One of the things on my Bucket List was to be in a book club (just for one book though), so Armin, Penny, Sue, Sarah and myself chose the book Eat, Pray Love to read - and tonight we are heading for dinner at a French restaurant to "discuss" the book (aka "have a good gossip") - and then we are heading to an old movie theatre for the movie premier - it will be a great night!
On the other extreme - Marc went to the Auckland Metallica concert last night with some people from work, and had an absolutely brilliant night! I am still nagging him to update the blog with photos of our new Cacti garden!!
We met with Dr McCrystal on Tuesday, and had a good meeting. Not much of an update now until we speak with Fran late tomorrow afternoon to discuss what the best options are moving forward. We went to see Dr Moller (my AMAZING local doctor) today as my left eye is a little swollen - she is not sure if it is sinus infection, where I dropped my iPad on my face when I fell asleep (don't ask - I'm blaming it on the sleeping tablets), or a "nasty" - so we are waiting to hear back from her about that!
Fantastic news - my best friend from Melbourne - Gina - is flying over tomorrow to spend two nights with Marc and I - so we are both very excited about that. We cannot wait! I have booked dinner on Saturday night at our local Indian restaurant, and plan to have brunch on either Saturday or Sunday morning somewhere nice. I haven't seen Gina since our wedding - way TOO long!
I will let you know when we have an update from Fran.
Lou
x
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Homeward Bound
Yesterday my blood count was really good, and my breathing had stabilised, and as a result I was given an "overnight" pass (on the provision that I was back in my bed in my PJ's by 9am this morning)! Marc picked me up and we had a scrumptious Yum Cha lunch - and then headed home to relax around the house. Penny had cooked us a delicious organic chicken curry for dinner which was awesome! Millie was thrilled that we were both at home. Had a great night's sleep - and was back as requested at 9am on the dot! All of the nurses gave me a nice welcome which was lovely!
This morning my blood results were really good, and they have changed all of my medication to tablets - so I have been officially discharged! Marc is on his way to pick me up - WHOO HOO!
We will meet with Dr McCrystal tomorrow, and then touch base with Fran on Friday - who will have our next plan of attack.
Thank you all for your message of support and encouragement - it really means a lot to both Marc and I to know that we have so many people in our corner!
Love Lou
x
This morning my blood results were really good, and they have changed all of my medication to tablets - so I have been officially discharged! Marc is on his way to pick me up - WHOO HOO!
We will meet with Dr McCrystal tomorrow, and then touch base with Fran on Friday - who will have our next plan of attack.
Thank you all for your message of support and encouragement - it really means a lot to both Marc and I to know that we have so many people in our corner!
Love Lou
x
Saturday, October 9, 2010
"Day Release" for good behaviour
The last three days the doctors have been performing a barrage of tests to get to the bottom of this trouble I am having with my breathing. I had a blood transfusion yesterday as my red blood count was too low - and today they have increased my steroids (just our luck!) to see if that will alleviate my symptoms.
The fantastic news is that I am allowed to leave the hospital to go home after my IV antibiotics at noon, and I don't have to come back until 8pm tonight - when I will be readmitted. Hopefully all going well, they will do the same tomorrow too! I'm am so excited, as I haven't seen Millie since Wednesday - so we are going to have a good afternoon.
I have made contact with Fran (our INCREDIBLE) Australian Oncologist, and she has a few magic tricks up her sleeve, that we will know more about next Friday....so we will know our next battle plan then.
Yesterday I had visitors from Marc (obviously), Penny and my local GP - Susie. Can you believe that she came in after she had finished work to see me? And she was here for over an hour - seriously we have some absolutely magnificent people in our lives!
Okay, got to go and get ready for my day trip - very exciting!
Lou
x
The fantastic news is that I am allowed to leave the hospital to go home after my IV antibiotics at noon, and I don't have to come back until 8pm tonight - when I will be readmitted. Hopefully all going well, they will do the same tomorrow too! I'm am so excited, as I haven't seen Millie since Wednesday - so we are going to have a good afternoon.
I have made contact with Fran (our INCREDIBLE) Australian Oncologist, and she has a few magic tricks up her sleeve, that we will know more about next Friday....so we will know our next battle plan then.
Yesterday I had visitors from Marc (obviously), Penny and my local GP - Susie. Can you believe that she came in after she had finished work to see me? And she was here for over an hour - seriously we have some absolutely magnificent people in our lives!
Okay, got to go and get ready for my day trip - very exciting!
Lou
x
Thursday, October 7, 2010
And another hurdle.....
The official reports came back this morning from the scans last night. Unfortunately all of our tumors have gone on a bit of a "growth spurt", and I have a slight infection in my lungs. The good news is that they think the infection is causing the current symptoms, so a few days in the hospital - lots of antibiotics - and my breathing may go back to normal (fingers crossed).
The bad news was that they now identified some cancerous tumors in my liver - so we will add that to our next battle plan! Obviously my current chemo is not working, so I will wait to speak to my AMAZING Australian Oncologist - Fran - and find out what we are going to do next - I presume it will be a new type of chemo.
I am feeling slightly better than yesterday, and my breathing appears to be better which is a great sign. The hospital staff are absolutely lovely - we had a really sprightly young nurse today called Lucy who was adorable - the food has been delicious (not that I am that fussy at the moment as still on my steroids) - and they bring me a cup of tea twice a day!
I had a great surprise visit from Howard, Armin and Penny today which was great too (excuse my "moon face" - they have been pumping me full of fluids today to control my low blood pressure)!
At this stage I will be in the hospital until at least Saturday - and hopefully by then we will have nailed this infection and I will be feeling normal again.
Lou
x
The bad news was that they now identified some cancerous tumors in my liver - so we will add that to our next battle plan! Obviously my current chemo is not working, so I will wait to speak to my AMAZING Australian Oncologist - Fran - and find out what we are going to do next - I presume it will be a new type of chemo.
I am feeling slightly better than yesterday, and my breathing appears to be better which is a great sign. The hospital staff are absolutely lovely - we had a really sprightly young nurse today called Lucy who was adorable - the food has been delicious (not that I am that fussy at the moment as still on my steroids) - and they bring me a cup of tea twice a day!
I had a great surprise visit from Howard, Armin and Penny today which was great too (excuse my "moon face" - they have been pumping me full of fluids today to control my low blood pressure)!
At this stage I will be in the hospital until at least Saturday - and hopefully by then we will have nailed this infection and I will be feeling normal again.
Lou
x
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Another Grand Final, cacti shopping...and a trip to the hospital!
We had a great weekend "re-celebrating" the AFL Grand Final at Norman and Sue's, followed by breakfast and Cacti shopping on Sunday. I never realised how much fun shopping for Cacti could be - we had an absolute ball - and our new Cacti bed looks amazing.
On Monday night I had dinner with Armin, Penny and Sarah at a really cool restaurant / bar in Kingsland - the food was delicious, and the decor was really funky! We had a fantastic night.
We met with Dr Jose on Tuesday (my Radiation Dr) - everything seems to be going according to plan, although I did get a telling off for taking too many sleeping tablets every night (the steroids keep me awake)! He is going to leave the scheduling of the brain scan (and the decision as to whether I can fly or not yet) with Dr McCrystal (my Oncology Dr) who we meet with next Tuesday. Still no driving. The good news is that I think the radiation has JUST missed my eyebrows and eyelashes which is exciting! I have also lost 3 kilo's, and my "moon face" swelling is slowly reducing.
I was admitted to hospital today, as still having problems with my breathing. They have done lots of blood tests, a CT scan and a chest x-ray. This has ruled out a blood clot (which they initially suspected), and pneumonia. The lung tumors have grown since the last scan, although not significantly, so they don't think that they are causing my symptoms, however there are small spots of infection in my lungs. At this stage they are treating me with high dose IV anti-biotics - and we will know more in the morning when the official results come back.
Marc is at home with Millie tonight and will be in in the morning. Millie is having a 'phantom pregnancy' (can you believe it?) - so she is extra hungry, and putting on weight etc!!!
I'll post an update once we know more.
Lou
x
The boys on Grand Final day.
On Monday night I had dinner with Armin, Penny and Sarah at a really cool restaurant / bar in Kingsland - the food was delicious, and the decor was really funky! We had a fantastic night.
We met with Dr Jose on Tuesday (my Radiation Dr) - everything seems to be going according to plan, although I did get a telling off for taking too many sleeping tablets every night (the steroids keep me awake)! He is going to leave the scheduling of the brain scan (and the decision as to whether I can fly or not yet) with Dr McCrystal (my Oncology Dr) who we meet with next Tuesday. Still no driving. The good news is that I think the radiation has JUST missed my eyebrows and eyelashes which is exciting! I have also lost 3 kilo's, and my "moon face" swelling is slowly reducing.
I was admitted to hospital today, as still having problems with my breathing. They have done lots of blood tests, a CT scan and a chest x-ray. This has ruled out a blood clot (which they initially suspected), and pneumonia. The lung tumors have grown since the last scan, although not significantly, so they don't think that they are causing my symptoms, however there are small spots of infection in my lungs. At this stage they are treating me with high dose IV anti-biotics - and we will know more in the morning when the official results come back.
Marc is at home with Millie tonight and will be in in the morning. Millie is having a 'phantom pregnancy' (can you believe it?) - so she is extra hungry, and putting on weight etc!!!
I'll post an update once we know more.
Lou
x
Thursday, September 30, 2010
The "Feeding Frenzy" is over!
On Monday I was finally able to reduce my steroids to one tablet a day - and I am thrilled to announce that yesterday my appetite dropped significantly - whoo hoo - I am no longer obsessed with food!!!! It is a great feeling - and now I'm just looking forward to losing some of this weight!
I was put onto different antibiotics yesterday, as I still cannot seem to shake this chest infection - so hopefully it will clear up in the next couple of days. I am waiting for an appointment for a CT scan, just so they can check what is happening in my chest. I am still feeling really well, I have a couple of issues with my sight (judging if the ground is flat or not and things like that), and am a little shaky in my hands - I am feeling REALLY well (and happy) other than that! Oh, and did I mention I have a brown forehead!! Someone even asked if I had had my teeth whitened my face is so brown :-)!
Marc and Millie are both well - Millie is back at daycare a couple of days a week which is great for her. Marc said that she was so excited to be back there that she was trying to throw herself out of the car!
This weekend we are going to pick out some Cacti for our landscaping project (Marc will post some photos on the weekend) - and then we will spend Saturday afternoon at Norman and Sue's having a repeat of last Saturday (carn the Pies)!
Lou
x
I was put onto different antibiotics yesterday, as I still cannot seem to shake this chest infection - so hopefully it will clear up in the next couple of days. I am waiting for an appointment for a CT scan, just so they can check what is happening in my chest. I am still feeling really well, I have a couple of issues with my sight (judging if the ground is flat or not and things like that), and am a little shaky in my hands - I am feeling REALLY well (and happy) other than that! Oh, and did I mention I have a brown forehead!! Someone even asked if I had had my teeth whitened my face is so brown :-)!
Marc and Millie are both well - Millie is back at daycare a couple of days a week which is great for her. Marc said that she was so excited to be back there that she was trying to throw herself out of the car!
This weekend we are going to pick out some Cacti for our landscaping project (Marc will post some photos on the weekend) - and then we will spend Saturday afternoon at Norman and Sue's having a repeat of last Saturday (carn the Pies)!
Lou
x
Monday, September 27, 2010
Chemo, Grand Final and a High Tea
I started my chemo again last Wednesday, and although I was a little tired towards the end of the week, I am still feeling really well. I had some severe leg pain on Saturday and Sunday morning from one of the drugs which was horrible, however a "quick release" morphine tablet soon sorted that out!
On Saturday we spent the day at Norman and Sue's with Armin and Penny watching the AFL Grand Final - it was a great day (although I was disappointed at the way the match ended), although it gives an excuse to do it all again at Norman and Sue's next weekend!
On Sunday, we were invited to the SPCA (Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) High Tea by Rob and Carole from Pets in The City (where Millie goes to doggie daycare) at the Stamford Plaza - and we had a fantastic afternoon. It was lovely to get dressed up, put on some high shoes, wear my black glittery hat, and enjoy delicious food and great company. We got to spend some time with Jules who owns Rocco - Millie's best friend who is just the most adorable French Bulldog you have ever seen - so that was wonderful too.
Lou
x
On Saturday we spent the day at Norman and Sue's with Armin and Penny watching the AFL Grand Final - it was a great day (although I was disappointed at the way the match ended), although it gives an excuse to do it all again at Norman and Sue's next weekend!
On Sunday, we were invited to the SPCA (Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) High Tea by Rob and Carole from Pets in The City (where Millie goes to doggie daycare) at the Stamford Plaza - and we had a fantastic afternoon. It was lovely to get dressed up, put on some high shoes, wear my black glittery hat, and enjoy delicious food and great company. We got to spend some time with Jules who owns Rocco - Millie's best friend who is just the most adorable French Bulldog you have ever seen - so that was wonderful too.
x
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