The effects of Friday’s chemo are wearing off, and Linda is regaining strength and appetite. After a weekend of prisoner of war food (saltines, toast, water), today she ate half a turkey sandwich and some buttered noodles. That’s the good news.
At our appointment with the oncologist this morning the doc was very pleased with what appears to have been a very good first round of chemo. She said “The breast looks less angry.” It’s ok to laugh at that – I did. It was a rainy and cold weekend, and Linda weathered a tough storm of chemicals. Then the bad news. The MRI she had on Sunday morning confirms that cancer has spread to a couple of different spots in her back (thoracic and lumbar areas); treatable not curable. She’ll continue with the same aggressive chemo every three weeks, but will be given a chaser drug called Zometa. This will strengthen the bones while the chemo attacks the cancer. Because the cancer spread, Linda will need lifelong care (meds and check-ups). The doc talked about many patients who live normally through that regimen. Dark cloud, silver lining.
So we took a nice walk today (the weather shifted to a balmy 63 degrees in Richmond!), paid some bills, and had dinner. Tonight we ventured into Carytown for a couple of smoothies (amazing that we passed up ice cream for something more nutritious). We walked a bit past the shops and headed home to listen to a CD Jessica made for us.
Round 1 goes to Linda. Now we’ll enjoy the next couple of weeks before Round 2, no matter what the weatherman says.
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