Winding Down

Sandy's health is getting better. The neuropathy in her feet isn't nearly as bothersome to her as it was near the end of chemotherapy. Her life has returned to what it was before her diagnosis in January.

She has another appointment with her oncology doctor on the 23rd. It's then that we'll learn the results of the CAT scan Sandy underwent on August 27th. If she "passes," the doctor will declare her to be in full remission.

On Saturday I rented a core aerator and punched holes in our yard wherever we don't have new sod. After I got done, Sandy said, "Why don't we go to Yoder's Kitchen for lunch?"

Yoder's Kitchen is over an hour and a half away, in Arthur, IL. Nevertheless, we cleaned up and took off on I-57 south. When we got there at 2 o'clock we figured the place would be empty. Who eats lunch at 2 o'clock? We found out.

The region was having its annual Corn Broom Festival. Yoder's Kitchen was filled with people. We waited over half an hour just to get a table. When we finally did sit down, it was right behind the noisy ice cream machine. But the food was good and we were soon on our way.

On the 19th, Saturday, Sandy and I took our bikes up to Frankfort, IL. We rode 25 miles on the paved bike path called the Old Plank Road Trail. I was very impressed that Sandy just kept right on going, didn't take many breaks.

She was sore the next day.

Her eyebrows and the hairs on her head are beginning to grow back. This makes the prospect of entering a clinical trial unpleasant. She could be put on the one "arm" of the trial that would give her the kind of taxol that she received during her six cycles of chemotherapy. If so, there goes the hair again. If not, she'll have a full head of hair within a few months.

We'll see her doctor tomorrow, ask a few questions, then make a decision about that clinical trial.