The elusive 45

My two week chemo cycle starts on Tuesday with a blood test.  That is when we find out about the all important CEA.  No one is worried, me, Dr. Dan and Sue but the CEA went up from 60 to 66.  It could be a blip or a plateau.  We did chemo today, Wednesday, and will see what the CEA does in two weeks.  Dr Dan says this happens and if the number goes down next week we will continue, if not we will decide what to do.  There is no reason to continue if the chemo has done what it can.  Then we wait to see what happens, hopefully a period of non-progression-partial remission.

Thinking this morning about things I did not do before cancer--wear a hat to bed, nap almost daily at 3, eat mac and cheese and hot chocolate for breakfast, drink hot water at restaurants and warm tap water at home, do salt water rinses every night and now in the morning as well, carry around a ball of chemo for two days and nights every two weeks, moan and groan and sigh as often as not, slept with a stuffed polar bear and a heating pad with continued use of the hot water bottle, write a cancer blog, carry around a hand warmer, see my brother every month, stay home, do chemo, give myself shots, say thank you more often, had private yoga lessons and healing touch sessions, use guided imagery which can take me to all the places we have traveled, pictured minions running around in my body disrupting the cancer system dn planning flowers in my pancreas and liver, wake up every morning glad for the next three days and hopeful for the next three years, have a family reunion in MN, been all the more grateful and aware of good friends and their support.

Bouncing back from chemo was slow again this week.  Tired and weepy but that did not stop us very much. Scott and Emma (second cousin from France) were here for the weekend.  We had a great visit.  Turns out Emma loves puzzles too.  We did one and then Emma was keen to start another.  Unfortunately they left that to me to finish.  We all, saw Harvey at the Guthrie with Phyllis and Mary Margaret.  Toured around the cities a bit and met Mary and Colleen for dinner at a Thai restaurant we all enjoyed. Scott and I patched the pool leak and we put chlorine and algaecide in so now we can see the bottom of the pool.  Waiting for some warm weather to vacuum.  We went to Hastings to walk to the locks and did the requisite Mall of America visit and enjoyed Mexican food there.  Emma expanded our restaurant trials, with good results.  She also made a a beautiful pot which will find a special place on a wall.













We enjoyed night at the MN Orchestra to hear/see Pink Martini, thanks to Lisa Anderson and Diane Young.  Steve and Sally Klingel stopped by for lunch.  They live in Florida so we enjoyed catching up with them.  It was a delightful visit.  A healing touch session, lunch with Suzi Hagen and Jan Frisch, and Jenny Keil's retirement open house and a bike fitting rounded out the highlights of the two weeks.

Next chemo is three weeks away, I am anxious to see how the extra week will make me feel, usually I am getting in good shape the weekend before chemo, it will be nice to have a healthy extra week.  We are headed to Madison next week to help Sue's cousin pack for her move to Hudson.  And then Yosemite the next week.