Hello to all:

Today is a much better day! I went to the doctor in Owen Sound yesterday to start my new cocktail of chemo. The one chemo is the same, but just a slightly larger dose taken by IV. I did notice that when I dragged the IV to the bathroom I felt like I was going to tip over a few times, or was a bit dizzy. With the last treatments I did I sometimes feel dizzy and other times I was fine. The doctors always want you to have a driver for chemo appointments just for that very reason. Anyway, I also had my four hour IV for the calcium in my blood and I did blood work again. So it was a full day at the hospital. Then I was sent to the pharmacy to pick up eight different drugs just to deal with all the side effects of chemo! I take eleven chemo pills once a week on the same day as my IV chemo. Than a drug 12 hours before the oral chemo and than again 12 hours after. The steroids were increased (just when I was going to ask them to decrease them!) but I take them every other day so hopefully there is more of a balance. This way maybe I can control the mood swings and weepiness! There is a bit more feeling of nausea, but I can control that with food (of course) for the most part. I have to take at least one nausea pill a day - doctors orders - and then all the rest of the pills. It almost feels like I'm having a buffet of pills everyday!

Not much else to report. Next week Monday I do the chemo thing again and Tuesday is the visit to Toronto to meet the new doctor. Maybe I'll wait till after Tuesday to write again.

Thanks for all the support and hopefully you are all enjoying the sunshine outside!

Love Sharon

Hello,

Just a quick update, not too much to report. At the end of the month I go to Toronto to meet a new doctor. Tomorrow this doctor wants my Owen Sound doctor to start a new "cocktail" of drugs. I'll still take my chemo and steroids, but they will add another drug to the mix. With this mixture I will only have to go to the hospital once a week instead of twice. I take the drug for three weeks and get the fourth week off. My doctor told me not to count chemo rounds anymore. I will be on this drug plan until a new drug comes out or a new trial comes out.

For the most part I am doing pretty good. No nasty side effects. I am very tired and can feel pretty weak. Some days I have energy to do my stuff and other days I just lay around without much energy. The steroids can make me weepy and a lot of things irritate me. This isn't always nice in the home. I do get mood swings from the drugs and I am fully aware of how I react. I don't always like hanging around with myself. This is why I'm not too excited about being on the drugs for who knows how long. On the other hand, I only go to the hospital once a week for chemo. Hopefully this new cocktail will be good to me. The doctors know that the chemo is doing the job. My counts have dropped considerably which is good news! Much to be thankful for. I look forward to going to Toronto, meeting the new doctor and getting some answers for future treatments.

In the meantime we have been receiving a lot of help. The meals keep coming, ladies come cleaning, people visit and many prayers are going up. Not every day is easy or pleasant, but I still know in Whom my help comes.

Love Pete, Sharon and kids.