Hurricane Season!

The latest Melinda update!  Nearing the end of her first chemo cycle, she feels pretty good and almost normal!  The good things are that she is feeling well, has good energy, and her taste buds are almost back to normal too.  The bad things are that a nagging cough has returned and her hair continues to drop.  The cough thing plus a low-grade fever concerned the physician assistant enough to prescribe a round of antibiotics.  The hair triggered another haircut, this time with an electric clippers to a uniform half inch.  By the way - don't ask her how long it is like I just did, or she'll pull out another pinch of it for you to measure!  Interestingly, now that it is ultra-short, her hair has picked up a life of its own and displays a couple cowlicks, the one in back looking like a full-fledged hurricane, the others more diffuse like tropical depressions that may form one in the future.  While she doesn't permit portraits at the moment, she does allow showing her cowlick, shown here.

Today we went to the University Medical Center for a port placement.  A port is a subcutaneous connection that allows a direct connection into a vein without a temporary IV connection every time.  Once installed, they can stay in place for months or years as needed for treatment and blood tests without vein sticks.  The procedure was supposed to take about an hour and we arrived before 0800 for filling out forms and blood tests.  A late start because of a surgical backlog and what ended up being about a 2 hour procedure, we didn't get released until after 1300.   But we're glad to have it - it will greatly simplify chemo and tests without all the bruises she suffered from the first round of treatment.  It is bandaged now, but will only appear as a bump under the skin that can be connected with a special needle.

Her chemo cycle starts anew the first of next week, with 3 days of infusion as an outpatient at the local cancer center.  The hurricane analogy above seems apt somehow...  We've been through a cycle now, and know a little about what to expect.  While there will be some stormy times ahead we feel a lot better about something we've only heard about before.  Knowing that for each cycle there is a good part of it where we can function semi-normally is a great comfort and something to look forward to each time.  Keep fingers crossed and prayers coming our way - a few months more of this and we'll get an evaluation to see where all this is going.  Stay tuned!