Day7

Sorry for my silence. Things have been interesting, to say the least, with some good days and some harder days. Overall I am pleased that my leg and back seem much better so the walking pains have seriously eased. Today we had chemo at 5:30am and have had a sleepy day--very sleepy as the chemo is really kicking in now, but good. Tomorrow is the big day though. I'll get my fighter cells transfused back into me and then the fight is really on. Thank you so much for checking up on us. Keep us in your prayers please-you remain always in ours. lots of love

Day 6

All's well. Aimee was allowed to leave the hospital today, as this is one of the last days before she becomes neutropenic. We took a little wheel-chair tour of the outdoors and played an intense game of scrabble back at the family lodge.

Tomorrow should be low-key too. I probably won't post anything again until Wednesday when the TIL is delivered and interleukin 2 begins.

Day 5

Still Good. We went to mass this morning at 11:00, came back for chemo at noon, and some platelet infusion at 2pm. Aimee's doing well and is eating well. We're taking it easy today. :)

Day 4

Still smooth sailing. Aimee's feeling good, no nausea, little pain. She's had a slight increase in her blood pressure, pulse and temperature, but it's a normal reaction to the chemo. The doctors are surprised she made it to this point so well, considering she already had pre-existing nausea. Must be all those prayers. :)

We tried the video-conference today. Both the sound and video were pretty choppy, but it was great to see the kids. And they were clearly happy to see us too.

Day 3

Nothing to report (No news = good news). A little talking in her sleep-- admonishing Xavier and reaching out to grab Tilly. The worst part of the chemo will be over tonight, and she'll switch to a less harsh chemical.

I have to say, we really like Aimee's doctor here-- Dr. Brock Lanier. He's very friendly, always checking up on her, and even though I am sure he is very busy, he makes it seem like Aimee is his only patient. He always comes in and sits down, asks how things are going, and explains each step of the treatment. Always a smile on his face. He's young, but quite knowledgable. You can also see that he's genuinely excited about what he's doing-- in all the aspects of his office. The nurses have been great too. In fact, we've been impressed with everyone here so far.


Other than that .... It's wet, windy, and chilly out here. How's it out there? :)

Day 2

Aimee received her first dose of Cytoxan at 9:20 last night. Infusion for about an hour. She is also on something called Mesna, which is supposed to prevent any complications with her bladder and kidneys that can be caused by the the cytoxin. So far, so good- she's been sleeping ever since. I guess this stuff really knocks you out. Well, they also pre-dosed her with a barrage of anti-pain and anti-nausea drugs, so that may be part of it too. Another dose tonight @ ~9pm. I'll let you know if anything else develops. These first 2 days are supposed to the worst part of the chemotherapy.

Day 1

Nothing yet. Aimee's still waiting on an MRI, which will happen late this evening. Afterwards, the chemo infusions will begin. She's doing well, apart from back and leg pain. They've had her on a saline drip all day, so she's pretty well hydrated. And that always makes a big difference for her.

I've posted a tentative schedule on the right. It's technical, I know, but it's mostly for my sake so I can keep track of what's ahead. I say it's tentative because the doctors will be following it somewhat loosely after the TIL cells have been given to her. They'll only give her as much IL-2 as she can reasonably tolerate, erring on the side of safety. And since her immune system will be knocked down, there will be around a week of recovery time. Could be less, could be more. (Apparently, her immune system won't be back to normal for about 6 months after treatment.)


Also:

- The priest, the other one, the non-dog one, just dropped by to offer communion. A little communio-therapy with her immuno-therapy.

- Once all the tests and scans and all the running around this hospital is done, we're going to try to video-conference with the kids back in Franklin. Might be fun, could also be disastrous. I don't think the kids miss us quite enough to sit still and talk with us for any extended period of time. But even a few seconds will be worth it, just to reassure them that we still exist as something more than just disembodied voices on the telephone.