Thursday, May 28, 2009

Tumor Marker drop... again

So it is down to 92! I made a handy dandy chart.

but, i cant get it to load from excel.  So what it shows is that the over the first month of chemo my tumor marker dropped from the base of 186 to 161. Then in 1 week it dropped to 125! Three weeks later is where we are at is at 92.  :-)

So my uneducated theory is that if I keep on this chemo, I am in good shape for a while. I just hope that I can take a vacation soon because now that the tumor is asymptomatic, the chemo is wiping me out.  :-(  Right now I am high on steroids and going to Napa for energy work.  Yippie!

Love to you all
rebecca

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

End of round 2.

So. First of all, if you leave messages on this, sign them with your name because I do not know who you are all of the time by your sign in name.

It seems to be true that I write mostly during crisis. So no news really is good news...

I am doing pretty well. I am at the end of my second round (month) of chemo. It has been two weeks since I have gone in. I go in again tomorrow for the beginning of the 3rd round. I am doing better than when I started chemo, but I have begun to be chemo tired. It is a drag, and very unpredictable still, but I am letting go of the hope that I am going to continue getting more and more energy. I go get my bloods done today, so I will know what my tumor marker is tomorrow. I will let you all know. We look forward to chemo holidays. Hoping to time them with summer breaks.

We have had constant visitors, which has been nice. Two weekends ago, it was Andy’s brother, then John, a work person with Andy, came and was gone most of the time working. They day John left my cousin David, on my dad’s side, came. It was great to see him and we had fun, just not moving at the pace I wanted to move. I can do some of what I want, but then have to rest. I have managed to get sucked into a Richard Russo book. That is the most complex thing I have read in a while. I am enjoying ‘Bridge of Shadows.’ I take book requests, as I am going to have to get to the library soon.

The garden is an ongoing project. It is doing so well that the next projects are not staring us in the face. We can get creative now. I am looking at companion planting for the things we have in the ground and we are thinking about what the next round of planting is going to be. Already, I am buying less veg. because we have to eat the favas and the artichokes. The lettuce is now ready too…☺

This week is busy. I am starting to offer energy work to others. This is part of my healing and using the ‘energy’ in the universe. It is fascinating how energy work for others is also good for me. This is free, so if you are near by and would like to get worked on, I am starting slowly but would like to talk to you. I am very excited by this.

Love to you all and I hope all of you are having fun doing your thing.

Love love
rebeca

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

GOOD NEWS

My tumor marker just dropped from the high before chemo of 186 to 125 already. Looks like chemo is working. Now noone knows if the tumor marker means that the cancer is shrinking or the metabolisim of the cancer is slowing. Either way, it is good. For me it is probably a little of both, but we cannot expect that if it gets to normal that it means that I do not have cancer in me.
I went for a mile long walk around a lake up in the hills today. I am now pooped, surpringly so (at least for me). It was very slow and leisurly. Tomorrow I have chemo again, so I am at the top of my game right now.
It is beautiful here and Richard, Andy’s brother just arrived, so I am going to go hang.
Love to you all and thank you for your loving support.

Rebecca

Friday, May 01, 2009

Rebecca says:

Chemo continues. I went on Wednesday and everything went smoothly. They start giving it to me faster and I was out in 3 hours. I had acupuncture the same day after a couple hours at home. Dr. Bob (the acupuncturist) is shifting his focus from chemo adjustment to returning to building the body to fight the cancer. That works for me.
Good news. My tumor marker dropped from 186 to 161. That is one month’s progress. It is not surprising as I have had more energy. It is in the right direction, but not huge. Normal is below 39. It is not miraculous, but a good steady drop. The first time I went to South Africa, the tumor marker was at 110 when I left and 56 when I got back. That is huge. This time I have to be patient.
My voice is doing much better. It goes away sometimes, but mostly I can talk. Phone talk is hard because people do not understand me, the same way it is hard to understand kids on the phone. My voice is pretty high, or breathy.
I am constantly working on staying grounded in relation to whatever drugs are going through me. The steroids going up, and down, the benedryl and the chemo. I am working on holding steady in my body and trying not to over think too much.
Merav has been out of town all week and we miss her a whole big bunch. She comes back today. CANT WAIT! I thought I would be glad when the kids went away to summer camp, but now I am rethinking that. This summer they each go away for two weeks. They are going to different camps and they overlap being gone for 1 week.
Nothing very exciting going on here, I guess that is good for a change. I think of you all and wish you well. How are your lives?

love love
rebecca