Yesterday was Pat’s second chemotherapy treatment.

Following the IV injection, shot, and meds she is given at the doctor’s, she has to take more meds at home. To which she said yesterday “…waiting for Brad to get home from Costco with more ginger juice, so I can get the stuff down.”

Aaarrrggghhh! Don’t know if I could stomach meds AND ginger juice. Makes me gag at the thought.

In a general email to her siblings, Pat went on to say…

Today’s treatment was the same as last week. Right now I feel okay…a bit fuzzy.

Learned more after talking with the Transplant Coordinator who, by the way, graduated two years ahead of me from the same high school.

Small world…and getting smaller all the time. 

Pat continued on…

Treatment here at home will be done in 4 week cycles.

Each cycle starts one right after another, assuming there are no complications…like me getting sick. The cycles will run through 5/12/15.

I’ll then have a bone marrow biopsy to determine if I’m well enough to travel to the mainland for a stem cell transplant.

The earliest we would travel is probably around June. We’ll likely be there 3-4 months, including recovery time.

Kaiser usually works with the City of Hope Hospital, but because my situation is unique they recommended I go to The Mayo  Clinic. Paperwork  will be completed by Kaiser before they contact The Mayo Clinic. So we’ll get that out of the way and be ready to travel by June.

As for how she’s doing, Pat said…

My blood cell count after the first treatment looked fine…some numbers were slightly lower than when the test was done in December. However they were all within the normal range. 

The numbers will likely go down with subsequent treatments. 

The fact that I felt pretty good after the first treatment is also a good sign. However that too may change as I undergo more treatments. 

Basically, the nurse said that my body may eventually tire of all the meds. 

I’m hopeful the side effects won’t be too bad, but I’ll deal with that if and when the time comes.

And, finally…

Brad’s home. Time to finish taking my meds. I might lie down for a bit. First, I have to call Julie and wish her a Happy Birthday.

Talk to you all soon and thanks for the continued prayers. We’ll continue to keep you informed.

Love you all…always.

Pat

As you can see, the path will not be a rosy one. Nonetheless, Pat is determined to take it one day at a time. Along the way she continues to display her sense of humor and fun which makes her so lovable.

P.S. During today’s treatment, I couldn’t find anything interesting on the tube. So I settled on watching a repeat of a UH [University of Hawaii] volleyball game. I had my eyes closed but continued listening…vaguely. The voices I heard through the earphones kept changing abruptly, so I opened my eyes. I soon realized that the woman in the next chair was changing my TV channels while she changed hers.

I guess she didn’t get the memo about covering the signal on her remote…

…gotta love pat.

………hugmamma.