Back to Seattle

Sam writing again.

Suzanne flew off to Seattle late last night after staying an extra week in Fairbanks between rounds. This will be her fourth round of chemo. She'll return home Monday next week.

The extra week here meant she got to attend Louise's graduation from West Valley High School on May 15. Suzanne's mom and her husband Walter flew in for that event, and all the Fairbanks relatives attended except my mom, who was down with the flu.

The extra week also meant Suzanne began to feel better. Her blood counts recovered well. She went to work each day, sometimes for a full shift. That wiped her out for the evenings, though. Lots of couch time.

Getting on the plane for another round was hard for her yesterday. There's little that is novel or interesting or adrenaline-inducing about going to Seattle anymore. She knows it just means feeling sick for the next three weeks, and that's difficult to be upbeat about. The one bright spot is that she'll get to visit with Lin and Pat for a few days -- until the drugs kick in anyway.

Suzanne is planning to fly home post-chemo with Lin as escort next week. And Carol is planning to come up from Anchorage for the post-chemo week to help take care of her. I'll also take the week off to help and try to get something of a garden planted, now that the snow is mostly gone.

We're not sure how many more treatments Suzanne will have. When she began, they said she should have 4-6, depending upon how her body holds up. She seems to be doing OK, but it's a day-by-day, week-by-week assessment.

Louise took her state nursing assistant test this morning, the last step in her semester-long effort to get certified. She thinks she did well. The state license should come through in a few weeks. In the meantime, she's looking for a non-nursing job to fill the gap.

Nell, who is back from UAA for the summer, started work at Marty's Bakery last week. I think this is her third summer there now. It's great for her to be able to do that.

Thanks to everyone for your help and kind words.

Travelers and visitors

Our cat, Josephina Poot (we call her Jojo), would like to go along to Seattle. She's pretty insistent.

My sister Lynnea lives in Denver. She flew home with me after Chemo2 and made us this big pot of  borscht (mmmmm) while she was here. Can't beet that!

And my sister Elizabeth, who lives in London, joined me in Seattle and then flew with me home. She and Louise kept us in stitches @ the Michael Carroll Cancer Treatment Center infusion room while I was getting a blood transfusion (to replace red blood cells and boost my energy level). I am so grateful for the gift of this blood -- and the giggles. 

The days are flying by, in fog, in mist, in the harsh light of a clear head. I am in awe of so many things -- time thundering by; the gift of really experiencing one moment without looking ahead for the next one; trying (along with the rest of you) to find the silver lining on our May snow cloud. Mostly I feel gratitude.  Thank you.

Back home

Sam doing the posting here again.
Suzanne and her sister Elizabeth arrived in Fairbanks Monday afternoon. Suzanne is feeling very sluggish and remains prone on the couch or bed, not really sleeping but not really awake.
Elizabeth drove her to see the doctor this morning to get her blood checked. It's OK, but she'll likely get a transfusion this time to help her through things.
Right now, Suzanne plans to be here for three weeks rather than two before returning to Seattle (May 20). That will allow her to attend Louise's high school graduation May 15. It also might allow her to have a little more time at home when she's feeling better.
Elizabeth will be here until Saturday morning, May 4, when she'll fly home to London.

Good results

Sam again here. Suzanne had her mid-treatment scans on Monday, consisting of a CT scan and a chest x-ray. The doctor told her Tuesday that they found no cancer lesions, which is all we'd hoped for.
That result, and her relatively healthy blood counts, allowed her to start her third round of chemo Tuesday afternoon. She'll be in Seattle through Monday. Her sister, Elizabeth, will join her in a few days in Seattle and fly back with her on Monday.
Thanks again to all who are keeping her in their thoughts.

April 21, back to Seattle

This is Sam with the latest.
Suzanne will fly back to Seattle Monday morning (April 22) to start round three of her chemo.
There was some question whether she would be going because her blood counts were still a little down as of Friday. However, they had bounced up to healthy levels by Sunday morning. So she's planning to sail out of Fairbanks if the air traffic controllers are on duty.
Suzanne was more sick this past two weeks following the second round than she was following the first. She didn't really bounce back until Thursday of the second week home, when she was able to go to work for a bit. Last time, she stopped taking the anti-nausea medications after about a week. This time she has continued to take them occasionally all the way through last night.
We were all happy to see Suzanne's sister from Denver, Lynnea, who flew from Seattle to Fairbanks with her and stayed for four days. She drove Suzanne to her appointments, cooked, shared hilarious stories and generally held the house together. And she only got lost walking in the neighborhood woods once. Cell phones are great inventions for such circumstances.
We're looking forward next to seeing Aunt Elizabeth, Suzanne's sister from London. Elizabeth will join Suzanne in Seattle for a few days before flying back to Fairbanks with her on April 29 after round three. She'll fly out of Fairbanks the morning of May 4.
Thanks also to everyone who has been helping by bringing us food and entertainment. It has been much appreciated.

70F and sterile

The weather is always the same in the hospital.
Being on a floor where everyone is a sarcoma patient affords a unique view of the world. On the plus side, the nursing staff is deeply knowledgeable about this class of very rare cancers. They know the chemo regimen and are brilliant at anticipating and mitigating the side effects. On the other side, being amongst 30 or so other patients with my form of cancer can be unnerving. In the halls during my thrice-daily walks I see other patients pushing IV towers with the same "cocktail" of chemo drugs. Sometimes we make eye contact, sometimes we avoid it. Almost no one stops to talk. As Lin says, not everyone is into "group cancer."
I'm back home for two weeks of recuperation, and the effects of the chemo are quite different this time.
As always, we are so very grateful for our friends' generosity and good wishes.

Chemo 2/Days 1 and 2

I was admitted to the 6SE (sarcoma unit) at UW Medical Center on Tuesday at 1:30. The infusion of my two chemo drugs was started at 6 pm. The nurses here specialize in sarcoma chemo regimens, so are well-equipped to anticipate and alleviate any side effects.  I'll have one drug given continuously for 3 days, and daily 4-hour infusions of the second drug. Six days in the hospital, 5 days of infusions. Then home!