KICKED CANCER'S ASS FROM MAY 2007 - JULY 2008

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

7/10 and Chemo Again

Dear Rabbi, Guru, Friends, and Family,

It's your faithful correspondent again. I'm writing to you from Mom's living room. It's been a very full day, but we'll get to recent events in just a moment.

I've been getting questions from loyal readers about these e-mail updates so let me explain...all of these e-mails are sent from Mom's e-mail, so when you respond to the e-mail you are responding to her. Mind you, I'm not complaining, but just wanted to clarify for the somewhat less computer savvy among my loyal readers.

Ok, now that wasn't too bad a digression was it? Anyhow, on to the day's events...today we all got up early because Mom had a port put into her chest. For those of you who don't know let me explain, because I do intend to make these e-mails as educational as possible...

An implantable port is a thin, soft, plastic tube that is put into a vein in the chest and has an opening (port) just under the skin. This allows medicines to be given into the vein or blood to be taken from the vein. This makes it possible for Mom to have treatment without having to have needles frequently put into her veins. Now for those of you who don't know, Mom has very delicate little veins and chemo constricts the veins, so the port will be a real help.

If you're really curious, here's a link that shows what a port looks like
http://www.breastcancer.org/port_chemotherapy.html the page has another link that tells you even more about ports for those of you who are really interested.

Ok, now where were we? Ah yes, early. So we (we meaning, Mom, Sis, Aunt Roberta and Your Faithful Correspondent) had to be there at 7:00 a.m. Mom was a wee bit tense, but she's a trooper. She ended up going into surgery about 8:15. Everything went smoothly, the only hiccup was that they put the port on Mom's left side instead of her right. Apparently, Mom was missing a vein as a result of an earlier (thyroid) surgery. Ah well, the port still went in fine and that's really all that matters. When Mom was in recovery, the nurse explained that she had twice as much anesthesia as the average person (I took that to mean that Mom was twice as powerful as your average person...way to go Mom!). Mom actually woke up during her procedure but they wouldn't give her any additional anesthetic and she was not happy.

They were able to move up Mom's chemo appointment. Mom got to try out her new port and she was tickled (ok, that's probably a bit of an overstatement) when they were able to draw blood through the port. Chemo was otherwise unexceptional, we were there for about two hours after all was said and done. Then we had a Costco and a Blick (art store) run...quite a long and productive day.

That pretty much brings us to now. Mom's doing ok. For the record, Your Faithful Correspondent is a bit fatigued (moreso than Mom), but if you had to wake-up for surgery at 7:00 a.m. you'd be fatigued too! Next week is an off week and then she begins her next cycle of chemo.

Not much else going on. Mom and Dad confirmed I was the favorite, but it's hardly earthshattering news is it? Hmm, maybe I could ask you to send some love to my little sis. After recently finding out her true origins (born to gypsies, raised by wolves...) she could use a little TLC.

On behalf of Mom, she sends her love thrice over.

Faithfully,
Corey***

*** This e-mail has been read and approved by Mom

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