Monday, August 28, 2017

One Step Ahead, Hopefully Just One Step Back.

Kay started her second cycle of the Taxol/Avastin chemotherapy regimen last Tuesday, and it started much like first cycle.  Kay felt really good, we suspect from the Decadron high, for about 2 days. Unfortunately from there it has been tougher.   She started to have abdominal pain on the third day, much like with the first cycle, and to hurt all over.  This time though the pain just kept getting worse for the next 3 days, until Saturday it was really hard for Kay to get out of bed. By Sunday it became even worse, and the chills she had been having for the past 2-3 days became worse also. By evening she had a 101.7 fever.  This was enough to prompt an ER visit.
As ER visits go this was accomplished in a timely fashion, we got there about 8:30 PM and by 10:30 PM she had blood test and abdominal CT scan results that did not show any life threatening abdominal catastrophe, but she was admitted to Good Samaritan Hospital oncology unit for monitoring and IV fluids.
This morning she had two doppler ultrasound tests, one for arterial supply evaluation to her bowel, which looked OK, and then another for veinous flow evaluation looking for a blood clot or thrombosis that could block the drainage of the bowel.  These were basically not conclusive and Dr. Aversa our family doctor, and Dr. McCrosky Kay's local oncologist, were concerned about an infection in Kay's abdominal cavity, possibly from a micro-perforation of her bowel that could be a complication of the Avastin.  This led them to put her on IV antibiotics this morning, and so far, just a half day into the treatment Kay is not worse, maybe slightly better.
Pain and sleep deprivation have Kay in a discouraged state, but the family has been able to sit with her today and we are working to keep her and our spirits up.  I am forging ahead with our move to our new condo in the  Old Town district of Tacoma and that should be accomplished by Thursday.
We remain hopeful that this setback will pass and that better days are in Kay's immediate future.
Keep us in your prayers and they will join with ours.

Friday, August 4, 2017

Looking Up We Think

This week Kay had her second weekly infusion of Taxol, after getting the Taxol plus Avastin last week. Each 4 week cycle consists of Taxol + Avastin week 1. Taxol alone week 2, Taxol + Avastin week 3, then a week off to recover.  Our hope is that the Avastin will allow the Taxol to work well enough to cause regression of Kay's cancer and relief of her discomfort and other cancer-related symptoms.
Almost immediately after the first infusion Kay seemed like she could feel things getting marginally better.  Now, only 9 days into therapy she is pretty sure she is a little bit improved.  Her energy is noticeably better, her belly swelling (ascites) is slightly less, and overall she just is in  less pain.  These are subjective markers of improvement, but really the purpose of this treatment at this point is to feel better, improve day-to-day function, and have less pain, so we are pretty happy about her response so far.
On the non-cancer front we have sold our house in Puyallup and are hoping to move to Tacoma by the end of August.  We had tried to purchase a new construction home in Old Town but the legal issues over wetland permitting and mitigation simply made this untenable, and so we dropped that attempt and feel like God was smiling on us.  Literally 30 minutes after deciding no longer to try to buy that house we looked at a condo a few blocks away.  
Both of us really like the place, the location, the floor plan and the view, and we have had an offer n that place accepted and pending our inspection plan to close on the sale before we have to leave our Puyallup home August 28th.
Thanks for all the support, prayers and thoughts of all of our friends and family.  Fay, Kay's Mom has sent daily cards with ideas for hats and scarves for Kay after she loses her hair.  They have been a daily cause to smile and be grateful for Kay's whole family.  Kay's Puyallup friends have been visiting regularly, bringing flowers, goodies, and love when Kay has really needed it.  Pastor Paul has been helpful for all of us, and many other friends and relatives have reached out with help and support.  I talk to my brother Bill regularly and it's nice to have his ear and virtual shoulder.
Jean is home and her partner Alan is visiting from Mexico.  He is a really nice fellow, and we are enjoying his company.  Brett and Taylor have been a constant support and we are grateful for both of our children.
Keep up the prayers, especially for confirmation that the chemo is helping fight the cancer and that Kay keeps on feeling better.  Although she is feeling a little better, we are hoping for "more better" than it is now.

With all our love,


Ed & Kay