Ready to proceed!

From Mama:

Well, I may have completed my first cycle of chemo, but its still never a dull moment!! Last week I had a reprieve from receiving chemotherapy, but not to worry. They occupied my time by sending me to St. Joe's in Tacoma to have a stent inserted in my right kidney. Yes, more fun and games!!

The main reason for the stent is to help my kidney drain and prevent additional damage from the more powerful chemo that they plan on starting this Thursday.

So far its been going pretty good, not real bad side effects. But from what I hear, the sisplatin/gemcitabine combo that I start on Thursday will be a different story. I'll keep you posted.

The stay at St Joe's for the stent went very well. I didn't plan on staying overnite, but I'm glad I did. I think they push people out after surgical procedures far too quickly in general, just to save money. So in my case, the procedure was performed by an 'interventional radiologist'. They used an ultrasound to guide the insertion of a wire into my back and to my kidney, then from there out and around the blockage to my bladder. Then they used the wire as a guide to insert a catheter. At first I had to wear a bag, yucko. But they took that off the next afternoon, slapped on a bandage and sent me home.

All this so that I can take stronger poison, how smart am I, anyway?

My family has been great during all this, have I mentioned that? My son Michael has been a staunch supporter, by my side for every treatment and willing to play long games of scrabble when we don't have WiFI access. Julia and her family come see me often. Those 2 babies are the best medicine ever!! And then there is my buddy, Hlynn. She came by train all the way from W. Va. to stay with me and help me out. I am truly blessed to have all of them.

Suzanne has been over working in the garden, plus she sends the funniest cards. Heather has been over to help with housework as well as offering her home during out long days in Tacoma. Many many of my other friends have also offered to help, and I truly appreciate every one of them.