Stringing You Along...

...and leaving you hanging.

That's what I have done lately. That is kind of how cancer treatment is, too. Now, I didn't plan it that way. I didn't leave the blog with no new posts to make a point or anything. Just the normal end of the semester crush. But it is true that the nature of cancer treatment is sort of like that too. For example, you find a lump and you make an appointment, then you wait. Then you have a test and then you wait. Then you have another appointment and schedule another test and then you wait. There is a sense of urgency, and always a next item in the future stringing you along. On the other hand, there is a lot of hanging in wait for the tests to be read, for the doctor to be available, for the next test or the next appointment.

Now that the kemo is done there have been more tests and more waiting and more scheduling and more waiting. The end result is two pieces of really good news.

• The kemo worked really well to shrink the tumors!
• The surgery is scheduled for June 1st, after the end of Kat's semester!

Sadly, she will miss graduation ;-) and even more sadly, she will miss the end of the year faculty party. But as I write this she is working hard to wrap up her work for the semester--curriculum agendas and grading student work. (Hmmmm Kathy, are you sure you wouldn't have rather left the finals and all the grading for someone else?!?!)

An Update

I happened to run into our blogstar last evening when I stopped by the hospital to visit my Aunt (Aunt Betty had a knee replacement). Wow did Kathy look great! Being finished with kemo certainly agrees with her! This week she has her MRI and another mammogram and then once the doctor has all of that information, they will schedule surgery. While we were discussing how nice the hospital room was, Kathy said she thinks her surgery will be outpatient. Really??!?!? That seems a little cavalier of doctors! "Having a mastectomy? Oh, yeah, that's just a little outpatient thingy."

She will find out more details by next week and you will all be the first (well, not really! maybe the fifth or sixth!) to know.

We were also talking about the surgery horror stories that people tell you. "It was the most painful surgery I ever had." Someone always has to say that. Why do they do it? On the other hand, if you have some helpful hints from your own or a loved one's surgery, please share. You never know what hint will be like the Q-Tip trick that I posted about before.

The Next Phase

Great end of kemo party everyone! Thanks for coming and celebrating with Kathy!

So, the kemo is over. What is next for our blogstar?
This week she will have appointments in preparation for surgery, for example, another breast MRI. After that, they will have the information they need to proceed with surgery. It sounds like that will be sometime in mid to late May. Then again, it might end up being after school ends for the semester. Actually, that is probably one of the more difficult things about the treatment Kat is undergoing. The calendar is very fluid and it is controlled by someone else! To read more about breast cancer surgery at the American Cancer Society website, click here.

Speaking of the American Cancer Society, some of you may be noticing that there have been no Relay for Life activities on campus, yet. There may be some people planning to participate, but I had to sit it out this year. Since it is May (Paint the Town Purple month!), I encourage you to still make a donation to Relay. One of my nieces is participating in the RFL at her college (Here is her website!) I am very proud of her for doing this as a student with such a heavy workload ;-) If you prefer to keep your donations local, HERE is the website for RFL Salinas. I'm sure any of the teams would love to have your support!

Happy Birthday Kathy!!!!!

Choose your version! It's Kathy's favorite song today!






By the way, thanks to all who attended the virtual party last weekend! We had close to 175 visits to the blog from Thursday afternoon through the end of the weekend! That is a LOT of support!

It's a Party!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
The last kemo was today. The taxol infusion finished, they flushed the "sludge" and our blogstar was out the door!!!!

Let's all join in a celebration of a MAJOR MILESTONE!!!! Virtual champagne, anyone?
How about some cheese and crackers?Play the music of your choice and let's all dance like there is no tomorrow. That's the one thing cancer teaches us. Carpe Diem! Kathy, you've done a great job and we're all here with you at your virtual "Kemo is Over" party!!!!!

In case you aren't sure what music to play, here is what Cheryl will be playing!

Less Than 48 Hours...

...until the last kemo!!!

I'm sure the time has felt endless for Kathy, but can you believe she is almost done? It doesn't seem like that long ago that we met in the parking lot of the oncology center with presents and rowdy cheering. By this time on Thursday we can all be cheering that this phase of treatment is over!

Seems like there should be a party, but maybe Kathy wouldn't be feeling up to it. Let's have the a virtual party here on the blog! Click onto the blog on Thursday afternoon and join the party. As of today there were about 650 hits. Invite all Kathy's supporters to click onto the blog and lets see if we can harness the healing energy of at least another 100 by Thursday night.

Here are a few words from Kathy last week.
The nausea from this kemo seems to be a bit more pronounced than the last one, and I guess the next one will have the nausea fairy visiting me even more, but hey, it will be the last one! And, so far, my feet and fingers haven't gotten all tingly and numb (the side effects they told me about vs. the nausea that was supposed to disappear!). I have to say, I'd rather spend a couple of minutes with the toilet than walk around numb! Everything's relative. :-)

Hey Kathy, we're wishing you a restful 36 hours. Save up all your energy for this one last fight against those @#$%&*! cancer cells. They know they can't last against you. You know martial arts for goodness sakes!

Keeping Her Chin Up

So no news about our Blogstar since before Easter week. Sorry about that...I was out of town. I don't know how long it had been since I had seen Kathy. I didn't see her the week before spring break and I don't think I saw her the week before that when she had her 6th kemo. Our schedules at work are totally in conflict this semester. But I did manage to steal some time to stop by this morning. Here are the highlights in true Kathy fashion:

"They lie!" The Taxol treatments do make her nauseated--not the same way as her first kemo drugs, but still... Puking is puking, don't ya know!

She looks great! "But I'm getting up at 4 am so I have enough time to get my eyebrows drawn on straight!" and "I don't recommend the cancer diet, but...Don't tell my doctor, but I want to lose 7 more pounds."

All the appointments are driving her crazy--besides the kemo there are tests, and more tests, and tests on the tests and on and on and on. (See this blog to get a sense of what it is like to live on the schedule of doctors). But I did find out that it wasn't quite true that she hoped to have her surgery on a Thursday and be back to work on Monday! She figured maybe the following Monday so she would only miss about a week of classes! And she would really like to know if they could just wait a couple of weeks until the semester is over because it would be so much better to have her surgery after the end of the semester. I love this woman!!!! This even though the kemo has her @#$%&*! cancer on the run. The doctor reminded her that those weeks between kemo and a delayed surgery just might not be such a good idea!

And then, of course, we had some unbloggable talk about curriculum ;-)

Tomorrow is her PENULTIMATE kemo! I just had to use that word, it's one of my favorites. And now I have even more reason to love it. Kemo #7 tomorrow. After this one, just one more. After tomorrow she is 7/8 done. That's 87.5% finished with kemo Kathy! Ask Davis what percentage is left, he says he is doing fine in his math class!

Kick it Hard tomorrow Kathy! I can picture those poor, sad, haggard, sorry ass, limping cancer cells. They are GOING DOWN!!!!!!!