This is the first notice we've seen in the local newspaper about the death of Sandy's brother.
Sandy picked up her Chevy Tracker Thursday afternoon after having the sway bar replaced. Today Sandy and sister Judy went to their mom's place in Watseka, IL to bring some of her things from storage. On their way back, the Tracker died just inside of Kankakee city limits. The girls said the vehicle made a kind of "sizzling" sound before it stopped running.Judy's husband Dan and I both drove to the site. There was nothing we could do except to call a towing company to have the car hauled to a shop. We had it taken to the same place that had replaced the sway bar. We'll call them Monday morning to let them know why it's there once again.
This has been a very stressful week for Sandy, possibly one of the worst of her life.
Sandy's 2000 Chevy Tracker went into the shop on Wednesday. We didn't know what the problem was, only that there was a kind of cracking noise in the front end. The shop told us it's the stabilizer bar, or sway bar, and that it had suffered metal fatigue and other maladies and needed to be replaced. Total parts and labor, $139.05.
Sandy and a few others helped move her mother from Manor Care nursing home in Kankakee to Heritage Woods assisted living in Watseka. It took them all day but they got it done.
Their day started out with the very sad news that their brother Terry was being moved into hospice care at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. He had been at this hospital for some time. He had a stomach tube inserted for feeding; he had any number of IV bags hanging over his head for various purposes; he had a tracheotomy; his body was bloated with fluids. His former spouse Vicki called Sandy to tell her about their intent to move Terry to hospice.
So moving day started out with feelings of sadness in the family. In the early afternoon Sandy got a call from nurse Connie at UCMC to say that Sandy's neotrophil count is zero, which means that her body's ability to fight infection is very low. Connie talked about a shot that she thinks Sandy should have that would be administered the day after this coming Thursday's chemo (Chemo Day 4). She didn't say what this shot is, but from online research I think it must be "growth factor," a chemical means by which her white blood count can be reinforced.
The cost of this shot is reportedly about $3,000. We'll see how much of it is covered by insurance.
Not long after she received this news, Sandy got a call from Vicki. This time, Vicki told Sandy that Terry had passed away. He died at about 2:15 pm CDT on Thursday, May 28th. He had undergone I don't know how many chemotherapy sessions, a number of major surgeries and suffered several setbacks over the preceding two years. He always had family around him, fortunately, and by all accounts an excellent advocate in Vicki.
But the human body can take only so much and Terry's had had enough. Yesterday was a very sad day for everyone in the family.
Sandy felt better Wednesday than she had the handful of days before, but not as good as she'd felt during previous chemo day aftermaths. The cumulative thing seems to be catching up with her.
Nevertheless, for my 65th birthday she planned an excellent party. She put up a banner, made or brought in lots of food and invited many friends. She printed birthday cards and coordinated food and events with friends and family. I had a great time!
At the party were Ray & Claudia, Steve & Sue, Gabby & Peg, Paul & Deb, Ray & Joan, Ted & Carol, Paige & Ian, Dan & Judy, Ron & Janet, Ruth, Larry, Hallie, Zoey, Jenna and ... most importantly ... Sandy. I got some very funny cards, some fun presents and ... thanks to a couple creative friends ... played trivia games from the '50's about movies, TV shows and hit songs. All this happened yesterday.
Good times. And after these good times, Sandy was tired. We sat out on Ray and Claudia's patio afterward, having some laughs with them and with neighbors Kevin and Jenny, but then it was time to go in and get to bed.
Sandy's energy level was down this morning, but she made coffee and washed several loads of laundry anyway. In the early afternoon she went to the 8th grade graduation party of a young relative, going with sister Judy and mom Mariette. When she got home she sat on the couch, threw a blanket over herself and fell fast asleep with Bandit on her lap.
Sandy feels better today. This is Day 6 in Chemo Cycle 3. In cycles 1 and 2, she felt better on day 5, so feeling well a day later than in previous cycles might be an indication of the cumulative effect of either the paclitaxel or carboplatin or both. In any case, she said today that she's making no plans for the week following chemo days 4 (June 4th), 5 (June 25th) and 6 (July 16th).I asked her today how bad her pain felt to her from chemo day 3 through yesterday. She said that, on a scale of 0 through 10 with 10 being the worst, it was a 9. Even considering this, she was never grouchy or irritable through yesterday. She just didn't get as many things done at home as she would have liked.She has a tingling sensation in one or two of her fingertips. If cancer patient forums on line are any guide, this is likely the nerves in her fingertips dying, probably from the toxic effects of the chemicals used. These nerves will most likely renew themselves within a year following the end of Sandy's chemotherapy. We were told from the start that this might happen and now it has begun.Smokey's time in the basement has ended. He howled and howled from down there until we couldn't take it anymore. I had been waiting for his voicebox to give out, but that never happened. Now he's upstairs on the floor on his back, his paws in the air and his tail in a perfect circle, snoring like a fat baby. For both him and Sandy, it's a good day.
Sandy is still in pain from the chemo but she put in a full day at work. She was tired when she got home from work. We had dinner, she made a couple phone calls, took a couple Tylenol and went to bed after watching part one of the final episode of Desperate Housewives (off the DVR).Some effects from chemo are cumulative. One of these effects seems to be that the white blood count drops with successive treatments, making her more vulnerable to infection. Other effects might include longer periods of pain. We don't know if it's that or if it's because Sandy is taking fewer Vicodin and more Tylenol.
Vicodin causes constipation, Tylenol (as far as we know) does not. It's both true and unfortunate that constipation is one of the more annoying "features" of chemotherapy. Opioids such as those in hydrocodone (the opiate aspect of Vicodin) cause constipation, yet you might need the relief that Vicodin provides. You're stuck with problems no matter which way you turn.
And this is not to mention that most meds provided to Sandy that control nausea also seriously aggravate her restless legs syndrome, so she chooses not to take them.
Smokey has been in the basement for two days after having peed on Sandy's bed. He's quarantined until we can determine if he has a bladder infection. Meanwhile, he's been howling at night and beating hard on the door to the basement, wanting to get out. He's a big cat and makes enough noise when pounding on the door that, a few years ago when he was here, Scot thought someone was trying to break in.I squirted Smokey a couple times until he stayed downstairs and quieted down. Sandy needs her sleep.
She'll feel better tomorrow, if past is prologue.
Pain: Sandy has had it all weekend. Her back, her legs, her feet . . . they all ache.She could have taken Vicodin to alleviate the pain, but the hydrocodone component causes problems she doesn't want to deal with. What to do? Take Extra Strength Tylenol instead. It works, but not as effectively as Vicodin. She spent much of the weekend relaxing, with occasional spurts of activity like . . . shopping.Last night and tonight she took Vicodin just before going to bed. It eases the pain and helps her to get to sleep and to stay there until it's time to get up to go to work.She's bearing up well, considering the pain. I got an email from friend Patsy, who told us about her sister who had cancer. Sister had two ball caps; one read "Bad Hair Day," the other was "No Hair Day." For someone going through cancer treatment, this is funny stuff.
This morning Sandy awoke feeling . . . not too badly. As time moved through the day she found herself with more pain, especially from her lower back on down. Her feet ached; it hurt to walk. She felt pain in her lower abdomen. This last was something new, but she remembered her family doctor telling her that such pains might mean that the chemotherapy is working. She thinks he might have said this partly in jest, but nevertheless likes to believe it.
Vicodin or Extra Strength Tylenol seemed to help with the pain, but she felt tired, devoid of energy. By 8 o'clock tonight she took a Vicodin and went to bed in hopes of falling asleep, numb to the pain.
How could I forget? Last week Sandy's CA-125 number was 484, down from 1296 before her surgery in February. That was good news. This is better: as of a couple days ago we learned that her CA-125 number is down to 147. "Normal" is 35 and lower. Today Sandy's nurse Connie surmised that this number could fall below 35 before Chemo Day 4. We won't hold her to it, but we're praying for a low number.Please join us in this!
It rained hard on Tuesday, just under 2 inches. Wednesday night into Thursday morning it rained even harder. At one point our sump pump ran non-stop. I was up for a few hours to make sure it would hold out. It did. I went to bed. Sandy had already fallen asleep. By morning, we'd had little sleep and 2.3 inches more of rain.
We awoke this morning at 5:00 am after having gotten to sleep at about 1:30 am. It is Chemo Day 3, so we leave at 6 to get to UCMC by around 7 to find on-street parking. Chemo starts at 8, or at least that's when we get called into the infusion area. Sandy didn't start getting infused until nearly 9:30 am. It takes 3 hours for the paclitaxel, 1 hour for the carboplatin, then home. Sandy gets several other drugs in addition to these, one of which is Benadryl.Sandy has restless legs syndrome (RLS). This means she has an irresistable urge to walk or move her legs. Sitting still is not an option. The Benadryl aggravates her RLS, so sitting for the infusion is a kind of torture; not because of the cancer drugs but because of the Benadryl.
This morning the nurse suggested Sandy take the Benadryl by mouth rather than in an IV drip. She did this and has not been bothered with the RLS. I think this was a major change in treatment and one that will make the day much more tolerable for her. And this is a good thing. With so little sleep last night, she needs to be comfortable.Okay, I spoke too soon. Even the Benadryl taken by mouth has begun to aggravate her RLS, so she took a Mirapex to alleviate the symptoms. It didn't hurt that nurse Connie stopped by and the two women talked like magpies about their Nintendo DS's loaded with something called Touchmaster. I think Sandy forgot about her RLS.
Here's Sandy working on some shuteye: 
On Wednesday, Sandy and I drove to UCMC. She had her blood drawn, followed by a visit with her doctor. Sandy's CA-125 score is in the 400's, down from the original 1296. "Normal" is 35 or less, so her number is still higher than desired. The lab results from the blood draw weren't all in when it was time for us to leave, but the partial results showed aspects of Sandy's blood with below-par readings. Nevertheless, . . .
Sandy and her sister Judy flew to Philadelphia this morning to see their brother Terry. He's in the intensive care unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) with a number of serious medical problems. Even so, Sandy told me tonight that Terry is holding his own and is in good spirits.
She'll be back on Monday in time for another blood draw here in town. We expect better results than what we saw last Wednesday.
I haven't said this in a while but we want you to know that we really appreciate your thoughts and prayers as she goes through this difficult time in her life. We believe that your positive energy benefits her. She's coping well. Thank you!
