Final stretch

Suzanne is nearing completion of her sixth and final round of chemo in Seattle. She'll be flying back here late Monday (July 15), arriving in Fairbanks at 12:20 a.m. Tuesday. Her sister Elizabeth will accompany her on the flight from Seattle. Elizabeth will stay 10 days again to help get Suzanne through the post-chemo ickiness and appointments.
Suzanne's vital signs are all doing well, but she is sleeping most of the time at the moment. I talked with her briefly this afternoon.
Pat, Lin, Suzanne's mom Carol and Suzanne's longtime friend Robert Ames, from Walla Walla, all visited with her in Seattle this round. Elizabeth was to have arrived on a flight from London an hour or two ago.

--Sam

Changing of the guard

We packed sister Lynnea off to the airport Saturday for her return to Denver. On Sunday afternoon, Suzanne's mom, Carol, arrived. She'll be here for a few days, perhaps through Thursday. So we're getting lots of helpful help.
Suzanne had a very low white blood cell count Friday, but it's back up today. She actually had some energy on Sunday. Today's results showed her red blood cell count has dropped, and her energy level dropped with it. It's a bit of a roller coaster. Speaking of which, she also continues to have some nausea when she cuts back on the anti-nausea medicine, especially when driving on the permafrost-sculpted surface of Sheep Creek Road.
Thanks to everyone who has been supplementing our evening meals. We've got a bit of a surplus at the moment, so don't worry if you need to skip a week for which you've signed up. We won't starve. Far from it.
Louise got a job at the Division of Forestry warehouse packing firefighting equipment. Yesterday, she came home after an 11-hour shift covered in soot from cleaning and rolling used fire hoses. Working fires is always a gamble, but the weather is going to be hot for another week at least, so it's lucrative business for the time being.
--Sam

Home again

Suzanne and her sister Lynnea, from Denver, arrived at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.
She's sleepy and somewhat nauseated but otherwise OK. She seems to have the anti-nausea medicine regimen worked out a little better so that it's not quite as bad as it was the first few rounds. She just stays on a regular dosage, which makes her groggy and unable to drive, but it's better than being so nauseated.
She has a doctor's appointment at 2 p.m. today to check on her blood levels, etc. Lynnea is ushering her.
Based on how she felt in previous rounds, I'm sure she would be happy to talk on the phone with folks in a few days and visit in person a little next week.
Sam

Clear again...

I just texted with Suzanne. This morning, her doctor told her that her scans from Monday showed no sign of cancer. Hurrah!
She is on her way to the UW hospital to check in for round 5.

Off to the emerald city

Suzanne took off for Seattle at 6 a.m. today and I have reliable text reports that she has arrived and is comfortably ensconced at her friend Pat's place. She went to Seattle a day early this time so she could attend Pat's choir concert this evening.
Suzanne had a blood test on Friday in Fbks and it indicated she's up for round 5 of chemo on Monday. Before they start, though, she'll have scans to make sure no cancer has reappeared. There's not been any indication of such in the past two scans, so we're hoping for a three-peat.
She'll be returning late the night of Monday, June 17. Her sister Lynnea will accompany her and stay the week. I'll work that week, given that my boss is out of town and the people of Fbks still expect a newspaper in his absence.
--Sam

The interim update

Hello from Sam again.

Suzanne has been back from Seattle a week now. She has felt about the same as previous post-treatment weeks. Her blood counts were too low Friday, so she got a blood transfusion. That perked her up for a bit. Today's test showed her platelets are very low again. The white and red cells are coming up but aren't normal yet, so she's still pretty tired.

Our neighbor Lin Gale accompanied Suzanne on the flight from Seattle last week. Carol, Suzanne's mom, flew up separately from Anchorage and stayed the week. Carol did most of Suzanne's care and drove her to and from the appointments; the transfusion took nearly the entire day Friday with all the waiting and arranging. I also took the week off from work and focused on getting the garden and greenhouse planted; we got most of it done, with some help from family and friends.

The beautiful weather was certainly a treat last week. I bought Suzanne an outdoor recliner, and she made good use of it in the front yard.

Nell is working at Marty's Bakery quite a few hours every day. Louise is still looking for work. She received her certified nursing assistant license from the state last week, so she's officially eligible to be employed in that field now. I'm back at work this week.

Suzanne is planning to fly to Seattle on Saturday for her 5th round. No reason to delay it.

Wednesday update

Sam again here.
I talked with Suzanne last night. All her systems checked out OK so she started chemo late in the day.
Still no definitive decision on a fifth and sixth round, but they're looking likely at this point.