Upon the Crest

Hello again from lovely Seattle (and it is lovely this morning with nary a cloud in the sky).  We got up earlier than normal this morning to head down to PraxAir in anticipation of the latest iteration of ViaDoom, and by all indications this morning we were right to do so.  We did end up hitting SoDo a little early so I went looking for my first coffee without resorting to Starbucks, and by the time I found it and got back to PraxAir JJ had opened up the store and we were able get the caps and dry ice.

We went to Macrina Bakery and Cafe for our usual Chemoday breakfast and Deb’s first few calls of the day, and now we are at Roy Street Coffee for more caffeine (oh, yeah) and to both work on our laptops until time to report to the medical center.

If you are following along, you might remember that our trips home after chemo are always a bit of a time-challenge.  I am happy to report that last week I was able to figure out a new way onto the express lanes that shaved significant time from our commute.  This week, however, is a complete unknown.  What with the viaduct closure, the beginning of tourist/cruise season, and the reroutes of traffic to go along with that, I have no idea what situation will exist when we leave for home this afternoon.  Wish us luck.

Also of note is that we have gone over the half-way mark on Taxol now.  Today represents #7 of the planned dozen Taxol infusions.  We aren’t out of the woods yet, and we don’t quite see the light at the end of the tunnel (who in the world built this tunnel in the middle of these woods, anyway?), but so far Deb still has her own hair still on top of her noggin.  She noted that there was a little more hair that came out when she was combing her hair out the other day than normal (i.e., pre-chemo), but not more than expected given everything.  It would appear that the caps are working.  I’m happy about that, because I would hate for her to have gone through the whole freezy-head process in vain.

So that’s most of the news, except that Deb and I decided to undergo a separation yesterday.  It’s really for the best given the problems that … what?  No, no, no, I don’t mean that kind of separation.  Is that what you thought I meant?  No, I’m talking about our Apple accounts.  We were having problems with text messaging bleed-over and calls phantom-ringing across our phones and all that.  The Apple technician helped Deb set up her own Apple ID so her phone is now on it’s own separate account, but we still set things up so we can share calendar events and other little things.  But it was still a little traumatic.

The current status:

• ·      Taxol – 7 down, 5 to go
• ·      Herceptin – 7 down, 17 to go (switching to tri-weekly after Taxol is complete)
• ·      Tamoxifen – Not yet started, 10 years
• ·      Reconstruction – to be scheduled no sooner than 3 months after Taxol is complete, dependent on surgeon’s schedule backlog