June 17, 9:43 PM

With the Laker - Celtic game over, I can get back to doing things. By the way, the Celtic loss was only moderately traumatic for Pat in spite of her continued rooting for them. I on the other hand, rooting for the team getting the most coverage in the local press, had long since switched allegiance to the Lakers, smiled. My condolences to our Boston friends.

Back to the saga. On Tuesday Pat woke with her feet swollen and a moon shaped face. It was time to head back to UCI for the 2nd unit of blood and the white blood cell booster. In response to our concern we were visited by a nurse practitioner who, after consultation with Dr. Lilly added a diuretic to blood drip. Lest you be concerned, Pat felt well enough to go out for dinner with friends. I suspect that eating with someone besides me is good for her spirits. Pat awoke on Wednesday with essentially unchanged swelling. She was anticipating calling the doctor, but he beat her to the phone. On hearing of the continuing swelling, he scheduled Pat for an echocardiogram and a visit with him on Thursday. That was intended to ensure that the swelling was not the result of congestive heart failure, even though Pat had no other relevant symptoms. Resting all day, Pat summoned enough energy to go to a lecture on the new health care bill at a friend’s house. Yes, food was involved as well. We did not stay long after the presentation, as she was tired. On Thursday, after some discussion, Pat drove to UCI by herself. Everything proved normal and she was sent home with an Rx for some more diuretic. Pat rested in the afternoon and the swelling seemed to decrease a little. We’re now headed into the post chemo days when fatigue and discomfort tend to peak.

June 14, 2010 2:41 PM

Pat has just awoken refreshed from her first nap of the afternoon. She was really out of it. I’ve delayed updating the blog, mostly because nothing dramatic has happened and by now you pretty much know the drill. As was expected, little things like the tingling on the tip of her tongue faded away as the week progressed. By and large Pat has learned to husband her resources - bursts of energy to accomplish “I gottas” , and naps preceding social engagements. Yesterday morning Pat did a slow one lapper around Lake Santa Margarita before our usual Sunday group breakfast. Back home, a quick check of the plants and then a rest before we picked up the Gross’s and headed off to a concert. It featured Andre Watts performing the Grieg Piano Concerto. At the risk of sounding like a teenager - “we were blown away”. Watts played so beautifully. The fluid ease of his attack wonderfully complemented the beauty of the music. Afterward it was a short drive to the Capital Seafood Restaurant in Irvine. Although one of a chain, it offers excellent Chinese seafood. It is in the Diamond Shopping Plaza in a very Asian neighborhood. Interestingly, the developer of the center insisted that contracts include the stipulation that all signs be in English.

A summary of this morning’s visit with the doctor that preceded the start of her chemo will fill out the picture. Her blood test showed a very low hemoglobin so that the doctor has ordered a transfusion of 2 units of blood. One of these will be tacked on to today’s visit and the second will be administered tomorrow when she comes for her white cell stimulant. There was some swelling in her legs due to the suspension of one of the meds used to lower her blood pressure. It had a diuretic effect as well. That combined with the increased fluid intake that the doctor had recommended probably accounts for the swelling that should readily be resolved. Most significantly, Dr. Lilly has come to the conclusion that, at least for the present, we are on a three week cycle.

The transfusion having been finished, we are now home, and have finished dinner as well. We are looking forward to the 2 units of blood picking up Pat’s energy so that we won’t have to cancel the plans we have made for the coming weeks. Stay tuned for the further “PERILS OF PATSY”. 22:13:27

June 6

Where has the time gone? Delly and Peter arrived Friday and will be off early tomorrow morning. Pat has been doing better each day. Today included another trip to Crystal Cove. Once again it was sunny at home with some mist obscuring the sun at the beach, but not as densely as it had on our last trip there. The wait for “blunch” was only 5 minutes so that the stroll on the beach had to be deferred until after we had eaten. After a significant walk it was home to get the sand out of our clothing before heading off to “City Island”. Pat liked it and I thought that it was a terrific picture. Then to Hatam’s for dinner. Pat made it through the entire day without a rest and feeling good all the way. By 9:30 though, she was ready to "pack it in." Delly and Peter have gone to bed to be ready for an early drive to Scottsdale tomorrow. I’m taking this quiet time to bring you up to date. The bottom line is that the combination of the deferred continuation of the chemo and her sister’s visit have put Pat in a very good place.

June 4

The week started with Pat’s fatigue more intense and tenacious. It eased up a bit on Wednesday, and, as Pat described it, she felt almost human on Thursday. The most significant news of the week was the decision, at Thursday’s scheduled visit with Dr. Lilly, to take a week off. Thus we are going onto a 3 week cycle, at least until Pat’s next visit on June 14. Testimony to Pat’s present status was her decision to go to the Wine Club dinner last night. She had scheduled it, with only the hope of being able to attend. She was very busy socializing - without fatigue. The only down element was people commenting on the frequent mentions of food on the blog. I hope that the prior sentences pass the scrutiny of the censor who had forbidden the mention of food. But Pat IS busy preparing lunch for us and her Sister and her husband. When I started typing they were expected momentarily, but a just concluded phone call advised us that they were hung up in traffic and were probably at least an hour away. The rest of the weekend will be busy, but I think that Pat will be just fine with it. I’ll leave the details to a post-hoc posting.

Week of 5/25

Tuesday was relatively uneventful, but Wednesday thru Friday were more troublesome. The doctor had suggested that the third and fourth days would tend to be the most symptomatic and that prediction struck with a vengeance this week. Pat got to the point where she decreased her activity to minimize the discomfort and fatigue that forced her to rest in the afternoons. Interestingly it was on these days that she experienced the tingling at the tip of her tongue that tended to make some foods taste funny. By Friday Pat was feeling a bit better, but we opted for a rotisserie chicken from Henry’s. We added some cut up veggies to make it an easy meal.

Saturday was a great day! Lots of laughs and lots of fun. While I played paddle tennis, Pat worked on her garden and then rested before we left for LA with the Levy’s to see South Pacific. We all loved it. Then it was off for a good dinner, before getting home about 8:00. Pat made it though the day with flying colors.

Sunday was a day of rest for the most part. I went to play in our Memorial day, low key, tennis tournament, leaving Pat coffee for her breakfast. I had forgotten it the day before and was under threat of severe reprisal. Needless to say I did not forget. Pat spent most of the day resting, including some sleeping. We were scheduled for ushering at the South Coast Repertory. Pat just didn’t have the energy for it, so I went with the Simpsons, good friends with whom we usually usher. Unfortunately she missed a great production of Crimes of the Heart. As planned, we called Pat to find out if she was up to going out for dinner. She accepted without hesitation, adding that she felt the need for “socialization“. We went to a low profile local Greek restaurant - with discounts. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, Pat reveling in the “escape from the hut”.

Monday was a bit heavier. Pat had planned to join our breakfast group for a movie and Chinese seafood dinner. It was soon apparent that fatigue was holding sway, so we opted out of the movie, hoping to join the group for dinner. A day spent mostly in bed had Pat feeling better, but not enough to encourage her to want to venture out. It was arranged that our friends would bring us food from the restaurant on their way home. I started updating this news while waiting for their call. And now as I am finishing off, Pat has come into the room and started to putter - a good sign. In fact hunger has been a constant and encouraging sign. It looks like it is going to be an up evening. We started watching “Man on a Wire”. About halfway through the movie the food arrived and we dove in with vigor. I guess by now you’ve gotten the message that Pat is feeling much better. It looks as if we are entering the up cycle. That’s about as good a time as any to close for the night. But first - Pat and I have had a minor dispute. She keeps berating herself for not having responded to all of your kind and supportive notes and deeds. I told her that people understand and are not offended at her tardiness. Nevertheless she insists that we include a mention that she loves hearing from you and will respond as time and energy allow.

5/23/10

A wonderful day! Pat woke full of P&V. There was the usual Sunday morning drill - Pat did her usual twice around the Santa Margarita Lake with Lauren in tow. After the usual breakfast with the usual suspects it was home and a stretch out for Pat, while I took Lauren to John Wayne. I returned from the airport. in time to pick up Pat and friends to go to the lake for a concert by the South Coast Symphony. There were three singers doing show tunes. Valerie Perri, sang and was a kind of master of ceremonies. She was great in every capacity. For more details - http://lakemissionviejo.org/03noticia/2010/may10.pdf -. And the weather, turning its nose up at the forecast, was beautiful. I can’t say enough about the music and the performances - top notch!. Afterwards we went to Hatam’s for dinner with our friends. We had a blast made even more fun by a bunch of young folks assembling to celebrate a graduation. Now I type as we make preparations for the third chemo session. It is becoming routine. Well leave here at 7:00 am. I’ll drop Pat at the cancer center and park the car. If the vampire gets there on time, Pat should have her blood drawn at just about the time I get there from the garage. Then we’ll walk over to The Block for breakfast at the Corner Bakery. This time we‘ll neither ask for, or listen to, advice about where to breakfast. A walk back to the Hospital at 9:00 and the third chemo session will begin. Now it’s time to pack it in for the evening. To be continued……

5/24 10:45

The morning drill went as anticipated. The parade of “stuff” has begun winding its way to work, although not whistling like the 7 dwarfs. We tried the Corner Bakery this morning, and decided that it will be Starbucks in 2 weeks. Pat likes the Yogurt parfait there better, at least until we have sampled it at the Block location. The doc noted that the hemoglobin was, as expected, down somewhat. I guess that you have noticed that I have chosen to retain only the glamour shot.

1:20

Another entry before we call it a day. The update would have been posted this morning if I could have established the wifi connection here. I won ‘t go into the gruesome details, but the time has been spent trying all sorts of things, including multiple trips to other parts of the hospital. This time stamp just indicates that I have given up posting from here. Well not exactly. I‘ll give it another try at 3:00.

9:30

Home again with no need to WIFI. You can guess that 3:00 didn't work out. So I'll a chance to finish off the day before retiring. We were released at about 4:30 and you can tell that Patsy did very well because we stopped at COSTCO for a few things and she was pushing the cart around while I gassed up. She made dinner, a prepared chicken marsala from Trader Joe's that she had stocked for just this purpose. We have had to defer enjoying the marvelous stuff youse guys prepare for us, to make sure the bought food is consumed before it expires. Pat is catching up on her programs as I close out our day. Let me do the latter by telling you how much your caring, love, and goodies do to keep the time from getting heavy. Thank you for carrying so much of our weight.

A pattern seemed to have evolved. Generally it was morning energy with a resuscitating afternoon nap. One of the week’s activities was getting Pat’s one-size hats to fit her petite head better. Some partial corrections made them more comfortable, but the perfect solution lies ahead of us. The week saw the passing of Pat’s 97 year old Aunt Salka. Richard joined us for the trip up to Glendale for the funeral. It was a celebration of the life of a beloved person and marked the passing of the last of her generation. Pat was quick to identify her new position as “queen” of the family. Wednesday was a take it easy day and Thursday was a very good day after a decent nights sleep. Was it due to the phase of her chemo cycle or the fact that Lauren arrived for a brief visit? She‘s going home Sunday. Eric took Kyra and Lainey on a school camping trip leaving Lauren free to visit us. Pat did the cooking Thursday night and then had another great nights sleep. We‘ll accept the blessing and not even try to identify the reason. Pat looked great and was bouncy for our Friday morning walk with the Levys. Lauren walked with Bobby and me, while Sandy and Pat took the shorter route straight down the hill. The trip back up the hill was a bit taxing for Pat, but she recovered quickly enough to go shopping at the farmer’s market with Lauren. After a quick lunch, the ladies, I almost said girls, were off to a spa to get massages. I consoled myself anticipating the wonderful John Dorey dish that Lauren was to prepare that evening. Today was another very good day. Pat was feeling good and made it through the day without resting. Richard and Mira came up from Encinitas around 11. We had a very good time, lunch and yakking before the southern contingent took off in the early afternoon. Mira was a delight. After assorted menial chores, it was off to a movie and then a Thai Restaurant for dinner. We got home a few moments ago and the tea kettle is whistling. I’ll probably update Monday from the hospital.