Jan.8, 09 8:30 pm Val's best day out of the first 21! She called two friends today and actually got on the phone to speak to me for a short time. I encouraged her to drink the ginger teas which are suppose to help with nausea, wear the sea-bands on her wrists for nausea during chemo and every day following, and to try to take ALL of her vitamins EVERYDAY. I am worried about the potential for the tingling in her hands and feet that she probably will get. Val will take the predisone tonight at 9 and 3 am (they will set the alarm). I also verbally said to her that she can do this she has the strength. She only replies oh Salynn. She needs to hear positive statements. Even the chemo nurse Tony encouraged them both today explaining she had some new tricks and changes up her sleeve to decrease all the side effects Val experienced with her first chemo. Off to chemo #2 Jan 9 Love and prayers to Val for a better experience on round two. Love and prayers to Val Salynn

January 8, 2009

I spoke with Dad this morning at 9:45a.m. He said that Val had a good night. She felt like watching a little television last night. She took some pain medicine that helped reduce the stomach cramping. This morning she took a shower without much help from Dad. When she got out of the shower she tried on some cloths by herself! She did not feel like eating much this morning, but she is drinking the odwalla organic vitamin induced juice smoothies (a little advertising) that Denise found for her. The nurse had already been there this morning to take a blood sample.
Dad was very upbeat about how well Val was feeling. He was well rested himself. I will be in Barre tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. to drive them to Val's second chemo treatment.
On Tuesday Val showed Dad and I that her hair was starting to fall out. Denise is going to buy her a few head scarfs today.
I know everyone is praying for a successful treatment tomorrow and for Val to win this battle that she is fighting. Thank-you for all of your prayers and support.

Love,
Baine

January 7th

I spoke with Dad on the phone this morning.
Val went for her blood transfusion yesterday at the Barre Hospital.
She got 2 pints of blood and an additional clear solution of electrolytes in parallel.
Baine drove them home from the Hospital around 3:30 and Val seemed pretty well and
was able to walk to the couch by herself and rest there.
Val did not sleep well again last night so is still quite tired today.
Val feels quite a bit of new pain in her abdomen today and will try and rest as much as she can.
The home nurse is there this morning to take blood.
The nurse is scheduled to come tomorrow as well. Then the Chemo appointment is on Friday.
Love and Prayers for Val!!
Ryan

Monday Jan.5, 09 10:00pm I spoke to Dad this noon time. He said Val had had a shower and walked only to and from the bathroom and to the chair beside her bed. Both are scared of the right foot pain which is limiting them pushing to walk any further today. He measured the right upper thigh to be 2 inches bigger than the left. The right foot arch area measured one inch bigger than the left. He said his call to the chemo nurse was specifically to ask if they should be concerned with this right leg pain. I never found out tonight if he got his answer. I tried to reassure him that Val is protected against a stroke or a traveling blood clot given the greenfield filter and the coumadin. I thought the question should really be is there any reason she should be "developing" new clots...that would be my concern if they say yes maybe a new tumor is pressing on her vascular system again. Let's hope not. Val ate well french toast for breakfast, chicken salad for lunch with no signs of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea today that I am aware of. The visiting nurse has been coming every day. Today blood was drawn ( I am not sure if Ettaback office requested this as it was scheduled for Tues and Thurs ). It revealed a 7 hemoglobin. Dad will take Val up to CVH in Berlin at 8 am tomorrow for two more pints of blood. We were thinking maybe while she is there is it possible to get the IV meds to battle the vomiting and nausea that she experienced the first time? Denise has been speaking to Dr. Caplan office in montpelier. This is the naturapathic doctor who will help her with her chemo side effects and nutrition. They are only able to do a phone consult this week and will schedule an appointment with Val near the end of Jan. before chemo #3 (21 day s after Jan 9, 09.) Love and prayers to Val. Salynn

Dec.4 7:30pm Dad has adopted our notebook version of writing everything Val eats and drinks, meds and symptoms, down daily. He makes a daily am call to the chemo nurse Tony or Jamie who work directly for Dr. Ettaback to discuss her status. Val's day was OK. Her right foot and calf remain painful at rest and with walking. It measured 17cm the first day, and has gone down to 16.5 compared to 14cm girth of the left calf. The nurse did not recommend another Doppler or feel this was anything to be worried about. My personal opinion is that it could be a new DVT ( why would one develop would be a mystery) or a shift of the one that was already there. Remember, she has the greenfield filter to catch any traveling clots, she remains on 2.5 (mg or pills I did not clarify this with Dad) down from 3 of her coumadin (warafin). So from a treatment standpoint, all her DVT's ARE being treated. Val doesn't like wearing the compression stocking. Transfusions have a side effect list of 12 things: swelling, nausea and vomiting are on that list. Since,Jan 1 Thursday, the visiting nurse has been coming every day. Tony the chemo nurse said blood will be drawn on Tuesday and Thursday of this week. Her blood level is an 8 (hemoglobin that is) since the transfusion. Val still doesn't not have the strength we want her to have and remains in her weakened state. When Dad mentioned that he felt Val might not be ready for chemo on Friday Jan 9, Tony the nurse insinuated that the doctor doesn't really like to deviate from the 21 day cycle. The next question to the nurse has to be what medical guidelines are they using to determine what makes her "ready" or not. Is it the blood levels or her overall weakened state? Val has little desire to eat and drink still. She had pasta with cheese and butter for lunch and salmon with cream cheese for dinner with choc. milk. She is a tough patient if you all can believe it... a little ornery...she gives Dad more resistance than she ever gives me. She was getting the abdominal cramps from too much constipation medicine which has been dropped back;the 2 senna pills. She still takes pill that dissolves on her tongue for nausea. Since she gets EVERY side effect that could possibly happen I reminded Dad that the tingling in her hands and feet that come with chemo can be avoided with the Vit B 12. Val was never one to take vitamins so she hasn't been convinced yet (and resists us) that she should be taking the B12, calcium, D, and multivitamins that Alison worked so hard to get for her in an easy to swallow or dissolvable form. She still says that the pills get stuck in the back of her throat. We showed Dad how to dissolve some of them in her tea with honey, but not all are able to be dissolved without tasting horrible. They are easy to swallow and we are trying to get Dad to just present them with her daily meal at lunch time. I hope this answers all the questions on the comment section. All input is very important to us. Keep them coming! We all want Val to have the best outcome possible with the least amount of side effects.
Love and prayers to Val Salynn

January 3, 2009: By Alison: Yesterday, Friday 1/2, Val had a rough day. She seems to get every side affect that there is from all the treatments. She had a lot of vomiting all day on Friday, a side affect of the transfusion. She also has a swollen leg, her calf area. Also from the transfusion. So she did not eat on Friday until the evening, some tea and broth.

Today, Saturday, she had a much better day. Dad had her walk in the hall up and back twice but she complained that her leg hurt where the swelling was and so Dad brought her back to bed. She has stopped vomiting but she does have bad cramps when she goes to the bathroom, painful per Val. She did eat today and seems to be regaining her strength. Now that her blood is up to an 8, as she continues to keep her food down, hopefully she will start to get her strength back. The visiting nurse was there today, Rudy was not sure what she did so I'm not sure if she tested the blood again today or not. I did not want to call Dad again tonight so the afternoon update was from Rudy. I will call Dad tomorrow and encourage him to try and bring Val downstairs if he thinks she is strong enough. It would be good to give her a change of scenery and do more walking. Love and prayers, Alison

Jan. 1, 09 Last night Val's blood level was a 4 and went up to a 7 after two liters of blood transfusion. Normal we think is a 14. Coming home was difficult. She made it into the jewelry room then rested. Then into the living room then rested. Then up the stairs with Dad and Baine's help. She vomited at the top of the stairs then rested. She eventually made it back to bed. Denise washed her up, changed her clothes and freshened her up with lip gloss and lotion before tucking both Dad and Val into bed at 11:30. Dad and Val made it up to the new year against all odds this year. Dad hasn't seen the 11:30 in years! Love and prayers to Val. Salynn