First Taxol Infusion

Venita had her first Taxol infusion yesterday. Three "pre-med" IV infusions and then the Taxol. Two of the pre-med infusions--Benedryl and something else for nausea--had an odd cold burning feel going in--like the cold burn of BenGay or IcyHot.

The Benedryl put Venita into hyper-mode. She normally avoids Benedryl because of that reaction. The first hour of the Taxol infusion, all she could do was squirm around in her recliner, wanting to crawl on the ceiling. She was finally able to get to sleep and the final two hours of the Taxol were in slumberland.

Venita has had no Taxol side effects yet and is feeling remarkably well today. She got about an hour's worth of garden weeding done and plans to do a little garage clean-up. Not noticing shortness of breath. No fever; last night experienced hot flashes (which is "normal"). There were thunderstorms last night so Max and Ennis hid downstairs rather than waking Venita up every two hours for food, so she slept fairly well.

Saw Dr. Boob last Thursday and got another 60 ccs infusion in the expander implant. (340ccs so far.) Dr. Boob says one more infusion in 2 weeks. The implant now is just about the size of Venita's real left breast. He also said he's not going to replace the expander implant in the right side with the silicone implant during the left breast mastectomy this fall. He says he will wait and "change out" both the left and right side expander implants at the same time--after radiation. (Keep your fingers crossed that radiation won't been needed on the left side because if it is, it has to be done after the expansion, and that would put the implant change out into the spring instead of the winter.)

Only one doctor's appointment next week--Venita's GP. Venita is looking forward to that. She thinks it is time to cut back on the Paxil because she's been getting really low blood pressure readings.

Venita also wants to find out whether there has been cardiac damage from the chemo and because Dr. Chemo won't order the tests, she's hoping the GP will either talk to Dr. Chemo or order the tests herself. With Venita's pre-chemo EKG, stress test (echocardiogram), and Mugga scan, there should be plenty of baseline to evaluate potential cardiac damage from the chemo.

Back to Chemo

We saw Dr. Chemo this morning and he cleared Venita to start Taxol, the recreational chemo. She starts Thursday, and will get infusions every two weeks. She will have training on Wednesday to find out what drugs she has to take with it and the possible side effects, but so far we've heard it's relatively easy and only causes muscle aches.

Venita's temp has only broken 100 degrees four times in the past week. She still has serious shortness of breath, but it is getting slightly better. And it seems her taste buds might be coming back some; she ate soup the last couple of days, a big step up from juice and jello. When asked, Dr. Chemo suggested Venita smoke marijuana. Although medical marijuana is not legal in Delaware, he said that "people manage" to get hold of it.

P.T. Cruiser called today to get details on Venita's failure to show up for therapy. (PT's been on a 2-week vacation and Venita thought moving from the chair to the bed was therapy.) PT released Venita from therapy and told her to show up with a new scrip once she started feeling up to it.

Dr. Boob put more saline in the expander implant last week. It's now up to 280 ccs (capacity is 450). So the end is drawing near on that process.

Thanks to all who have offered words and thoughts of encouragement during what has been a very difficult time.

BTW, Bailey's cremains came home last Thursday.

"A Touch of Pneumonia"

...According to Monday's chest X-ray, says Dr. Chemo's office. That might explain the fever and shortness of breath. Venita is now back on oral antibiotics.

Home from the Hospital

This week, Venita spent from Monday night until Thursday noon in the hospital on IV antibiotics. Dr. Chemo and a doctor who is an infectious disease specialist kept trying to figure out what is causing the fever.

Venita had blood, urine, and stool cultures, chest X-Ray, CAT scan of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis. Nothing that would be a possible cause showed up. On Thursday morning, Venita asked to come home because there was nothing happening at the hospital that was improving the situation. Dr. Chemo seemed somewhat pissed, but OK'd the release.

This was Venita's first ever hospital admittance. She was in the oncology ward. Food was so bad she asked food services to stop bringing her a tray. Her roommate got a DX of lung cancer the morning Venita was leaving. Why couldn't they have done that somewhere private?

So the fever continues, but it is not peaking as high as it was. Now it is only peaking in the 102 degree range. and it is taking longer to peak; sometimes 6-8 hours instead of the previous 3-4 hours. Last night, for a brief period, Venita felt like the fever had broken. She could think clearly, and move without pain and fatigue.

Venita is on Tylenol therapy, but no oral antibiotics.

Venita sees Dr. Chemo on Monday morning. Chemo is on temporary hold for now.

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Goodbye Sweet Bailey

Adopted on Venita’s 42nd birthday, August 10, 1994.

Euthanized June 9, 2006.

Bailey came to us as Brad. He was a perfect Tuxedo; beautiful. He had been “in custody” at a no-kill shelter since May 29, 1992. When he was trapped at a truck stop in Danbury, CT, he was believed to be about one year old. He was at least 15 years old when he was put down; we think he was older, maybe 18.

Brad resided in the “shy guy” room in the shelter and not handled or socialized to people. His first adoption a month earlier failed.

Brad was feral. He was terrified of people. Often, Venita wondered whether he was autistic.

Venita didn’t like the name Brad. She wanted to name him Crocker or Crosby. But he wouldn’t respond to a name unless it started with B. So Bailey he became. Jim nicknamed him Buddy. Venita nicknamed him Bail and BailButt.

It probably took about two years before we could even look at Bailey without terrorizing him. He would camp himself under the kitchen table and watch us. If he ever saw us looking at him, he would take off for another location. Should he have ever gotten out of the house, he would have been irretrievable.

Although declawed in the front, Bailey was a holy terror to corral for the annual vet visit. Once, as Venita was going up the stairs to corner him in an upstairs hallway, he jumped onto her back and pushed off with his back claws. He was strong! The only way to get Bailey in the carrier in the early days was to outlast him during the chase around the house.

As Bailey got older, and arthritic, we were able to approach him more easily, but he still let us know when we were not welcome by growl, or full-mouthed hiss, or getting up and leaving. Where Venita now lives, Bailey had 2 ½ rooms. For the winter, he had beds next to the furnace registers in the dining and living rooms. For the summer, he had the Florida room, where he could lay in sunbeams and next to the screen door for most of the day. His dining room bed was his “safe place;” and it was often there that Venita could approach him for petting, headbumping, and brushing. Looking back, Venita did not approach him nearly often enough. Out of the way like that, he was easy to forget. Sometimes, a couple days would go by without Venita seeing Bailey. He would sneak into the kitchen for food when Venita was on another floor of the house or sleeping.

There were times over the years that Bailey would join Venita in bed, but only after she had laid down and usually only while the light was still on. He was ever vigilant against the terror of people, even though he desperately wanted to love and be loved.

If Bailey hadn’t gotten along with the three other cats (Maxwell, Ennis, and Lily), he would have been returned to the shelter. But Bailey loved our cats. Small problem was that he wasn’t socialized to cats either. He would walk straight up to Max and Ennis and give them a full frontal headbump at anytime, even when they were eating. This lack of feline socialization persisted to the end. Bailey also didn’t realize that at 15 pounds, he didn’t have to be subservient to the bitchy little 9 pound Lily. She would haul his ass around the house, showing him that she was not the lowest kitty on the pole. But that was Bailey; a most gentle soul.

We got Bailey so that we would have an even number of cats. Venita thought that with four cats, everyone would have the chance for a friend. It didn’t work out that way, but the dynamics of four was very different from the dynamics of three, and we would not have missed a day with Bailey.

Bailey always had been overweight, but he got grossly obese the last couple years. The swinging cow belly look. With his weight, coupled with his arthritis, it was painful for him to get around. But Bailey NEVER failed to make it to the litter box, even though it meant having to painfully negotiate steps and sometimes brave a gauntlet of Jim and Venita watching TV in the family room. Starting in November 2005, Venita withdrew Bailey’s dry food and he slowly lost weight and became much more active again. He started jumping into the bedroom window about 2 months ago, an activity he enjoyed but had given up some time back.

Bailey’s desired weight loss continued past ideal and he started to look boney. About a month ago, Venita noticed a housewide bout of black-green diarrhea and mouth foaming, but she was on her way out the door to therapy. When she returned, she found Bailey on the chair in her room foaming at the mouth and oozing diarrhea. Directly to the vet that day and the next, but nothing but “no result tests” and shoulder shrugs. In the course of 6 months, Bailey had lost about a third of his body weight.

The day of the diarrhea/mouth foaming, Bailey stopped eating and didn’t eat again. Never pooped again either. Despite Venita’s best efforts at things like trying another vet and getting probiotics, appetite stimulants, SubQ fluids, and food soup into him, she was completely unsuccessful at turning his condition around. Yesterday, he “slid” down the stairs to the litter boxes, because he could command his back legs no longer. He was skin and bones. Venita scooped him up, put him in the “sick room,” and called the vet for an appointment today to put him down.

This morning Venita put Max into the sick room with Bailey. Bailey loved Max the most, because Max came to put up with the headbumps and would let Bailey eat and drink from a plate/bowl with him. Max didn’t want to go near Bailey (we suspect Max could “smell” the nearing death), but Bailey loved just having Max in the room. He started purring.

At the vet’s office, Bailey pulled himself around the room exploring and trying to give us his loud angry meow, which he could not manage except as a nearly noiseless chirp. The alternative vet and the vet tech were very kind with the procedure. Venita stayed in the room watching and crying; Jim couldn’t stay.

The vet sat with Bailey on the floor and gave him a rubdown to the sound of new wave music. He loved that vet and her touch. She gave him the first shot to put him into a “coma.” He really fought the effect, but finally rolled over onto his right side. She rubbed him more, and then inserted the IV line into his rear leg. As she started to inject the barbiturate, he took a final deep breath. The vet checked for a heartbeat, pronounced him gone, and invited Venita to stay as long as she wished. Venita stayed, petting Bailey’s silky black fur, feeling how pliable his body now was, headbumping him, until his foot pads started getting cold. She did not give him a belly kiss. Bailey had never allowed that in life, and Venita had promised him long ago she wouldn’t violate his dignity when he died.

Even though Venita would like to know what took Bailey, she is not having the vet open him up. The vet suspects diffuse cancer.

Venita will pick up Bailey’s cremains a week from Tuesday.



Saturday update: Overnight Venita had shaking chills and a temp of 103.6. She’s under orders to call the oncologist with that type of condition. She may just end up in the hospital this weekend.

Into the Fire

And we thought the frying pan was bad. Venita white blood cell (WBC) count on Tuesday morning was 300 (normal is 3800 to 10,800). Dr. Chemo called her in on Wednesday, and she showed up in 3 layers of clothes plus jacket, ski cap, neck scarf, and shivering like a naked polar bear. Temp was only 102. Dr. wanted to put her in the hospital for two days for IV antibiotic. Venita declined; the cat Bailey is on ABs and fluids and may need to be put down when he returns to the vet on Friday.

So Dr. Chemo sent Venita to an outpatient procedure unit for the IV ABs. At release, her temp was 104. She continues in bed and on Tylenol. This morning's temp was close to 99 and the bed sheets weren't soaked. Maybe there is an end to this tunnel.

We'll call Dr. Chemo this morning for followup. Good chance he'll want a stat CBC to assess whether more IV ABs are needed.

Been AWOL

Where have they been? Where are the updates?

First of all, we want to recognize Robin’s distress and her post on the FDMB asking for prayers for herself. Called back on her mammo, Robin has an area in her right breast for which she will receive a sterotactic needle biopsy on June 21. Robin you know that you are totally in our thoughts and that we will be walking with you every step of the way through your challenge.

The week of May 22, being the second week of Venita’s 3rd chemo cycle, usually would have been her good week as side effects diminished and she regained her appetite. She had looked forward to a Memorial Day picnic where she could enjoy eating a grilled cheeseburger and corn on the cob.

But certain side effects became worse, in particular major fatigue, alternating chills and sweats, an incidence of vomiting (no associated nausea), and hardly any food that didn’t smell like cat food or taste like sawdust. All in all, it was nearly impossible for Venita to function. She cancelled two of her 3 physical therapy appointments, and PT Brusier sent Venita home from the one she was able to drag her butt to.

Friday, Venita saw Dr. Chemo, and the reasons for many of these problems became clear. Near the end of the appointment, Venita asked what the white blood cell (WBC) count from her Tuesday blood draw had been, and it was only 1200. (Normal range is 3800–10,800 and the previous Tuesday, her count had been 4800.) Dr. Chemo surmised the fatigue and chills/sweats are the result of an infection and put Venita on antibiotics. She also spent several full days in bed. Bought a digital thermometer and found her temp was fluctuating between 96 and 105 degrees.

Dr. Chemo surmised the vomiting without nausea so late in the cycle was not chemo-related, but rather reflux. His office had advised Venita to take a particular over-the-counter product for this two-weeks before, but once Venita learned the cost, she had called back in for something prescription, but that had fallen through the cracks. Dr. Chemo wrote and Venita filled a scrip for Prevacid. No more vomiting since.

Through the Memorial Day weekend, Venita remained pretty low key. She was able, thankfully, to have her 4th chemo session on Tuesday, May 30. Getting the infusion was touch and go for a bit because Venita’s fever had been up to 102 degrees the previous day, but a WBC count of 12,000 saved the day.

That is the last of the brutal Adriamyacin/Cytoxin chemo, and Venita now moves on to the recreational chemo—Taxol. Everyone promises fewer side effects—likely achiness only. Four session; one every two weeks. Last chemo should be on July 25. Seems only a short 8 weeks away!!

Venita also is taking a break from physical therapy until after brutal chemo is completely out of her system.

Bailey the sick feral cat is not doing well and also needs your thoughts. He is starting his 3rd week of not eating. His blood tests are now showing distress/disease in his liver. He is getting (yesterday and today) IV fluids and antibiotics at the alternative/conventional vet. Hopefully, he will be able to undergo a dental procedure this afternoon; the guess is that an inability to chew set him on this failing course. He is either going to rally here soon, or we will lose him. If the latter happens, we will be very hurt, but he will have had a great run!!