Linda got topped off again

We went for another blood transfusion on Friday. This is getting to be a fairly regular occurrence. Every time Linda has gone off Sutent for a week, her temperature starts to rise, indicating the tumors are becoming active, and then her hemoglobin levels begin to fall. The doctor refers to this as "carcinoma induced anemia." It's getting easy to tell when it happens, because Linda's energy level goes to zero. You know she's tired when she can't spend more than a few minutes talking on the phone to the kids. Wednesday she started feeling puny, and on Thursday when we went for the weekly blood test, she went back to bed as soon as we got home. Sure enough, the nurse called later in the day with the results and told us to come back the next day for the transfusion. Since then, she's felt a little better. Oddly enough it doesn't seem to have an immediate effect, but takes a day or two to kick in, so to speak. We had to forgo our daily walk for the last few days, but we'll be out today enjoying the sunshine and seeing if we can make it to the top of the hill again. That's how we know it's a good day. But then come to think of it, every day can be a good day if you just keep a good attitude.

So for now it's back on Sutent. We see the oncologist again next Friday, so we'll let you know what he says. We also saw the cardiologist earlier this week, who told us something we all already know--- Linda has a strong heart.

Thanks for checking in.

Happy Easter!

A blog update with a picture...you guessed it, Andrea is back! She and Chris flew in on Friday and are staying until Monday. Saturday night we celebrated Easter with the Willens and tonight we'll celebrate with the Wimmers/Gronottes. In addition to all the family time, there has been a lot of sports to watch. We never know how we're going to get it all in, but somehow we manage to. Today, it's basketball, tennis, and golf!

As you can see, yesterday we also made our favorite Easter treats...cornflake and marshmallow nests with M&Ms (similar to Rice Crispy treats). Quite a sticky job, but the pay-off is well worth it.

Once again, the bi-weekly visit with Dr. Bhandari brought no major changes. As of Friday, she had been on the 37.5 mg dose of Sutent for 4 weeks, so she is now off it for one week to allow her body to recover. Her weight and lack of appetite are still an issue. Something's wrong when even ice cream doesn't whet Mom's appetite! However, she has managed to maintain her weight for two weeks. Thank goodness for Ensure and protein powder.

We wish everyone a Happy Easter and a good spring break. Thanks for the continued cards and prayers.

A Blizzard Blows Andrea In

Hi, it's Linda this time, with Andrea typing. It's kind of surprising that she made it here. The last five times Andrea has flown to or from Cincinnati, her flights have been delayed or cancelled. But this time, at the end of the biggest snow storm of the year, her flight was somehow on time. She flew in at 6:50 PM Saturday night, and was only 30 minutes late to her cousin Eleanor's bridal shower. It was an interesting drive for all of us to get to the shower in Northern Kentucky, but we all made it and had a good time.

Our trip to the doctor last Friday was thankfully uneventful. He increased the Sutent to 37.5 mg per day and doubled the Marinol because my appetite has not yet increased. I'm trying to eat as much as I can but I'm still losing weight. My doctor will be out of town this Friday, so I get a two-week reprieve.

While Andrea's been home, we've been shopping for baby stuff, watching tennis and playing Set, as usual. We hope to take more walks and maybe do a little more shopping before she leaves tomorrow. These are pictures from our walk today. As you can see, we made it to the top of the street! Andrea's also cooking dinner for us tonight. Hooray! And the highlight of the weekend so far was that I felt the baby move just now. Blessings all around.

Stay warm, spring is just around the corner! Love, Linda

Back on Sutent

Another week of doctor's visits. Tuesday we had a stress test (Just what we need--more stress). Linda was in no shape for a treadmill, so it was a chemically induced stress test. We got the results Friday, and they were the same as the echocardiogram--Linda's heart is fine. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were a bit strange though. Linda was acting a little unusual, and we wonder if the bump on her head wasn't more severe than we first thought. This was compounded by a new prescription for sleep--Lunesta. Now I'm sure this works well for a lot of people, but it gave her the worst three nights of sleep that she's had all year. Anyway she stopped taking it and her loopiness cleared up after that. There have been no real issues with the Sutent either-- there seldom are the first week and besides, the dose is only 25mg, half of what it had been all December and January.

The biggest problem has been weight. Since recovering from the Thoracenteses, and the cancer turning back on after three weeks off of Sutent, Linda's appetite went in the crapper, and she hasn't been able to make herself eat enough to maintain her weight. It's hard to believe she could go from 142 lbs. to 117 lbs in 24 days, but a lot of the extra weight was just fluid retention to begin with. The one medication Dr. Bhandari prescribed previously also causes fluid retention, so we didn't want to go there again. It is a serious enough problem that we talked to him about a feeding tube (one that is inserted into the stomach through the abdomen, not down the throat.) But before resorting to that, he recommended we try one other medication-- Marinol. I don't know how many people have heard of this, but it's the chemical form of, well, uh.... Let's just say Linda is supposed to get the Munchies after taking it. It's also in very small doses, so you don't get the other effects normally associated with it (darn.) It's only been 2 days, but it seems to be working.

We also negotiated with Dr. Bhandari and got him to agree to let Linda go from 25 mg to 37.5 mg of Sutent, so we'll be watching for side effects in the weeks to come. Wish us luck.

Luv ya all,

Jim & Linda

p.s. Check out Tuesday's entry on Andrea and Chris' Baby Blog. It should come as no surprise that it made Linda cry.