An intermission--and then the next round begins

The past week continued to be a slow one for our lovely Rita. She just didn't have any energy, even upon getting up in the morning. In fact, after breakfast and taking her pills, she would usually take a nap. This is very unlike her usual behavior.

It has been so cold and gloomy here that only the forsythia has been brave enough to bloom. But the weekend offered our first real spring weather. On Saturday, we pulled the lawn chairs out of storage and basked happily in the 77-degree sunshine, picnic-ing on chicken and spinach salads. A few tulips finally poked their heads out along with us. Both of us were all smiles about finally getting some blue sky and warm sun.

She made a decision this weekend: Rita Williams will not be doing Bloomsday 2008 (the 7.5 mile marathon in Spokane that regularly attracts 40,000-60,000 people). This breaks a nearly un-broken 23+ year streak. Instead, she and Peg will play the support roles of cook and chauffeur while Bill and I carry the family banner. I expect Mom will enjoy the Bloomsday experience almost as much from the sidelines, though. It really is an exciting festival, and she hasn’t been able to see it from that perspective in a long, long time. I just hope she doesn't pilfer my finisher's t-shirt afterwards.

So, as to the most recent past, yesterday, April 14, began the second cycle of chemotherapy. On Sunday, Peg had met Mom and me in Colfax, the halfway mark between the L-C Valley and Spokane, and Mom continued up to Spokane with her. Peg went with Mom to her two appointments yesterday, the chemo in the late morning and then an eye exam in the early afternoon. I haven't heard the details yet, but Peg did text me that these two appointments took SIX hours. Yipes! I bet they were both very tired when that was over.

Peg's text message also mentioned that Mom's blood test showed some anemia--which explains the muscle weakness--so they gave her some sort of booster before administering the poisons. I'll post more about that when I get more information, or maybe Peg will. I haven’t heard whether Mom has suffered any other effects of the chemo, like nausea, but will post on that soon.

Mom has said that she thinks she may be beginning to lose some hair, too. After she washed her hair on Saturday, she said that there was more hair than usual in the drain. If she is losing hair, though, it isn't noticeable at this point. We haven't talked wigs yet, but I would like to see her as a redhead. Any other recommendations?