One Year Since Diagnosis

It has been one year since Lauren was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma. In some ways it seems like only yesterday, and sometimes it seems like forever. I would never wish this disease on anybody. It is just so awful. Our happy life is not what it used to be and things I used to think were such a big deal don't even matter. We all try and stay positive and upbeat about everything, but it is hard when you go to bed thinking about your poor daughter with cancer and wake up doing the same. I know everyone dies sometime, but not at 26 with their whole life ahead of them. It is just not fair. I remember sitting in Dr. Z's office last year and him telling us that 0% of people live after 5 years with this disease without a resection and most die within 6-12 months. Can you imagine being told something like that? Lauren is an amazing girl. But, I know she is so sad inside. All she ever wanted to be was a wife and a mother. Who knows if that will ever be possible. We still have hope every day that she will get better and defy the odds. She already has lived longer than most with this cancer, so we are blessed with every new day.

Lauren wanted to celebrate her one year of being a survivor with the family which was yesterday, Aug. 29th. So, she chose to go out to dinner at D'Agnese's in Fairlawn. It is an Italian restaurant that she and Gio have been to and they were nice enough to donate to Lauren's benefit back in Feb. It was very good and we had a nice time. Stephanie is so sweet and gave Lauren a silver bracelet with an inscription about things cancer can't do. I'm sure Lauren will wear it all the time. If you like garlic and cheese, this restaurant is the place for you! Lauren didn't eat very much. She has been so tired lately and not real hungry. We think it is from her oral chemo called Xeloda. She seems a lot better on the week in between treatments when she doesn't have to take it. We had a waiter that was quite foo-foo and the way he recited the specials just cracked me up. But, the food was delicious, so that's all that really mattered. Her are a few pic from our nice dinner.

Lauren with her new dark brown hair. She looks beautiful but also a little tired.

Gio, Ryan, and Stephanie

Mark and I

Lauren is having a second celebration tonight with their friends, Dan and Melissa tonight at Macaroni Grill.

Lauren and I went to breakfast with our friends Monday morning. There was only Lauren and myself, Dawn, Debbie J, and Ruth this time. We still had fun and always have great food. Lauren had a wave of nausea hit her at the table and I never even knew until she told me later. She didn't eat very much and wanted me to eat her bacon, but I couldn't because I was too full. She must really not have felt good because their bacon is the best.

We went to the Portage County Fair last Saturday. It was really hot and smelly. Lauren had a lot of energy and walked around looking at stuff for a long time. Mark and Gio enjoyed looking at the tractors. We didn't look at too many animals because it was just too hot. We stayed long enough for Mark to get his fill of fair food!! Two hot dogs on a stick (he bought me one after I said I didn't want one, so he had to eat it too), a stromboli, 3 of my fried mushrooms, an elephant ear, and a caramel apple. Geez, he went kind of light this year!! Lauren took a few pics with her camera. I wasn't in the mood to lug mine around. I get a bit grumpy when I am hot.

 

 

We also went to the Brown's pre-season game last Friday night. That was just not our night. We got there about a half hour after the game started because we were in a huge traffic jam on the highway on the way up. We had excellent parking right next to the stadium which was awesome. We went in on the wrong end of the stadium and found out we would have to walk all the way to the other side. We asked if we could get a wheelchair for Lauren since she had just had chemo and was so tired and the attendant said we would have to go all the way back downstairs to get one. I thought that was terrible that she couldn't call on her walkie talkie to get one for poor Wo. We had been given four tickets with a great parking pass to be in a suite by Mark's boss, Rich Klaben. He is always so thoughtful and wanted Lauren to go to the game since she loves the Browns. Thank you so much, Rich. We really appreciate the wonderful gesture. Since we got there a little late, there was no place to sit, so we watched on the tv in the suite until half time and some people left. We got to go outside and sit for the rest of the game, which was good. Too bad the Browns did not play very well, but we were happy to have been given such an opportunity that most people never get. I forgot to take my camera, so I am sorry there are no pictures.

As you can see, we have had a busy week. We will be going to Michigan on Sept. 11 for a CT scan to see if the chemo is working. Please pray that there is improvement. Thanks to all of you that care about Wo. We all appreciate you very much. Love, -Pam

 

 

Lauren Meets The Browns and A Day At Chemo

Mark was offered to let four people go to the Cleveland Browns training camp on Sunday by his work. There would be a hospitality tent and the four would get special passes to go on the side of the field where they could meet the players, take pictures, and get autographs. Mark was happy to share these with Lauren and whoever she wanted to take. So she chose the two biggest Browns fans she knows, besides herself, and that is Giovanni and their friend, Emmed. She also asked her brother, Ryan because she loves spending time with him. He likes football but isn't crazy for the Browns like Wo, Gio, and Emmed. Thanks so much to Klaben Ford and especially Rich Klaben for making this possible. Lauren was so excited and they all had the best time meeting their favorite players. Lauren got pictures with a lot of the players, but I'm just posting her favorite.

Wo and Gio

Wo and Ryan

Wo and Emmed

Wo and her favorite player, Josh Cribbs.

I bet you wonder what it looks like when we go to Michigan. I always picture in my head what places might look like, and I am usually so wrong. So Lauren and I thought it would be fun to take pictures of our day at U of M Cancer Center so that you might get a glimpse of what her day of chemo entails. We also included some pictures of our favorite people we see there every time we go.

We always park in a deck that is just for cancer patients. It is a good thing they have this deck because any other deck we have ever tried to get a space in is nearly impossible. This place is so huge and employs so many people that some employees have to park far away and ride a shuttle bus to the hospital.

Lauren walking to the Cancer Center from the parking deck.
 

They only charge cancer patients fifty cents to park for the whole day on the days they get chemo. All we have to do is have our ticket stamped at the infusion reception area. Nobody else gets that deal!!!

Outside the Cancer Center. The windows up above where Wo is standing is the big room where a lot of patients get chemo. There are other areas in the hospital as well.

Getting closer.

This is the first floor lobby. Straight ahead is the lab. It looks like a ghost town today because the whole hospital just started a new computer system and they scheduled very light for a while until everyone is comfortable with it. Otherwise, they said there would be mass chaos and huge delays with the normal amount of patients. Everyone is really slow with figuring things out.

This is the first time I went back with Wo to get her port accessed. I always wondered why it took so long and now I understand. They are very careful and create a very sterile environment so Lauren doesn't get an infection through her port. I am very thankful they are so careful.

Wo getting her port area cleaned with Betadine because she is allergic to the normal stuff they use called Chlorhexadene.

These are all the supplies they use when they access her port. The little yellow thing  in the tray is the needle. It has the yellow thing on it because the nurse pinches it together to pull the needle out of Wo's port. It looks like a butterfly. It has a tube hooked to it and that is where they can take blood out or put meds in. The pink and yellow tubes are for Wo's blood. The clear syringe is saline that they flush her port with and the blue syringe is heparin. The heparin is so she doesn't get blood clots in her port. The fatter tube is what they put in her port tube to collect her blood and the syringe above the tray is more saline. I used the saline and heparin when I used to disconnect Wo's pump at home. She puts lidocaine around her port area when we are about 45 minutes away from the hospital so she is numb and doesn't feel the big, thick needle when they stick it through her skin into the port. She covers it with Glad Press 'n Seal to keep it from getting all over.

Putting the needle in her port.

Happy it's in and getting it flushed. Ports have to be flushed every 3-4 weeks, even if they aren't being used.

Lauren asked her favorite lab tech, Lori if she would get a pic with her. She usually gets her, but not today. The tech she had today was really nice too and did a great job. Lauren likes Lori because she has a personality like my sister, Linda and Wo loves Linda.

After the lab, we get in the elevator and go to Floor B1. This is where Dr. Zalupski's office is and the infusion area where Lauren gets chemo.

At the end of this hallway is the infusion area. We are near Dr. Zalupski's waiting area.

Wo in Dr. Z's waiting area. Always tons of paperwork. Even more this time with the new computer system. They usually call her to an area where she gets weighed, blood pressure, and temp and then she comes back to the waiting area. Today after she had all that done, they had a room ready for her.

Waiting for Dr. Z in the exam room.

This is looking outside Wo's exam room. We are more than halfway down the hall. There are this many rooms down the other way. If you have the door open, you will see Dr. Z whizzing up and down this huge hallway.

Wo wanted a pic with me, but unfortunately, I did not inherit the photogenic gene!! Yuck.

Wo and her dear, sweet oncologist Dr. Zalupski. He cares so much for Lauren and does everything in his power to help her.

Sis got off work and found us in the exam room. So happy to see her!!

After Wo sees Dr. Z, she has to see a scheduler that makes her appointments for next time and schedules her scans. This is also where she pays her co-pay. This is our favorite scheduler because she is always so nice and friendly and gets us good appointment times. Her name is Amanda and we think she is beautiful and just a cool person.

Wo in her chair in the infusion area. I would've taken a pic of the whole area, but I didn't want to invade the privacy of the other chemo patients. We had a nice nurse that let Sis and I both go back with Wo. The rule is one visitor with each patient.

This is the chemo Lauren gets called Oxaliplatin. She gets fluids before and after. This chemo runs for 120 minutes. As soon as she starts getting it, neuropathy sets in. She can't drink anything cold or touch anything cold or it really hurts. She also starts taking her Xeloda pills tonight. Three after breakfast and four after dinner. They make her feet turn red and hurt. She never complains, though. She is very, very tough.

Bruce got off work and came to visit for a few. He left to go pump some steel and we met him at Applebee's for dinner. Wo has so many people that love her.

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and get a little more of a feel for what Lauren goes through. She was so tired, that as soon as we got to Bruce and Sis's house, she went to bed. We got home today around 4pm.   Wo,Gio, Ryan, and I are going somewhere tomorrow night that we are so excited for. I will let you know all about it. We are sorry only four of us can go, but Mark insisted we all go. So, thanks Mark. We love you and wish you were coming too. Thanks again for reading this blog and for all of your support. Love to all.  -Pam

Never Give Up

Not much going on around here this week which I guess is a good thing. Lauren finished up her two weeks of Xeloda on Wednesday and is off of it for a week. We will be going to U of M on Wed. for labs, doctor visit, and chemo. I don't remember if I told you about this before, but the girl at the scheduling desk said that she would have to send us Lauren's schedule for her three appointments because she couldn't find anything for chemo. So, when we got the schedule, it said labs at 12, doctor at 1, and chemo at 5. I looked at that and said wait a minute. You gotta be kidding me that we have to wait for four hours for chemo. So, I called and they said there was nothing they could do. I called back a second time and they still said the same thing. I then decided to bring in the big guns and e-mailed Dr. Zalupski. I was really nice and told him how I raved about U of M to anybody that would listen. I finished by saying that this incident had put a tiny dent in the way I felt about them because nobody would help me. He sent me an e-mail back apologizing up and down and promised to help. The next day I received an e-mail from someone named Angie apologizing and saying this happened because the whole hospital was changing computer programs and they wanted to minimize problems by only scheduling a few people at a time for chemo. I would have understood this if someone would have told me in the first place! So now her labs are at 3:30, doctor at 4, and chemo at 5. I knew I could count on Dr. Z. He is the best.

We are so lucky that Lauren has good insurance. She is on COBRA now, and it is expensive and takes up most of her disability, but worth it. I was looking at one of her bills and this new chemo she is on is over $20,000 every time! That is not even counting her Xeloda pills, which without insurance would be around $3000. Shocking how much everything costs!!!!

Lauren went shopping and out to dinner with her friend, Jill this week. They always have a good time together. Jill is my good friend, Debbie's daughter. We have been friends for a really long time and we just love their family. Debbie wants to come with us to one of Lauren's chemo and we were going to have her come this time, but it is too late and she would need to come home the same day because she works. I think that is so nice that she would offer to come and keep us company.

Lauren and Gio are still working on his house. Geez, is it ever going to be done? He has been painting cabinets in the kitchen. Lauren usually goes over with the intention of helping, but usually ends up sleeping the whole time she is there because she has been so tired from the Xeloda.

Wo and Gio had Melissa, Dan, and Emmed over to watch their beloved Browns on Thursday night. We all love the Browns and always hope for the best each year, but you know how that goes. Mark got some tickets at work for Gio and Wo to go to see the Browns at their training camp on Sunday and they get to meet some of the players and there will be a hospitality tent as well. Emmed and Ryan are going too. I'm sure they will have a great time.

Lauren has been a little sad lately. I think it is because it is coming up on a year since she was diagnosed with cancer. How would you feel if you were told that there is pretty much a 0% chance that you will be alive five years from diagnosis. And that most people die 6-12 months after diagnosis. I think I would be sad too. Lauren is trying with all her might to prove the statistics wrong. She will never give up and tries to live every moment and not dwell on the bad things. But it is hard sometimes on her and all of us. Thanks for keeping Lauren and us in your prayers. We really appreciate it.

I don't have any new pictures so I dug in the archives for these. Lauren and Gio going to his prom in 2006. The movie star and her Italian stallion.Haha!! I just love these pics.     -Pam

I am sure Lauren would want me to tell you the reason her chest looks splotchy is that she went tanning before prom and peeled. It really bugged her that it looked like this.

Gio-The most smiling, happy person I know!

So adorable.

Almost One Year

It has been almost one year since we learned of the word Cholangiocarcinoma. Our world was turned upside down, chewed up and spat out. We were left to pick up the pieces and it is very difficult most of the time. I wake up thinking about cancer and I go to sleep thinking about cancer. I can only imagine what goes through Lauren's mind as well as the rest of my family. We pray every day that God will spare our daughter and let her live a wonderful, happy life. Mark and I would trade places with Lauren in a second. I went through the pictures I have taken in the last year and picked out a few to make a video. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I muddled through to make this for all of you. We've all been through a lot this past year, but here are some pictures of many of the good times shared mostly with family. There are a few with friends, like sweet Lisa and dear Sharon. Sorry to all of Lauren's younger friends. I'm not with her when she hangs out with you and she isn't the most eager picture taker. I didn't mean to intentionally leave you out. I'll make a bet that most of you you won't make it through the video without crying. I have watched it over and over while editing, and cry every time. I wanted to mention that the song used in this montage is "The Fighter" by Gym Class Heroes and I think you understand who the fighter is. Thanks for all of your support. I don't know what we would do without all of you. Here is to many more years with you, Wo!!! We love you.  

Thanks again.  Love, -Pam

Picture as promised

I promised a pic of Wo and her purple hair. Here it is!!

Sleeping Beauty

I thought it was about time for an update on everything. Lauren has been doing ok, but if she is not busy doing something, she usually falls asleep. We think it is from her oral chemo which is called Xeloda. She has been taking a lot of naps lately and can't wait to get in her bed at night. Hey, if that is the worst side effect, I say we will take it! She has had some neuropathy, but really doesn't complain about it at all. Remember, her doctor gave her a prescription for muscle relaxants. She took one and said her back hurt worse and has never taken another one. Her back pain goes in spurts and it seems to be ok for the moment. She takes her Xeloda until next Wed. and is off for a week. We go back to Michigan on the 22nd.

 Speaking of Michigan, we are having a hard time with the scheduling for next time. She has labs at 12, doctor at 1, and then chemo at 5. What is wrong with this picture?? I have called twice to try and get chemo switched to an earlier time and have gotten nowhere. They keep telling me there are no appointments for earlier. I find that hard to believe when half the time we are in the infusion area, there are empty chairs. This is the first time this has happened. I know we used to get in right after her doctor's appt. because her infusion was 7 hours long and nobody wanted to be there until midnight. Now that it is 2 1/2 hours, they don't seem to care. I made a last ditch effort and e-mailed Dr. Z to see if he could help. If anyone can, it will be him. So, we shall see.

We have been watching the Olympics every day. I should say, I have been watching the Olympics ever day. Mark and Lauren are kind of sick of them about now. It would be nice to see some of the other competitions, but NBC seems to focus on beach volleyball and volleyball more than anything. I love Misty May and Keri Walsh, but come on. It must be those tiny bikinis or something.

Wo and I finally went to see Magic Mike this week. We were in the theater for the early bird showing with about ten old cougars. I am old, but I ain't no cougar. Haha. Anyway, they were all yacking it up and hooting and hollering before the movie, and we just looked at each other and said Grrrreat. They did quiet down after the movie started. Besides some nice looking guys, the movie was one of the worst we have ever seen. It seemed to drag on forever. Neither Lauren or I have ever been to a male revue and I think we will keep it that way. The way the ladies acted in the movie was just downright embarrassing. At least we didn't waste the whole day and had a nice lunch at Panera.

Lauren and Mark spent Mark's day off together on Wednesday. Lauren had an eye appointment because she needs new contacts. They went shopping and out to lunch at Olive Garden. As you know, shopping is not my thing, so I was happy to stay home. Plus, I think Mark has fun spending time with Wo. He lets her shop till she drops. I don't think they got home until around 4:30. They left the house around 11. Too long for me! I made one of my crowd pleasers, swedish meatballs, for dinner. Wo and Gio ate with us. Ryan and Stephanie are in South Carolina with her family. They are at a place called Fripp Island. He said it is really nice, but not a lot to do. He is used to Myrtle Beach which is full of things to do. I think Fripp Island sounds awesome. I would sure like to be there sitting on the beach.

Wo and Gio are still working on his house. They are tackling the kitchen now. Mark has been helping out a lot when he has the time. I think he really enjoys it, plus he gets to spend time with his girl. He pressure washed the deck and sanded wood in the kitchen. He also went over one night and helped Gio with yard work.

I had a doctor's appointment today as a follow up from the last time I went and was put on antidepressants. The first one had bad side effects and the second one I never took because I was afraid it would make me feel like the first one. Dr. Steineck said that I could start off taking even a sliver of a pill and work up gradually to a whole pill. If I ever got the side effect of heart pounding and feeling more anxious, I should call and he would let me try something else. He is the absolute nicest doctor ever. Lauren went with me and he was so happy to see her. He genuinely cares about his patients and on more than one occassion has said to not hesitate to call him about anything. He is always there for us. I told him about the little incident with the nurse when I called the last time and he was really upset about it. He asked if I knew who it was and I said she never said her name. Remember, the only words she knew were  "Can I help you?" in a cranky tone. He said he would bring it up at the next meeting and apologized up and down. I knew he wouldn't like hearing that one of his nurses was rude.

Lauren got the wacky idea yesterday that she wanted purple hair. She is one of the only people I know that can pull stuff like that off. So she bought a kit and guess who got roped into doing it for her. She wanted to do her whole head, but I suggested tips or just the top part that sticks up. I had to strip the color first and it was bright orange-yellow. Yikes! Then purple that looked like ink. We tried to be careful, but I got a little on the bathroom counter. I hope Comet takes it out. Her hair is definitely purple!! It looks really cute on her. She said she has always wanted to do crazy stuff like this, but was never able to when she had a job. So I say, more power to her. I will post a pic of her when she wakes up and has her hair done. She went and got it trimmed today and is taking a nap now. Gio and Wo are having a party at his house tonight. There is a Browns pre-season game on and we love our Brownies, no matter how bad they are. A bunch of their friends are coming over and Wo is going to make food for them. I'm sure they will have a lot of fun.

Yesterday was Gio's brother, Bruno's birthday. The family went to an Italian restaurant in Akron. I can't remember the name of it. Lauren said the food was really good and they had a nice time. Bruno is the same age as Lauren and is almost as nice as Giovanni. Just kidding, both boys are two of the nicest people you would ever meet. We just love them.

I did manage to sneak a pic of Lauren when she was sleeping. I don't think you can see her purple hair, so I will take another one later. Here it is. She has her favorite pup, Penny with her. I am posting a pic of my baby, Peanut after that one so he doesn't feel left out. Thanks for all of your continued support.   Love, -Pam

Home Again

Lauren made it through another round of chemo and we are home. I will give you a recap of the last few days. We had another person taken by CC this past week. I had just become friends with a lady on Facebook that also posts on the CC.org website. Her husband had CC. His name was Dennis and he seemed to like cars a lot. He would've gotten along well with my husband and Dad. Teresa is his wife and she is such a kind, caring lady. She also has a daughter named Lauren and two sons. This cancer is so bad. I wish they would find a cure.

Lauren and I left for Michigan at around 8 in the morning on Wednesday. As usual, we stopped and got sausage biscuits from McDonald's and big drinks. We only hit one major jam on the turnpike where three lanes went down to one. It wasn't too bad. We stopped at one rest stop to stretch our legs and for Lauren to stretch her back. We got to Michigan a little early, but went straight to the hospital because we really didn't have enough time to stop at Sis's on the way.

Lauren had labs first. So we went and checked in and she was called back fairly quick. She had the same nurse she has had for the last few times. When the nurse called Lauren's name, she looked at Lauren and held her arms up and said yay when she saw her. They have a fun time together talking about makeup and girly stuff. I think she always wants to be Lauren's nurse and I have noticed it usually takes Wo twice as long to get out of the lab than any other patient. I think they have a great time back there!!

We then went upstairs and checked in at the waiting area. It was so crowded. I just cannot believe the amount of people that have cancer. Everyone gets called to a small hallway and gets weighed, bp, and temp. Then it is back to your seat to wait some more. We finally got back to a room and had to wait some more. Dr. Zalupski's PA, Gwen, always comes in first and asks a million questions. She said Lauren's labs all look good and gives us a copy. She usually listens to Wo's heart and feels her liver. Then she goes and gets Dr. Z. He asks all the same questions about how she did after her last chemo. Lauren asked him if she could try some muscle relaxants for her back pain. He said, Sure what kind do you want? Well, Lauren had no clue and we thought that was funny. He gave her a low dose and told her if one didn't work, then she should try two. We are not really sure if her pain is muscle or bone. She can't tell. She knows it feels better if she has Ben Gay put on it, so she figures it is muscle. I asked him if they could have a bad reaction with her other pain meds and he said no. They might make her a little tired, but that is ok. She gets liver pain sometimes, but her main pain is in her back. Dr. Z said she will have one more chemo after this one and then another CT scan to see if it is working. I sure hope it is. He wrote Lauren's prescriptions for her two types of Morphine and her muscle relaxants. We then went to the scheduler/cashier area and got in line. A lady came out of the doctor's office area and cut right in front of us!! Lauren was having a fit that she did this and kept telling me to say something. I didn't feel it was appropriate to make a scene in a Cancer Center, so I didn't. It ended up, the lady right in front of where we were standing, came back from lunch and we got waited on first. Lauren said that lady that cut was shooting daggers at us with her eyes. I really don't know what is wrong with some people. The scheduler got Lauren appointments for her next lab and doctor visit, but said there were no chemo appointments available so they would have to work on it and call us. I am sure I will get impatient and call them before they call us. They are usually very good about handling things and calling us though.

We started walking down to the chemo infusion waiting area. All the sudden, I heard someone shouting, Pamela, Pamela. I turned around and a lady asked if I was Pamela. I thought that was weird someone would be calling for me and not Wo, since she is the patient and also nobody calls me Pamela unless they are reading my name off a form since that is my whole name. I always go by Pam. It turns out it is a lady I met on the CC.org website. Her name is Melissa and her Mom has CC.
I always reach out to people that I find out go to U of M, since not many people have CC, let alone have CC and go to U of M. She recognized Wo from this blog. We had talked about meeting one day, but her Mom usually had her appointment on Mondays. They were here for a consultation with Dr. Z. It was nice to talk to her and put a face to a name. We didn't get to talk for long since Lauren needed to get to her chemo appointment, but it was nice to meet her. What a small world. Oh, and the reason she called me Pamela is because my screen name on CC.org is Pamela because Pam was already taken.

We walked to the chemo infusion waiting area and Lauren signed in. She was happy that she was in the main infusion area and not at the Med Inn. It is such a hike to walk to the Med Inn. She can get there ok, but always needs a wheelchair when we leave. They called us back and she was in the big room which has about 20 chairs and is a big semicircle with a lot of windows behind the chairs. It's nice but we don't like that area because nobody pulls their curtain and everyone is just open to everyone else. We are more private people and don't feel real comfortable, but oh well. Lauren got her nausea med and her steroid. She had a small bag of hydration and then her Oxaliplatin. She becomes sensitive to cold almost instantaneously and has to drink room temperature drinks or it feels like she is swallowing glass. I went and got her a sandwich, chips and a drink. They also gave her an Ativan this time because she had a weird throat thing happen last time and they thought it might have been some kind of reaction. She spent most of the time on her computer and she was done around 5:00. She felt ok enough to walk to the elevator and waited on a bench outside the Cancer Center while I went to get the car. She was very tired, probably from the Ativan. I asked where she wanted to go for dinner, and she chose Denny's.

I called Sis to see if she was getting off work soon. She said she would be leaving at around 6, so we asked if she wanted to meet us for dinner. She said she would come, but Bruce was on call. So she met us there. Lauren started feeling really crappy at dinner and only ate about half of it. She got really hot, dizzy, and nauseous. She thought she was going to pass out. As soon as we got to Sis's she went upstairs and got in bed. She slept the whole night, except when I had to wake her to take meds. I think it was from the Ativan. She only takes that at bed time and it usually knocks her out. Poor Bruce got to come home around 9:30, only to be paged back to work at 11, and didn't get to come home until 1:30. Sis is doing an OB rotation, and is on call every 4th day overnight. Those pregnant ladies sure do love her after she has given them their epidurals!!

Lauren woke up feeling much better on Thursday morning. Bruce was home and helped us load our car. We went to breakfast at Bob Evans. Lauren still was not very hungry. We went and got gas and drinks and were on our way home. We stopped at the pharmacy on the way home and got all of Lauren's prescriptions filled. We got home around 4. Lauren took a muscle relaxant and she said her back hurt worse. So today if her back hurts, she will take two and see if that helps. Gio came over after bowling last night and rubbed BenGay on her back. What a way to stink up the house!! I haven't really talked to Lauren today. If she is quiet, that means Leave Me Alone!! So I do. I am posting two pics I took at the hospital during chemo. Thanks for all of your support.  Love, -Pam