MRI results

I saw the doctor yesterday for a chemo treatment and realized I haven't posted any news for quite a while. Six weeks ago when I had a chemo treatment, the doctor gave me the good news that my brain tumors were not growing...at least not a lot. The MRI report stated there was some growth but the doctor didn't seem concerned about it so I have to assume that's a good sign.

In the meantime, I seem to be doing pretty well except for the constant fatigue. An afternoon nap usually helps.

Rough week

Just when I thought I'd gotten past all the nausea and vomiting and had weaned myself off most of my meds, all those nasty symptoms returned in full force. Plus I had crying spells for no reason leading me to return to my anti-depressants and anti-nausea meds - pretty much I'm back on all my meds and feeling just a bit better. No vomiting today. But it's slow going and I'm impatient to feel better.

The brain MRI is scheduled for next week on the 19th. When I worked as nurse, we sometimes had patients who would come in with advanced problems that could have had simple solutions if only they had come in earlier. I was always astonished when they were asked why they didn't come in sooner and the answer was, "I didn't want to know". Now I'm in a position to understand that reply somewhat. Part of me doesn't want to know if the brain tumors are growing because then I will be facing very bad news. On the other hand...what else can you do? These things have to be faced. But it's pretty scary.

On the bright side: we got a puppy about a month ago. I love dogs and lost my little dog to coyotes in the spring. Ever since, we've been looking for another dog. I was sort of half-hearted in my search but my sister, LuAnne made it her mission. We finally found (accidently) some neighbors who were selling cairn terrier puppies. I've not been familar with this breed but read up on them and they sounded like great dogs. My sister Carolyn (who lives next door) and I both got puppies after falling in love with the cute little things. Everyone says it has perked me up to have a puppy again. Now we just have to get through the potty-training phase...yuck!

News from the doctor

I saw my oncologist yesterday just before chemo treatment. He informed me that my tumor marker had dropped about 10 points and although it's still far from normal, going down is a good direction - showing that the new chemo regimen is working. Other lab work showed that my liver enzymes went from high to normal as well. Another good sign.

On the negative side, I've been getting spot headaches, meaning not like a regular headache where your head hurts all over but rather just one or two particular areas will get a sharp, throbbing pain that fortunately doesn't last long. Because of this, the doctor wants to get another MRI of my brain in the next week or so. This part concerns me the most since it's the tumors in my brain that most likely could kill me.

I also have a tumor under my reconstructed breast which has been there ever since the cancer spread all over. It's kind of been my barometer for how the cancer is growing. When it gets large, usually the internal cancer is growing. When it starts to shrink, the internal cancer is most likely shrinking as well. Right now, the breast tumor is fairly large. When it gets large, the skin tightens to the point of splitting open. Usually some antibiotic ointment takes care of it and it eventually closes over but more recently, it is not closing up like it usually does. Whether that is due to the fact that the tumor isn't shrinking very much or the openings are not responding to the antibiotic ointment - I don't know. The good news is that in all of this, I don't have pain - or not enough to complain about. Now and then, I'll have a pinch or ache but compared to others who have to be on narcotics, I feel very blessed.

New treatments

I saw my oncologist yesterday and he had been able to speak to a radiologist concerning the tumors in my brain and treatment for them. Since I've already had whole brain radiation, I can't have that again so they were looking at picking them off one at a time. The trouble with that is that there are too many tumors to use this method. Most of them are very tiny - pin pricks - but if you misss even one, there's not much point in having done anything. Also the brain swells around the site where it's radiated so if you have more than 3 or 4, there can be too much swelling for the brain to handle. Because of this, it was decided that radiation was not an option. The only other thing he had to offer is a newer type oral drug that crosses the blood-brain barrier and may have some effect on shrinking the brain tumors. It's called Tykerb and you have to swallow 5 large horse pills a day. I guess it's worth it if it works. They will check my brain again in a month (s)? to see how things are progressing. If things are shrinking, all is well but if not....I'm not sure there will be any other treatments available.

As for my liver - the doctor has decided to try me on a new chemo drug (Ixabepilone) which is similar to one I've already been on that I tolerated pretty well. Of course there are always side effects but we're hoping they will be few and not too bad. It will be given once every 3 weeks. It's so new that none of the oncology offices had it in stock so they had to order some and my first treatment is tomorrow.

My hair was beginning to grow back in spite of the chemo but now I'm told there's a 50% chance it will fall out again. Bummer. It's a little thing but it made me happy to have some hair growing back.

Liver, brain and fevers

Time to play catch-up. Much has happened since I last posted. There was more discussion between doctors concerning the liver proceedure. It was decided it may be worthwhile to go ahead with this but will probably be postponed until mid-October. My mother has a trip to the Philippines scheduled for Oct 1 - 15. There is a huge fine arts center auditorium that will be named after my parents at Faith Academy, the missionary school they taught at for many years. This is a great honor and we are thrilled that Mom will be able to attend the festivities and dedication. She is happy to be going but it's hard for her not to worry about something happening to me while she is gone.

Last week I got results of the MRI of my brain which showed quite a bit more tumor growth. The doctor wants me to have more radiation which I am reluctant to do since it really messed up my quality of life last time I had it done. On the other hand, I've not been told what will happen if I don't have it done. Brain tumors are what generally will get you in the end so I'm anxious to get more information on this. The plan was for the doctor to speak to a radiologist and get back to me on what was said. I never did hear back, so I'll have to put a call in today and start bugging someone for answers. Tomorrow I'm back on chemo.

As if this wasn't enough going on, I've been running high temps lately. Usually I wake up with a fever but it slowly goes away through the day and by evening I'm feeling pretty good. Unfortunately, this last week I woke up with a very high fever of 103.3 and were advised by our insurance nurse to get some medical help. I ended up in the emergency room at our local hospital where they drained my blood for dozens of tests, did x-rays, cultures, etc. In the end I was sent home and told to take Tylenol. Thankfully I've felt pretty good since then.

Liver trouble

I was able to visit with an interventional radiologist - the kind of doctor who does the liver procedure I spoke about last blog posting. After considerable discussion, he felt that it would not extend my life with good quality so that idea has been set aside for the time being. We can revisit it at a later date if need be. This is a relief to me in some ways but it also means that nothing will be done for the liver. The doctor was reluctant to give any kind of prognosis so we're back to taking one day at a time. It's pretty obvious that I need a miracle. The good news is that in spite of extreme fatigue, I'm not in any pain.

CT scan results

We got the results of my latest CT scans which showed "mixed results". Most things showed improvement - the tumors in the lung had shrunk along with the one in my breast. That's the good news. The bad news is that the liver has developed more tumors. The doctor is talking about doing a procedure involving injecting radioactive grains into the liver which hopefully would kill the tumors without killing healthy tissue. I've read about it on the Internet and it sounds scary to me. Of course, if I don't do it, the results could be scary as well. In the meantime, I'm still taking chemo while weighing what to do next.


For those of you who like detail, check out
http://www.hpbcancer.co.uk/patients/sirtex-liver-cancer-treatment/

Hanging in there

I'm getting complaints about not keeping my blog updated. Shame on me. I'll try to do better.

Since I last wrote, I've been feeling better in general. The nausea was a bugger to get under control but at last, with 4 different anti-nausea meds spread out over the day, I think things are finally looking up. The dry heaves were such a problem that in desperation, I actually visited a hypnotist twice and he made a CD of our sessions so I can listen back to them when needed. I'm still not sure what I think of hypnotism but I did like the nice British man I visited. He came highly recommended.

I was also put on a very small amount of steroids which must be helping too. Walt says to say I can bench press 300# now. The nurse practitioner explained that the kind of steroids they use in sports are hormone based and not the same as I'm taking. So there go my biceps.

I continue to have fatigue from chemo but with a nap during the day, I manage to get through. Yesterday I had a CT scan which involves drinking 2 tall glasses of barium spaced 30 minutes apart. You must be fasting during this time so it makes it all the harder to get and keep the barium down. It's a thick chalky mixture which I hope you never have the need for. I did manage to keep it down in spite of coming close to losing it. We should get the results from the tests on Monday or Tuesday. They will show whether or not the chemo is working and will help decide what to do next.

Feeling Better

The past 4 days or so, I've been feeling better than in the whole past month. Much of this is due to last week's meeting with the doctor who put me on four different anti-nausea meds which I was to take whether I felt I needed them or not. In other words, the plan was to anticipate the nausea before it started and have the meds already in my system. It seems to be working well. I've been able to eat and drink which has also helped me feel better. Of course, I still deal with fatigue but overall there has been remarkable improvement.

Today I will get another chemo treatment which makes me a bit nervous since the last two made me run high fevers for a couple days afterwards. Oh well...

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me, sending cards, flowers and emails, bringing food, visiting and making me feel loved. I haven't been able to respond much but each act of kindness has been felt and has lifted my spirit.

6/12 Update

Walt again: Yvonne's oncologist was very encouraged by her CT & MRI scans - said they were much better than he expected. But the downside is that he can't explain the constant nausea. As he read all the results from the blood tests and the scans, he said there was no reason for Yvonne to be feeling as bad as she is.

I was very nervous about her beginning a new chemo regimen in her weakened condition, but I think the Dr. is correct that the cancer is causing the nausea somehow (it would explain why the nausea is getting worse), and the sooner she gets started again the sooner it will go away. Another reason to begin as quickly as possible is that the new cancer in her bones is already causing her some pain. Two years ago it was the bone cancer that rendered her nearly immobile until chemo killed it.

We are very grateful for everyone's continued prayer.

Some good news

Walt again: We won't get the technical explanation until next Tuesday, but according to the oncologist's nurse the results from yesterday's MRI "look very good, and we're very pleased."

Philippines & after

Hi, this is Walt filling in for Yvonne. We flew to the Philippines on May 26 to attend Megan's graduation. The week before we left Yvonne began having more than the usual difficulty with nausea and so had trouble getting food and liquid down. We went ahead with the trip but it was very difficult for her from the moment we left. Once there Yvonne was able to attend the 3 graduation related events - baccalaureate, Senior/Parent breakfast, and commencement, but the rest of the time could do little but sleep.

We had planned to spend 5 days after graduation in Boracay, a resort island in the central Philippines. The day before we were to leave, however, it was very clear that we needed to get Yvonne home as quickly as possible. Megan's host family, the Becks, went far beyond the call of duty and worked to get our flights changed, and we returned to Oregon on Monday, June 2.

By the time we got Yvonne to the Dr. on Tuesday she was severely dehydrated. She was given an IV to rehydrate her, along with steroids & anti-nausea med, and by the end of the day she was feeling much better. The Dr. scheduled her for CT scan on Wednesday & MRI on Thursday (today).

When she went for the CT scan Wednesday morning she was given two large cups of Barium drink to get down, and after that she was nauseated & ill. She began feeling better by the end of the day and asked for some leftover spaghetti (w/o the tomatto sauce). It felt so good to her to eat that she asked for more - which I gave her after waiting for a half-hour or so. This was the first time in two weeks she had felt hungry, and we took it as a good sign.

She ate the second spaghetti and was feeling good, and was up watching a movie with her sister when she suddenly started feeling sharp abdominal pain that quickly spread to her upper torso & radiated to the arms. After trying some antacids without success, we took her to the emergency room.

By midnight the pain had subsided quite a bit. The ER Dr. couldn't offer any concrete diagnosis, but suggested that, since stomach irritations and ulcers are common in chemo patients, the food she had eaten probably caused the reaction. She was given pain med, anti-gas-whatever it's called, and more anti-nausea med and sent home. She almost made it home before throwing up again. This morning she is awake and weak, but not feeling any pain.

While the ER Dr. was checking all her online records, he read us the results of the CT scan that had been done in the morning. As Yvonne suspected, there is new cancer in her lungs, liver, and vertebrae in her back - all very small spots so far, but still... She is scheduled to start a new chemo regimen this next week.

We are so grateful for all your prayers for Yvonne.

Hanging in there

Recovering from radiation was a much longer process than I expected. I continued to struggle for several weeks with nausea and vomiting and my head feeling hot all the time. It is now a month later and I'm back to wearing a wig (yeah!) and the nausea is 99% gone. Praise the Lord! That part was hard.

After throwing up my oral chemo pills, I decided to stop taking them. The doctor is talking about starting a new (to me) chemo IV regimen but can't really do it until we return from our trip to the Philippines in a month. There are times when I just want to stop taking ANYTHING. I'm not really giving up as much as just tired of the constant barrage of treatments. It wearies me at times to be in a daily battle for my life.

The radiation oncologist told us that statistically speaking my prognosis is about a year. He hurriedly went on to say that people don't always follow the statistics and there are many other factors to consider. Still, it's a sobering thought.

On a more positive note, I'm learning so much about praying - especially for healing. Several dear friends in our town have been giving their time to pray with me in person on an almost daily basis. This has encouraged me a lot. There are many times when I feel like Moses during a crucial battle where he was instructed to keep his hands lifted in the air in order to win. When he could no longer keep them lifted by himself, others came along and held them up for him. That's what these friends (and many others) do for me.

An emotional day

Yesterday started very early with barking at 5:30am which woke Walt. He got up to check it out (we've had trouble with coyotes attacking the dogs) and found that our little white dog Angel was missing. He walked outside to where the noise had been but couldn't find her and couldn't see much. After showering and getting ready to leave for work he made a general search of the premises and took with him my sister's dog Phoebe who was very agitated. We've kept Phoebe for the past 3 years while LuAnne has been teaching overseas and the two dogs have become inseparable companions and playmates. No sign of Angel. Walt checked again on his break and lunch hour. She never turned up. It's now been a day and a half so we are sure we won't be seeing our sweet little dog again. Though she had her faults, it's always hard to lose a dog who loves you unconditionally.

The high point of the day was finishing my last radiation treatment. Yeah!!! Words can't describe how ecstatic I feel to be done at last. Those were the longest 3 weeks of my life. Although I only had 2 vomiting episodes, the nausea was an issue throughout. What a relief to have completed that part. I brought the office staff homemade cinnamon rolls to help me celebrate. The doctor explained that the radiation would keep on working on the cancer for several more months so they won't do an MRI until all that is "settled down" in about 2 months. In the meantime, I see my oncologist in a few days to go back on chemo.

My hair had finally grown back about 2 - 3 inches - enough to start looking like I might be able to get away with a short haircut. I was excited about this since we hope to go to the Philippines at the end of May for our daughter Megan's graduation from Faith Academy. In the tropical heat, I didn't want to wear a wig. Unfortunately I've been losing my hair in massive amounts this past week and the doctor assured me it would continue in spite of stopping the radiation. So for the third time I underwent the shaving process which my son-in-law never tires of doing for me :) This time, unlike the other times, I am unable to wear a wig to cover up my baldness due to radiation burns. My daughter is helping me experiment with scarfs. This part is hard for me. It's not only my vanity that suffers but I've always given it my best shot to not look like a cancer patient. Though I appreciate the sincere sympathy from onlookers and friends, I occasionally will find myself caught up in a bit of self-pity which does no good and dampens my otherwise can-do attitude. I prefer to envision myself as a healthy person with the strength, determination, and persistence to continue praying and fighting this through. But until my skin recovers, it'll be scarves and head coverings for me.

Did I mention it was an emotional day?

One more week to go

Still being plagued by nausea. In fact, had one episode of "tossing my cookies" just after Thursday's treatment. The new medication for this is only minimally helpful. Ice chips seem to help the most.

I mentioned fatigue last week that knocked me out (even while on a phone call). Turns out it was an old medication for nausea that I still had around and had taken. Drowsiness was listed as one of the side effects you might experience. Perhaps I should read the warning labels more carefully.

Our friends from church, Jeff & Lecia, have been our faithful prayer partners throughout this time. Others are praying as well, but Jeff & Lecia have been taking an hour or so every evening to lay their hands on me and pray for my healing. It's been a very uplifting time and brings me great joy - even on my "down" days.

Two weeks down and one more to go.

Radiation effects

The first week of whole brain radiation is over and I'm starting on my second week. Since I "breezed" through chemo, I was hoping that radiation would be easy as well. Sadly, it is much more difficult than I had anticipated. The nausea is what plagues me the most. It's fairly "low-grade" - if it can be measured by degrees. But to me, any kind of nausea is semi debilitating. I somehow find it hard to function at a normal level when my body is constantly hinting that vomit lies just below a shallow surface. The doctor was also surprised by this symptom since he claims he's giving me a low dose and most patients don't have the problem at this level. Lucky me! Medication has mostly controlled the issue.

Fatigue is the other problem. It's not been too bad except on occasion - but when it hits, it hits hard. I actually fell asleep while on the phone with a friend! (I'm talking sound asleep with dreams and everything!) A bit embarrassing to be wakened by my phone (I had it on speaker) asking me if I was still there. Thankfully my friend was very understanding about it. But I wouldn't recommend it as a friendship builder.

Six down, nine to go...

Do NOT try this at home!

Yesterday was my first day to get the whole brain radiation. They had warned me that it would be a long day because of measurements, xrays, and basically setting it all up. And they weren't kidding! First on the agenda was making me a "mask". They take a porous material - you can see the many holes - and wet it down which makes it pliable. Then it is wrapped over your face giving you the feeling of being suffocated in spite of knowing there are holes through which you can breathe. Just when you feel it is really too tight, it is pushed down further on your face and bolted onto the table. This is not for the claustrophobic. I got to stay in this position for quite a while as they made marks, adjustments, raised and lowered the table, twisted and moved my face by fractions until everything was just right. Except that it wasn't so we repeated the process several times. The very kind technician gave me a break from the dreadful mask now and then but I always had to return to it.

We found out later that my radiation oncologist is a perfectionist and wanted to get things exactly right. Now if there's ever a time for perfectionism, I say this is it. As far as I'm concerned, he could have taken the whole day if the goal was precision. I consider my brain one of my favorite body parts and one which I'd like to be able to use in the future to it's fullest capacity. (Oops...this leaves me wide open for editorial comment and unkind jokes.)

I was given my first radiation treatment after all was set properly - the actual radiation only lasts for a few minutes - and was finally free to go. I felt fine until a few hours later when queasiness and a headache developed, eventually reaching the throbbing level. I took an Aleve but was still hurting until my friends prayed for me. Immediately the pain decreased and after more prayer, disappeared altogether! Today's treatment was much quicker and there's been no headache. Yeah! The doctor offered me a steroid drug to combat the brain swelling but assured me I wouldn't like the side effects so if I could tough out the headaches, I'd be better off. However, he gave me a prescription just in case.

The countdown begins. Only 13 more treatments to go!

Fried brains, anyone?

I met with a radiation oncologist 2 days ago to see what could be done for the 4 tumors they found in my brain. My hope was to be able to have them individually "zapped", thereby sparing the rest of my brain from unnecessary radiation exposure. This is what made sense to my uneducated mind. What I learned is that the process to do pinpoint radiation is somewhat "barbaric" (a word the doctor himself used to describe it). A neurosurgeon drills holes into your head in order for a halo-type structure to be attached to it. The surgery is so exact that there can be NO movement. The more tumors you have, the longer the time that you will be immobilized. Since there are already 4 known tumors in my brain, the doctor suggested that it is likely that they could find more when a better, precise MRI would be done a day or two before treatment. That would mean possible immobilization all day long. But the main concern is not immobilization but effectiveness of treatment.

The doctor was quite clear that in his opinion the best course of treatment in my particular case would be whole brain radiation. It's when they give you a small dose of radiation over a period of time. In my case, 15 doses spread over 3 weeks. The side effects are hair loss - darn, it was just growing back - skin dryness, nausea, fatigue and cognitive issues such as memory loss and difficulty concentrating. I hate the sound of all this but it seems to be the lesser of evils. The doctor stated that I was fortunate so far in that I don't have any symptoms - headaches, dizziness, imbalance, etc - but said if tumors developed in my speech center, I could wake up one day and not be able to speak. Currently, the largest tumor is in my coordination center.

This has been a difficult decision to come to. I explained to the doctor that I didn't want to have radiation, then my life sucks, and I die anyway. He assured me that although he cannot make any guarantees, he did not believe this would decrease my quality of life but he did believe it could extend it and mentioned a couple of cases who are still alive today many years after treatment.

Because I've been taking an oral chemo drug which enhances the effects of radiation, I was instructed to stop taking it and then wait a week to allow the drug to get out of my system. My treatments are scheduled to start Monday, March 24.

Our friends from church, Jeff & Lecia, took me to a healing /prayer/worship service this week which was very uplifting. I love being prayed for and continue to pray in this direction.

Trip to North Carolina

Last week I was in North Carolina where I went to see a research scientist who specializes in cancer alternative treatments. Ultimately, I'm not sure if I will implement his suggestions but at least I came away with more options to chose from.

The trip turned out to be lots of fun. My dear friend, Liiza bought an airline ticket at the last minute in order to accompany me so I wouldn't be alone. I'm not shy about traveling by myself but it was much more fun to have my buddy with me. She also was my navigator while we drove around unknown streets and highways. I'd still be wandering around lost somewhere if she hadn't been giving me directions.

On one of the days I didn't go into the clinic, we toured the Biltmore estate - a massive castle like mansion built by the Vanderbilt family in the early 1900's. Their wealth in today's money is estimated at 93 billion and you can see how some of that was spent when you take the tour. It's a mind-boggling and fascinating structure. We also got in on freezing cold weather - waking up to heavy snowfall a couple of days.

Through some interesting circumstances, I was invited to stay with a lovely Christian family for my last 3 days after Liiza returned home. Some friends invited me to visit their mostly black church where we had a rockin' good time. That evening I enjoyed a tiny home church service. Everywhere we/I went we met friendly, lovely people who opened their arms to welcome us. So if you ever have a chance to visit Asheville, NC....I'd highly recommend it!

Bad news

A couple weeks ago I had my periodic PET scan which is a full body scan and lights up any cancerous areas. The doctor called to say they were seeing "something" in my brain and wanted to get a better look at it with an MRI. When my brother remarked that, "We know there's nothing in your brain", I wished for once that he was right! Unfortunately, the second scan showed 4 small lesions (cancer) - the largest measuring one cm. Even at that size it's bigger than I'd like.

The oncologist says radiation is the standard treatment but I've decided not to go with that option for now. I hate the idea of having my brain radiated and the side effects have the potential to severely decrease my quality of life. The other option that was offered was the combination of 2 oral drugs - Xeloda & Tykerb. Xeloda is a chemo drug which I'm currently on but is giving me horrible side effects...red, itchy, blotchy, swollen, painful rash on my face, head, hands and feet. I'm trying to live with this but it has at times been difficult to grasp anything with my hands and painful to stand or walk. So I'm not sure whether I can continue taking it. This is frustrating since it dwindles my medical options.

The doctor refused to give me a prognosis. He says with new drugs coming out all the time, no one can say for sure how long a person is likely to keep going. I have chosen to continue to be hopeful and live my life as fully as possible. The good news is that I feel perfectly fine (other than drug side effects). No headaches, dizziness or vision problems for now.

I'd appreciate your prayers for my family - esp. my girls as this is most difficult for them. Thankfully, I'm not feeling too anxious, depressed or scared. Surprisingly, it's usually the opposite - cheerful and upbeat. Not that I don't have my moments but obviously I'm being lifted above the circumstances through people's prayers. Thank you.

New chemo drug regimen

Two weeks ago my oncologist agreed with me that the IV chemo therapy I was on didn't seem to be working as we had hoped. I continue to have a breast tumor that doesn't seem very responsive to the chemo we were using. In light of that he switched me to an oral chemo drug (Xeloda) and ordered a PET scan to see what the progress has been so far. I've been on Xeloda before but was unable to continue it due to a severe itching / red rash it gives me on my face. However, we decided to try it again but added an allergy med along with it to try and combat that problem. I've already been through a one week on, one week off cycle and the first week ON was fine, but the week OFF was quite itchy and miserable. I've just now started the second cycle and am ON so will see how this goes. This time I will continue the allergy med even on the week OFF and see if I do any better. I really want to be on this medication because it has been shown to be fairly effective on my type of cancer, it's less harsh on my system and doesn't cause hair loss. It's also nice to be able to take it at home without the hassle of being hooked up to IVs for hours at a time.

Ready for a break

Last Thursday - Jan 24th - I started feeling some steady pain in my chest. Didn't think much of it until it became persistent and started working it's way up the pain Richter scale. Everyone knows not to mess around with chest pain and this being late in the day, I ended up making a visit to the emergency room of our local hospital. By the time I got there the pain was at a whole new level of intensity. In spite of this, within minutes the doctor assured us it was most probably NOT the heart (it wasn't) but a condition called Costochondritis - an inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the sternum. (According to my husband, this is similar to Costcochondritis, the inflammation in his brain - and wallet - when he goes to Costco.)

After bloodwork, x-rays, prayers and a simple over the counter pain reliever from my purse, the pain died down and they sent me home. I ran a fever the next day, then felt progressively better. I'll see the oncologist tomorrow and see what he makes of it - if anything. My personal take on it is that my poor immune system has had all it can take of chemo and is screaming for a break. There's that fine line between killing the cancer and killing the person.

Overall, I've done remarkably well with all the chemo I've been given. Six months' worth since starting this last program and on and off before that. But I've been hit by a couple of viruses going around which again emphasises that the ol' immune system ain't what it used to be.

Happily, my normal state of affairs is lots of energy, feeling good, and going strong. That's probably why I'm so frustrated when I hit a speed bump and have to slow down. Ah well....perhaps it's for the best.

I beg to differ - Walt

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