A New and Improved Regimine

Greetings Loyal Readers,

Today's blog is brought to you by Chemo Buddy, the most trusted name in chemotherapy. We'll hear more about that later, but for now we are back in the Windy City (and of course, I'm sure my loyal readers realize that Chicago's nickname was not inspired by weather patterns at all) and today was a family day at chemo. Now does family day mean:

a) Kids get chemo for half-price when accompanied by a full-fare adult;
b) Mum and YFC skipped chemo and headed straight for the local petting zoo; or
c) Melvin the Wonder Sis made it to today's session?

Well if you guessed (c) then you are correct (and jolly good for you if you did!). Now where were we? Yes, Family Day at chemo...well, Mom saw Troll Named Cotton for an a thorough once-over. The Doc said that Mom was still doing well and that she is a candidate for the radiofrequency ablation (RFA), but they'd probably only do the RFA to the liver tumor. The cancer needs to shrink a bit more before Mom can have the treatment -- Doc Cotton would like to see the diameter of the tumor to be < 2cm and Mom was last at 4cm. But YFC has faith that Mom can shrink that nasty tumor in no time.

Mom was also placed on a new and improved regimine (hence, the title of today's posting)...Mom is still on a 28-day cycle, but Troll-face is reducing the amount of the drugs that Mom takes in the hopes that she won't have to skip treatment due to low platelet counts. Nothing that extreme mind you, Mom went from 1800 cc's of Gemzar to 1488 cc's (now, who comes up with these calculations anyway? A drop of 312? What kind of number is that? Well, yes I know that it's the area code for Chicago...duh!...but really, there simply must be a better method for determining proper dosing).

The chemo itself (all 1488 cc's of it) went just fine. Actually, it was a treat to accompany Mom...a trick-or-treat. Ha ha ha, YFC just made a funny. Of course, it would have been much funnier had this post been about an October 31 visit. So sorry to have put you through that, gentle reader. However, the confusion was no doubt caused by the array of Halloween goodies that were available for sample at the chemo sweet table. What's that you say? You don't know of the chemo sweet table? Well, let me enlighten you, dear reader. As you surely realize, chemo can be quite an ordeal (unless, like Mom, you are accopanied by your own personal blogespondent). So fellow patients will often bring in snacks to make the day a bit more tasty. Now I'm not going to name any names (so instead, I'll just call out people by family relation) but I did notice a certain nameless Sister of mine helping herself to a Nutter Butter snack pack (and I'm pretty sure she went for seconds too!).

If you'd like to help yourself to some chemo-rific yummies, feel free to ask Mom about accompanying her to chemo. Yes, that's right, you too can be a Chemo Buddy. Also available are Chemo Buddy gift certificates. They're sure to delight anyone on your gift list this holiday season. Sessions are filling up quickly, so please, don't delay, reserve your Chemo Buddy slot today.

(note: this offer not good in Alaska and Hawaii)

Well, dear readers, sadly we must depart. But before we part ways, Mom is phoning in...(this is completely unplanned by the way...call it serendipity if for no other reason that it's simply a marvelous word to say):

YFC: Mom, your loyal fans would love to hear from you. What would you like to tell them?
Mom: I would like to tell them that it was fun to be in Florida and that I was really grateful that I had a place to go when I had to leave Maria's. So I want to thank Ivan and Sue. I had visits with Jim and Michael and Jeffrey and David that were highlights of my trip. And I also had a delightful time with Margot and Maria. And I was very happy to see Judy and Manny. And to my girlfriends...I'll never forget the Marvin story.

Your Faithful Correspondent has no idea about this so-called "Marvin Story"...sounds kinda fishy...but when the details leak out (and they always do), you'll read about it here, first. YFC also feels compelled to point out that when he encountered Margot, Maria, and Unclie Manny and Auntie Judy, all of them were kind enough to remind him about the tempertantrums that he used to throw when he was but a wee lad.

Clearly these tales of tempertantrums are utter blasphemy. Not entirely sure, but methinks that Marvin is to blame.

A very pleasant week to all (but not to Marvin)...

Faithfully,
Corey