And 2010 Begins

First off, apologies for the lapse in posting news. I have not kidnapped Alison and Kirk in Aptos, much as I would have liked to. They left here this afternoon to go back home to Berkeley in preparation for Week 3 of therapy, the first week that will consist of trips to radiation therapy on five days a week. Eight treatments down, 22 to go.

We had a wonderful long weekend with Alison and Kirk. Overall, her thinking is sharper and her headaches are much, much better. Kirk tells us that she has gone 3 full days without taking narcotics for her headache, which is the first time that has happened since well before surgery. On the down side, the fatigue that comes with this treatment is truly profound; she will have a good hour or so before she winds down. Then she (we) try to figure out if it the fatigue alone, or the way she burns through the calories and it is time to eat again. She is napping throughout the day. It seems that if we were on a 4-hour cycle, she would do great. The nights are too long to sleep through, and the days are too long to stay awake through. Hmmm. And the food thing is a delicate dance, too - too much food and it's heartburn, not enough and the hypoglycemic crash comes surprisingly quickly. So she has a lot to keep on top of. Add a few wild emotional swings (thank you Mr. Steroid) and you get the picture of each day being its own little roller-coaster. But she has a crack support team: Kirk keeping close track of her medications, spirits and energy level; great visits of love and support from her daughter Dani and Dani's beau, Matt; and me and Whit keeping a steady stream of food, drink and clean laundry available. We hope that she and Kirk got to rest a bit and change up the routine from her Berkeley one, just for grins. She was able to walk each day, and twice on one day, and we see her physical strength returning. She is looking forward to working with her Physical Therapist to devise some routines she can do at home on days that are too rainy for walking. It is great to see her striding along the path with her steadfast determination. She was able to take walks on/at the beach today and New Years Day, and we all know that THAT is good medicine. On New Years Day we played a silly game we like called Apples To Apples where the object is to match some random noun-type items to a given adjective/description, and I am not kidding you: Alison totally kicked our butts at matching what the other person would judge as a closest definition. Meaning, she is fully in the Game. Then it's time to nap.

For those fans who like to follow along, I have succeeded in getting them hooked on the old series "Firefly" - check it out on Netflix and watch it your jammies with Alison in your thoughts. And one her peeps usually reads a chapter of Harry Potter to her night to relax her into sleep.

So that's the scoop from our start to 2010. I am wishing Alison long stretches of good and restoring sleep and continued strengthening (among a long list of other wishes), and wishing all of you our very best for a year of good health and blessings in all the places you dwell. Thank you for keeping track on the blog and sending Alison your love.
Deborah