 | 4/1 — Jeri's resting today. She still has a lot of
nausea although not as bad as the first time with these drugs. They've learned from the last experience
and have adjusted. She can come home any time on Sunday (or later) when she can hold liquids
down. That's given her the incentive. Unfortunately, it hasn't
given her the means. She's tried a Smoothie and a Hagen Daz Strawberry
Sorbet Sizzler but both eventually came back up.
We'll see if tomorrow is better. |
| 4/2 - Jeri's home. She's developing a much higher
tolerance for the drugs. She wanted to come home so bad that she
refused to "throw-up" at the hospital. They had told her
that she could leave if she could keep liquids down. We left around
7pm. She ate chicken and noodles for supper and, so far, has held them
down. She's asleep now. Maybe she can make it through the night
without the nausea problems. This treatment kills the fast rowing
cells. Her white count will begin dropping over the next 5-7
days. Monitoring the blood counts will be important. This is the
treatment that affected her hair. |
| 4/3 - Not a particularly good day. Jeri felt bad
all day. She was very moody. The mere presence of anyone perky
was hard for her to take. It's not all the surprising when you think
about it. She's gone most of the day without the nausea overtaking
her. Taking her evening pills finally got to her. I think
there's a spark though. She was telling me about some shoes from
Esprit that would really help her feel better! |
| 4/4 - Still a day of not feeling too good. Nothing tastes good,
including water. Not too surprising given her experience from this
drug the last time she had it. Most likely, it will go that way at
least until this weekend. Yesterday, the doctor said she would feel
better tomorrow. I'm sure he would say the same thing today. |
| 4/5 - Yet another day of not feeling good. Jeri is very weak and
just getting into the wheelchair from her chair takes all of her
strength. She is eating better today though. Maybe that will
translate into more strength for tomorrow. We can only hope (and
pray)... |
| 4/6 - Yes!! Today was a much better day.
After a visit to the clinic this morning and two hours of schooling this
afternoon, Jeri still had enough energy for an ice cream run to Marble Slab
with some homework time afterward. It is great to see her feisty
personality flashes every once in a while! |
| 4/7 - Jeri's white blood cell count is low but should be
back to normal by Monday. Just have to keep her from catching anything
between now and then. She's getting a bit of her energy back.
Her teacher was sick and didn't come today but that didn't keep Jeri from
working on homework and doing research on the Internet. She also ate
well today. |
| 4/8 - A day for activity. Jeri and Virginia went
to church this evening and then on to the Bleyl 8th grade play. We
weren't sure Jeri would get to go since her white blood cells were to drop
after the last treatment. Timing worked out though and they were back
up by this weekend. Jeri was named one of the 4 outstanding speech
students for the school year while at the play. This award was chosen
by her classmates. She also won in 7th grade speech. The class
dedicated the play to Jeri. I'm glad I didn't make that one because I
probably would have cried in public. Check out the pictures
of Jeri all dressed up for the events. |
| 4/9 - This was a quiet day. Jeri spent the entire day resting after
all of yesterday's activity. Going to the play was great for her
spirits but pretty taxing for her physically. Oh well, Sunday should
be a day of rest anyway! |
| 4/10 - Jeri is feeling a little better today. We managed to mall
crawl our way to a little retail therapy today. (After all, as Jeri
reminded her dad, nothing fits anymore and a girl does need clothes!)
Brit is saved by the fact that it is pretty taxing trying on clothes, so
Jeri can only do a few each trip. Jeri is looking forward to going to
school tomorrow for a few hours to take the T.A.A.S. test. It is probably
the first time that she has ever looked forward to it! |
| 4/11 - Jeri went to school this morning to participate
in the T.A.A.S.
test at Bleyl Middle School.
That's a standardized test given in Texas that's used to measure how good a
job the schools are doing and there is a version for Seniors in High School
to pass to show that they learned something. Randi and Jeri both say it's a
joke but the schools focus on it because so many things are tied to
it. This is the first time I can remember Jeri looking forward to the
test. It's good for Jeri and it will help the school. The test is
mornings for 4 days. Jeri finds a place off in a corner and disinfects
the desk. The teacher made her do it twice....just to be sure.
It tired her out but she felt good for having done it. She'll get her
rest today and hit it again in the morning. Her blood counts measured
low in every category today. Dr.
Murali says Jeri can go and take the test tomorrow if she feels like it,
stays away from most of the kids and comes right home afterward. It's
a no brainer for Jeri. She's going if at all possible. On
another note, Randi was inducted into the National
Honor Society this
evening at Cypress
Creek High School. About 65 students in her class of over 800 were
so honored. I've got an audience so I'll be a proud parent and
brag. I got back from Bartlesville just in time to attend the
induction ceremony. |
| 4/12 - Reality continues to prevail. Low blood
counts conspired to make Jeri weak and have a serious all day headache. She
was unable to go to school for the T.A.A.S.
test as planned. Her home school teacher came today but she just
couldn't concentrate. A couple of friends came by to see Jeri after
school and I think that helped her feel better. They have to be
careful though because yesterday's blood results showed that her counts were
near rock bottom. We were under the impression that they would hit
bottom last Friday or Saturday. Evidently, it was yesterday.
That's more in line with the timing she experienced with the last chemo drug
the first time around. We're hoping that she stays free of infection
and starts to feel better They take another blood count in the morning
so we should know if things are better or worse by the afternoon. |
| 4/13 - Blood counts taken this morning showed white
cells above danger levels but still low. Hemoglobin is low as
well. Jeri's out of imminent danger and improving. She finally
shook the headache that has bothered her for the last couple of days.
The doctor told her that drinking more fluids would probably help the
headache. Jeri's been avoiding most drinks lately because they don't
taste good. Now she has a new incentive to drink more water. She
thinks she will try to go to school for the last day of the T.A.A.S.
test. We'll see how she feels in the morning. |
| 4/14 - She made it! Jeri made it to school this
morning for the T.A.A.S.
test. She felt good enough after the test to tell her Mom and
Grandfather that she needed to go somewhere for lunch. Glad those
blood counts are above the danger levels. I've figured out physical
therapy, chemotherapy and retail therapy. Is there something called
eating out therapy or ATM therapy? |
| 4/15 - Jeri was on her game today. She was full of piss and vinegar
and being her ornery self. Easy to forget the situation she's in til
seeing that poor, bald head. Guess you could say this was one of those
good days. Jeri went to dinner with her mom and her friend Leslie to
celebrate Leslie's birthday. Jeri missed the party. It was
during one of the hospital visits. |
| 4/16 - Easter came a week early at the Parker
house. Jeri should be in the hospital this time next week so we
decided to celebrate Easter today while the whole family could be
together. Looks like it's going to finish up a good day. Jeri is
staying in the upstairs game room and tormenting her sister and sister's
boyfriend. She's feeling better than in quite a while so it must be
about time for the next treatment (Thursday). |
| 4/17 - Sleeping late and started feeling good. She was eating things
she liked while they tasted good. She's developed a peculiar craving
for ham but it has to be cold out of the refrigerator. (We had ham for
"Easter" yesterday.) Jeri didn't feel too good by the late
afternoon. |
| 4/18 - It's getting time for the next treatment because
Jeri is starting to feel good again. That's usually a good sign that
it's time to get knocked down again. Virginia took her shopping for
shoes for her eighth grade end of year dance. She can't dance but we
hope she feels like going. Nothing at the Willowbrook Mall.
Seems that Jeri's feet are a bit on the large side. Obviously the
fault of her mother........ |
| 4/19 - It's the last day before the next hospital stay
and Jeri was feeling good. That was one of the signs it was time for
the next treatment. This will be week 8 on the road
map. We went to the Outback Steakhouse for
dinner. Things tasted good to Jeri so she wanted a rare to medium
rare steak while the blood counts allowed. She
hasn't had a steak since this thing started and it is one of her
favorites. Daddy goes back to Silverton tomorrow to attend to a
doctors appointment of his own. He'll be back next week to help out
during Jeri's next treatment. We'll miss him. He's been a big
help. More than he knows. |
| 4/20 - Jeri's blood counts were good so about 1pm the
wait for a hospital room began. After an afternoon of shopping at the
Galleria, fortunately not buying, Virginia and Jeri came by the office
around 5:30pm to spend some time with me. About 7pm, we decided to
have dinner. We went to the original Carraba's for Italian food.
Virg checked the hospital at 9pm after dinner and they were just about to
call. The room was ready. She'll have an evening of hydration
and start the Methotrexate sometime in the middle of the night or very early
Saturday morning. It was hard to see her get another round of
chemo. The spark was back in her eyes and she was ornery as
ever. Oh well, reality prevails. While in the restaurant, a very
pretty young lady stopped at the table to visit with Jeri. She was
tall, like Jeri, and had a short, short haircut. She told Jeri that
she had finished treatment for Lymphoma about 5 months ago. Her hair
was not cut short, it was just coming back in. She said that she just
had to stop by the table and tell Jeri that no matter how bad she feels,
that she'll start feeling like herself again a few months after the
treatments stop. It was nice of her to offer encouragement. |
| 4/21 - Jeri's morning was good but turned to bad in the
afternoon. The chemo wasn't administered until after 1pm. Seems
that the pharmacy was running slow, other areas were running slow, and on
and on and on. Must have a lighter crew for the holiday weekend.
A group, I'm not sure who it was, came by distributing stuffed Easter
bunnies to all the kids. How did they know that Jeri liked
bunnies? It was a nice one. It's likely to be Monday before she
gets out since the treatment started so late. The Methotrexate
in her
blood has to drop to a certain level before she can be released. See
the entry on March 18 to see what that's like. |
| 4/22 - Just called the hospital and Jeri didn't have
any more nausea attacks last night after the drugs kicked in. She
slept well and has slept most of the day. I'm headed down there to
give Virg some relief and take over for the night shift. Jeri's agreed
to let me stay a night so I'm ready to go. |
| 4/23 - Pretty good night last night. It was quiet
except for the nurse coming in an out from time to time. The
anti-nausea stuff is working. The only problem is that the combination
if stuff leaves Jeri pretty sleepy at times. She's also subject to
some broad mood swings. One minutes she's happy and the next minute
she's sad. They'll do the 72 hour blood work tomorrow after
lunch. She sure wants to come home. I'll be leaving on a
business trip so it will be up to Virg to keep the diary up to date the next
few days. Randi update: Jeri's spending one more night at
TCH. Her Methotrexate level was .14 and must be below .1 to be
released. The next blood test will be done at 1:30 am. I hope
that this one does the trick. Jeri is miserable staying in the
hospital and longs to be back home. The doctors and nurses drew straws
to decide who would be the one to bring Jeri the awful news. |
| 4/25 - Words cannot describe how upset and disappointed Jeri was yesterday
when she found out that she had to spend another night in the
hospital. Even though she acknowledged that it was for her own good,
she just could not turn those tears off. She made it through the night
though and waited anxiously for the levels to be drawn this afternoon.
Since this was the 96 hour draw, the level had to be below .08 for her to be
released. I feel pretty secure in the knowledge that we were not the
only people praying for a low level today. At 3 this afternoon, the
doctor dashed in with the news that the level was .04 and that we could
leave. We got the suitcases packed in a flash and with the assistance
of our wonderful nurse, Dana, we were on the road to the house a mere 45
minutes later. Jeri refuses to eat or drink when she is in the
hospital (she says that the hospital smell permeates everything and ruins
it) so she has had no food or drink since Thursday night's outing to
Carrabas. Of course, they keep her very hydrated through her central
line but by the time we got home, she was very very hungry. She
snacked on some cheese and crackers and she has chosen Rudi Lechner's for
some German fare tonight. (Sorry Brit!! She really does need the
eating out therapy!) She has tomorrow's meals already planned
out...Chinese for lunch and homemade fried chicken with all the
trimmings for supper. We can handle that! We head back to the hospital
on Thursday (day after tomorrow) for the last chemo. The only thing
that will keep that from happening is if Jeri does not pass on the liver
function test. Apparently, Methotrexate
is tough on the liver. |
| 4/26 - This was a tough day for Jeri. She was dizzy and weak.
She ate well all day and hopefully will enjoy the fried chicken tonight
too. Maybe a couple of days of eating will combat her weakness.
No Chinese food for lunch...she had leftover German food from last
night. We all wish that we could loan Jeri our appetites! |
| 4/27 - We went to the clinic this morning and Jeri donated blood for all
of the various tests and counts that they keep track of. She was
supposed to be admitted to the hospital according to the road map but
because she was so slow in clearing the Methotrexate
out of her system at
the beginning of the week, she didn't have the right numbers on the liver
function test. So, Jeri got to come home and will try again for that
last chemo on Monday. I was ready to get the chemo over with but Jeri
was relieved that she could spend the weekend at home recuperating from the
last chemo before the next one began. She is still dizzy and weak and
having trouble keeping food and drink down. |
| 4/28 - Jeri's feeling better but still weak.
She's keeping food down and has developed an affinity for Fuddruckers
hamburgers. We're hoping that she continues to get stronger so she can
get this last pre-surgery chemo treatment out of the way and move on with
surgery. Just a reminder though, this is only nearing the end of the
first phase of chemo. There is more and possible more exotic
treatments. The pathology reports following surgery will help define
the next range of treatment. PS, I'm back - Brit. |
| 4/29 - Jeri slept late today. She's feeling much
better than a couple of days ago. Definitely time for the next
treatment. Hope she feels as good tomorrow. |
| 4/30 - Today was a good day. Mrs. Ellas, Jeri's
home school teacher, came by to spend time teaching Jeri. They have to
do it whenever Jeri can and Mrs. Ellas is great at working out the
schedule. How many school teachers make house calls on Sunday.
Thanks Mrs. Ellas. Virg saw Dr.
Murali out in the cul de sac last night and stopped to say hello.
He asked about Jeri as he always does and was wondering when she would be
coming to the clinic on Monday. Virg told him the usual time and he
asked that she come early so that they can get her in the hospital ASAP and
avoid a situation like last time. She told him thanks and said they
would be there first thing, however, they better not keep them waiting as
late as last time (see 4/20 & 4/21)
or else....she knows where he lives. He said he would do his best and
I'm sure he will. He takes care of all his patients and especially
Jeri. Virginia's mom and dad came today and my dad came back on
Tuesday. They'll all be here through the surgery which is tentatively
scheduled for May 15. We'll see. |
