Annos New Hair

Sarah, Anno and Jeff Saturday March 30th.

Dinner with Granno

Hi all!

Granno had her blood draw today and her counts are great! Her WBC was 2400 and her RBC was 31. Yeah Granno!

Sarah and Granno did a number of errands tonight and one was to stop at our house and then Granno walked next door to see her great-grandchildren Lily and Hank. They greeted her and smiled and Hank said Hi Granno and Goodbye Granno when she left. He was a little shy but enjoyed his visit with her. Lily was having her Keto diet dinner and was more interested in that than visiting with Granno but did have a good smile for her.

Granno looks absolutely fabulous. I'd not seen her with her new hair-do and I must say she is so cute!

We went for a great Thai dinner close to our house and she ate a good helping of Swimming Ramma and a bowl of Thom Ka soup along with some Calamari. We had a nice chat with her and Sarah and then she was ready to go.

I am so very grateful for every single moment of her feeling good. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.

xoxoxoxo
Molly

Back at Horizon House

Mom is doing really well. We had a "heavenly" time at Vashon cabin with fire burning, snow falling and the wonderful sound of silence. Enjoyed great meals, halibut, salmon, salad, greens and a little lemon cake and strawberries. She exercises every day and is very determined to get hip flexor muscles back so stairs are not such a problem. She has already made much improvement. Wonderful 48 hours at the cabin.

Her wig is very natural looking but so is her bald head. Chris (my bald husband) felt better when she wore his look. We dropped Chris at Sea-Tac today, stopped at Costco and mom walked pushing the cart. Then she sat in the car with the sun roof open so she could bask in the sun getting much enjoyed vitamin D. She really has been doing great since she “got sprung” from the hospital. I just pray I can keep her healthy until the next round April 16th.

Dinner tonight with the Taylor family in the dining room as they leave for a Mexican spring break tomorrow. Monday we go for a blood check up so will post then.

My camera broke so will have Taylors bring there’s so we can get a picture of the wigged Grand Anno up.

Sarah

At the beach

Word has it Granno, Sarah & Chris are over at the beach. I guess Granno had an opportunity to sit out in the bit of sun we had yesterday (it's snowing [!] today!) and read a bit.

It just makes my heart warm to think of Granno over at the beach. :)

Home Again!

Mom did go home last night (Tuesday) as she was determined to do. They gave her some blood which always peps her up. She and Sarah were home to her place and in bed by 11:00pm.

According to Sarah, Mom was up this morning by 6am and ready to do her exercises. They went to an ENT doc to see about Mom's ongoing sinus/nose hassles. They received a lot of information and recommendations for clearing it up. Then they went to the oncologists for the post-chemo shot that boosts her blood count.

After the medical visits, they went to Duke's for Mom's favorite salad which she had been craving for weeks! Then home to rest a bit. Sarah was off for dinner with friends so Mom had a low-key evening with her friend Phyllis at Horizon House.

Tomorrow she has an appointment for a wig fitting.

We pray that she will be able to stay out of the hospital between chemo treatments this time around!

Daughter Jan

Last Chemo This Round

Mom started her last chemo drip in this round at around 10:00 am. The infectious disease doc came by and said all looked good.

Her oncologist and a UW med student came around 11:00. We discussed the lower dose and he said that the slight reduction by 15 to 20% was to try and counter some of the reactions she had to the first round. The heart medication keeps her heart on a regular beat and will continue for sure through the chemo.

We went for a walk around both wings twice – she did not use the IV pole for support. This makes her really work on her balance. She really wants the cycle at home so that she can do cardio as she gets that it is very important to exercise to recover from the chemo.

Mom sends her love and can hardly wait to get home which will probably be tomorrow evening. We ordered new pajamas for Mom and are going to set an appointment for the wig fitting.

Daughter Sarah

Good Week

Mom had a really good week: infections and other issues were clearing up, she was getting more exercise, she was ready to have her laptop at the hospital, and she started ordering food from a different menu with more interesting food (the nutritionist was concerned that she wasn't eating enough).

She had things for all of us to do which was a clear sign of improving health! She was ordering food for us to bring down ("egg salad sandwich with Best Foods mayonnaise, celery chopped fine, a little sweet pickle relish, a little dill, with maybe some sliced green onion tops and spread on thin-sliced white bread"). She was obviously feeling more like her old self!

Thursday she started the Retuxin antibody and Friday the first of the chemo drugs intravenously. They have reduced the amount of the drugs somewhat for this go-around of chemo. If things go well, she may be able to go home Tuesday or Wednesday and is so looking forward to it!

Sarah and Chris are down from Calgary. Chris returns in a week and Sarah will stick around for at least another week.

We know that there will likely be a post-chemo dip in energy, appetite, etc. but hope that what the doctors learned from the first session will make this one easier on Mom.

Jan

Jeff's Report Wed March 19

Last night, Stephanie, Jan and I cleaned up mom's condo in preparation for a visit from her Delta Gamma bridge group. Trudy and I greeted the ladies there this morning and they got a chance to ooh and ahh over mom's place. All agreed the place "screams Anno." They were very anxious to hear how mom's doing and heaped love and good wishes on us to take to the hospital. They are very prayerful and optimistic about her return.

Trudy and I then visited mom. She is doing fantastic today and is ready to begin chemo -- possibly tomorrow if the test for the last infection comes back negative. She had just finished her "elastaband workout" when we arrived and was looking forward to doing it twice daily. Uncle Neil was also at the hospital which always lifts her spirits. We left so she and Neil could take a walk around the twelfth floor. She was looking forward to Jan's pea soup for dinner tonight. Hopefully Dr. Fer will come by when Jan's there.

Jeff

CT Scan Today

After a rough day yesterday, Mom had a better day today. She's really tired of feeling crummy and being in the hospital.

Today, her regular oncologist returned from vacation. We wondered if he would be surprised at all the negative things that had happened (chills, fevers, heart troubles, infections, edema, coughs) while he was gone. He didn't seem to think that this was beyond what could be expected after chemo. He felt no swollen nodes in her armpits or neck which was great!

He ordered a CT scan which was completed today. Tomorrow he will review the results. He will also talk with the ENT doc to find out how long it would take for her to recover if they took out the thyroglossal cyst (which has shrunk to nothing but might recur following subsequent chemo if not removed). They will talk about the pros and cons of removing it now and delaying chemo or starting chemo and dealing with any possible infection with drugs.

He may confer with the research doc depending on the results of the CT scan.

Mom is having respiratory therapy 4 times a day which is helping her cough. We hope that tomorrow she will be able to start get up and start moving (not possible in intensive care where she was for nearly a week) and they will be able to get rid of the edema.

Mom had a nice visit with brother Neil. We hoped the oncologist would come while he was there but no such luck. Jan and Molly were there for his visit though.

Molly had brought over cards and letters that had come to her home. She appreciated all the warm messages from friends and family near and far.

Jeff and Trudy brought down a homemade dinner which she absolutely loved.

Daughter Jan

Mohawk

Mom wanted to report on the blog that yesterday daughters-in-law Trudy and Molly came down to shave her hair since it was starting to fall out and driving her crazy. For her grandsons, she had them first shave a mohawk. She was only sorry they didn't think to wet it down and have it stick straight up in true mohawk fashion!



She looks lovely in sister-in-law Patsy's turban!



She loves not having to deal with the hair. She is also pleased that she had a good night's sleep and has not had any chills followed by sweats for two days.

Daughter Jan

March 6th to 10th

Sorry for the delay in posting. It has been a rough 4 days.
Anno has been fighting these riggers (shakes) and high fevers and sweats since Tuesday the 4th when she got the blood transfusion. Then Friday her heart had an irregular beat and they decided to put her in ICU. Good thing they did because in the wee hours of Saturday her heart rate went to 175 and blood pressure 50/60 - they had to get her heart beating correctly again.

Since then they have kept her in a stable condition with heart medication and they have been able to reduce the riggers and fevers with medication. They are trying to find an infection or bacteria that they think is causing these fever spikes, those are what they feel is causing the strain on her heart. She has spiked as high as 105'. They are moving her to IMU (intermediate care unit) as they now give her the heart medications orally. She will hopefully be back to the 12th floor Wednesday. Everything is on hold, her ENT surgery and further Chemo until they figure out these shakes.
She is shopping for a wig nowl. Her Oncologist is in Mexico until Thursday but we have spoken to him and are pleased with all the doctors and care she is getting in the hospital. We hope to speak directly with a doctor who specializes in T-cell Lymphoma this week.

Anno has sent the family home at times due to her feeling "smothered" so we are trying to give her space and rest. Thank you all for your continued prayers and we will try to keep you posted more often.

Sarah

March 3rd to 6th

Monday morning mom rolled over and asked, "Is there something on my neck?"

Sure enough a large swelling just bellow her chin to the middle of her neck mostly on the left side was visible and tender to the touch. We got to the onlcolgist's office about 11:00 am and blood was taken and we had lunch and then off for an ultrasound. Mom's energy level was really low. (In reviewing my photos I see that the swelling is visible on Sunday but small)

At 3:00, the oncologist said her blood counts had really fallen and her white counts were in the 100's. The neck they felt was an infected gland of some sort. He wanted her admitted to First Hill Swedish right away for an IV drip for the infection and to watch her blood. We went right over and she was admitted again to the 12th floor East where she gets her Chemo. She has a great room all to herself.

Tuesday they did a CT scan of her neck and after review of the doctors, they changed her antibiotic and decided to give her a blood transfusion as her levels were lower. She is A+ with a special antibody so it takes them a little while find someone that matches the antibody and radiate the blood due to her immuno suppression.

During the night, 1:00 am the shakes reappeared and lasted for 2 hours then she spiked a 105 fever. They did not want to give her anything as it would mask the symptoms and they needed to have samples of her blood to decipher if this was a reaction to the blood or the infection. They called the oncologist at 4:00 am and her ok'd some relief medication. She had very little sleep.

I arrived at 9:00 with her daily mocha from Starbucks and she was a changed woman - lots of pep almost hopping into bed. She chatted on the phone, read emails saw her friend since second grade, Barb (she always introduces Barb as that) and sat in her chair. Her blood count was back up and whites around 900. All of a sudden she started feeling chilled again and we started piling on the clothes about 1:00 (12 hours from first shakes). The shakes started and we walked to find her favorite, the head nurse, Heidi who sent her to bed. Tylenol came first then the oncologist ok'd Demerol - the shakes lasted an hour and her temperature went to 103. Brother Neil and wife Patsy arrived just as the drug was taking effect, but they had a nice visit. Jeff and Trudy were there too. Her lunch order came and they decided to send her for another ultrasound to check the biopsy area that has been infected too. Then they took some fluid out of that area to send to the lab but the technicial "thought it looked like the good fluid" meaning it was the fluid necessary to help heal the area where the node use to be. She ate a good lunch. We all left her to rest.

John arrived after work and mom was chipper. She was going to order a small dinner then get some sleep. We hope the shakes don't come again as they will not let her out of the hospital until her temperature is stable for at least 24 hours.

She is scheduled with a ENT (ear nose and throat doctor) to have the infected thyroglossal cyst (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyroglossal_cyst) removed. This is something she had years ago and she thinks they just drained it and did not remove it. So she is scheduled for removal of it on Monday...unless it goes away on its own.

I leave tomorrow afternoon to see my family in Calgary, Canada. I will return at the latest March 18th. Hopefully mom will have some deserved rest at home and will be on track for her chemo to start Friday the 14th of March.

All this being said - the lymph nodes are still small and the chemo is working - we just have to get her infections taken care of.

Mom loves all her cards and emails and appreciates your prayers and good thoughts. She is a Game Old Gall and said today when they told her they thought the cyst should be removed "Bring it on!" That's the attitude we love and expect from our matriarch.

Love to all

Sarah

Picture Day!

Today, almost all the family gathered at Horizon House to take some pictures celebrating Granno's 80th birthday this year.

All of Granno's grandchildren recreated the photo we had taken for her at Christmas in 2000.

Here's the original from eight years ago:


And here we are today, with two great grandchildren:

Top row: Adam Boyd
2nd row: Stephanie Taylor, John Kirkpatrick, Granno, Katie (Kirkpatrick) Rohs, Alison Cornwall
3rd row: Hank Rohs, Lily Rohs
Bottom row: Eric Boyd, Katherine Taylor, Reid Cornwall

And of course, the lady of honor (doesn't she look absolutely beautiful?):


John Ryan & I also got to spend a few minutes in Granno's new condo at Horizon House, for the first time today. What a fantastic place! I could immediately feel how comfortable Granno was there, and it made me happy to know that she was in a place she felt happy. She has a lovely view of downtown, with a peek of water & mountains too.

It was a lovely day.