Ding...

So here we are. Round two.

As I had thought, today was a long day that started around 9:30 with blood work, then over to the out-patient surgical unit for a quick port implant, followed by a somewhat mediocre lunch at Jerry's on Beverly. Then it was off to the acupuncturist, another eval by another doctor and then it was time for chemo.

We were originally scheduled to start the chamo at 8 PM but we got in early. We learned that although they are fully booked, many patients have to postpone treatments due to blood counts. As a result, space opens up mid-morning and we got in almost 4 hours early.

Good thing too because we were scheduled to stay overnight. We are still staying the night so they can start day 2 early and then we can get home early. they are going to turn around and start the premeds at 6 AM and we could be home by 3 if all goes well.

Back to today for a minute. The surgery went well and she doesn't have to retrun until chemo is over to have the port removed. Click here if you want to see a picture of the port they used. And if you can't get enough, click on the "Patient Guide" tab for further reading....

They also gave her a med-alert card in case of a recall. We had a good laugh over that one. That certainly wouldn't be a drop off at the dealer type of recall...

This type of port certainly will be a lot easier to live with in terms of movement, bathing and just overall convenience. The only down side so far is the recovery from the surgery. It's a tad painful right now.

Anna Brantman, the acupuncturist, turned out to be a interesting women from Russia who got her acupuncture training here in California. Nanc even got a treatment today. A few of the needles hurt a little but she handled it easily. When it was over she admitted that she felt some movement in the area of her abdomen that has been giving her some trouble since the surgery and felt some gas movement as well. And that was jsut after one short treatment. Anna want to see her again on Friday and twice a week for a while.

Nanc mentioned that she also wants to try another acupuncturist who would visit her at home. That would sure make things easy...

So what else for today... I looked at her blood counts and it's amazing how different her white count is from 3 weeks ago. No wonder they look at this stuff as often as they do.

We do have some sad news to report to you all. Our oldest dog, Krystal, is in the final stages of liver failure and will have to be put to sleep. We were going to do this on Monday but after discussing it with Atley, we decided to wait until Thursday.

Constance has arranged for a vet to come to the house so we can all be around when she goes. I will dedicate a separate post to Kristal's life with us tomorrow. for now though, suffice it to say that she was a real big part of our lives these last 10 years as she brought us much joy and love. She will be sorely missed.