A Mixed-Bag

Greetings Loyal Readers,

Today's posting is brought to you by the letter "H." First in your head, first in your heart. And remember, you can't spell happy without "H".

So much for commercial announcements, let's get down to business now, shall we?

As you know, Mom saw Cotton Stork (a/k/a Dr. Sato) yesterday. And, as today's title implies, the news was kind of a mixed bag. The tumor in Mom's liver has gotten both bigger and smaller. What's that, you say? How can that be? Well, if you'd stop interrupting and allow Your Favorite Correspondent to correspond, you'd already have the 4-1-1 by now.

When Mom received the TheraSphere treatment, they treated the left side of her liver. The good news is, there's been some slight shrinkage to the left side. The bad news is the tumor has grown a bit on the right (untreated) side. But the good news is there's still no sign of a cancer in the pancreas. Hmm...2 goods, 1 bad...not a bad ratio.

Now what does this all mean? Well, even though the radiation from the seeds only lasts for 10-14 days, the optimal imaging is at 90 days, meaning we still might see more shrinkage from the first treatment to the left side. It also means that on Friday, April 4th, Mom is going to have a procedure to place seeds by the right side of her tumor. So, it'll be pretty much the same process as last time, though Uncle Rusty/Papa (Mom's boss/friend, Russell) will be standing in for YFC. Of course, Russell has some big shoes to fill, but luckily he has big feet (which is only partly due to his flare-ups of gout).

In other news, Mom's blood tests were all fine, which means the liver is functioning properly. Also, Mom will not be going to chemo on Monday because she's going to get seeds next week (fret not my loyal flock, Chemo Buddy spots are still available).

Your Faithful Correspondent is already getting excited about Passover. YFC saw Cousin Nanci today and they discussed the upcoming Seder, which will take place the day before a certain favorite someone's birthday. In fact, Cousin Nanci (hey, just realized that her initials are CN, same as mine....well they're the same as mine if her real name was Cousin Nanci which, in fact, it is) confided that the Garoon clan wanted to throw a joint birthday party/Seder, but YFC politely declined. Really, once you start telling a story that involves plagues of locusts and frogs, it pretty much kills your appetite for cake (the fact that Passover is also known as the holiday of lousy birthday cakes also plays a big part...it's a leaven thing). Hey, it's the thought that counts. YFC was also lucky enough to see Cousin Lisa (hope you're feeling better) and Uncle Phil (just back from Acapulco and looking gloriously tan)...not too bad for a Wednesday afternoon.

Well, that's about all the time we have for today boys and girls. YFC will endeavor to have lots of pretty pictures in next week's edition. Until then, remember to think shrink.

Faithfully,
Corey

Full-House at Chemo

Greetings Loyal Readers,

YFC is back blogging to you live from chemo. Yep, that's Mom to the left. Pretty stunning, dotcha think? YFC certainly does and he's not even the least bt biased. Well, we have a full-house (of the non-poker, non-Bob Saget variety) today at chemo. Today Mom is joined by Aunt Berba, 1.5, YFC and her friend Carol from New York (not far from Rochester) who is being initiated as a Chemo Buddy today (At left: Carol, Melvin, Mom, Berba). In celebration of her special day, Carol brought homemade chocolate fudge to share with the other chemo patients and their helper monkeys...err support.

Mom just had her blood drawn by Shannon (on St. Patty's Day no less). Ah, now we just had a quick meet and greet with Dr. Mellott (a brief recap of the Troll's wisdom: Mom should take Advil 2x/day to reduce her incidents of fevers, Mom may need to get more TheraSphere, YFC is the favorite child).

Well we sure were in and out of there in a hurry. Since we're still awaiting the results of Mom's blood work, let's take a moment to review Mom's upcoming appointments:

March 18 - Mom works with her energy healer
March 20 - Mom has CT scan and blood work
March 25 - Mom has appointment to see Dr. Sato

YFC will wait a moment while you mark these dates on your calendar. Finished yet? Good, let's move on...

Mom attended a rockin' shindig last night at Berba's lair. Per Mom, "it was great seeing Carol visit and Addie and Roberta made a spectacular dinner." Scintillating stuff, no? The picture at left was taken before Bubbles started nipping the pink wine. (Top row: Cousin Tobi, Bubbles the Clown, Carmen, Berba. Bottom row: Addie, Mom, Carol).

So, we're still here at chemo and Mom is waiting for chemo to begin. She's been having a nice little drip of anti-nausea medication and now we're hearing a beeping sound that signals that it's time to change bags. Ah! And here comes Shannon with the Gemzar. Rock on Shannon! Later this evening, YFC will make sure to drink a green beer in her honor.

Or not.

So, YFC has a little treat for you today. After last week's lil' tiff (which, just to be clear, YOU started...not that YFC holds a grudge). That's right kiddies, as promised we're incorporating a little video in today' posting (note: if you're having trouble with the video, make sure to visit the blog , which come to think of it, you should be doing anyway):

More soon....have a blogtastic day.

Faithfully,
Corey

Better Late Than Never

Greetings Loyal Readers,

Happy Wednesday boys and girls. Now you're probably asking yourself, well what kept you YFC? You're so Faithful...what gives?

All questions will be answered in due time, but really, don't your think that you're being just a tad bit hard on YFC? Don't you know that he loves you? Hasn't he proven that time and time again? Don't you think that he deserves the benefit of the doubt?

Just in case you're scoring at home (and you are, natch), the correct answers would be: yes, yes and triply yes. So let's go back to last week for a sec...as you recall Mom is on a new regimen -- one week on, one week off. And since she went last week...you see where YFC is going with this?...that's right, this was a chemo off-week. You see YFC held off on his report not for his own benefit...no, no, that would go against his selfless nature. That's right kiddies, he wanted to hold off for YOUR benefit, not his own, because he wanted to give you the latest and greatest 'bout The Mom. Now perhaps you should take a moment and reflect on why you were so quick to turn on someone who has repeatedly proven his faithfulness (heck, it's practically his middle name).

Hope you're still reflecting...

A little longer...

Ok, penance served, now onto the news. This afternoon Mom had a little test. No, but it wasn't chemo related, she just had a Momogram. Get it? Momogram. See, she had a mammogram, but I called it a Momogram because she's my Mom.

Ah never mind...when you have to explain a joke it never works. You know, that's comic gold you missed there. Or perhaps you really got it, but refused to laugh because you're still smarting from your recent rebuking. Yes, that's it, isn't it? Come now, when you really think about it, didn't you bring this on yourself? Don't worry, YFC not going to make you reflect again. After all, we've already seen that one of us holds grudges (and just to be clear, it's not YFC).

Ah loyal readers, why do you test me so? There are times when YFC feels just a bit like Job (not to be confused with George Oscar Bluth II, a/k/a G.O.B. -- just to be clear, that's him to the right) 'cept, you know, without the whole Satan thing and the punishments and the tragedy...well ok, maybe Job was an overstatement. Why don't we just make a pact...you trust YFC, YFC will trust you. Deal?

Admittedly this has become just a bit awkward, so on to more Mom-reated news, cause that is why you read The Chemo Chronicle, no? Mom is doing pretty well. She had some fevers for a bit, but they seem to have gone by the wayside. Mom was extremely happy today because she got to spend an extended period of time with YFC (and not his evil sister 1.5), who only recently returned to the land of the living. Oh, you forgot that YFC was sick (admittedly it wasn't quite Job-like, but we've covered that already, haven't we)? Well, to those of you who DID remember, thanks for all of your cards, calls and e-mails. YFC is feeling much, much better. Oh and the fruit basket that my Most Loyal reader sent? Absolutely sublime. Anyhow, Mom and YFC did all the usual stuff mother/son stuff today-- picking up dry cleaning followed by Costco and lunch with Bubby. Later, Mom allowed me to set up her new vacuum cleaner (take note: nothing says "I'm glad you're feeling better" like ordering...umm, asking...someone to set-up a new vacuum cleaner) and then we had dinner at Casa Mama with her good friend and neighbor, Milwaukee Mark. Post-dinner, we had dessert at Mark's house (lime sherbet and chocolate-covered biscuits, a curious combination to be sure) and watched the American Idol results show (technically they watched, YFC blogged).

And that pretty much brings us back to now. Hope that you're feeling all caught-up and informed 'cause that's pretty much all the news that's fit to print. Well, perhaps there's one last bit of news (you always like to holdout for that little bit more, you cheeky little monkeys) -- YFC talked to his friend David and he'll be saying "hola amigo" to his...err...amigo come April. But fret not, loyal readers, there will be plenty more blogging between now and then. And who knows, if you're particularly nice, YFC might even pick up a sombrero for you.

Finally, so sorry about that little spat earlier. But in the long run, it'll probably make us even closer, dontcha think?

My love to all...

Faithfully,

Corey

A New Schedule

Greetings Loyal Readers,

*Cough*

Your Faithful Correspondent is under the weather today. Actually, he's been under the weather for the past few days so he could not accompany Mom to chemo this afternoon. But YFC was ably replaced by Dutiful Sister and Trudy (no one person can replace YFC), who made her maiden appearance as a Chemo Buddy this week. Trudy hails all the way from New Mexico (which contrary to popular belief is not really part of Mexico at all) making her the furthest traveled Chemo Buddy to date...well done Trudy!

Dr. Mellott gave Mom the once over and pronounced her fit. However, Mom is going to be on a new chemotherapy regimine. She is now going to chemo every other week (so, since this week was on, next week is off, etc.) and Mom will be having her treatment on Mondays. Nothing like starting the week off with a bang, eh? So if you'd like to become a Chemo Buddy, check your calendars and e-mail Mom ASAP -- spaces are going to be increasingly hard to come by.

While you have your calendars out, you might want to jot down these very important dates:
March 17 - Mom's next appointment with Dr. Mellott
March 18 - Mom's energy healer will heal 'er. Get it, healer -- heal her-- heal 'er? Look, it's not comic genius, but a certain someone has already told you that he's under the weather. After all he's done for you, perhaps you should cut him some slack.
March 20 - Mom gets a CT scan and has blood work done to determine the results of last week's radiation procedure
March 25 - Mom sees Dr. Sato to get results of aforementioned tests, discusses next steps

A little birdie told YFC that one of my Loyal Readers wasn't sure what kind of procedure Mom had last week. While that was not one of the 74 updates that YFC oh-so-kindly provided, the issue had been discussed ad nauseum in previous episodes of The Chronicle. So, if you think you might've missed something, YFC invites you to check the official website of The Chemo Chronicle: www.chemochronicle.blogspot.com. You're also welcome to leave feedback for Yours Truly on the website (a special shout out to my Cousinie Scott, who is the loyalest among the loyal in this regard).

Speaking of feedback, YFC has received several requests to bring back the mailbag. So without further ado, we have this query:

Dear YFC,

As impressed as I am with your writing, I am even more awed by your faithfulness. What do you think is the source of this great attribute?

Sincerely,
I'm Not Alone Wanting Explanation

Well IN AWE, it's nice to hear from you. It's hard to pinpoint an exact cause of YFC's faithfulness, but it probably has to do with the fact that he was Bar Mitzvahed. Twice. Yes, that's right IN AWE, Your Faithful Correspondent was Bar Mitzvahed once in Chicago and once in Jerusalem (at the Western Wall). Can't get too much more faithful than that can you? Take that Melvin!

So sorry that you had to see that unseemly display of sibling rivalry, but YFC really isn't himself today with the congestion and sore throat and whatnot. Your Faithful Correspondent is going to have to cut this short -- gotta take some cold meds. Tell you what though, YFC promises to make it up to you real soon, k?

Wishing everyone the best of health...

Faithfully,
Corey