When Rita Smiles . . .

How happy I was this morning when I entered the hospital room and saw Mom smile!  She actually seemed somewhat cheerful!  It seems as if her personality is normalizing as her health gets better.  She sat up for both breakfast and lunch today, feeding herself well and eating better than I've seen so far.  That's not to say, though, that she is happy about this enfeebled state she's in.  

Mom has always been so engaged with people and her surroundings.  She seems unwilling to become old, a senior whose feeble physical condition and waning senses force her into observing more than participating in life's activities.  

I suppose I should celebrate Mom's rebelliousness against the inevitability of aging.  Dylan Thomas wrote his magnificent poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" at his father's deathbed, begging him to do something other than sink peacefully into the eternal sleep.   He would be glad if he could see my mom.  

  

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height

Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray

Do not go gentle into that good night

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

  

 

Juiced up!

They pumped Mom full of stuff yesterday.  At one point, they had two IV pumps going at the same time.  She got antibiotics, two units of blood, and potassium.  Her face has filled back out; it was looking gaunt for a while. 

For those interested in her vitals: her temperature this afternoon at 4:00 is 100, blood oxygen is 91%, blood pressure 117/61.   Her white blood count this morning was .7, up from .3 yesterday.  The goal is 1.0.  So she's definitely not as sick as she was. 

Sometimes the better you feel, the harder it is to be sick.  I asked her if she was getting bored.  She said, "Yes."  We always said that Mom was not likely to be a happy camper as a patient, when and if she ever got really sick.  And that is indeed the way it has turned out.  Nurses generally make unwilling patients, though, don't they?

This morning when her doctor came around, she told him that she was mad at him for making her feel better.  He took it well.  I think he even was glad that she was getting sassy with him.  

Although she mainly just briefly asks and answers question, she is interacting more lucidly now that her vitals are starting to pick up again.   She's just still too weak for conversation.  

Sometimes when you're sick, life doesn't seem worth living

I've been with Mom in Spokane's Sacred Heart Medical Center since Wednesday morning. 

When I got here Wednesday, she seemed to be getting on top of the infection and even was able to sit up and feed herself.  Then Wednesday night, her fever spiked again, and it was like starting over. She is weak, shaky and somewhat out of it, although that comes and goes depending, Peg thinks, on the fever.

On Wednesday, her brother Adrian and sister-in-law Rose came to Spokane from Lewiston, where they have been visiting for the past week.  Adrian and Rita had intended to have a nice long visit together, but this medical crisis deep-sixed those plans.  They're having to go back to their home in California with the image of Mom at her sickest in their minds.  Distressing for them, I know.

Peg and I have been tag teaming so that Mom has one of us by her most of the time.  The nursing staff and other caregivers have been wonderful, but both Peg and I want to be around to make sure that she gets water or coffee when she wants it, that she eats as much as she is willing to eat, and that she is kept entertained or at least distracted.  

Because she has been out of it as much as she has, they did an MRI yesterday, just to ensure that the CAT scan on Saturday hadn't misled them about the state of her brain. Thankfully, it showed no problems.

Her spirits are low--she has NEVER been this sick physically in her life--and she is saying, "what's the use?" But we know that once her white blood cell count improves, she will feel more positive. We hope so, at least. Poor thing.

White blood cell count was at .1; this morning it is at .3; it needs to get to 1.0.     

At least we're going in the right direction. We who are not sick as dogs, as she is, cling to this hope.

Hospitalization

Sad news to report. Mom is in the hospital with an infection. It came on her overnight this weekend. On Friday (April 25), she and Peg had a nice evening together and Mom ate heartily. The next morning (Saturday, April 26), Peg couldn’t wake her up. She knew Mom was alive because she was breathing and had a heartbeat, but still wouldn’t come to complete consciousness. Peg called 911, and Mom ended up in Sacred Heart. The EMT’s suggested that she go there because of the possibility that she had had a stroke.

By about 11:30 AM, they began a CAT scan, and by about 1 PM were able to determine that there was no sign of a stroke on the CAT image. They had also taken a complete blood count and found that her white blood cells were “down to zero.” So they delivered antibiotics and took cultures. It wasn’t until the next morning, however, (Sunday, April 27) that they knew what bug it was and could be sure of the diagnosis: bacterial infection in the blood.

Saturday was a bad night for Mom and for us. She was quite sick. She would occasionally become alert, but Peg, Bill and I all thought she was clearly delirious. She was refusing treatment: “No chemo; no antibiotics; let go, let God” she said over and over again with great vehemence. That really affected Peg, Bill and me. And some of the hospital staff decided that she was lucid enough that her wishes had to be respected. As a result, it was a late night that included lots of discussion with the medical staff about appropriate treatment.

Sunday morning, she showed signs of improvement. I had spent the night there, so I was ready when she was coming to. She seemed a little bit more alert than she had been the night before.

Poor thing, her mouth was so dry. I asked and she agreed to take some water by mouth. She couldn’t lift her head so I held the cup and straw for her. As I helped her, I became aware that she smelled the coffee on my breath. I asked her if she wanted a cup of coffee. She said yes to that, too. I got some nice hot coffee for her, put the straw to her lips, and, boy, did she suck it down. I asked her if it seemed to be too hot. Of course, old iron mouth said, “No, it’s good.” Hallelujah! She sucked down I think three cups in very short order, and from that point on, she was more much more receptive to other assistance.

I firmly believe that the taste of a good, hot cup of coffee brought back her will to live.

Peg and Bill came back to be with her within an hour or so. We were all glad that she seemed to be a bit better but still very, very sad and concerned about her refusal of treatment

When the doctor showed up about noon, he spoke to her very clearly. He said he needed her to accept the antibiotics and the electrolytes, and he needed her to let the nurses draw blood. She said, “OK,” and I can tell you that Peg, Bill and I all erupted with glad relief and gratitude to Mom and many thanks to the doctor. I even hugged him! We hurried the nurse to get the antibiotics and start them up before Mom or anyone else could interfere.

By Monday (April 28), Mom was alert enough to hold conversations with Bill in the morning, me in the afternoon and Peg in the evening. She was strong enough to stand up in the shower and to sit up in a chair to feed herself.

As you might imagine, the weekend was a complete blur to her, so each one of us went over the events of Saturday and Sunday with her. We have downplayed somewhat the fact that for about twelve hours, she was refusing treatment, and about the effect of that on us. We recognize that she is still having a hard time putting it all together in her mind. But we have hopes that when she gets better, we can come to a clearer understanding of her desires.

She has always said that we should refuse all heroic measures to sustain life, and we definitely will respect that, but we did not regard the intravenous administration of antibiotics as a heroic measure. We were distressed that, in her delirium, she was able to persuade the medical staff to terminate that assistance. This is going to take more talking about, definitely.

Today, her fever has risen a bit again. She says that her mind feels foggy, that she feels “silly.” The treatment is continuing: antibiotics, injections to stimulate white blood cell production and hospitalization. We don’t know what will happen next, and we are taking it day-by-day, hour-by-hour.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers.

This is a photo of Bill's, Peg's and Mom's hands as we were with her in the hospital room.

Sad turn of events

Our mom took a turn for the worst on Saturday, April 26th. She is currently in Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane but hopefully will be released later this week. She was looking forward to returning home to Asotin for a week when she was struck with a bacterial infection which hit suddenly on Saturday. Because of the depleted immune system it took rapid control of her body. She is bouncing back slowly, but it was touch and go for a while. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks to those of you who have commented on the blog. We share your comments and best wishes with her. If you haven't figured it out- Charmaine says all you have to do in click on the blue "comment" word. Thanks to Lisa, her friend and banker, for sending your thoughts. I will pass them on to mom tomorrow! She has friends everywhere!

The second cycle of six

I spent the weekend with Mom and Peg in Spokane. Just felt like I wanted to be there with her and get a firsthand sense of how she is doing. So here is another update.

Mom continues to be in pretty good spirits. She is definitely moving more slowly than normal and doesn’t have a lot of physical pep. But she is alert and interactive—still fun company. Mom, Peg and I went to a movie on Saturday (Al Pacino’s 88 Minutes, a riveting thriller: thumbs up!) and then had a restaurant meal. So Mom is able to get around well enough to enjoy her normal Saturday activities.

On Sunday, Peg had arranged to take some well-earned “me” time with her scrapbooking buddies, so Mom and I had a nice time together—reading the newspaper, making fruit salad, pedicures--stuff like that.

The weather was sunny, although cool, so we enjoyed a slow Sunday drive through Riverside State Park. It’s a wonderful forested area along the Spokane River, an oasis of nature at the edge of sprawling Spokane suburbs. There, she was able to get out for a short walk on level ground. It turned out to be a nice little excursion to the woods.

Mom and I had also gone on a walk around the block earlier in the day. Mom thinks she may have overdone it with the exercise, according to Peg, but I know Mom would rather push the envelope than to be a couch potato.

Yesterday, Peg went with Mom to the second appointment of her second cycle of chemo. I hope Peggets a chance to update this blog with more medical details, but until she does, here’s what I have learned so far.

Mom’s red blood cell count has returned to acceptable levels, thanks to that shot they had given her last week. Mom asked for another one, evidently. "I like those," she told the staff.

So they told her that shot costs $3,000!

Evidently, because of the expense, Medicare is considering refusing to cover it. That would leave someone in Mom’s condition with the recourse of transfusions. Peg thinks, and I agree, that seems counterproductive, since transfusions involve risk. We think of one of Mom’s dear nieces whose hepatitis-C was acquired in the hospital. So it looks like one of us siblings will need to step up and bleed for Mom. I myself am very willing if the meds I’m on don’t disqualify me. Peg's meds disqualify her. So she and I have decided that Bill will be the bleeder, if I can’t. Right, Bill?

Well, we’re looking forward to the arrival of Uncle Adrian and Aunt Rose. Rose and Adrian are taking a leisurely drive from San Jose with several stopovers along the way. They will be in the L-C Valley sometime toward the end of the month. We’re hoping that Mom is able to be in Asotin that week of April 27 and maybe the following week so we can all visit together. We’ll see how it goes. It will be a brother-sister reunion squared, with Aunt Rose united with brothers Bud and Blue and Adrian united with sister Rita. Maybe we'll look at slides of our time in Hawaii.

It’s always so much fun to have loved ones around. About two weeks ago, while Mom was in Asotin before this current second round of chemo, she enjoyed a several-day visit with her son-in-law Ron (Jim’s son) and grandson Davy. I’m not sure that I have all the details right, but I understand that Ron and Davy were on a father-son road trip that included a visit with Grandma.

They lent her a hand with shopping and took care of many, many other little details. She returned the favor by teaching them how to poach eggs. Evidently, they had never heard of that way of preparing eggs before, which tickled Mom no end. She, Peg and I are still giggling about it. Imagine going to sleepy little Asotin to acquire culinary skills! At any rate, she--and we kids--are very grateful for Ron and Davy’s company and love, and we hope their journey has been wonderful.

Mom and Peg

Well, for anyone who is worried about how well Mom has been handling the first week of her second cycle of chemo (including me!), take a look at this photo of Peg and Mom having dinner last night at Shari's. Except for her questionable taste in restaurants, I'd say she's doing pretty well.

Eat lots of irons!

After a very difficult Tuesday, Mom has perked up considerably. She’s now lively and alert, the tremors have diminished to almost nothing, and she has even been able to take walks around the block, accompanied by Bro Bill. (He came over from Wenatchee for a few days when he heard that some additional assistance might be in order. Definitely a mensch!) Mom herself has said that while Tuesday was a 3 on a scale of 1-10, Wednesday was a 6.5 and today so far is a 7.

We’ve agreed that Monday, with about six hours of doctors’ appointments, including the chemo, was just too much. Next time, no double or triple scheduling.

Both Peg and Bill have been making sure that mom eats lots of red meat, dark green veggies and red grapes to shore up her low red blood cell count; she got steak Tuesday and pot roast with veggies last night. My frequent text messages to Bill advocating that she eat foods high in iron has led him to take a very humorous take on the topic:

It feels good to laugh.

"Tell Mom her lunch is ready."





"Getn dinr ready"

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?

Slowing down for a while

I had to take an early leave of Mom today because of a Chorale event in Pullman in the afternoon. Usually, I stay through Sunday and take off for the week early Monday. I was a little concerned to leave her alone because she has been pretty tired. Yesterday afternoon she stretched out on the sofa and watched a basketball game, and that is just not like her at all.

She says she feels OK, though, except that her "vision isn't worth a damn."

On Thursday, while she was dealing with a broken kitchen faucet that wouldn't be fixed until I got down there for the weekend, another stressful irritation occurred: the toilet backed up and wouldn't open up again, no matter how she tried to plunge and problem with unbent coathanger. So I called around until I found a "rooter" who came by and fixed it. Still, having a backed up toilet is not fun when you're well--and less fun when you're sick. I did manage to get the kitchen sink back in working order on Saturday, too, so all is OK again for the time being.

Peg, Bill and I are feeling sad to see her slow down. She's accepting it as the necessary consequence of the medical treatment, though, and that will, we all hope, lead to cure and recovery. We're so grateful for friends who are dropping by to check on her.

Back at home--and happy about it

Now that lovely Rita is back in Asotin, she is having a chance to re-connect with all of her friends in the Valley. She told me that on Tuesday her friend Ellen came over and together they said a rosary; that was heartwarming to hear about. Today, Kate has arranged to pick her up and bring her to her beauty parlor for another one of those beautiful hair-dos that Kate always does. These, along with numerous other expressions of kindness and concern from others, such as Joyce, Virginia and Ingrid, have really lifted her spirits. Last night, I drove from Pullman to Asotin and spent the night with her. I found her eyes sparkling and her manner lively, even though it's clear that she's not feeling completely comfortable. Thank you, thank you to everyone.

The kind folks at the Tri-State Hospital Lifeline program put that equipment back into the house. Mom had had it set up for a short time before deciding to move into Evergreen Estates Retirement Center. Now that she is going to have to be alone for periods of time during the day, it was important, we all agreed, to get it back in place. My mind is a lot easier because of it, for sure.

On Monday, there was a bit of a scare with one of her medications. While getting her Monday dose out of her Sunday-through-Saturday pill box, she accidently dropped the Wednesday dose on the floor. Neither of us noticed it until a bit later, when I saw two capsules on the kitchen floor. One of them had been broken open, leaving a dusty pile of medicine on the floor. The other one seemed as if it might have been slightly bitten by one of the dogs, but it hadn't been pierced. I wasn't sure how many capsules make up each dose, so I checked the pill box. The remaining pill box sections each had three capsules, not two. Yipes! Could Zen or Yoda have eaten one of them? That quite distressing possibility had me madly making calls to confirm that the Wednesday pill box section should have had three capsules in it. Only when I was on the phone with Peg for the second or third time did I finally spot the third capsule at the edge of the kitchen floor. It was whole. Thank goodness!

So then began a quest for a replacement for the broken pill. We would need to track one down before her final dose on Wednesday. I called almost all of the pharmacies in the Valley, but no one stocked that medication. I called my Pullman pharmacy; they could order it for the next day. Ruminating, I realized that billing would be SO complicated, and this medication is $60 per capsule. Finally, a wonderful woman at Albertons Sav-On pharmacy in Spokane where Peg had originally gotten the prescription stepped up and offered to play a truly kind and generous role. They agreed to run over to the post office with a single capsule and mail it overnight mail to Mom's P.O. Box in Asotin. It got there in time, and we owe a big, big thanks to the pharmacy staff there.

I won't be able to get down to Asotin tonight because of an evening meeting, but I may go down tomorrow evening, unless Mom is doing so well that the commute just seems silly. I definitely will be going down for the weekend, though.

March 30, 2008

Never one to let grass grow under her feet, lovely Rita has temporarily returned to Asotin. Her next chemo treatment will be on April 11th. This lapse between treatments gives her the opportunity to go to her home and get out of the snow which is still plaguing Spokane.

On Saturday, cousins Jonna and Vicky drove from the coast to see mom. They had quite a harrowing trip having decided to leave their homes on Friday night rather than Saturday morning. They got caught for about 45 minutes when Snoqualamie Pass closed, then proceeded to Spokane where they planned to get a hotel room for the night (so as to not awaken mom and me). Oops! Forgot that the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament is in town! They had to drive all the way to Coeur D'Alene to find a room. They both laughed about it knowing they could have found rooms in Moses Lake, Ritzville or Cheney! What a trip! They graciously offered to drive mom back home which saved both Charm and I the drive. Thanks cousins!

We want to thank all of you who have written or called to express support for mom. She does fatigue easily so we ask for your understanding if she doesn't respond to all calls or visits. All in all she has handled this challenge as she has everything else in her life...with humor and strength!

The second chemo infusion event

I'll give you all a brief about Mom's second chemo infusion yesterday, Monday the 24th. Peg has a lot more detailed information, though, so she may want to add or correct some of my comments.

Mom had been told by her oncologist, Dr. Chaundhry, that the results of a MUGA test showed that the "squeeze" power of her heart was less than it should be; it was 40% when it should be 60%. He recommended that she go back to her cardiologist. So yesterday she did, seeing another doctor in the Spokane office of her Lewiston-based cardiology doctor. This doctor ordered a echocardiogram, which is a more modern and more exact test than the MUGA. The results of this test showed that Mom's output is more like 50%, which is more than satisfactory for a woman of her age. With that result, the doctor cut back on the dosage of the medicine meant to help her heart.

So that was good news for Mom, who is looking forward to another Bloomsday in May, the Pacific Northwest's version of the Boston marathon (only shorter).

The intravenous chemo infusion begins with a blood panel, and the results actually showed improvement in red and white blood cell counts over last week's. That's also good news. Finally, as the doctor examined her, he noted that the groin lymph node that was no longer swollen. Generally speaking, he said, she is responding very, very well to the treatment.

Mom so far hasn't experienced the typical side effects of chemo--nausea and hair loss. She is perhaps just beginning to feel a bit hyped up from the Predisone, for she reported that she had a difficult time falling asleep last night. That's not at all like her. She made up for it by sleeping late this morning, though.

Peg and I talked this evening and agreed that this week has been less stressful than last week, when we were all being introduced to new procedures and such. Let's hope that Mom's good health continues as she enjoys a 20-day interval until her next intravenous infusion at the beginning of the next 28 day cycle. She is thinking that she might be able to go back to Asotin and enjoy her own home for a while, but we'll see how the week develops.

Thanks to everyone who is sending emails. I'm passing them on to Peg and she's reading them to Mom.

Love to you all.

Busy Easter weekend, wasn't it?

Well, Mom had a great week, it seems, and a great Easter weekend. Peg always likes to do the Easter egg thing with Michelle and Chelsea, so egg decorating was on the schedule for Saturday. I understand that Mom got kind of tired out and crashed when Peg and she got back to Peg's house. But what great-grandmother wouldn't feel that way after being a part of all that hubbub?

Sunday began with Mass with Peg and Chelsea, then the egg hunt in Peg's front yard. By the time I got to Spokane (I had been in the Valley moving Mom's stuff out of Evergreen Estates), all of that was over and everyone was chilling out in anticipation of a great dinner.

Peg served a wonderful ham that she had injected with a honey praline marinade. Yum! We feasted until we were full and then adjourned to easy chairs for conversation. I had to drive back to Pullman that evening to go to work the next morning.

So it was, all in all, a great family time. Happy Easter!

Livin' it up in Kauai in February

Mom, Peg and I joined Uncle Adrian and Auntie Rose in Kauai, Hawaii in mid-Feb for a great 10-day vacation. Mom had just received her diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She had asked her docs whether she should cancel the trip; they said, "you go, girl, and have the time of your life." So she did. Here are some of the pics that prove it.

Day 3--

Just talked with Mom by phone this morning and got a report on her third day. She reported feeling more tired. But that’s to be expected, we think. Even so, she finds it hard not to feel like she’s being lazy.

She is so wise about her health. She has been eating lots of fruits and vegetables, she said. She continues to find ways to get some exercise, even though she’s on chemo meds. She went on a walk yesterday, fooled around with an elastic resistance band, and did some “sit and get fit” exercises.

Mom begins to take two new medications today and will continue them for the next 14 days. One is predisone, some kind of steriod that is supposed to supercharge your energy level but also can make you irritable. The other is the oral chemo drug from the MOPP regimen. She hasn’t had to struggle with nausea yet, and we hope that continues with this additional med. Peg has been really helpful in rounding up all of the prescriptions and in consulting with the pharmacists about drug compatibility.

Peg has also been rounding up lots of nutritious foods so Mom can follow up on the great advice and wonderful support we have been getting from our cousin, her niece Pam in California. Pam, a RN with a long-standing “obsession,” as she calls it, about nutrition and natural healing, has been consulting with Mom about the importance of diet, especially as she confronts this cancer. Pam has given us lots of information about the value of digestive enzymes in fostering health of the digestive tract, blood and internal organs, so both Mom and I are now taking Vitalzyme. If you want to know more about this, I can connect you with Pam; just let me know.

Pam also has been teaching us about a health drink called the “Green Smoothie.” This smoothie is made of green leafy vegetables—lettuce, spinach, kale, whatever appeals to your taste buds—and fruits. By pureeing the raw fruits and raw green leafy veggies into a drink, you are able to get very high levels of vitamins, minerals and fiber into the diet without having to munch down lots and lots of salad--and also without having to cook the veggies, which destroys a lot of the vitamins. The Green Smoothie concept that Pam recommends so highly is explained in Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko. My aunt and uncle have been making them every morning for quite a while now, and Auntie Rose has devised a very tasty recipe.

Pam reminds us that we are what we eat.

Here’s one of Pam’s emails.

GREEN SMOOTHIE


1/2 fresh pineapple ( or more to taste) Directions for cutting a pineapple the easiest way is on a small tag, attached to some of the pineapples.)

2 small yellow papaya

1 banana, or more to taste

1 - 2 cups red grapes
Add any seasonal fruit available. Berries are a great addition.

Blend all the fruit together, first. Add some
water for better blending
if desired, (ie: 1/2 to 3/4 cup water)

Then start adding some green leaves, (and you can add just one type of green (like Romaine lettuce) or you can add 3 or 4 different green varieties in one smoothie - it's up to your taste and availability and time) But remember, it is important to experiment with variety of different greens - so try to change your greens (and fruit each week or so). The amount should be gradual - if you start out too green - your taste buds may not like it right away and reject it, so start adding a little greens at first and adding more - as you start craving them. It really happens that way.

I tell people new to this to start with romaine and spinach leaves - for a few weeks. After that, start experimenting with other lettuces and greens.

You can also add celery stalks and cucumber too for more liquid. They are excellent fiber and contain very important nutrients, too.

If you prefer it thinner - you can just add water or you can add fresh squeezed orange juice or tangerine juice. (I don't recommend commercial orange juice). I have also added extra squeezed oranges to increase sweetness when I have added too much green.

Some GREENS to consider:

Romaine (no iceberg)
Green/Red leaf lettuce
Spinach
Kale (3 types)
Parsley
Watercress
Arugula
Beet greens
Any Chard
Collard Greens
Turnip greens
Carrot tops

Bok choy
broccoli
Celery
Cucumber

Sprouts

Herbs

Parsley(2 types)
Cilantro
Dill
Basil
Fennel
Mint
Peppermint
Spearmint

Some FRUITS to consider: (eating seasonal fruit in season is always best)

Pineapple
Grapes
Figs
Bananas
Oranges
Berries - strawberries, huckleberries, blueberries, raspberries,
blackberries, gooseberries, etc
Melons - watermelon, cantaloupe, galia, honeydew etc
Kiwis
Apples
Figs
Dates
Guavas
Papaya
Mangos
Grapefruit
lemons
pears
nectarines
peaches

If you make a large amount in the morning - you keep half of it in the refrigerator for the next day. But store it in glass container or a stainless steel thermos.

It seems easiest for most people to wash and store all your greens a few times a week, so you don't have to mess with so much each morning. You can purchase a plastic storage container from Longs. I like the brand Sterilite and bought the 15 quart, 14 L size. After spinning the cleaned greens dry in a salad spinner, you can store the greens in this container. It fits perfectly in most refrigerators. And be sure you always have lots of fruit around.

Enjoy experimenting!

Love,
Pam

So don’t forget that you can post comments to these messages. Peg, Bill and I will make sure to get them to Mom. Even better, call (I’d post the phone number if it weren’t a risk to invite unwanted callers as well).

And for those sophisticated users, the RSS feature at the bottom of the screen allows you to subscribe, so any new posts will be sent directly to your blog reader. (If that went over your head, don’t worry. It skims the top of mine, too.)

Day 2- Try again

I don't know if I am doing this correctly but I wanted you all to know that day two went pretty well for our mom. She slept well and woke up feeling pretty perky. She hung out at my house most of the day but joined me for a quick trip to the store and a little walk during my lunch hour. This evening we went to a Cancer support group at Holy Family Hospital. The people were cancer survivors, family members and people currently in treatment. The group was warm and gracious and shared their experiences and ideas. They meet every other Tuesday in the evening and everyone encouraged us to come back!

This evening she enjoyed a phone call from Ingrid Williams who is so dear to us all! Then of course her son calls with his usual light hearted banter. Keep it up folks- she delights in being the center of attention!

Day 2

St. Patrick and the beginning of cancer therapy

Here is the latest on Mom’s Quest for Victory over Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Yesterday, she went to Holy Family Hospital (Spokane) for a MUGA test scheduled for 10:30 and then her first chemo treatment at the oncology center. The MUGA test involves removing some blood, tagging the red cells with a radioactive isotope, reinserting that blood into the system, and then basically taking a video of the blood circulating in the heart. This test told us about how efficiently her heart muscles are squeezing the blood through the chambers. The normal reading in 60%; mom’s was at 40%.

This information that her ticker wasn’t as strong as could be hoped led Dr. Chaudrey to revise his chemo program for her. While he had originally planned a fairly newly-devised chemo program that included the drug andromyacin—I may not have spelled that correctly—he decided against that because that particular drug can do some damage to the heart. He changed the plan to a set of drugs that have been used to treat Hodgkin’s for quite a few years before this new set was devised. The new set has a 99% cure rate; the longer-established set has a 90% cure rate. But everyone agreed that the 9% lower cure rate was worth the risk when the heart is involved. So the chemo series she’ll be doing is called the MOPP program.

She has infusions twice every 28 days for 6 months. Her treatments are on day 1 and day 8 of each 28 day cycle. No one knows for sure how her body will react to these drugs, but my own, non-professional hope is that, while she might feel bad for the first two weeks of each 28 day cycle, maybe the last two weeks of the cycle will be relatively comfortable. I could be wrong, of course, because one of the drugs is taken by mouth and isn’t on that day 1/day 8 schedule.

We had a bit of a scare when Peg went to pick up the prescriptions that Mom has to take by mouth. She was told by the pharmacist at the Rite Aid store that one of them would cost $500. Peg said that she felt the blood drain from her head and felt her knees buckle. She immediately came back to the oncology center, when I had been hanging out with Mom as she lounged in a cushy easy chair while her drugs went into her system. When Peg told us what she had found out, the nurse was perplexed. “That doesn’t sound right,” she said. “I think there’s a generic version.” Sure enough. It all settled into place when Peg started calling around and found out about the generic versions. We haven’t completely dodged the bullet in terms of drug costs, though because one medication had to be ordered, and we still don’t know what that will cost. I think it’s a chemo drug, though, and if it is, her insurance programs will cover it.

I’m not sure how all of the insurance programs work. Thank the goddess I have a sister who is SO professionally knowledgeable about that aspect of this situation, having been a social worker her entire career and, for a period of years, a social worker in a nursing home. She’s just awesome on the phone as she makes calls to get information and get help solving problems.

I’m not sure exactly what I’m good for in this whole situation, but it may be as a researcher. I’ve recently had conversations with cancer survivors who used visualization techniques to promote their cure and minimize the side effects. A friend from Idaho Washington Concert Chorale, Helen, told me that she used her thoughts to ensure that she didn’t lose her hair. She would visualize the chemicals going right to and only to the cancer cells and not the “good” cells.

Since it was St. Patrick’s Day that Mom began this process of poisoning her body, we decided that St. Patrick owed her big-time. We thought Mom could visualize St. Patrick with his staff casting the cancer cells out of her body like he cast the snakes out of Ireland. I hope she does try that.

We’re also taking dear cousin Pam’s counsel by adding green smoothies, lots of nutritious foods, and Vitalzyme (digestive enzymes) to her diet. Peg bought organic versions of all the ingredients for the smoothies, too.

Mom is staying at Peg’s this week and probably part of next week. If you don’t have her phone number there but want to talk with her, let me know. While she is up there, I am moving her out of the retirement village, so that phone number is no longer valid. If she’s not at Peg’s, she will be in Asotin, but what will happen when is up in the air until we see what the drugs do to her. I talked with her this morning to find out that she had a great night, feels good so far, and was planning to look for"Sit and Be Fit" on the TV Fitness Channel. That sounds good, doesn't it?

WARNING: One of her drugs is supposed to make her cranky, though, so if you call only to have her bite your head off (I know that doesn’t sound like our dear, lovely Rita, but it could happen), take it with a grain of salt.

So, in the meantime, please know that she appreciates all of your love and prayers, as do Peg, Bill and I.

Rita's great Hawaiian adventure

Mom, Peg and I joined our dear Uncle Adrian and Aunt Rose in Kauai, Hawaii, where we enjoyed an incredible vacation with cousin Bill's wonderful house as home base. THANKS, COUSIN BILL! The trip included whale watching from a catamaran, a really fun luau with great food and lots of dancing, eating brunch at Princeville (pricey and scrumptious), day trips to Waimea canyon, to caves, and to Hilo Hattie's. And that's just skimming the surface of all the fun we had. Hanging out with Aunt Rose and Uncle Adrian was the best part. It's always such a treat for us to see Mom hanging with her bro, especially when things are tough.

Pam asked for some photos. I'll be posting them soon. They're on my computer at home.