laws are a big, extended Irish family. The rehearsal dinner the night before was at an Irish pub. It was quite a party - between our family and the bride's, we ended up with three Navy captains in attendance and relatives from all over.
The wedding was at the St.Vincent de Paul Church at DePaul University in Lincoln Park. Everyone got to the church on time (including the groom - the first time that I know of that he's ever showed up early anywhere) EXCEPT the bride, the mothers and all of the brides maids. It seems that the limo drive got lost and couldn't find the house to pick all of the ladies up. Thank god for cell phones. The wedding was to start at 1PM (another wedding was to follow at 3PM). The girls finally showed up at 1:05PM and, after much frantic changing of shoes and other adjustments, we all headed down the aisle around 1:07PM and got the deed done.
I hired a little bus to transport all of the travelers back to hotel in Rosemont and then over to the wedding reception and dinner at 6:30 that night. Big dinner and lots of conversation and dancing after.
The last big event on our list for this spring is to get our daughter Maggie plugged back into the local support services here in Peoria. This is one of the main reasons we came back to Illinois. Maggie has Downes Syndrome - she's 27 years old going on 5. You never know what age she's going to decide to be from one day to the next. For Phil's wedding, she was very much a 20-something brides maid. She had an absolute blast and we were very proud of her and very thankful for our friends who included her and helped her enjoy the party as an adult. We've got to re-establish our guardianship of Maggie here in Illinois, get Mag plugged into the local ARC workshop and then do some permanent planning for her future. Once we get all of that done, then we'll be able to relax a little bit and enjoy the new house and neighbors.
Well, I've rattled on long enough. It's 1:30 AM here and long past time to hit the sack. Take care - we'll be thinking of you.
Love, Bob Johnson
Hey Anita! I just knew this would all go well...in the short time I have been blessed to know you, you have been a fighter on everything if it wasn't going your way!
I understand you are not fond of the shakes coming your way...just a suggestion but maybe they can start with the basic McDonnell's vanilla shakes and add to it...they have the best shakes...Sonia was just saying this on Tuesday you need to be fattened up with milk shakes...
Sonia's receipe is; vanilla ice cream, banana, peanut butter, honey, wheat germ and quick gain power...Sonia's dad years ago was a body builder and this is what he would take to build up his muscles.
Anyway, Im so glad Melissa figured out a way to commuicate with you...we wanted to call but didnt want to disturb you...
Hang in there Anita! WE ARE ALL COUNTING ON YOU!
LOVE YOU MUCH,
MICHELLE AND SONIA
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