The Jenny Hat - Blondes Have More Fun

Another serious knitter in the house, Jenny M. models this hat she made she made from her own original design. The final version has a pair of little purple flowers that sit over the right ear. Vicki always wanted to be a blonde.

The Lisa Hat

My friend Lisa W. is a knitter supreme. She made up this very soft number with a cute furry contrast band.

No News is Good News

V. has been home for two weeks now. The first week rough due to a medication that was causing constant, exteme nausea. Fortunately her blood counts came up enough that she could discontinue that medication. Since then she's been growing in physical stamina and emotional strength every day.

V. will be referred to a specialist at UCSF who will help decide which chemo regimine to do next. Her oncologist is not in a big hurry to start the next batch of chemo, but would rather do it sooner than later. V. is ready to go for it, hoping not to be quite so ill this time since she's starting out stronger than the last time. She said that the sooner she does this, the sooner she can get on with her life, which I think is a good way to think of it.

Going Home

This morning I got the best news we've all heard in many weeks; Vicki is going home. She called me this morning to give me the good news. Jack was packing up as we talked and they are going to get out of there ASAP. Vicki sounded weak and tired, but happy. She didn't rest well last night because she knew she might get to go home today. She's looking forward to getting home for some puppy love and a good rest.

What's Next?
The current plan is for her to be readmitted to the hospital for more chemo in a couple of weeks. The oncologist is looking at other chemo options which might allow her to be treated as an out patient. We will hope and pray that this comes to pass.

Gratitude
Vicki has expressed the intent to spend her time at home as joyfully as possible and not to let worries about what comes next to spoil this gift. Let's all join her in a moment of gratitude and hope. All we have is this moment. If you find your self safe, happy, and free from fear in this moment take a deep breath and do whatever form of gratitude practice your religious and cultural traditions proscribe. For those without a tradition I highly recommend the Snoopy "happy dance" done outside under the sun and sky.

Not Much News

I'm not getting a lot of news from Vicki and Jack and have not been able to visit much lately, so I don't have much to report. I paid brief visit to the hospital this morning and found Vicki having a rough time of it. The infection in her jaw and mouth seems to be healing well and she wasn't needing any pain medication while I was there, but she's wanting very badly to go home and is unhappy about the prospect of having to go back to the hospital in just a couple of weeks.

They are still tinkering with V's blood pressure medication and the oncologist wants V's white blood cell count to come up just a little more before she can go home. While I was visiting the hospitalist physician came in to discuss how things are going and said that the oncologist might be ready to release V in just a couple of days.

Day 30: Feeling No Pain

I had a nice phone chat with Vicki today. Her night nurse on the telemetry unit was so concerned about Vicki's pain that she called the doctors to change the orders for pain medication; instead of having medication available every so many hours on Vicki's request, the nurses are now under orders to explicitly offer the pain medication. Vicki said this has helped tremendously. Between the medications and the general disorientation of being in the hospital she sometimes isn't sure whether it's eight in the morning or evening, so doesn't know when to ask for more medication. Now that it's being offered at regular intervals she's more comfortable and she's looking forward to going back to the oncology unit where she knows the nursing staff and can have visitors.

Jack developed a rash in reaction to one of his medications so had to see the doctor for adjustments as well as something to treat the rash.

Thursday Improvement

After a long night on the I.C.U. where it's hard to rest because of the constant activity and noise, Vicki was moved to the telemetry unit where they are able to continually monitor her blood pressure. She had a CAT scan today to get a more specific diagnosis on the infection which started as a mouth sore, but may have entered a salivary gland The final results aren't in yet, but Vicki said the swelling has gone down a bit and it seems better.

I had a quick phone call from her this afternoon in which she sounded tired, but O.K. My general feeling after our conversation was one of relief, which I think says it all.

She said that she heard she would be moved back to a regular room on her usual nursing floor tomorrow.