A Brief Update

Loyal Readers,

Circumstances dictate that Your Faithful Correspondent must keep today's update brief. Please shed no tears as we will have a special expanded edition (filled with celebrity gossip, recipies and fashion tips galore) out on newsstands soon. Last week Mom had a lovely visit with her longtime friend from Florida, Maria. Together they toured the Garfield Park Conservatory and saw the Nikki in the Garden exhibit (YFC tagged along -- highly recommended http://www.garfield-conservatory.org/niki.htm), lunched on popovers at the Zodiac Room in Neiman Marcus and visited the Museum of Mexican Art. Maria was also the lucky recipient of two original paintings by Mom (I'm sure you were thinking lithos, but I assure you, they were the real McCoy). Mom and Maria spent many hours catching up and the time flew by. Two more friends from Florida (the mother-daughter team of Margot and Wendy) are expected for a visit the wekeend after next. So, now that we're done with the social news, on to the medical portion of this report...

I'm very happy to say that the news seems positive. Mom's bloodwork was excellent. Her bilirubin levels have been decreasing (by the way, try saying bilirubin 3 times fast...it's wickedly entertaining). Her numbers have decreased from .5 to .4 and now she's at a .3 (yes, that's POINT 3). Ideally, she'll get under a .1, but clearly the trend is positive. As I'm sure you all know (because in addition to loyalty, my readers are marked by their intelligence, to say nothing of their better than average looks -- more on that in the soon-to-be-released expanded edition, but I digress...) when bilirubin levels are high, jaundice occurs. Too much bilirubin may mean that too much is being produced (usually due to increased destruction of red blood cells (hemolysis) or that the liver is incapable of adequately removing bilirubin in a timely manner due to blockage of bile ducts, liver diseases (such as cirrhosis, accute hepatitis), or inherited problems with bilirubin handling.

But of course, you knew that already. More reading on bilirubin can be found via the following links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilirubin and http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/bilirubin/test.html

Now where were we? Ah yes, tests. Mom's hemoglobin was also tested. At the time of her last test (2 weeks ago), her hemoglobin was 8.4 and now it's at 10.8. Normal results vary, but in general are:
Male: 13.8 to 17.2 gm/dL
Female: 12.1 to 15.1 gm/dL
Note: gm/dL = grams per deciliter

If Mom dropped below 8.0, she would have needed a blood transfusion. It's expected that her numbers may drop a bit because of today's treatment. To keep her hemoglobin levels up, Mom is incorporating more beef in her diet after many years of a significantly reduced intake.

More links (this time to hemoglobin, but you knew that already) can be found here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemoglobin and here http://sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/hemoglobin.html

Since we're on the subject of tests, here's a quick one -- Who is buried in Grant's tomb? (answer below)

While you rack your brains trying to come up with the answer, let's get back to Mom, shall we? Chemo went well. The port worked like a charm and she hardly felt the prick of the needle. Mom was joined at chemo by Cousin Tobi and they had a lovely chat. I was lucky enough to join them for lunch, than Me and Mum made a Costco run (it's becoming a bit of a pattern these days) and spent the evening together.

Which brings us to now. Thankfully Mom hasn't experienced any nausea from the chemo. However, Your Faithful Correspondent understands that the nausea might not kick-in for a while. The other bit of news that you should know is that Mom might lose her hair soon. However, she has been visualizing globs of thick glue on her scalp, which will not allow her hair to fall out. Mom asks that you not only keep her in your prayers, but that you try to visualize Mom with a glue-filled scalp and thick, luxurious tresses.

Well, dear readers, it seems our time is coming to an end. I want to close by sending you thanks for all of your cards, visits, calls and, most importantly, prayers.

Wishing you all the joys that life has to offer,
Your Faithful Correspondent

P.S.
Your Faithful Correspondent made the question deceptively easy (you had to know there was a trick). The answer to our quiz is Ulysses S. Grant...and his wife (Julia Dent Grant)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Grant_National_Memorial
I'm sure we're all happy that this is the final link of the night. We'll meet again soon, gentle reader. Good night.