Two hubby updates for the price of one!!

Hi guys! Here is the latest news from Hubbyland:

This morning we met with the chemo dude to get the results of the latest blood tests and unfortunately the cancer marker number had risen again :-( This was not really a shock as he has visibly been in more pain recently and we kinda knew that the chemo hasn't been working.

So we have a new regime starting in a couple of weeks, and this one appears to be a bit more aggressive. In fact he has to go and have an echo cardiogram to make sure his heart is healthy before they will start the treatment.

If all goes to plan he will be on a 3 week cycle instead of 2 weeks, with a longer first day at the chemo centre (as the new stuff is a lot stronger it has to be given slowly and with extra hydration), then a couple of hours back at the chemo centre on the second day for further hydration, followed by chemo pills for the rest of the cycle. He will continue to get the bone strengthener on every 2nd or 3rd treatment. We will do this for 4 treatments, then get a PET scan and see how we are getting on.

There is a higher chance of side effects with this treatment, but we are hopeful that they wont be too bad as Hubby didn't seem to be too badly affected by the previous treatments (his problems stemmed from the strong painkillers and the bone strengthener rather than the chemo drugs themselves)

As always I have spotted the faintest glimmer of a silver lining - with this regime Hubby wont have to be hooked up to the take home chemo pump for two days which was always a grotty pain in the arse!

The other update is that Hubby started his radiotherapy today - hurrah!! There isn't really much to report other than that the radio dude was happy with how it went, and aside from the machine making scary noises and feeling a warm tingling at one point Hubby did not seem any worse for wear after the session. 

We have no idea how quickly he should start feeling a difference, but he is scheduled for another 9 or 10 sessions over the next couple of weeks and we are very hopeful that things will start to improve soon.

In other news, my driving is coming along slowly but surely! I haven't scheduled any more lessons yet as I was waiting to find out what the radiotherapy schedule was going to be, but thanks to a practise run with a friend's mom (thanks Kris!!!) I am now able to run Hubby back and forward to the medical centre where he gets most of his treatment - hurrah!! And while I am not confident enough to be taking him to the next chemo appointment, as long as he is still on the ball there's no reason why I cant take him to the radio sessions, as well as the cardio and PET scans we are scheduling for next week, thus giving me a good few practise drives. 

Well, that's all the news for now. It's been a long day, Hubby is having a wee nap for a couple of hours, and I am off to enjoy a glass of wine on the porch and catch the end of the sun :-)

As always, I will keep you posted. Laters ..... x

Quick Hubby Update

Happy Friday everyone! This is just a quickie to let you know that all went well at the radiotherapist today. Our latest member of the oncology team seemed like a nice guy and seemed confident that he could help Hubby. He will be speaking to the chemo oncologist to work out a plan of action, but reckons that we will be going for 2 to 3 weeks of radio, then we will get stuck back in to the chemo.

Obviously we wont know any more until next week, and I will be sure to keep you posted when we have a plan!

We are looking forward to a nice quiet weekend now - the last couple of days have been quite scary and tough, but I am feeling more positive again today. Operation Peapod is back in business!! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends, whatever you get up to! Don't forget to hug your loved ones and tell them that you love them!

Laters .... x

 

Juice-tastic!!

Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me an obscene amount of pleasure to introduce my latest kitchen friend - my shiny new Juicer of Joy! As per my own crazy assed tradition I will at some point give my new toy a name, but this time I have decided to let Hubby choose and he has not yet gotten back to me.

After hearing a glowing testimonial from one of our friends on Sunday about his new juicing lifestyle we wondered if it might be something that would help Hubby with his digestive issues. There are many occasions where he doesn't feel like solid food and I do really worry that he is not getting the nutrition that he so desperately needs right now.

For once, Hubby agreed with me so off he trotted and picked up a juicer along with lots of lovely fruit and veg to play with. For our first attempt we went with our friend's simple go to recipe - carrot, apple & spinach.

As you can see, the result did not look appetising but it was actually pretty bloody delicious! And when I realised that I had just downed more vegetables than I had eaten all week I decided that I was hooked!!

It was really quick and easy to make, although the clean up is a little trickier - despite being dishwasher friendly, it would appear my dishwasher is not juicer friendly as it doesn't bloody fit!! Never mind - a small price to pay for so much health and happiness in a glass!

Hubby isn't doing too badly today - he does feel quite grotty and is napping right now, but he is much better than he was after the first bone strengthener treatment so I am happy about that.

I am now off to search Amazon and the interweb for books and recipes on juicing and I will most definitely keep you posted on my future creations, as well as that all important name!!

Laters .... x

*** Hubby Update - Encore ***

Hello all. Hubby had round 4 of chemo today and unfortunately the news wasnt brilliant.

So, here's some context - a couple of days before a treatment Hubby has to get blood taken so they can check the cancer markers in his blood and see how he is responding to treatment. We were told that these markers would probably increase for the first 3 or 4 treatments before starting to drop off, but apparently the oncologist didnt expect them to be quite as high as they were today :-(

Now this could be the final flair up before they start to drop, which is obviously what we are hoping for, but it could also mean that the current chemo cocktail simply isnt working and we need to come up with something new.

We wont have any more details on that until the next treatment so it will be a tense couple of weeks while we wait to find out what is going on.

We also have a consultation on Friday with the radiotherapy department to see if they can help any with the pain being caused by the tumor(s) in his shoulder bones. I'll be honest - I dont know that much about this (it was a bit of an info overload today) but I will be sure to update you on Friday.

Aside from all that, he seems to be coping well with today's dose of chemo, which included the bone strengthener which knocked him out the last time, so that is something to be grateful for!!

Sorry that this is a shorty today - im not really in a chatty mood but i know you will all want to know the latest news. Hopefully I will have something better to tell you next time!!

Love 'n' hugs 'n' shit!! xxx

*** Hubby Update - The Sequel ***

Happy Thursday, friends! I am delighted to report that Hubby was well enough to get his chemo yesterday - hurrah! I am also delighted to report that he had gained 2lbs since his last visit - double hurrah!!

The chemo centre was very busy this time so we
 got to sit in the library, and we found a copy of ....
 I shit you not .... Chemotherapy for Dummies!

He seems to be feeling a bit better than after the last two rounds - as discussed, our oncologist reduced the chemo dose a bit, and he also didn't get the bone strengthener as this is something he will only get every 6 weeks. He was still fairly drained when we got back yesterday, but after napping for a few hours he got up and ate a hearty dinner and didn't seem to be too worse for wear. Fingers crossed that that continues!!

The spectacular view from the patio

In other news, we were incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to go stay with friends of friends in Sonoma this week to watch the Perseid meteor shower. We had met our hosts, Bob & Sharon, at a party earlier in the year and had obviously been well enough behaved that when they invited John & Teo to stay they extended the invitation to us too.

Hubby making his pizza

They live in a beautiful house at the top of a hill with the most spectacular views and their own little vineyard where they grow the grapes to make their own wine (which was deeeelicious!!) We had a wonderful evening making our own pizzas in their wood fired pizza oven, drinking from a fantastic selection of wine, and eventually getting wrapped up warm and waiting for the meteors.

John & Bob with the finished pizzas 

I must confess, I was expecting the sky to be full of meteors all night long! That was most definitely not the case, but when we did see a meteor it was pretty spectacular!! Hubby and John both had their cameras out trying to capture one on film but sadly they were just too damned quick!!

Me, Teo & Sharon 

I must send a huge thank you to Bob and Sharon for having us to stay and being such wonderful hosts!! We both enjoyed ourselves immensely and and it was a perfect break and distraction for both Hubby and myself!

I like a table with 5 open bottles of wine! :-)

We also had an out of the blue visitor this weekend in the form of Hubby's childhood friend Dave, who now lives in Michigan. Dave called on Friday to try and plan a visit and it turned out that the only suitable time for the foreseeable future was ... well ..... the next day!!

Dave & Hubby

The boys hadn't seen each other for many years, and it was the first time I had met him - although I had heard many stories about the infamous Dave before! We had a lot of fun having him to stay, and I really enjoyed getting to meet him, and look forward to him coming to stay again!!

We have more visitors coming out next week - Hubby's parents have understandably been concerned about their boy and have decided to move the trip that they had originally booked for the end of September up by a few weeks! This will obviously be a different kind of trip than we were all originally planning, but I'm sure we will still be able to manage some mini outings and fun times!!

And finally ..... my first driving lesson has been scheduled for Friday of next week so I would highly recommend that anyone in San Jose area stays off the roads between 12.30 and 2.30 pm!!! I will, of course, let you know how that goes as I am sure you could all do with a laugh!!

On that note, I'm off to check on the patient. I'll keep you posted on how he is doing this week

Laters ... x

*** Hubby Update ***

Hello friends!! A few people have been asking about Hubby's progress this week so here is a quick update.

He was due to have his 3rd round of chemo on Tuesday but when we arrived our oncologist said that Hubby's blood count was a bit low and, although he could go ahead with the treatment if he wanted, the doctor would feel more comfortable postponing it for a week.

It was a bit disappointing to be sent home, but we are not overly concerned as the oncologist seemed to think that it was caused by the last treatment being too strong and an extra week of rest should be enough to fix Hubby's levels. He will also reduce the dose of the next treatment which is scheduled for Wednesday.

As always, I have tried to find a silver lining here and have found a couple - first, it gives us an extra week to feed the boy before he loses his appetite again - hurrah!! And second, if we stick to the new schedule we should be able to go on the trip our friends have been planning for Thanksgiving - which we were almost sure to have missed on the previous schedule - and that will give us something to look forward to! Hurrah again!!

Despite feeling a bit run down, Hubby had a good weekend and made it out for dinner on Saturday night, then on Sunday we made it to a Star Wars themed concert in the park. Saturday was the first night in months where he managed to stay out for the whole evening and everyone was delighted - for a few hours it felt like everything was normal again and that was brilliant!!

In other news, today I booked some driving lessons - EEEEEEEEEK!!!! As you all know, I am very anti-driving (well, anti-me-driving, anyway!) and have managed to find an excuse to put it off for many years. Now with Hubby being ill and frequently unable to drive, particularly to his chemo appointments, it seems I can put it off no longer :-( I don't have a date for my first lesson yet but I will keep you posted (and warn you when to stay off the roads .....!!)

And finally ..... I got chatted up today by a nice young man while I was waiting to cross the road! :-) He drove past me turning on to the main street, reversed back (nearly knocking a poor woman off her bike!), introduced himself then asked if I would like to go out sometime. I politely decline, obviously, but I had a definite spring in my step all the way home!! Particularly as he looked about 10 years younger than me! :-) Yep, I still got it!!

Well, on that note I shall get back to my crocheting. Yes, you read that right! I have decided to crochet a blanket for the chemo centre as their current range of blankets are a bit crap, but as this is only the second thing I have tried to crochet (the first being a decidedly wonky scarf) they may still seem like a better option!! Yet another thing I shall keep you updated on!!

Laters .... xxx

When life hands you lemons .....

..... throw them back in the bastard's face and hope at least one bursts in his eyes!!!

As you may or may not have heard, life has recently handed us a big ole sack of lemons. My wonderful hubby has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer which started in his stomach and has spread to numerous other parts, including his liver, lungs and some bones, and as you can imagine, we are pretty fucking devastated about it!!

He had been having back problems all year which were diagnosed as arthritis in April and had been losing a shitload of weight which we had attributed to an ulcer caused by taking too much ibuprofen for the back pain. Sadly this was proven false after he was sent for an endoscopy while on holiday in the UK for his sister's wedding.

Anyhoo, here we are back in sunny California and dealing with a new future. He has started his chemo and is currently on round 2. He will be on a two weekly routine of one day at the chemo centre for a 4 hour infusion, followed by 48 hours of take home chemo, then 11 days to recover before the party starts all over again! This will go on for 6 months and then we will re-evaluate.

He seems to be recovering a lot quicker from this round of chemo which we are very relieved about, but the good painkillers are causing him a lot of digestive problems and it is hard to find the right balance. It is still early days though, and I am confident that we will figure it out soon!

All in all, we are staying pretty positive and doing our best to get on with it. I am so proud of how Hubby is dealing with it - I'm fairly sure I would have gone to pieces by now if it was me!! Luckily we have the best friends anyone could possibly hope to have, and they've been keeping an eye on both of us and have been absolute God-sends giving us lifts to all his appointments and making sure we have everything we need. There really aren't enough words to express how grateful we are to everyone and how lucky we are to have you all in our lives - if love and support cured cancer then Hubby would be cured already with bags to spare!!

Our oncologist has said that he should start feeling an improvement in 3 to 4 cycles so hopefully in another month or so he will start feeling a bit better and be able to get out and about a bit more -  I bloody hope so as he will be off work for the next 5 or 6 months and it will be rather intense if the two of us are stuck in the house together the whole time!! On that note, if anyone has any suggestions for Hubbyish books, movies, games, hobbies or other pass times we would LOVE to hear them - he is not used to being house bound and I suspect it wont be long til the boredom kicks in!!

On a happier note, today is our 12th wedding anniversary - hurrah! We wont be celebrating with our usual fancy meal out, but that hasn't stopped me dressing up (who says I cant sit around the house in a leopard print dress and wedges with spikes?!?! ;-) ) and we will be making a nice romantic dinner to have at home. You can expect to hear about that tomorrow ...

A wee silver lining (sometimes you have to really dig deep to find one, but when you do you should grab it!!!) is that Hubby needs some serious feeding up and that will let me indulge in my hobby - cooking and baking!! Although we do have the unfortunate situation where Hubby is trying to gain weight while I am trying (as always!) to lose some, yet I seem to be the one eating most of the goodies! Bah!!

Well, that's probably enough for you to digest for now! I will be posting updates about Hubby's treatments and general health and adventures here, and please feel free to ask any questions or post any messages for him - I will be sure to pass them on!!

Laters .... xxx