Thursday, December 10, 2009

Thursday....December 10th....2009

Scan today.....

Report: Looks good.....stable.....the Alimta is doing its job...maintaining .....Linda is doing fine.

Linda was set to be given bad news having read a copy of the CT Chest Scan before the doctor came in....she was looking for improvement....whereas the doctor was looking for "maintenance" and that is what it is....

The words of the report: "stable"..."No definite new..."......"unchanged in appearance" ...."documented earlier"...."noted earlier"..."documented previously"...."No new...is evident"....

To the Oncologist these are "good" words......and Linda is doing fine.

What now....Linda will remain on the Alimta program for 3 or 4 more months at least unless there are some obvious changes noted. We are going to "play it by ear".....in other words unless unless something shows up, it's business as usual.

Linda will receive her 4th cycle of Alimta on December 18th and then her 5th on January 8th...we then plan on returning to Florida shortly thereafter. A scan will be scheduled in Florida to check on progress...in 3 or 4 months.

We plan on staying in Florida till the latter part of April this year....

The Oncologist endorsed Linda taking 10 mg of Steroids every other day with the present 5 mg on the alternate days..Linda has been experimenting with this and finds her appetite improved....she actually gets hungry...

So good news today when we understand "stability" is the key word....and that was achieved.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's good new, Linda. As I have said many times, you continue to be an inspiration. Enjoy the holidays. Don't get too crazy with decorating and baking.
Marilyn

Darron said...

Way cool. Great news and thanks for the updates to the blog. You both are winners. Enjoy your Oregon time and also look forward to your Florida time. Two great worlds. I am happy for you both.

Cheryl Jones said...

Just catching up after my brief vacation. Very glad to hear that all is status quo! That's what we want to keep hearing.

Keep warm up there on the frozen tundra! And we're complaining about rain and temps in the 50's down here...

Love to you both, as always.

Wendy Soethe said...

So good to hear the Alimta is doing its job. You are both amazing, keep on persevering!

We saw the Pacific Northwest Ballet Nutcracker tonight as we got discounted tickets through Children's Hospital (first row!) - Taigen's first time to see the Nutcracker and to go to a full length production (she loves the children's theatre). She was really into it for the first half and the beginning of the second half, but then during all of the dancing (you know the part with the Pasha) she crashed. We had to carry her out like a limp rag doll. And as predicted, she woke up on the way home and asked how it ended. :)

We're finishing up wrapping some presents tonight for a Christmas party tomorrow - can you believe Christmas is already here for all intents and purposes? We look forward to seeing you soon in Sisters - keep the passes clear for us, will you?

Love, Wendy (and Chris and Taigen)

Glen and Sibyll said...

Wow, I haven't had a chance to look up your blog for a while ... you definitely live life to its fullest.Pretty soon, when you get to escape to Florida,we will be terribly envious.Sacha came down to make gingerbread-houses for 4 of her employees/friends, so we thought we keep the heat going by means of the oven going non-stop! There was a little "hitch" called Nick, who decided it would be the best time to add another project and change out my stove-top to a gas top(the electric one decided to do a slow-death just before my sister came to visit for my 65th BD)I'm used to chaos- this was hilarious, as the week-end kept adding friends invited for dinner, one family with 4 children -make more gingerbread, Mom!!! while Nick just shut off the electricity to find a plug-in with 110 Volt he can divert.Sacha keeps decorating her 16 gingerbread walls while the lights go off ever so often - the heater also, on the same circuit- but the candle-light is more chrismas-like as is the fireplace and our voices singing in harmony(?)the stereo is also on that same circuit Nick and two helpers are experimenting with(one certified plumber and gas installer - oh, yes he turned the water off for a short while also .. anybody needs to go "potty"? before that?!) You can tell by my writing"style" I'm still just coming out of the confusion of two dogs chasing each other followed by a toddler through the kitchen where 2 sets of legs were spread out from under the cabinet with tools and wire lying all over and Sacha trying to by now "push through"her project, me trying to supply gingerbread parts drinks , snacks, lunch and finally dinner ... it was TOTAL chaos but so much fun! Miraculously, we got everything done, we love "completion", Nick kept me up talking twice until 2:30 and 3:00 a.m.(the clocks were off by ca. 2 hours by that time) Sunday Sacha and I wrapped things up (putting all the parts together, icing the roofs etc)Monday I worked 6 hrs putting icycles on the houses- today I drove them to Sacha's office for delivery to her employees.Only good it's a labor of love, because you would have to take out a mortgage in order to pay for one of them!Now I know why we took a 2 years hiatus from our 40 year tradition.All that business and life reminded me of all those years filled with kids doing projects at our house (and the mess they left behind!)Unfortunately, at"my age" the late nights and lack of sleep hit me hard and I came down with some flu bug that the kids brought with them. So, it took me two days to get back on my feet and back to Jazzercise, which is how I usually avoid/get rid of such bugs and their "side-effects. Since yesterday I'm fully engrossed in my chrismas baking.6 kilos of Stollen are already baked, but unfortunately my great helping beater just broke, just another test of patience. I can only laugh at all those little obstacles, being highly aware how blessed Glen and I are to be in good to exceptional health, a fact we are not taking for granted after his stroke and even long before that: life teaches you quickly when you look around you. So thank you for sharing so many steps of your journey and giving us a far deeper appreciation of what we have than we may garner on our own and all that in an examplar fashion of love, humor, strength, courage, togetherness and inspiring dedication. We love you and all the humanity you share! Those are the feelings the Chrismas season is made off. As we are looking forward to spending time with our "children" Sacha and Guy - and probably some friends, we hope that the times you get to share with yours is filled with the joy of being together, laughter memories renewed and freshly added, lots of hugs and love ...peace, hope and love ... most of all LOVE! Sending you our best wishes, thoughts and love,Glen and Sibyll.

Glen and Sibyll said...

A quick after-note:
I got carried away writing only to find out that I'm only allowed 4,096 characters ... wel, for the last 1/2 hour I've been reducing my "characters" until it finally went through; believe it or not: you actually received the short version!
Before it happens again, quickly a huge hug and kiss!
Love Sibyll

Anonymous said...

Great news about the maintenance. The key is that the drug is doing what it is supposed to do. Much as we'd all like it to do even more, "stability" is something I can applaud.

What a happy Christmas note from Glen and Sibyll. It's a good thing we got the short version because I'm exhausted just reading THAT. How do you find people with so much energy? I've been to two parties in a row and I think that's alot. LOL!

Marjorie

Anonymous said...

SWEEETTTT!!!!!!!!!! This is wonderful!!! I'm thrilled to hear such fantastic news! I'm actually teary-eyed over it!!! HAhahaaaa! So sit and enjoy the news and the season and the time with friends and family. Hugs all round.
Susie

Anonymous said...

MERRY CHRISTMAS early!!

claudia

Anonymous said...

Good news, Linda & Dave. Our prayers are with you both.

Ron & Cathy

Anonymous said...

Praise the Lord. That really have made my day and Christmas.What a gift you receive. Good news. I was wondering why we haven't received your letter. I might beat you yet. First time.
Got to run.
Love Janet