August thru December

 Date last edited   12-27-07

6 August I would have to say that today was Mary's best day.  It began with her eating her breakfast in its entirety in a very short time. We went to her therapy evaluation at 2:30.  After the therapy we went to Tip Top Meats for a late lunch.  Mary ordered a bowl of Chili (they serve very large servings).  She ate over half of the chili.  On the way home she asked to stop at a store and spent about an hour looking at shorts and tops.  She did not seem tired and we returned home. Later she finished her chili.  This was the most she has eaten in one day since January.

When she finally went to bed, I think the exhaustion was setting in.  Hopefully today will be as good a day.

Mary still has trouble reading the newspaper (and I think the computer screen).  Hopefully answering your e-mails will become a regular part of her day.

I think Mary is ready to start seeing people if you would like to visit. I only ask that you call in advance to make sure we are home (especially if you live far away). When you visit, please try to limit the time of your visit. I am sure Mary would like to see many of you.  Hopefully we will begin to be a little more social, but everything depends on how Mary feels on any given day and how tired she will become. Please realize that we use the answering machine to screen calls as well as answer calls while we are gone.  Please feel free to leave Mary a message.
   
14 August  
From my perspective the last four days have been Mary's best days since December. She has eaten well - even my cooking.  She has spent more time up and walking around, even re-doing things that I didn't do to her satisfaction. 

Friday night we went to the Bird House Grill (Turkish cuisine.) Mary ordered their special and ate some of everything on her plate and took the rest home to finish the next night.

Saturday we spent part of the time walking around the Cordova's nursery and visiting whit Martha and Joe when they were not busy with customers.

Sunday we went to the San Elijo Nature Center and walked around the (short - ?1/5 mi.?) nature trail. 

 

Mary really enjoyed being able to do something we had done often before her illness.  She really enjoys watching the mullet (I think that is what they are) jumping out of the water as well as all of the egrets and other shorebirds searching for food.

Monday Mary took it easy. We took in a movie (Hairspray) at a local cinema.  When we returned home we went for a  walk   (a total of four blocks.) After that she did her exercises and rested.

 

 
   
11 Sept Mary has her good days and her bad days.  In my opinion her good days outnumber her bad days and her bad days are better than her bad days a month ago.  On a bad day it is difficult for her to see this comparison.  On her good days Mary walks about 8 blocks.

In the last three weeks we have gone out on five occasions: to Christina's house for a going away celebration for one of James' friends, to Norma's birthday party, to Ritu's baby shower, to Michael's eagle scout ceremony and to the Greek festival.  Time out of the house was between 2 1/2 hours to 4 hours.  Mary was tired the next day, but I think getting out and seeing friends does her good.

She had another session (of four days) of chemo (18 pills a day is fairly overwhelming for her) ending yesterday with minimal ill effects (in comparison to her bad days).  Next chemo is in two weeks.  It will be a 1/2 hour infusion of zometa which is used to strengthen the bones. Zometa is now used to combat osteoporosis, but given once or twice a year.  Mary now gets it monthly.

Remember visits are now encouraged. Call ahead to make sure we will be home.
   
22 Sept. If I were to judge from the past two days, I would say that Mary is well on the road to recovery.  Unfortunately nothing has proven certain so lets keep our thoughts positive.  Prior to feeling better, Mary had been continually complaining of an upset stomach.  I reviewed her medications and only one listed upset stomach.  I talked with her about trying to get along with out the medication and the acupuncturist gave her something that she thought would help in its place.  She has been doing well ever since (last Wednesday) and her appetite has returned. She had her zometa on Thursday and it does not seem to have had any negative effects.

Yesterday we went to San Elijo Nature center again and Mary chose to walk the longer path (probably 3/4 mile).  When we got home, she sat down in the living room to listen to some of her CD's.  This is a first since January.
   
8 Oct. Of the last 15 days, eleven have been very good with Mary eating well and walking approximately 1 1/2 miles at the San Elijo Visitors center. 

Friday we went to the Inauguration of the Casa de Espana. The ceremony began at 4:00 and we stayed until 6:00.  As Mary stood the whole time, she was very tired.  We then went to the reception in Point Loma and had to leave at 9:00 when Mary started feeling tired.  Mary ate well while at the reception and was enjoying the program being presented when we had to leave.  She was disappointed that she did not get to see the entire program She had been awaiting the opening of the house since the beginning of construction and the program was excellent.

If Mary had not wanted to leave at 9:00, I probably would have made her leave as this was her longest outing to date.  At it was, she slept late Saturday morning and did not feel like leaving the house.  Sunday she did not feel much better, but we went to San Elijo. She was able to walk only about 1/2 mile.

   
  Remember visits are now encouraged. Call ahead to make sure we will be home.
 
10 Nov. Our only major outing was to go to the House of Spain lawn program, but Mary could not remain long and we were there for only about an hour. 

When she went in to have her check up in mid October, her blood count was low and the doctor felt she should not have chemotherapy. That week she was feeling poorly. The next week she was given the ok to resume her dexamethasone (half of the chemo) on a once a week basis, she started feeling better and has been more animated ever since. Unfortunately she has MRSA again and they have changed her antibiotics but it does not seem to affect her well being or appetite.  The MRSA causes her to have some tender spots in her back. The shingles pain is still there and causes some difficulty. 

We go in again on the 15th to see the oncologist.  He does not know about the MRSA and we will have to see how that affects the chemo.

We continue to go to San Elijo lagoon and have seen more water fowl. Recent arrivals include a variety of grebe (Clark's? at right) which looks like a snake as it surfaces from a dive as well as several types of ducks.  Other birds seen infrequently are cormorants, blue herons, osprey, kites, and pelicans as well as the usual egrets, godwits, and wimbrels.  As I am not a bird person, I'm guessing on many of these.  I expect that with time Mary and I will get better at identifying them.
 

29 Nov. Mary continues to have days that are up and down, but only one day during the last three weeks ranked very low.   At times Mary tires easily and she is afraid to commit herself to something she cannot walk away from easily.  The last three days have been good, and we have gone walking and today we went shopping and had lunch out.  Mary has been eating well and has not had any problems with eating  within the last month.  She seems to be able to eat whatever she wants. She is looking forward to going out next month, but does not want to obligate herself to having a party this year. 

We continue to go to San Elijo and walk the nature trail even though the parking lot is closed due to anticipated construction. There are many new types of birds and ducks.  Hopefully we will see ducklings in the spring.  Yesterday on the way home, we saw an eagle sitting on a post and five deer within 100 yards of the road.
 
27 Dec. Mary and I continue our walks, but not as often due to the shorter hours of daylight, the weather and the Christmas diversions.  Yesterday we walked a mile and a half with Monica and I tried out my new binoculars and camera.  We did not see as many birds as usual, although I could make out that many were on the far side of the lagoon.  We did see a small Blue heron.  Only the second time we have seen one.  We say many types fo ducks and wading birds up close, but not in the numbers previously.  In the distance were also the white pelicans, the cormorants and an osprey.

This month Mary has had more good days than bad.  17 that I classify good and 5 better than good (I am reserving excellent as even better yet).  She also had chemo on the 21st. then she attended two parties until late and did Christmas shopping. The 24th was a bad day.  I think that she was feeling the effects of exhaustion.  Christmas was also bad, but better than the day before and yesterday was better still (but still not a good day). 

Overall I am encouraged, I know there will be bad days and as long as they are few, I see the progress. Mary gets impatient with the bad days and I try to remind her how much progress she has made, that the time is really very short, and that it is hard to determine if the effects are from the back surgery, the multiple myeloma, the shingles or the medication..  She met a gentleman at Beatrice and Victor's party who also has multiple myeloma (diagnosed 9 years ago).  Hopefully we will have the opportunity to talk with him more.