Tag: chemotherapy

health

UPDATE: Better times

Leslie receiving a chemotherapy infusion. Our daughter Stephanie gave her the neat blanket. Notice that she’s smiling!

For once I can say things are going to plan — the revised plan, that is. Leslie’s first infusion of chemotherapy back in July hit her hard (see last post). So her medical oncologist changed the protocol. She’s now getting a full dose of chemo, but in thirds over a three-week period: one-third this Thursday, one-third next Thursday and the final third in the third week. Then a week off and do it again.

There are some issues with side effects but she’s not debilitated like back in July. We were able to go to church on Sunday, then out for dinner Sunday evening. And she helped me do grocery shopping yesterday. Her hemoglobin (red blood cells) is much better.

Each infusion begins on a Thursday about 7:30 a.m. with a blood test and a visit with Dr. Schwartz, the oncologist. The infusion is generally finished between 12:30 and 1 p.m., and we go to one of our favorite Weston-area restaurants for lunch.

Last Thursday was an off week because Leslie completed Dose Three on September 14. This week she begins Dose Four with 4.1 on Thursday. If all goes according to the new plan, the final infusion will be on December 7. Then we head to Nashville to spend Christmas with Stephanie and her two cats.

The next big decision is whether to have radiation therapy after the chemotherapy is done. Leslie is still gathering information on that option, but right now we both believe radiation could do more harm than good. The decision on that will come later. There’s no rush.

Meanwhile, I was able to go home early this month for a little over two weeks to get the house ready for our next set of house/cat sitters. Many, many thanks to Catya and Dany, now good friends, for their efforts. Long-time friends Susan and Rex are living in our house now and being a great help. Gracias!

Leslie’s sisters Laura and Cathy took turns taking care of Leslie while I was gone, and Stephanie made another long-weekend visit. For a few days, all four of them were together, and I think they had way too much fun!

More later!

Physical therapy is important. Leslie does her exercises in the pool when possible because the resistance of the water helps. And because she really likes the pool!

Mexico, Retirement, Travel

It’s not going according to plan

The Braathen Center in Weston, Florida, home of Cleveland Clinic’s Maroone Cancer Center. Leslie’s infusions take place on the third floor.

I promised to keep everybody informed as Leslie and I begin this journey of chemotherapy. I just thought I would be writing something different.

At this point we expected Leslie would have breezed through the first two infusions of chemotherapy. However, the side effects from the first infusion hit like a speeding train. We anticipated nausea and vomiting, but it was minor. We anticipated exhaustion and loss of feeling in the fingertips, and those came as expected. We anticipated hair loss, and that is continuing.

What we didn’t expect was diarrhea so bad it caused extreme dehydration. Just a few days after the infusion, Leslie was taken to the Cleveland Clinic Emergency Department with dehydration and extremely low blood pressure. Doctors admitted her to the hospital where she stayed six days and came home weak and unable to walk more than a few steps — about what you would expect after being in a hospital bed for almost a week.

Back in our temporary quarters, she seemed to be improving. But after just two days at home, she checked her temperature one night and had a fever of 101.6F. We followed the post-infusion protocols which stipulated going to the ED for a temperature that high, thinking they would give her antibiotics and send her home. Unfortunately, the doctors couldn’t find a source of infection so she was admitted once again and stayed three more days, getting a platelet transfer to help her get through the second infusion.

The third day in the hospital was because Leslie tested positive for COVID-19. Of course, so did I. Neither of us had any of the traditional symptoms, except a bad cough. And this is when we were moving into more long-term quarters.

Because of the side effects from the first infusion, we were afraid of being too far from the hospital. So we opted against going to a friend’s condo in western Florida because it’s a 90-minute drive from the Cleveland Clinic campus in Weston. Instead, we got an AirBnB just 30 minutes from the hospital in a quiet neighborhood north of Fort Lauderdale.

Our temporary home in Fort Lauderdale’s Imperial Point neighborhood.

The second infusion was scheduled for July 27. Based on what happened after the first, her oncologist has revised the plan. Starting today (August 3), she will get one-third of a normal dose once a week for three weeks. Only one hour in the chair as opposed to three. So the schedule now is three weeks of treatment on Thursdays followed by one week off to let her body recover. Then three more weeks for Dose #3 and so on. Her doctor believes that will help prevent a recurrence of the side effects. The downside is we will most likely be here in Florida through Christmas.

Despite all that, Leslie is feeling positive and is focused on finishing the course of treatment to prevent cancer from coming back. She believes God has her in the palm of His hand. She’s getting stronger every day and is delighted to have a nice pool in the back yard of our temporary home to do some water exercises. She’s also getting regular visits from home health nurses and a physical therapist.

We’re looking forward to getting back home to México as soon as possible.

Leslie is doing physical therapy exercises in our pool.

Living overseas, Mexico

Traveling again, but this time it’s not for fun

Leslie and I are in Florida. Our plan was to take a cruise from Los Angeles through the Panama Canal, ending in Fort Lauderdale, to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary this year. The cruise didn’t happen, but here we are.

A little backstory first. In January, Leslie had surgery at a hospital in Guadalajara. It was supposed to be a complete hysterectomy but the doctor only removed her uterus and fallopian tubes. The pathology report showed a very small Stage 1 endometrial cancer, which we did not anticipate. Normally, Stage 1 means no further treatment, just what the doctors call “watchful waiting.” But because of the way in which the uterus was removed and the fact that other organs remained in place, the consulting oncologists recommended aggressive radiation therapy.

Leslie wasn’t happy with that. She wanted the job finished and done right. After a few months of trying to resolve the situation, she had surgery May 15 at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida, to finish what the Mexican doctor failed to complete. Her second surgery went very well. However, pathology reported another very small tumor (less than 100 cancer cells) in the right ovary. Leslie was referred to a medical oncologist who considers this a Stage 3 cancer because it appears to be metastatic. That means chemotherapy. Six treatments, three weeks apart to wipe out any stray cancer cells that may still be wandering around that can’t be detected through regular scans. We see this not as a cancer treatment — because all the cancer has been removed — but as a way of preventing it (hopefully) from causing problems in the future

Neither of us was happy with that recommendation, but after much prayer and consideration, Leslie decided it was the right approach, and I agreed. Chemo starts July 6, but first we’re headed back to Ajijic. We really need to see our home and our cats again, and we had only arranged house-sitters/cat-sitters through the middle of June. We’ll come back to Florida in early July and stay until the round of chemo is done — possibly four or five months. That’s better for Leslie than going back and forth every three weeks. And one of Stephanie’s long-time friends has offered us the use of her condo in the Naples area, which is about a 90-minute drive to Weston. Thank you, Lexi!

We cannot say enough about Cleveland Clinic and the outstanding doctors, nurses and technicians at the Weston location. Many thanks to our dear friend Carol who helped us become affiliated with this outstanding facility.

Also, this is not an indictment of health care in México, just of that one doctor. In the States we would sue for malpractice, but that’s problematic in México — it takes a long time and a lot of money and usually is not successful. In Ajijic, Leslie and I share a super cardiologist and an outstanding ophthalmologist. Leslie really likes her endocrinologist, too. But both of us now have primary care docs at Cleveland Clinic.

When I recently blogged that we wanted to do more traveling now that the pandemic is essentially over, this is not what I had in mind. We’ll be spending a good part of the rest of this year in Florida, and we’ll be making regular visits back for the next five years or so. Other travel, such as the Panama Canal cruise we were forced to cancel because of the surgery, will have to wait. That’s fine, we’re still young!

The good news is that we’ll be piling up airline miles and points with certain hotel chains and rental car companies. And we might be able to work in some touristy activities, like a visit to Key West or the Kennedy Space Center, if Leslie feels well enough. Hopefully, we’ll be back in México for Christmas — maybe even for Thanksgiving!

More to come!