Post #49: Fifth Good Day and Counting!

Good afternoon everyone!

Just talked with Anita. She was out in the yard early this morning reading her newspaper, drinking coffee, and watching the puppy playing and investigating. At 8:00 a.m they both went back into the house and the puppy promptly did his business on the floor! Oh well . . . always takes a little time to housetrain!

She is continuing to "eat like a horse" as she says. This morning she had scrambled eggs and some Jimmy Dean patty sausage! She is nausea and pain free but still has the shortness of breath. She said that she has had five lovely days of walking more and more each day!

As for the cardiologist, she has decided to get a referral or recommendation from her oncologist first. Her next chemo treatment will be either Tuesday July 31st, or if her oncologist thinks she should wait another week, Tuesday August 7th.

There is an important cautionary note for those of you who want to visit Anita or who are planning to visit her in the future, and this applies throughout the entire time she is undergoing chemotherapy treatment: IF YOU ARE SICK IN EVEN THE SLIGHTEST WAY, DO NOT COME TO VISIT HER. The chemo is working on the tumor masses in her lungs. As a consequence she has a certain amount of lung congestion resulting from the breakdown of all the bad stuff. The good news is that she is beginning to cough it up since, unlike stomach or abdominal residues, the stuff in her lungs can't easily get out of her body. As a consequence, however, she is highly susceptible to inflammation in her lungs and to developing pneumonia. Chemotherapy also is severely depressing her immune system making her extremely susceptible to infections. Consequently, no person who is ill in even the slightest way should come to the house. That means if you have a cold (even a mild one), sore throat, skin rashes, infected wounds, or infections or illnesses of any other sort, you should delay seeing Anita until you are completely cured.

So thank you for heeding this precaution. None of us want to impede her progress toward remission! And although nothing is totally certain, in her own mind and in John's and mine, we think that's the road she is on!

Melissa