Life went on as close to normal as possible after we arrived home. People stopped by on a continuous basis and the phone continued to ring off the hook. We had a brisket night here at the house with a few close friends and enjoyed a few glasses of wine while she could still drink! We met with Dr. Staci Lin (our primary care physician) as well as several home health care physicians who came in to help take care of my mother.
Her personality was back in full swing. Thanks to many steroids she was able to maintain a healthy appetite but was unfortunately unable to sleep most of the time. My cousin Tanya stayed home and took great care of my mother and allowed me to go back to work! I worked for an entire week straight and felt so confident leaving her at home in such good hands. Good friends also helped this week with taking her to and from doctors appointments and getting the house more set!
Radiation was ready to begin. We made an appointment for Tuesday September 11, 2012 at 2:15pm. Jenny Caughey accompanied her to Dr. Koka's office for her very first treatment. The first session was a breeze. Cheryl practically fell asleep in the comfortable chair. Not much to do but sit there with a mask and allow the radiation to do its work. The mask is large and white. It's a direct outline of her face. They use this to hold her in place during the treatment and it is marked up like a map to help ensure that the lasers go exactly where they are supposed to! All seemed well on the radiation front but we still hadn't heard from chemo.
After several calls to the office we were beginning to become impatient. How can you tell us that we only have a few weeks with our mother and then not rush to begin treatment. We were on day 10 and still were unable to get in touch with Dr. McClay. Thank God for Jenny!!!! She marched right up to the oncologist office and helped get the ball rolling. We began radiation pills that day! The drip was scheduled for Thursday September 13, 2012 and the Temador was on rushed delivery to our home. By Friday night we had almost all of the medications and the treatments were all beginning to become manageable.
Cheryl reacted quite well to the first few doses. She wasn't too tired nor too sick. Her very close friend Peggy decided that we should get together to celebrate her life while she was still feeling well. So on Saturday September 15th we had a lovely luncheon at her home. Some of my mom's closest friends attended and we had a wonderful afternoon together! We all dressed up, took pictures with her and enjoyed an afternoon together!
My good friend Anna came down to see her for the weekend as well as my good friend Nick. They were both put to good use. Nick was in charge of fighting the ant invasion in our home and helping set up things that my mom needed in the house. Anna is a nurse and was able to help me organize all of my mothers medications! I consider myself to be a very capable woman but when it comes to organizing 12 different medications as well as her chemotherapy drugs I get a little overwhelmed. Some are taken twice a day, once a day or three times a day. Some are mixed together to create dosages that are needed. Some should be taken with food while others should be taken on an empty stomach. Some make her drowsy and some should be taken to help with nausea and other things prior to her chemo pills. It's a jumbled mess that I tend to stress out about. I make other eyes watch me as I fill her pill containers and count and sort each pill! Thank God she was here to help me figure them all out!
Today is not the best of days. She has slept almost all day! The large doses of medications are making her confused. We try not to laugh at the things that come out of her mouth but then again, she would want us to! She's hanging in there and fighting the fight. With all of her amazing friends we seem to be doing alright. For those of you who are dropping off dinners, helping us with phone calls, picking up perscriptions, ect. we are so thankful! We have the most amazing friends in the world and without all of you we couldn't get through this! You all know who you are...THANK YOU!
(Again, I don't always have time to call back or text back but I am still grateful for all the love and support)
***Update: My mom's doctors have asked that, due to her immune system, she shouldn't be around anyone who is sick or might be getting sick, or who has recently recently received a flu shot. Thank you!
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