All be good. Angela got a pain block in her shoulder. It's a RF (radio frequency) they inject into the joint. Wild concept. She's sleeping better and has much less pain. It's supposed to work for a couple of months, enough time for her to get through a couple more chemo's.
She's happy about it. I'm doing what I can to prevent her from doing cartwheels.

She's feisty...keeping me entertained.

Post chemo...all is well.
We assume the leg pain was due to large dose of sodium given prior to infusion. The salt makes her retain water thus swelling puts pressure on the necrotic areas of the bone. Okay; makes sense...her bones are like barometers.

oy...the complexities of being an Angel on oyth...

Had chemo yesterday. Came home feeling fine, woke up with severe bone pain again, now down through her ankles. Don't understand why, no steroids...keeping an eye on her.

Doc says to definitely schedule shoulder surgery for may/april...

Angela is well...
Monday is infusion #3. It's now becoming routine...

After looking into shoulder replacement she may delay the operation until next fall. The recovery time for a normal (I'm glad we don't fit in that category) replacement is about 4 months. It's hard to say whether or not they will run into any snags as they did with her hips. It may be better to enjoy the summer (gardening). She'll end up getting a few pain blocks to help her get through till the surgery. Here's a link that gives some insight into the process.

Today is a good day, cold, a couple inches of snow on the ground, pretty. Happiness prevails.

As for the image:
The ancient embrace photo is of a young Italian neolithic 5000-6000bc couple. It's a rare find, males and females were never buried together. Ancient lovers...still caressing one another's faces...

"I'm no longer on lock-down"... Angela says.
She is now off home care and is able to get out into the real world, in between chemo treatments. She's been going stir-crazy. For kicks we went grocery shopping and took our recycling to the drop off station...
Ahh, the simple pleasures in life...

...um...85% .

Yesterday we went to Doc appt. Angela's tests have all come back with positive results. The chemo seems to be kicking some Lupus butt. Doctor Joe is impressed by her recovery, me too. She's scheduled for 4 more infusions. We're getting her scheduled for shoulder replacement after she's done with the treatments, June. Until then, no bowling.

Her walker is getting cobwebs, we've reduced the amount of drugs and her mental state is back 90%. She's back in the kitchen (whew!) and monitors her laundry.

Insert sigh of relief here________.

Yesterday was GREAT!
I haven't seen Angela with so much energy and vitality for some time. This round of chemo, without steroids, seems to have made a huge difference. Lupus type symptoms seem to be decreasing. Yahoo!

Went to a pharmacologist (ref by both of Angela's primary doctors), one who is actually anti-drug. She analyzed all the meds, vitamins and came up with a plan to minimize Angela's intake. She's eliminated some of the bad boys and increased supplements etc to balance everything out. She teaches at the U of M and is a consultant for some big pharma. She did it for free. Amazing. (insider info: take fish oils...they are life savers)

Angela's bones are a different story. I'm afraid if she sneezes too hard she'll loose a body part, as soon as the chemo is finished we're taking her in for retreads. In the mean time, as long as I keep the duck tape nearby, she should be fine...

All is well. I apologize if ya'll been wonderin' what's goin' on. Our phone/elect service has been out...

Angela had her second infusion on Monday. She's doing fine. Feels better than the last one, she says. We're home, she's smiling. Left leg is acting up, she feels/looks swollen, vitals good. While in the infusion room, funny thing...after Angela was finished with the infusion, the nurse dropped the chemo IV that was removed from Angela's arm. I went to pick it up for her, the nurse panicked and exclaimed, "don't touch that!" ....It was too toxic to touch without gloves...

Great timing. We had a ice storm Monday morning which cut our power off until approx 1.5 hr ago. We've been camping in front of the fire place. Had plenty of wood and food. Transistor radio/NPR pacified us. My campfire cooking entertained us. It's about 14 degrees out now, glad the power came back on. Ready for a shower. Flushing toilets...great concept.

More later...

Ok, ok, it's been a few days...

No news is good news.

All the blood work has come back; looking good, so chemo-infusion #2 is on for Monday a.m. This time they changed the protocol...no steroids...novel idea. They've lowered the dosage of cytoxin down a bit too...

Angela is up in spirits, up and about and the vasculitis is clearing up from her toes and fingers. Good sign...

I'll be in touch after the chemo...I think everything has leveled off for now.

Good day ya'll. The A-goil is getting stronger and more of her brain cells back. Legs seem to bother her a bit and the walker is still close by. We finally got out of the house and went over to the mom and pop's. All in all things are good. Got a dusting of snow...

The Angel has risen...

She's been up and all around today. Feeling her oats and moving energy . It's good to see the smiles again and look of optimism...

The sun broke through the clouds this afternoon....

Looking at yesterdays post I have to admit, I was struggling to post something positive. Angela has been in bed quite a bit with a fever. If it's not one thing it's another. Vitals are low. She only took 2 of her daily dose...she's tired of the drugs. It's a gray day. Is mercury in retrograde?

She always brings me back to center...all is good.

...another beautiful day, upper 40's ...

miss A is doing better. Went to Dr. appt. today, Doc is happy with her progress. Eliminated 1 of the 18 meds she takes (the other 14 are supplements). He may add a couple more later though... She still shakes like she had a triple shot cafe' mocha with powdered sugar on top...She received a prescription for a park-for-free tag for the van, she'll still make me park in the regular spaces...

I've been a little frustrated lately, time for me to vent...

• Wheelchairs...the double wide model is now the standard for the hospital. They barely squeeze through the doors. Angela looks like Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin) from Laugh In in them.
  

• Did you know there are about a dozen names for the same medications. I have to carry a pharmaceuticals guide for dummies just to keep up with what she's taking. It's not about the amount of drugs she has to take, it's about all the names I have to remember. A new pill means another 5 hours studying all their brand names, generic names, disclaimers, adverse reactions, Latin and whether or not they interact with Viagra...
  

• The prescription bottles need to have additional labels that read, "Pliers, cork screws and nut crackers are required to open container".
  

• Our Doctor, whom we have the utmost of respect for, is given 15min (honest) for each patient he sees when he is in clinic. I5 minutes. Now that's production... If you take extra time you effect the amount of time he is able to spend with other patients. Here are patients with life threatening diseases who are struggling to get a grasp on their illness and the guy who is doing his best in helping them gain sense of their condition/treatment has 15 minutes per visit to do so... We are quite fortunate; since he is a member of Angela's fan club, Ann Arbor chapter, we have had more quality time than what is allotted.

• I waited in line at the bank today longer than Angela's doctor appointment took.

• I discovered an ugly truth...pharmaceutical companies promote illness, "educate" the doctors and push the drugs... (gggrrrrrr!) ...and people go to jail for smoking pot???
  

Enough.
dOOg out

All is swell. Angela is less dependent on the walker. Her hands shake quite a bit, not sure if that will go away. Vitals are steady. Today we have a nurse and physical therapist coming over to evaluate things. They'll be coming around a few times a week for another month or so. All in all my Angela is regaining her strength, a little shy on memory...she is now 40 ya know...

New Years day...low key. The mom and pops came by with a yummy dinner... Nice entry into the new...

Humor is up...

New Years eve. It's a quiet contemplative rainy day, appropriate for the end of '06'.

Angela has been out of bed more than in today. That's good. Still shaky, hands tremble quite a bit. She says her eyes are blurring. Hard to say what that is due to. Vitals are stable, seems like the meds are balancing out...

I've adopted a su chef position with Angela. I've graduated from dish washer, egg beater and steak flipper. (Her taste buds are a little off so I have some room for error...) My mashed potatoes/broccoli was a hit with the master...I liked them too.

Angela showed me all the journals she has written through the years...wow. She's determined to have her book written... She's using a digital recorder now...

Hey...If any of you have a picture of/with Angela you wouldn't mind me posting please send me a copy...

Well, May your New Year be a blessing to you and all of yours...Thanks for checking in.

Su d00g

A new day.

Angela is in the kitchen this a.m. rattling 'round pot-n-pans...that's a good sign unless it's in her desperation to get me out of the kitchen...

A's Doc says there was no over-dose of steroids per all documentation. There was an additional amount administered as part of the chemo-protocol. Conclusion=NO MORE STEROIDS other than her daily maintenance dose. She has to take a maint. dose because her adrenals are shot (due to over 20 years of steroid use) and do not produce the natural hormones etc the body requires. This means she may have a more pronounce reaction to the chemo this next go around...15th Jan....we'll see.

Cytoxan is now the drug of choice with all its new and exciting side effects.

It's funny how often I get asked "How's the weather up there?". I figure it's due to either the horror stories related to Michigan winters (no snow yet, global warming is in full bloom here) or that they're trying their best to make conversation (which I appreciate)... To help things out I posted an Ann Arbor weather station at the bottom of the photo column to the left...

She's back to bed...low bioday...

Friday eve...
Busy day. Angela has been up and about, more clarity today than the past week. Stronger, venturing away from her walker more often. Still shy of her norm by about 35%.

Her Doc has called her a couple of times today (big deal I suppose, considering he's a professor and head Lupus dude). He's labeled her as his "most complicated patient".
Wonderful...obviously he's concerned.

She's scheduled for a brain scan (MRI). At least they'll get some readings with her cerebral mass. If I had mine done they'd end up with a dot to dot paint by number schematic ...at least a few scribbles would show some activity...

Angela's on about 20 different medications. I've been charting her intake this past week; trying to see the correlation between dose, time and heart rate. I just want to make sure the present scripts aren't doing her in. Most of her medical issues are pharmaceutically related as it is... ...granted, without them she wouldn't be here...She's alive and working it though. Sometimes I think she's here more for everyone else than herself... It's amazing, the pharmaceutical companies are getting rich from a protocol that is over 30 years old...where's the advancement of medicine??? Oh ya...Viagra.
Okay...I'm a little miffed and it's coming out in my posts...I'll chill.

Check out the x-ray. I tease her telling her that I'm going to cash her in for scrap metal... I'll keep her around though, by the time she gets her shoulder and knees done, the metals market should be up... Ok, twisted humor, I know; it makes her laugh though...

I better call it quits...

d00g out

SHE'S UP...woke up with a smile...eatin'...
getting ready for a visit occupational therapist... lettin' us know how to adapt the house; grab bars, ramp, all the fixin's for a free wheelin' child bride to get around by.

Not than she'll need it anytime soon but it's good to plan ahead...

Busy day...all is well.

Sorry about the missing posts/comments. They work now...