Chemo Day #4

A week ago Tuesday, Mom went in for her 4th Chemo Treatment. As usual, Dad went early with her to meet with the doctors. By the time I got there, they had just gone into the treatment room. Dad came and met me in the hallway to lead me to where they were--and after walking in, it was such a humbling experience. Several chairs of people with various forms of cancer, being given *hopefully* life-saving doses of Chemo. Some old, some young. Some newbies, some veterans. But all of these people together in chairs--surrounding the busy hive of nurses working to help save them all.

My Mom looked radiant. She always does on Chemo day. Having visited her the last few weeks and watching her function day to day as best as she can, I know that it was no small feat to be there so early. So looking...healthy and normal.

I love these pictures I took of her that day. Still a smile on her face. Still as happy an attitude as she can have.

Mom and her sister, Gloria--we just barely missed the picture with her sister Carolyn too.

Mom with her Pink Ipod.  She loves this gift from our family.  She says it's an absolute must for Chemo day.  I think it's got to be nice to close her eyes and tune out the world during that time. 

Mom and Dad 

OOPS...Something's NOT QUITE RIGHT!

You would have never believed the reaction on the kids faces when Grammie and Grandpa came out of their room the other night...

Yep.  You guessed it!

They traded!

Oh, we laughed and laughed! 

 It's so fun to see these two have a little fun with this cancer thing.

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In other "WIG" news...

Mom has been talking for weeks about getting some wigs for the grandkids to use for dressing up.  Let's just say, the wigs have been a major hit! 

There are Grammie goes again.  Always creating memories for everyone.

Oh how we love her!

Ruby, Betsy, Annie, and Casey--all smiles!

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Mom goes into Chemo for her 4th treatment on Tuesday, June 22nd.

Update soon to come!

More Love

I about fell on the floor when I went to my cousin's blog site and saw a whole entry on the "Race for the Cure" they had done for my Mom.  It was so unexpected!  When I called my Mom to see if she knew her sister Gloria, sons Kit and Tyler and Tyler's wife, Marli ran it-- she said she didn't know anything about it.  What an honor!  Here's the post she wrote from her blog.

"We did the Race for the Cure again this year. Every year I run in memory of my Great Grandma Lucille. She was in her early 30s when she died from breast cancer and all the complications that she had from the different treatments they were trying on her. It was an honor again this year to run in her memory.

Also this year was a little more tender because Tyler's Aunt Gayle was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is in treatment right now. She is fighting the fight and being truly amazing through it all. We love her so much and we decided to make t-shirts in her honor. She has a blog that her daughter's created for her it's called http://whenlifehandsyoucancer.blogspot.com/ make pink lemonade. So on our T-shirts we put "Making Pink Lemonade in Honor of Gayle's Lemons" with a picture of Gayle. We love you Gayle! You're an inspiration!"

Thank you Lloyd Family for honoring our Mother!  We love that you did this and I know how touched she was to recieve your letter and pictures in the mail!   

Chemo Day #3

On Tuesday, Mom completed her 3rd Chemotherapy session. Because her blood levels are still struggling a bit, her doctor and staff decided to continue from this point forward only giving her 2 Chemos rather than 3 each treatment. This is ofcourse not the ideal, but her doctor is confident that it will be enough. The two other medicines are super great meds on their own, but are that much better when paired together. Her infusion appointments will still take just as long because they have increased the amount she receives.

Today mom is back at Huntsman having a blood transfusion. This appointment was scheduled when she was in for her treatment on tuesday. They know that her blood levels will go down from here and so they have decided this time to get her levels up before they go too low. We think this is a very good idea and are planning for this to be a regular happening each Chemo week. So ofcourse, it is somewhat bothersome to mom to realize that there is nothing she can do to build her blood levels. She has asked several times what she can do to help. "Nothing', is the answer. You can't do anything to build up your blood and that is a little frustrating. And so for know we're just encouraging her to have "happy" blood thoughts to make atleast herself feel better.

Mom is very much relieved to be half way done. She is feeling pretty good most days but gets tired quickly. She has learned to take her naps and we've learned to encourage her to take them too. Her next appointment is just under 3 weeks from now. Summer will be in full swing and hopefully family will be gathering around her in Midway, which is something she looks forward to every summer.