Post #28: Sunday and All Going Well

Good evening everyone!

Today was a very good day for Anita. Tiring at times, but overall good. Started off with visits from some dear friends who stayed and chatted for just the right length of time. They were instantly commenting on how improved she looks and acts! Sitting up in the living room drinking - get ready - a Mimosa! (That's champagne mixed with orange juice!) We were toasting all around, to her health, to great friends and family, and to life!

Not that she skimped on food or other beverages today - quite the contrary: two large glasses (she has graduated from small glasses) of OJ + electrolyte solution, a whole papaya, a piece of toast, a large glass of milk, vitamins, a small chicken sandwich with mayo, a small open face ham + cheese sandwich with mayo, an angelcot, a small glass of milk, a small package of crackers, 1/2 a croissant with butter and she's guzzling water!!! She did note that she didn't get her veggies today, but will try to do better tomorrow. She has advance-ordered for tomorrow's lunch a BLT with mayo. It's so wonderful to see her eating so much!

She told me that she is feeling her skin getting firmer. She is doing bed exercises (courtesy of a longtime friend of hers who was a ballet dancer) and is trying to tighten her muscles. She directed John and a wonderful fellow who comes to help them with work around the house with the reorganization of the master bedroom - another Anita interior design masterpiece. She attended to some correspondence (first time she has written anything in ages) and even managed to take a look briefly at the computer. All I can say is that this woman is amazing!

Tomorrow we head off early to get her blood testing done. I assume they have the air conditioning problem fixed by now. She will continue to eat and drink as heartily as she can all the way up to the chemo session on Tuesday. We still don't have the exact time on that yet but should hear tomorrow. Tonight she took 12 morphine drops and a tranquilizer before bedtime. Other than that she has had no other medication.

She has had shortness of breath today and racing heart that has come and gone in varying degrees of severity. I've noticed that as she gets tired, such as after the lively conversation with her friends this morning, that the shortness of breath and feelings of chest constriction intensify. But after napping and resting, she was restored by evening. She also experienced a new type of pain today, an area under her left arm that causes a sharp stinging sensation when she presses it in certain ways. However, it is not a constant pain and is located in a spot that in the past was very painful because of the tumor presence there. I am assuming that this new pain is yet again the chemo working on a trouble spot.

Of course she is not looking foward to the aftereffects of a new chemo treatment. However, this time there is reason to believe that her recovery time may be quicker and she will definitely be getting better medication: a stronger nausea medication, a tranquilizer every day, and more liquid hydration and nutrients. And also, this time she knows what to expect. That she will feel absolutely awful for some days, but that it will gradually keep getting better and better.

Most of all, I am so encouraged by her positive attitude, her renewed embracement of life, her making plans for new projects, etc. The chemo treatment on Tuesday will NOT include the whopper anti-B-Cell-Lymphoma drug Rituxan/Rituximab. Of course, we can't know how she will respond to that one until she finally gets it (most likely during her third treatment whenever that will be), but I like to think that she has already definitively turned the corner and is heading solidly down the road towards remission. So let's all keep thinking that way!

With lots of hopeful and happy thoughts,
Melissa