One foot in front of the other

All is well, more or less. Mom is still in pretty good spirits, and she's not dancing or playing the piano any less than she was before the diagnosis. She hasn't danced in years and doesn't know how to play the piano, so I guess that's not so surprising. She's going in for her first chemo treatment this Thursday morning, and both Mike and I are going to accompany her.

The main drug she'll be taking is called Gemzar, and it doesn't have many side effects for most people. She's also signed up for a clinical trial of a new unproven drug, taken as a pill, that seems promising. Today, though, they said her bilirubin count was too high for the trial. She had a new blood test, and we'll find out Thursday whether she still qualifies for the trial. It's a blind trial, with only 50% of the patients getting the actual drug, and the rest getting a placebo. Yeah, I know - that's too much information. Mom doesn't have much energy or appetite, and her hip is still quite painful. Her doctor is going to contact her for the shot into her hip joint that should help.

We had a nice 3-day weekend just passed. Mike and Mary came down with their youngest daughter Brooke, and we hung out at the house before having a good Italian dinner that night. And Mom and I went to see "Atonement." It wasn't quite the traditional love story that Patio had in mind, but we liked it.

I'll write again a few days after the chemo and let you know how it's going. Write a comment on the blog, gol durn it, and I'll see that Mom sees it. If you want to be notified when new postings are on the blog, you can sign up with your e-mail address on the Google Groups box on the right side of the page, and you'll be notified. (You'll only get messages about the blog - nothing else.)

Lastly, here's a great photo of Mom when she was about 14, with a neighbor of hers:


Stay in touch - call Patio - write a comment!

Love,
Dave