Some Bumps, But Moving Forward

This week Chris met with her primary care doctor. We discussed a number of areas:

-there is clearly some fluid in her lungs that has caused an increase amount of coughing, particularly when laying flat. Her doctor had a chest x-ray done which confirmed the fluid. They also found a "patch" (some kind of dark area) on one of her lungs that they need to understand more. This could come from: 1) the chemo 2) some kind of a fungus or 3) something that has always been there but not noticed before. her doctor contacted Boston Medical and they agreed that Chris should come in and meet with the pulmonary specialist who first evaluated Chris as part of the three day diagnosis in May. They also put her on an anti-biotic, hoping it is something that just goes away after treatment. So, back to Boston for a day. We didn't think we would be there so soon, but as always we want to be very aggressive.

-Chris has also not been gaining any weight, and in fact has lost a few pounds (now at 102). This is troubling of course. She really has been eating well. Some of the weight gain a few weeks ago may have simply been fluid, which has now been flushed out with an increased dosage of the diuretic, but in any case she is not gaining weight. Her doctor told her to continue to eat high calorie meals (a complete change from how she ate before) and try to have an Ensure or Boost (high calorie drink) between meals (that has not been well received by Chris as she really hates that stuff).

-We did reduce some of the medications and are continuing to eliminate the original fistful of pills pretty significantly. Some she will take for many months, maybe years, but clear progress on that front.

-Chris' hair is slowly starting to reappear. You still need to wear sunglasses when you are outside with her as the sunlight reflects brightly off her scalp, but there is clear peach fuzz. This is progress.

-Her stamina is clearly increasing. Her walking is much quicker, she is hardly taking naps (it used to be three hours naps when we first got home), and she is generally sleeping well. I see clear signs of general improvements.

-We do have a big formal dinner next Friday in Boston and she had to go find something new and nice that fit her. I have no idea about sizes, but I think she said she is a size "zero" - but not sure how that works. But she did go shopping with her great friends and it was a sign of increased confidence and activity.

-I will also be gone for three nights next week (Europe) so this will be her first real lengthy period without me. For years she used to ask me "don't you need to go on a business trip or something"? when I was hanging around too much and cramping her style. This will be a good test of her getting back to some Independence (not to worry, her Mom will be here).

So we need to have this lung issue addressed, we need to get her to gain weight, and we need to get her to this dinner next week (a real big step). But as always, things are getting better and better slowly but surely.