Day 42, Weds., 8:45pm

Hi friends,

Anne had a good sleep till around 5:45pm, and she was doing well when she woke up from that. She ordered some pasta, and some squash to eat for supper, with a plan to take the anti-nausea meds before eating. She needs to wait to 8pm before she can have any Ativan, and the Nurse is certain that is the only thing that will do Anne any good. I'm not so sure about that, but Anne is OK waiting till 8pm.

We have a pretty good early evening, then Anne gets up to use the bathroom at 7:30. While she is in there she has a violent bout with vomitting, and we call for the Nurse to help. Sarah finally comes in to assist Anne. She explains that all the others are busy with admissions that came in. I don't buy it, but it is what it is. They seems to be shorthanded right now.

Anne comes out and is in rough shape. This lasts until the anti-nausea meds are given at 8pm. At 8:30 Anne stated that she cannot have any of the food she ordered, but she asks me for some toast. I make two slices and use margerine and p-nut butter and Anne loves that and is satisfy. It is now 8:52 and she is getting tired from the food and Ativan. I will start to pack it in and drive home before long.

She is enjoying the Olympics and I hope she has a good night. She deserves it.

Dana took care of Dixie mid day because Laurie is not feeling well, and Adam went over this evening to feed her. I really appreciate having this help. I'll go home and spend some time with ol'Dixie shortly.

Day 42, Weds, 2:40pm

Today it was my turn to call Anne at 6:35am. She was asleep, therefore disoriented when she answered, so I was sorry I called. Anyway....she didn't need anything from home.

This is setting up to be another up and down day.

When I got into Maine Med it was 9am, and Dr. Ebrahim had already been in to see Anne. He had told her that she would be staying in the hospital till at least Friday. He thought she might resume R/T on Thursday or Friday.

Anne wasn't in very much distress or pain early today, and she was looking well. She was updating the new Nurse Meghan on her status when I walked in.

She ordered some breakfast (much to my dismay because she was shut off yesterday and restricted to liquids and dry toast), but she's the boss, and life doesn't have to be all bad, right? She enjoyed some oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and cranberry juice and by 10:30 was still in good shape and apparently tollerating it. By 11:00ish she was in some serious distress again, all of a sudden. So much so that it's the first time I've really sensed that she was down in the dumps, and maybe getting depressed. She was all of a sudden sad, and with a tear. Very unusual and worrysome to me. I did my best to encourage her to take one day at a time, and not to get overwhelmed with the whole thing. We requested nausea meds, and then Anne got some decent sleep till about 12:30.

At 12:30 Anne had bounced back. She woke up alert, had no pain and was feeling good. She ordered lunch at around 1:30, and she enjoyed some cranberry juice, humus and crackers. You guessed it, at 2:45 she was having nausea and requesting meds again. Adivan was delivered. She had some diareha. It's 3:15 and she appears to be restin, about to fall asleep. She awakens and asks me to read the blog to her. I'll do that.

I'm worried that this vicious cycle will continue till the chemo leaves here system. Last time this 'tune up' took 8 days, so let's hope this time is better.