I just read yesterday’s blog post from Deborah. Thank you, D, for updating my friends and for your sweet birthday message - and for all your efforts (with help from Kirk and Whit as sous chefs) to make my birthday so fun and memorable. (More on the birthday weekend, below.)
Had my Portacath installed on Wednesday. Getting up at 5:00 AM is not my favorite thing, but Kirk and I managed to get up and to Alta Bates surgi-center on time. And then, of course we waited and waited to be taken in to the OR since first the nurse had to start an IV on me, and getting an IV started was its usual nightmare. (The first nurse that tried to get an IV started tried three painful times before I insisted she get another nurse…and it took that second nurse another two tries to get an IV started. My poor arms are black and blue and sore at the IV starts. Glad we got the port got installed since I’m not sure how much more my poor little fragile veins could have taken.)
Anyway, the port is in and, after the first few days of significant soreness, the port site is feeling and looking pretty good. The docs require a two week healing period before restarting the Avastin, so I’m scheduled for my next treatment on August 12. Meanwhile, I’m continuing to taper my Decadron (steroid) dose and am now at 4 mg/day. With the recent tapering of the steroids, I’m already noticing a change (for the better, i.e., a decrease) in my appetite and shakiness, and am able to sleep for longer periods without waking up.
Had a wonderful weekend: My birthday was Sunday; Kirk and I headed down to spend Saturday night and yesterday with Deborah and Whit at their beautiful and cozy home in Aptos. Delicious dinner and much laughter on Saturday night; then on Sunday we headed down to Aptos to hear Dani and her band perform at the Seaside music festival, where they opened for the Chris Cain Band - a band that I used to go listen and dance to at Larry Blake’s Rathskellar in Berkeley back in my late 20s-early 30s. The Dani Paige Band sounded GREAT – really proud of my girl – and the Chris Cain Band was better than ever. Then we all headed back up to Aptos where “the kids” (Dani, and Dani’s beau Matt, and my nephew Drew) joined me in a laugh-filled game of “Apples to Apples” while dinner was being prepared. We had an incredible dinner (chefs Deborah, Whit and Kirk outdid themselves): Asian ribs, wonderful salad with fresh strawberries, fresh corn on the cob, and home-grown cauliflower. And then an apricot pie from an incredible local produce grower, Gizdich Farms (a la mode, of course). Oh. My. God. Not a good weekend for my calorie intake but a great weekend for enjoyment of family and food.
This week should be less “eventful” than last week, thank goodness. I’ll have time to catch up a bit (hopefully) on thank you notes, home-related chores, packing for our trip to Guerneville, and getting more of my stuff sorted, recycled, stored away, etc. And getting some good walking and nap time in!
Okay, time to get started with my day.
Oh, and to those who sent cards and emails wishing me happy birthday wishes, I thank you so much for thinking of me and send my love back to you with appreciation for your continued love, support, and friendship.
/ab
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