Thursday, November 09, 2006

Four Down, Six to Go

I had my fourth radiation treatment this morning. It goes very quickly now. They've done scans and I have little dots tattooed on my hips. I do get pain in my left hip, and Ibuprofen helps, but I also got a prescription for Oxycodone which I'll probably take at night.

We saw Dr. Bergen yesterday, and he has suspended Gemzar infusions until after radiation is over. I next see him and have chemo on November 28th. It was one year ago yesterday that I first saw him, so I took him an anniversary card. I was diagnosed with cancer on Oct. 25th, 2005, and I'm still here.

The spotted appearance of my spleen turned out to be nothing. The gastroview that I drank before the CT scan last week and/or the injection before the bone scan to light up your bones may have caused it.

I am still taking the Xeloda orally. I do feel tired which I think both the chemo and radiation are causing.

We are leaving tomorrow after radiation for Socorro, New Mexico for a mineral symposium. We hope to get out to the Bosque del Apache bird refuge. There should be sand hill cranes and snow geese. I'm looking forward to getting away for a little bit.

I did bowl Monday night after my first radiation treatment. My thumb had two sore places on it, so I wore a glove which I think supressed my bowling scores: 89, 100, 80. My team did win three of four games. We were tied for fourth place as we began Monday night. The nurse at the radiation clinic gave me some latex gloves which I can wear to bowling if needed, but I'm also using them at night with bag balm and my hands are much improved.

We have seen bald eagles in the trees along the Uncompahgre River in Ridgway on three different occasions. One of the nice things about the trees being bare is being able to see all the bird's nests.

Well, I should scoot. I need to undo the Halloween window at the store and put winter sports books on display. It won't be long now until we'll have enough snow for XC skiing, snow-shoeing, downhill skiing, etc.

Just up here in Colorado enjoying a warm, sunny day.

Sincerely, Caroline

1 comment:

McCrea Family said...

Dear Caroline,

You have a sweet caring nature. I've enjoyed everything you have to say to others with this terrible illness. Keep up the good fight. One day we will wake up to a "cure" and this demon will be put away. Oh, how I want it to be soon. In God's Care,
Richard and Nancy Sloan (Val's parents)