A Bit Behind

Sorry this is being put up a bit late. Kathie had treatment on Monday and also her bi-monthly meeting with Dr. Aklilu (is it bi-monthly or bi-weekly... she meets with him every other week would be the point).

Dr. Aklilu feels that her fatigue and pain could be from either the cancer growing OR from the cancer responding to the chemo - nice political answer, and probably just what Kathie needed to hear as she occasionally has been slipping into the pessimistic side of things.

He also felt that she has been living with an amount of pain that has demonstrateably (yep, made up word - so says spell check ) been affecting her quality of life (she's been too tired to do much and her appetite has dipped pretty low). To remedy this situation, he has asked her to wear a pain patch on a regular basis. Initially after putting it on, she felt great... and then all the drugs in her system caught up with her and Wednesday morning she spent throwing up and feeling loopy. Things have balanced back out, and she seems to be benefiting greatly from this new addition to "treatment."

Dr. Aklilu has also asked her to take pepcid regularly to control some heartburn issues. She's been getting a dry scalp due to the Erbitux and he suggested something like Selsun Blue or similar to help that - oh, if only every solution came in a $2.99 blue bottle!

On another note, due to the lowering appetite, Kathie continues to stay at a lower weight than ideal and we've been trying to think of brilliant and healthy ways to add some calories. If anyone has some high calorie suggestions that do not include sugar or artificial sugar, shoot Lauren an e-mail: laducharme@bsu.edu

Last, SCRAPBOOK - Lauren is hitching a ride from Bob on the 9th down to NC... the book is going down with her to give as an early Valentine's Day present. If you are planning on your page being in there when she gets it, please get it in the mail by Monday so Lauren can get it together. Also, please make sure your name(s) is/are on it somewhere:) The stories and letters have been great (not that I'm reading them;) ) - if you want to write a longer letter than will fit on the page, there is no shame in attaching an envelop to the sheet - the top of the scrapbook pages are open, so it can easily be slipped out for viewing.

Don't forget to mail everything to Lauren's school address - e-mail the above address if you need the apartment address.

Thanks to those who have already sent the pages, I think she'll be very touched by your pages... and thank you to those who almost have it ready to pop in the mail (right???)..... and thank you to those who at least are reading the blog and praying for her:) All of you are amazing and your concern for Kathie and the family is deeply touching to all of us.

oooh... speaking of family, in a little over a week, the DuCharme family will be reunited for the second time in a year!!! (unprecedented since Christen headed to the sunny island life) - Christen is on the mainland as of today and back with Bob and Kathie next week. Lynette will be making a visit to NC around the same time as Lauren (though is lucky enough to stay for a couple of weeks... ) I believe the children were somehow tricked into helping unpack and set up the Lexington house - oh, I think it was with gentle reminders of how Bob and Kathie had paid for colleges, credit card bills while in college, put food on the table, made sure no one fell into the Grand Canyon, etc. :) Parent card, works every time!

Posted by Lauren