Surprise! Another update!

Hey everyone,

This week, Laurie's hemoglobin inched up a little more to 11.2 so it's going in the right direction. However, her white blood count dropped from 5 to 3.2, so she needs to limit her exposure to those that may be sick. She also has a rash from the Herceptin, so she's going to try different lotions that may help that, her normal Mary Kay lotion doesn't like the new skin. The mouth sores are coming and going so she's drinking LOTS of milk, which has a soothing effect, and limiting her fruit intake. One of the mothers on Brooke's & Ridge's baseball team, whose husband had cancer about 15 years ago, said that his side effects became worse at the end, and he was told it was due to all the bad cells being out the system, so the medicine could only attack the good cells. Another survivor at the Reston Relay for Life told Laurie it was a sign that the medicine was doing its job. Both sound right, and help Laurie set her tolerance level higher for the side effects. It is also a good reason to talk to other survivors or people going through similar treatment plans. It is easier to ask those who understand, and Laurie & I both believe God makes good of these difficulties by letting us help others around us.

I think many of you that have seen Laurie lately know that a tissue is a permanent fixture in her hand. She thought it was just due to her allergies being exasperated by the chemo. However, she found out from a new nurse visiting from the Fairfax office that post nasal trip is actually a side effect of Taxol, so that should stop 2-8 weeks after the Taxol treatments stop . . . which will be in 2 weeks! So that is more good news. There is a light at the end of the tunnel for that as well as the neuropathy (tingling of feet/toes and hands/fingers).

Now the countdown toward treatments 11 and 12 of the Taxol/Herceptin is beginning. As you may have picked up, this is rather a long journey, so we have to celebrate the milestones along the way. The next round is radiation. Laurie has her radiation simulation appointment scheduled for next week, and her quarterly echocardiogram scheduled for the following week (to verify that the Herceptin is not damaging her heart). She then has a week off from her doctors the week of June 29th, although we will have to take Brooke for a checkup appointment. The week after July 4th is when she will start her radiation treatments. Six weeks of Monday through Friday doses. She will also continue the Herceptin (which is considered a biological treatment) every 3 weeks so although she will get stronger doses (3 week versus 1 week), she will only have to go in every 3 weeks.

As school is winding down and summer begins, we will be carting the kids all across the county and occasionally up and down the east coast to various camps and tournaments. I will continue to work during the summer as I don’t get the luxury of having the summer off. Laurie already has all the camps and tournaments mapped out so the hard part is already done. All we have to do is get them to and from and that part, from past years experience, is the easy part.

I hope you all have a great week and we want you to know that we are thanking God daily for all of his blessings and thank you for all your prayers and support.

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