Garden Pics

I have uploaded some new pics of the garden progress, taken 6/15/09, along with notes in the captions. This link will take you directly to the album.

Summary For New Readers

I was thinking that as I direct new people to this blog I don't always tell them how this cancer stuff got started. So, here's a summary of how this all began:

It started out as colon cancer, discovered February 13, 2008. I had surgery to remove the tumor and underwent chemo from March - September. In December 2008 mets were found on my liver during a scan. I had surgery in January 2009 to remove them. I then started chemo again in February 2009. I hope to be finished at the end of August.

So, that's the "quick and dirty" to get everyone up to speed.

Round 7

OK, here I am in the middle of Round 7. I guess it's good to be more than halfway through this. It'll get easier to see the end though when I get closer to it.

Monday when I came home I just headed to bed as usual. Around 6:00 or so Dave offered me some Jell-O. My stomach felt unsettled but I said OK, I'd try it. Such a sweet husband. I was so tired that I didn't want to open my eyes and the chewing and the swallowing of the Jell-O was as much as I could manage. He spoon fed me the whole thing. What a wonderful guy. Later he brought me an Ensure. Between the Jell-O and the Ensure I was feeling better. Not good enough to get up, but good enough to go to sleep. I actually slept well that night. Actually I was able to go to sleep when I asked Dave to come up and lie down with me for a while. Just lying with my head on his chest, hearing him breathe and hearing his heart beat quietened things down inside my head and allowed me to sleep.

Tuesday morning I got up, drank a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. And then a small glass of chocolate milk. Read the paper, then headed to bed, where I was for most of the day. David brought me another Jell-O and Ensure meal. Later I got up and went downstairs, drank some water, ate 1/2 of a tamale (which I helped make on Saturday!) and watched TV. When I went to bed I was able to sleep well again.

Today I woke up, drank the OJ that was waiting for me beside my bed. Then went downstairs for some chocolate milk. Read the paper, showered and then we went to have my pump removed. I came home, went to bed to watch some TV and took a nap (I also ate a vegetable tamale with some salsa and sour cream). Here I am now updating things and drinking another glass of milk.

Last time I started feeling a bit blue-sy, a little depressed. It's because out of each 2-week cycle I have more bad days than I have good days. The oncologist offered me some anti-depressant pills but for now I will decline them. I don't want to commit to taking chemicals for 6 months when I will be finished with this in 3. And I don't want to even out my mood, so that not only do I not feel "down" I also would not feel "up". I don't want to miss out on feeling happy. So, I'll just see how it goes and resist the drugs.

Everything that I am feeling is normal, I am told.

Trying To Rally

For some reason I just haven't recovered completely yet after that last round of chemo. Usually I start feeling like my old self by the following Tuesday. I was expecting it to be Wednesday this week since my chemo was delayed a day due to Memorial Day. But here it is, Thursday, and I still feel kind of sluggish. My appetite's not great, especially for breakfast. Sleep's hard to come by so I get up tired already. So, I wake up tired, my stomach fells unsettled, so it's hard to eat breakfast. Therefore my energy's low for the rest of the day. Then I just hope I sleep well the next night and wake up refreshed, like someone hit a "reset" button. But it hasn't happened yet this morning. Maybe tomorrow...

I still cannot neglect the things I have to do. Because even though I feel pretty beat up this week it's nothing compared to next week. So I know I won't get anything done next week. And I've put some things off for several weeks already and just need to get things done. Like today: I'm cleaning up the overgrown lamb's ear in the front. The dead brown leaves have to be removed from the bottom of each plant. If I had done this a few weeks ago it wouldn't have been such a big job. But they got so overgrown it's taking me a few hours just to do this one job. And if I don't do it now then it's just going to look worse and be a bigger job later on. So, I have to muster up the energy and get it done now to avoid a bigger, longer job later.

Also, something I had put off for several weeks finally got done this week. I dedicated 2 days to cleaning the windows in our house. I hosed down the 1st floor windows on the outside and cleaned the class and the window sills. The 2nd floor windows took a little more time since I couldn't reach them with the jet spray and the squeegee. So I opened them up (the open inwards like a door, luckily) and wiped down the sills and the window frames and then cleaned the glass with Windex. It was a lot of work but the windows look so much better.

Now I am working outside, cleaning up the lamb's ears. I have a couple of things I hope to get to in the garden . Which is coming along nicely, by the way! Tomorrow I will gear up for a dinner party we are having on Saturday. Some of our friends are coming over and we are going to try our hands at making tamales. Luckily someone's also making enchiladas, so we are guaranteed to have something to eat. ;-)

Resting

I am lying here on my sofa, posting from my phone for the first time. So it may be a short post! This week was rough. My chemo was Tuesday instead of Monday due to Memorial Day. So I went in on Tuesday, saw the doc. Then went into the infusion center. Not exactly my favorite place to be. I chose a seat and waited for the poisons. The nurse hooked up the Aloxi/Decadron combination (for nausea) and let it run in. Then she hooked up the CPT-11 and the leucovorin and let that stuff run. I was told that there wasn't enough Avastin on hand so they decided to give that to me on Thursday when I returned to get unhooked. So after my cocktail finished then she hooked up my 5-FU which infuses over 46 hours. I came home on Tuesday and felt just aweful. It's not that I was experiencing nausea or throwing up. The drugs take care of that. I just overall felt horrible, very fatigued. I really don't want to do this anymore, yet I have 6 more to go.

My appetite does funny things. Sometimes I feel like eating a salad. Sometimes it's a Taco Bell taco. Or tortilla chips and dour cream. Or spicy V8. Or regular V8. Or even Fritos and spicy bean dip. Mostly it's either really clean flavors or it's strong (sour cream) or salty (chips) flavors. Those break through the numbness of my tongue. The clean flavors don't confuse it.

Well that's what's on my mind right now. I just wanted to share that with you.

Garden Pics Updated 5/25/09

I have uploaded some new pics of the garden progress, taken 5/25/09, along with notes in the captions. This link will take you directly to the album.

How Chemo Affects My Energy

Well, for those of you who are wondering how I'm doing, let's just say that I'm very busy right now. When I have chemo (as a reminder it's every other week) I have absolutely no energy and I feel as if I will never have energy again. I don't want to do anything. I don't want to chat online. I especially don't want to talk to anyone in person or on the phone. Carrying on a conversation of any kind makes me so tired. Just putting together coherent sentences drains me. So, I hide under a rock. That's why those of you who tell me I look great or I am so strong only see that part of me. I don't really let anyone see the other part. Not because I want to spare you. Not at all. I want to spare myself the energy drain. I usually won't even answer the phone. Sometimes I can send out a couple of cell phone texts but that's usually the extent of my abilities.

So, this goes on for about a week. My chemotherapy sessions are usually always on Mondays and by the weekend I am feeling like perhaps I can got out for short excursions, but then return home to nap. Usually I don't feel like my normal self until the following Tuesday. Then I start running in circles, cramming everything into the few days that I have.

My next chemo is on Tuesday the 26th. I get an extra day this week because of Memorial Day. That's great, until I remember that I will get one less day the next cycle, assuming I return to Mondays. I like Mondays for my treatments because it's possible for me to be somewhat social by Saturday if I get enough rest.

I have 7 cycles remaining. Then the MD will order an MRI every 3 months to keep an eye on things. I really want this to be over.

I'll try to update this more often. I may start to repeat myself but I understand you would probably like an update anyway. I appreciate that you check in here to see how things are going.

Next blog post: Updated garden pics!

PET Scan Results

Just a quick note while I have some residual energy. Last Tuesday (May 5) I had a PET scan performed. This past Monday I got the result. No new tumors, lesions, or anything. Just some inflammation in my abdominal area from the surgery. So all is well. My oncologist did say that she would like for me to do 6 months (12 cycles) of chemo to help ensure nothing comes back. I've done 5. I guess I can do 7 more. Ugh! And I will have an MRI every 3 months as follow up.

On to brighter things: The garden. This weekend I will take new photos. We (David was a BIG help) planted the 5 tomato plants, 3 pie pumpkin plants, and the 2 squash plants that we started from seed. We also put down a lot of compost (mulch) to help keep the ground cool. So far it's looking great and I do expect to get some nice harvesting eventually. I still have to plant the okra (they are in a seed starter tray) and when I do they will do very well. I have learned that I like starting seeds. That way I transplant little guys that have a head start against the bugs and critters.

Garden Pics Updated

I have uploaded some new pics of the garden progress, along with notes in the captions. This link will take you directly to the album. I have added some detail in the captions so that you know what you are looking at!

New Mediport

OK, so now maybe I'll take a few minutes and get this blog up to speed. Last Sunday David and I returned from our vacation to the Caribbean. Soon I'll upload some photos from our trip. We left on Friday, April 3rd for San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there we journeyed to Bridgetown, Barbados aboard the Silver Cloud, part of the Silver Sea cruise line. When the cruise was over we spent two nights in Barbados and then two nights in South Beach, Miami. Sunday April 19th we finally returned home. After two weeks away, it was nice to be home!

Before our trip I had my 3rd chemo treatment and then had my PICC line removed. I couldn't very well go to the Caribbean with tubes hanging out of my arm! I also worked frantically in the garden, getting everything planted that needed to be planted as well as setting up the irrigation so that they would get watered automatically via a timer. All that work caused me to strain the newly healed muscles in my abdomen so I spent the cruise worried about the painful spots but after taking it easy since then I'm happy to report that the discomfort is gone. I still have some garden to set up but I will wrangle David into doing anything that requires any straining.

A couple of days ago I had another mediport put into my chest. This will be used for the remaining chemotherapy infusions instead of the PICC line. This time I consulted with a surgeon (who is known for installing pediatric ports in his patients) to ensure that I didn't get some huge device implanted like before. I am pleased to report that this one is so much less noticeable than the first one. So, I start chemo again next week with my brand new port. Yay? Don't know if I should rejoice or not.

OK, back to the trip: Usually David writes up a trip report, sprinkled with his brand of humor. Hopefully he will find time to write this one as well. If he does so I will post it here for all to see. David has found himself to be very busy since we returned because he got some surprising news the evening of our return: Most of the people in his work division had been laid off and those remaining have been "reorganized". Luckily he didn't get laid off but now he has a new boss and is trying to figure out what his new role is. This week has been interesting but eventually things will settle out. I'm just glad that he still has a job. Right now's not the time to be job-searching since so many people have been laid off in his industry lately.

Me? I am lucky that the health care field is growing. When I'm ready to go back to work (after chemo, I suppose) my job will still be waiting for me, I'm told. I do have a great boss and wonderful peers.

Back From Vacation

Just a short note to say that the lack of posts this time was for a good reason. I've been in the Caribbean! I'll post details soon.

It was dark when I got home so I wasn't able to get a good look at the garden but it looks like things are moving along out there. I gotta get more lights out there!

On Tuesday I get another mediport put in and chemo will resume next week. Just in case you were wondering.

Now I have to unpack.

Garden's Almost Finished!

I figured it was time to post again. Right now I'm feeling great. With this chemo cocktail I am tired longer than the last time and don't really start to feel completely normal until Tuesday of the week following chemo (when chemo's on Monday). Anyway, when I'm tired posting seems beyond me. It just takes way too much mental energy to put so many words together! This week, once my energy returned, I was working nonstop in the garden. I finished setting up the irrigation, added blackeye peas, some pepper plants, a couple of tomato plants, early corn, late corn, and sunflowers. I also planted marigolds and seeds of nasturtiums and borage. I read that these three flowers help keep bad insects away.

Here are a couple of pics of the garden today:All I have to do now is wait for the ground to warm up a little more and plant seeds for okra. Also, at the end of the month the asparagus crowns are expected at our local nursery. I will put 6 of them in. Plus I have seedlings growing for a couple of heirloom tomatoes, pie pumpkins, and yellow crookneck squash.

I can't wait for stuff to start growing and for my garden to turn green!

Chemo 2.3 Report

Well, last cycle (2.2) was very rough. I wasn't nauseated, per say, but I was throwing up. Plus I was so fatigued. Yet couldn't sleep. And since I was so lethargic it was hard to keep fluids going in. So I got dehydrated. Which made things worse.

This time around we changed things up a bit. I took a very powerful anti-nausea drug (Emend) before my chemo infusion. Plus they added Aloxi to my drip (another anti-nausea). Then the CPT-11 dripped in slowly along with the Leukovorin. After that was finished a new chemo drug was added: Avastin. Then when that was completed they hooked up the 5-FU which is the one I go home with for 46 hours. I will go have it removed this afternoon. Anyway, so I came home Monday and was very fatigued as usual. I went upstairs to rest and tried to watch TV, but could only do so through one eye. And even that eye was half open! I was drinking water as much as I could then I asked Dave to go get me a Jamba Juice. This really helped to give me some nutrition and fluids. I did drink most of it. At bedtime I took an Ativan which is supposed to help me sleep. My nose was running (and I suspected the drainage might be upsetting my stomach) so I took a Benadryl also. I slept so well! I woke up Tuesday morning feeling pretty good and even had enough energy to accompany David on some errands. Yesterday I drank two Jamba juices and today I will do more of the same. Also last night I took the Ativan and the Benadryl again and slept like a rock. This is really helping. Before all I could do is lie in bed and grunt answers at David and now I can actually get up and move about the house. I don't feel up to doing work in the garden but I'm happy with its progress so far.

So, hopefully we have found a winning combination and will stick with it as needed.

Chemo 2.2 Report

Well, I'm only on the 2nd day of this round so this may be a little preliminary. But I do have to say that the "good" anti-nausea drug Aloxi wasn't good enough, even when I added Zofran. Next time I'll do the Emend too. I don't know what the Aloxi costs but I do know how very expensive the other stuff is. Good thing I have great insurance!

Yesterday when I came home I was already getting so tired. Which was a bummer because I really wanted to work some more setting the garden up. Here's what it looks like right now:

The bamboo tee pee is the trellis for the peas. In the plot just to the right will be the long-term dedicated plot for asparagus. Along the fence to the right will be corn - 2 varieties. Up near the peas will be squash and tomatoes. The next plot "this way" will be carrots and salsify. The nearest one in the center will be garlic and blackeye peas. Over against the fence in the shade (which will probably cause these to fail unless the earth shifts soon) are beets, shallots, spinach, lettuce, and Swiss chard. There is space up near the garage where I will plant pie pumpkins. I will also plant some sunflowers along the edge by the corn and also throughout to give the garden a nice look. Right now I have to gt the irrigation laid out and plant the seeds, then cross my fingers!

This is just a nice shot of Theo hanging out beside our small pondless waterfall:

Chemo 2.1 Report

Sorry it's been a few days since I've updated. Last week was rough and I just didn't have the mental energy to put thoughts down. And now it's all fuzzy! Anyway, I had my chemo session 2.1 last week (1st cycle of the 2nd chemo regimen) on Monday. We had some disagreements with our oncologist about the anti-nausea pre-medication. Last time I started chemo they gave me Kytril which is effective for 12 hours. What good does that do a person who is having a 46-hour continuous infusion? Not much. Anyway, they claim that the insurance companies won't pay for the better drug: Aloxi. Aloxi is effective for 3 days at least. So, I had to take Kytril, get sick and supplement with Zofran before they would approve Aloxi. This time we had to repeat that process. And it's not like Zofran is cheap. The retail price of the 15 Zofran pills (and I think we have the generic even) was just under $600.00. It cost us a $5.00 copay. Anyway, I digress... with me getting the weaker premedication (Kytril) then having to supplement with Zofran , my stomach was kept on a teeter-totter. So, it was unsettled a lot which made me even more tired than I already was, plus I just didn't want to eat or drink. Which leads to dehydration. Which can be very bad.

So, I slept a lot. Or tried to. My eyes weren't comfortable open or closed. When they were open they were so tired they wanted to be closed. When they were closed then my eyelids felt heavy on my eyeballs, so my eyeballs wanted my eyes open. It was a struggle. Usually sleep won out but getting there was an effort.

By Friday I started feeling more energy and Friday evening it was like a switch was flipped. I wasn't ready to go shopping (we did that Saturday - until I crashed) but I was ready to eat a small amount of ice cream. That was an indication that my appetite was returning because on chemo I absolutely do not want anything sweet. It really is a good weight loss plan! One that I would not recommend...

I would like to take this moment to send out a very warm, heartfelt "Thank You" to my wonderful co-workers. Even though I'm on medical leave (and am actually on Social Security disability for the time being) I still technically have a job since they say they want me back when I am ready. And they are so generous! Every few days some wonderful dish of food shows up. I had no idea there were such wonderful cooks in the lab! The meals are so appreciated and really help out when I just have no energy. It really takes our minds off of meal prep and has really made things so much easier for us. We do still cook on non-chemo weeks like this one but on chemo weeks having something ready to heat and eat really makes it easier for me to eat when I can and keep what little energy I have up.

One more thing about the food: a few days ago a container of mushroom risotto showed up in the cooler. I don't know who left it. I'd like to request a bucket of it next time!!! It came just as I was getting around to eating again but I bet I could eat it even when my appetite is really low. It was that good! Anyway, thank you and please share the recipe with me.

My hair: I don't really know what to expect. I have been told that there's a very high chance of it all falling out and then someone else will say it'll thin gradually but not all fall out. I know that when chemo makes your hair fall out then your scalp feels tender and yesterday it did start feeling that way. But I still don't know what that means for me regarding hair loss. I am prepared with a wig, some hats, and eyebrow stencil and eyebrow pencils. If I have to go the wig route I'm not actually bothered by that. Having ready-to-wear hair may be nice (it'll always look good) and perhaps having a fresh start to my hair color corrections would be a good thing when it comes back in.

PICC Line and Garden Update

First of all, Theo would like to extend his greetings!

OK, so last week I had my PICC line installed. PICC stands for "peripherally inserted central catheter". A catheter is inserted into a large vein deep in my arm and the 44 cm length of it is threaded up into an even bigger vein and ends just above my heart. As long as we maintain it well it should serve me well. The biggest problem with these is infection. Here's how it looks:

Generally it's kept covered up in some fashion. The company that is sending me supplies has sent me a few of these white sleeves which are very breathable. Before we got these sleeves we were using cohesive bandages. No matter what I use it isn't really that visible under the covering and to the public eye it looks like perhaps I hurt my arm and am wearing a bandage.

I started my new chemotherapy today. I am getting CPT-11 (Camptosar) and 5-FU. In a few weeks Avastin will be added. Avastin interferes with healing and it's too soon after my liver resection to start that.

On to other news, we finally got a break in the rain and tilled the fava under. First David used a lawn mower to chop up the fava. Here's what it looked like right after that:

Then he proceeded to till the garden, ensuring that the nitrogen from the fava are safely in the ground:

And he was very happy to do it!!

Here's what it looked like when he was done. Nice, dark, rich soil!

I have drawn out a rough garden plan and will need to tweak it once I go out to take measurements. In a week or two I will plant the peas, lettuce, spinach, and anything else that needs to get going early. In the meantime I am going to start some seedlings using our Aerogarden to get a head start.

Chemo Angels

A couple of weeks ago I was told of this group called "Chemo Angels" which is a non-profit organization. They send cards and little gifts to chemo patients throughout chemotherapy. All I had to do was sign up and then I was assigned to an Angel. This Angel (mine is named Sue) then will send the cards and gifts. I signed up a week or two ago and this past week I received something from her twice. The first time she sent me a box of Dots candies, some gummy bugs, and a card. Yesterday (for Valentine's Day) she sent me a cute white teddy bear with a pink sweater, some Valentine's M&Ms, some Sweet Hearts , and sent David some Valentine's candy too. She enclosed a card as well. They make it clear that we should feel no obligation to communicate with our angels and we do not need to say "thank you" but she did give me her email address and it doesn't kill me to be polite so I did thank her for these gifts. They did brighten my day!

If anyone wants to look into this organization here's the link to their website: http://www.chemoangels.net/

Chemo Update, Garden

There's really been no change here in the Coleman household. I'm still recovering but have my full energy back. However, I still am not supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds until 2 months after the surgery so I still need Dave to do a lot for me. My appetite is back to normal and I am eating well. My chemo starts February 23rd and I will have it every other week. The oncologist has decided (at our prodding) that I should have an MRI of my liver before the chemo starts. This is because neither the PET scan nor the CT scan saw the 2nd tumor that the surgeon removed. Plus, the surgeon wasn't able to see the right side of my liver since it was under my ribs. So it would be good to get another image of that area.

Scarf news: The scarf is now about 3 feet long and I will make it 5-6 feet long. I think 6 feet is best. Then I will make another one like it and combine the two, to get a double think scarf. There are 2 reasons for this: First of all, it's a bit too narrow. I didn't actually plan for it to be a scarf to begin with but as my "practice swath" grew I decided it could become useful. If I had planned correctly it would have been 30 stitches wide instead of the 20 that it is. Doubling it won't make it any wider but at least what I do have will be nice and thick. The second reason for doubling it is that it is really curling up. I think blocking it should help but another way to fix it is to line it with a woven cloth or to double it like I have proposed. So, I have decided to make 2 scarves and join them. I'll be working on this for a while!

The fava are just about ready to mow down and till under but now we have to wait for the rain to take a break. Which is concerning me a bit. Once the fava are tilled then I will have to let it rest and decompose for a few weeks before planting. So, the longer I wait to till the fava the later it will be that I plant. Some of these things (like peas) need to go in rather early so I am a bit worried about that. Here's a pic of the fava now. My, how tall it's grown!

Also, here's a pic of the planter boxes:

The Brussels sprouts are growing nicely and the kale is very slowly getting bigger. I think once spring rolls around properly and there is lots of sun and some warmth then the kale will take off in earnest. So, we will be eating lots of kale and Brussels sprouts until the rest of the garden is in and growing. Here is what I hope to plant: corn, tomatoes (3 kinds), carrots, asparagus, salad lettuce mix, California blackeye pea, an heirloom red okra, salsify (description: Heirloom, native of Europe, tasty in soups and stews, or cooked alone. Plant in spring, dig in fall, a non-sweet parsnip-like root. This variety dates back to the 1800’s.), summer squash, spinach, peas, a couple of types of sunflowers. I'll also replant some of the herbs in the herb box that died off when it got cold.

Last, but not least, is a photo of the nice tulips I have growing on the kitchen island. Yes, you read this correctly. Here's the proof:

My Accidental Scarf

A week and a half ago, my mother in law, Mary, started paving a new path for my idleness. She brought over a few starter knitting supplies and showed me how to do the basic stuff. I started practicing on a light blue yarn and decided that if I keep going it will actually become a scarf. Here's how it looks today:

The dark blue band is also from a practice session. I asked Mary how to change colors in the middle of a project, so she showed me. I decided that a dark blue band on each end would look nice so I switched it back to light blue and will make the other end the same, when I finally reach it. I was also thinking that a fringe using a combination of the light and the dark blue will set the whole thing off nicely when it's complete.

So, anyway, I just wanted it on record that it's her fault when I spend money on knitting-related items. Just so my husband knows!

Decreasing Pain, Knitting, and Food

Dave said I should post... I wonder when he will start up his own blog?

OK, here goes. As it so happens I do have some stuff to say, so I guess it's time to make a new post. The pain has decreased to a point where I don't have to be on pain meds all the time. The last two days I took a pain pill only once per day, and nothing yet today. I'll only pop one if something starts to get too sore or achy. Otherwise it's feeling better. I still have trouble sleeping on my side, though. I try to roll over on it from time to time to give my back a break and sometimes it's comfortable and sometimes my ribs ache. So, I do it when I can. I am up and about most of the day now with perhaps a midday nap. I am also trying to stand straight again which will help my back a lot. We have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon on Thursday. Maybe he'll give me clearance to drive!

The other day my mother-in-law, Mary, came over to hang out with me while Dave was at a hockey game with his dad. She brought me some beginner knit supplies and an instruction book and tried to teach me how to knit. After practising yesterday I am finally getting it but I still need to learn how to hold the needles. I do this thing where I sort of prop the left needle up in my lap to free my left hand to manage the yarn. It's actually working quite well for me. They say everyone develops his or her own techniques. OK, I guess I'm developing mine! It may be a while before I can make anything useful. I'll start out with a scarf attempt and see what happens.

The people from work have taken up bribery! They have organized to make wonderful meals to bring for Dave and me to eat. I suspect the underlying goal is to guilt me into returning to work when my treatments are over! That's a joke, but no matter the motive, Dave and I are so touched to have such great people supporting us. Probably soon I can (and will feel like) meal prep again. But having ready to eat food in the fridge has been a real treat and has taken one task out of our hands during this difficult time.