We are home! Yeah!!! After the last blog everything went kind of crazy. On Thursday evening Michellie finally gained energy and consiousness. She was able to gobble down a foot long sub from Subway with all the trimmings - even onions. We had tea and enjoyed Grey's Anatomy in the family lounge. She thought it was pretty cool to have a change of scenery. I know I did!!
Friday began slowly. Michellie was pretty whoozy, so we added the drugs right away and got the chemo started. They changed the amount of Bedendryl and she was able to stay conscious for most of the day. This made her very happy! We were able to borrow the Television wagon for the day (which had a working DVD player), and Michellie was able to enjoy several episodes of Private Practice, while endlessly doodling on her white board. As the day progressed she became stronger and stronger, and even ate while having chemo.
Our afternoon was a buzz. We had everyone for a visit. It started with Dave and Diane Krochko bringing me the most incredible lentil burger (food is a challenge to get and the pickings are limited once you do get away). For Michellie, they brought a magic bullet - she can now make her own smoothies - everyone on the ward was interested in hearing what her recipe book would look like. Then, the doctors came for a visit, the lab techs for blood, the reserach nurse to observe the blood taking, the pharmacist, our coordinator, our social worker, our child link events coordinator, our nutritionist, and our nurse was on the run all day. Then, the doctors arrived again for more follow up, then at the last minute, Michellie was called for a CT scan. In went another needle, and off for that. What a whirlwind. Then, we packed up to go and the doctors snagged us in the hall again, and back to the room we went for a consult.
Firstly, we are in awe at the incredible treatment that Michellie is receiving. In less than one hour we had a CT scan and results back to us. As you can see by the team of specialists working with Michellie, there is a lot happening to make her road to recovery the best it can be. it can be very busy with everyone coming and going, but the ultimate goal makes it all worth while. For those of you who wonder how your donations to a hospital fund might be spent - we can say that the oncology department is amazing with what they can do. And, the nurses are beyond anything we have ever experienced. There is always a smile and anything we need is addressed right away. Michellie's file is a big one and her chemo orders are very indepth, and the nurses are so careful to check every detail and to help us every step of the way.
So, where are we now? The cancer is no longer present in the chest cavity or in her neck. They did find a little hot spot on the back of her neck. They say it was on the first scan as well, so they are not too worried about it. It could be an infection on a lymph node, which would explain why it was not responding to the chemo like the rest of the tumor. (And with the way the tumor responded, they would expect that if the spot had cancer, it would have responded as quickly as well.). They will scan that again after round 4 and then decide if they need to do anything further with it. (We will work on it with our healing tools and perhaps we can assist the departure of this little pest.).
The plan is to complete round 4 of chemo to make sure no more cells are generated. They are still awaiting word on a study of the importance of radiation for cases like Michellie. We will probably not know if she needs radiation until the end of round 4, so we will just not think about that for now. For those of you with angelic pull, please ask that the researchers have the time to compile their findings and make a ruling about this before Michellie has to have a decision made. Radiation would mean damage to the thyroid in the process, so we are hopeful we can change this.
So, when we finally did leave the hospital, dropped off the parking pass, went to the apartment to gather luggage and drop keys, pushed our way through traffic and then stocked up on wiper fluid, we were on the road at 5:30. When we travelled for dance events we used to stop at Wendy's for a malt as a halfway treat, and Michellie reminded me of this when we hit Truro. With a BIG grin on her face, we indulged ourselves in some sugar and enjoyed our favorite treat.
No sugar is a real challenge for Michellie. I have to give her incredible credit for her ability to strive each day to avoid it. The body reacts to the chemo with certain elements, and Candida is a challenge. It pushes the sugar cravings to try and feed itself. We try as much as possible to keep the sugar consumption to just fruit and veggies, but every so often Michellie has to indulge for a good treat! For those of you trying to get sugar out of your diet, she is an inspiration for us, and we have really cut out 90% of what we were bringing in for sugar. The nutritionist was very pleased with Michellie's color, energy and strength. We have to be a bit more diligent with the calcium, but Michellie has not lost any weight through this and she continues to eat very healthy. The nutritionist wished all of her clients could be so good about it. Michellie is a real inspiration to us!
So, now it is Saturday and the sun is shining on the most incredibly white snow! We are going to have our snow day - the one everyone else took in Nova Scotia took this week. Enjoy life everyone - each day is a gift!
