Update, February 2011

The old adage still prevails: "No news is good news!"

Thus, my silence...

Since our last post, Sabine has had to increase her Revlimid dosage from 10 to 15 mg. in order to try and arrest the growing blood cancer.

So far, so good.  She is experiencing more tiredness, but is still her usually "bubbly" self and still into daily excercise (we just did a 5 mile walk up two major hills with our trusty canine companion, Mocha!).

We go back and see Dr Sheehan in a couple of weeks and take a look what Sabine's blood work reveals.

We had a great time in Florida and our anxiously awaiting the warm breezes of spring!

Peace.

A Valentine to a Cancer Patient

i started to
write direct
prose
for this day
of hearts
i found the words
not quite
so
i go to my preferred
broken verse
as these words
unfold
they become
(to me)
both whole and
holy
thoughts of these
years together
of
the cancer time
which to
some
would be the
unraveling
the distancing
but to me
these are the special
years
the bonding time
cementing a love
which I thought
could never be
more stronger
its become
a love
so deep
so marvelous
nothing
no tragedy
no loss
no grief
no cancer
can erode
can fracture
this bond between
us
ever.

Avoiding Snow / Recharging engines!

Usually, we love our Wisconsin winters -- snowshoeing and skiing.  But each winter Sabine loves to "go south."  And that means Florida for us.  So what does Sabine do when she comes to Florida?

She visits and plays with family.
She dances.
She takes long beach walks.
She eats.
She works out at the gym.
She goes to a performance  .
She gets a massage.

Getting it on at the Cafe Tu Tu Tango in Orlando.

Hikin' the beach!

Moving those muscles at the gym.

A patio massage with the seabreeze and surf in the background.





The fabulous "Flamenco Express" danced at the Lyric Theater in nearby Stuart.

Lunch at the marina at Fort Pierce.

The Isaac Byrd, Jr. Jazz Band at Stuart's Riverwalk.

Breakfast on St Pete's beach.



Grand daughter and great-grand kids!



 BUT MOST AND BEST OF ALL...

BOTH OF US COME HOME RESTED AND PREPARED TO CONTINUE THE CANCER FIGHT!

On the Road Again (with our trusty dialysis machine!)

There is something liberating and peaceful about our vacation time.  I was really looking forward to our trip to Florida.  My expectations were certainly met with our visits to new family members (the Gowers) and reconnecting with daughters Catherine and Jennifer and their families in nearby St Petersburg.

Of course, Sabine loves vacations!  She always has.  And the chemotherapy seems to be going well (we will check the numbers again when we return).  I also can report that the on-the-road hemo dialysis has been going well and I have been able to make the vein connections without complications (thanks be to God!).

Just before we left Orlando and headed off to the beach on the east coast (Hutchinson Island) the dialysis machine failed.  Not completely, but started to give us some worrying signals the last hour of treatment.  We made it through and called our dialysis nurses in Madison and then the manufacturer of the machine -- NextStage on the east coast.  (Yes, they had just been snowed in with a tremendous blizzard).

We took the next day off (Friday) and drove to Hutchinson Beach where NextStage said they would deliver a NEW machine after 5 pm.  We arrived at the condo, unpacked, and soon had a call from the desk that our machine had arrived from the airport in Miami.  Magic!

So we have a new machine for this morning's treatment as we spend our last week on the beach.  The weather has been great (up to 80 degrees yesterday) and plenty of sunshine. Just what Sabine needs!

Here's a few pics!

Sabine and friends at the Cafe Tu Tu Tango in Orlando

On St Petersburg Beach

Bowling with kids and grandkids at the Ten Pin Lanes

Fresh grouper at the marina in Fort Pierce

The view from our condo on Hutchinson Island near Jensen Beach

Florida

[Coughing, wheezing, sniffling, hacking] "Well, we just might as well be sick in warm Florida than in freezing Wisconsin!" So we headed south, drove 800 miles before we saw grass and even though we scraped our windows in Lake City, we were in Florida and it had to get warmer.

I was worried that Sabine's cough could be related to her cancer -- so, when I finally caught a cold, I was relieved...  Such is the nature of a caregiver/battle buddy.

Here's some pics from our stop at my granddaughter Nikki and four GREAT grandkids in southern Illinois and at our timeshare in Orlando near Disney World.

(Oh, yes, our colds have seem to disappear with the frost...]

Good To Go!

Sabine likes to get up for her cancer doc!  And with sub-zero weather all around us, why not think SOUTH -- sort of a mid-winter luau at the cancer clinic!  (NO, we don't dress up like this in the main lobby!  We change after we get into Dr Sheehan's office and before he comes in!).

So here we are.  Dr Sheehan gets to pick whether we get to go south for a couple of weeks vacation:
GOOD TO GO or NO GO!


Guess which on he picked?

Worries

We meet with Dr Sheehan next week just before our vacation; our “run to the south.” I am worried. We got the blood test “numbers” back today and they had, again, increased. And this is despite the chemotherapy intervention. One side of me (the rational one) wants to look at the increase as being statistically insignificant – an increase, yes, but not a big one. Then there is the cough…

We are monitoring a strange cough that Sabine has. We have discussed it with at the clinic and we are watching and seeing whether or not another chest x-ray is warranted. No temp, no tell-tale mucus signs, but a persistent cough. I am watchful for pneumonia that stalks many multiple myeloma patients.

The other side of me says, “whoa!” We’re not going anywhere until the cough gets under control. And I don’t like an increase in any of the cancer markers – even those deemed “statistically insignificant.” I hunker down. I internally shout, “Circle the wagons,” and diligently watch for any kind of trouble.

This is really the “ups and downs” of cancer. You got it. You get it under control. You watch. You wait. And then you’re back in the fight again.

Stay tuned until Wednesday when we have our scheduled appointment with Dr Sheehan.

P.S. For those of you who are number-watchers the free lambda light chains have gone from 19 in Nov., 2009 six months after the stem-cell transplant and this was still holding into last May. Then last August the numbers jumped to 42, September was 64, and 133 in November when we started the Revlimid/Dexamethasone intervention. Within 4 weeks it has reduced the numbers to 71. Now, in her second 28-day cycle of chemo the numbers have now increased to 106 (which was the lowest Sabine got in her initial Velcade chemotherapy.