Lots of Goodies

Cousin Bitoy just got back from the Philippines and brought back lots of food from Tito Vesting and Tita Med. There were two kinds of suman, cookies, turon de casoy, hopia and duman! Ma's happy. Too bad her blood sugar is so high. It was over 400 tonight.

Grace, please pass on our thanks to Tita Med and Tito Vesting.

More Origami

There's nothing new to report regarding Ma. She's neither better nor worse. Her appetite is good, but her blood sugar is almost always too high. This morning she weighed 115 lbs. Pa has been draining one liter of fluid from her lung every morning.

Pa managed to get a lot of origami fish done. I don't know how many Ma made, but she had three guests yesterday who decided to join in on the fun. I tried to make a seahorse, but it's too difficult. I'm making turtles (honu) and starfish instead. They'll be used as wall decorations at Ma's birthday party. It's Hawaiian-themed; that's why we're doing sea creatures.

Big Fish

I spent the whole day yesterday working on the invitations and mailed them out today. If you don't get one soon, you're not invited. :)

(Kuya Jess, I didn't send you one. But let me know if you want to come).

Now I have to work on the catering. I showed Ma the menu choices, and she helped pick out the dishes. She asked about dinuguan, but it's not listed as a choice.

I want some origami fish to decorate the hall and thought it would be a good idea to have Ma make them. I don't know if she's bored now that she's no longer working. Doing some origami gives her something to do. She can follow along if you do the origami with her, but reading the directions and illustrations makes her very confused. I don't think it's chemo-related though. Even Pa couldn't follow the directions. And it's supposed to be a simple fish! Maybe I should do the more complicated seahorses myself.

Big H

Not much to report except that Ma's hemorrhoids are really bothering her. She has some pretty big ones, and they seem to be permanent.

Ma's first consultation with the radiation oncologist isn't till Oct. 8. Her radiation treatments will probably start a week or so after that. This means she won't have started her radiation treatments before the party on Oct. 11. That's good because radiation will make her fatigued.

Party's On

Chemo #4 Day 20

I was able to book a hall at a nearby retirement home. The party is on October 11, less than 3 weeks away. I've started working on the invitations and will try to send them out by the end of the week.

I went ahead and told Ma about the party. At first she said she's too weak. When I reminded her she won't have to do anything except sit in her wheelchair, she stopped protesting. Then she said I'm unemployed and have no money. I told her the EDD is financing the party. :)

So the party's on. I'll be calling each and everyone of you, and force you to volunteer to help.

Oh, and it's Hawaiian theme. Wear your loudest Hawaiian shirts.

Should We Have a Party?

Chemo #4 Day 19

Ma's birthday is coming up -- Oct. 15. I think we should throw a party -- either Sat, Oct. 11 or Sun, Oct. 12. I'll see if I can rent a hall. But I'll need help with setup and with cleanup after the party.

Can you help? Oh, good. I knew I could count on you!

We don't know yet when Ma will start her radiation treatments. She has an appointment with the radiation oncologist either Oct. 1 or 8. I'm hoping she'll be feeling a lot stronger when her birthday comes around.

Gaining Weight

Chemo #4 Day 16

At the doctor's office yesterday, Ma's weight registered as 122 lbs. At home it's more like 118. That's up from 111 at the beginning of the month. I'm sure some of the weight gain is just fluid retention, but surely not all of it. Also, her appetite is very good. She's been eating a lot.

Follow-up Visit

Chemo #4 Day 15

My cousins Nancy, Lorna & Maggie and their mother Tita Daling (Pa's 2nd cousin) drove up to visit Ma. We went to Andrea Foods in Vallejo for lunch. My classmate Joji saw me while I was in line. We got tons of food, but she charged only $40. Plus she gave us extras like desserts and drinks. The food was good, and we all ate too much. Ma seemed energized with all the food and attention.

Later that afternoon, we went to the oncologist for a follow-up visit. I told Dr. Irwin that Ma didn't have her usual side effects after the last round of chemo -- no mouth sores, no leg pain, and no loss of appetite. It's almost like she didn't get any chemo at all. Her platelet count is up from when she was in the hospital last week.

The next step is to see the radiation oncologist next week. We're still waiting to hear from the gynecologist about Ma's biopsy results.

Ditto

Chemo #4 Day 13

For today's news, see yesterday's post. Yeah, nothing new today. Ma drank slightly more, maybe 1.4 liters. But over 1 liter was drained from her lung today.

Drink More Water

Chemo #4 Day 12

No change in Ma. She needs to drink put effort into drinking more water though. So far she's had only 1.25 liters of water, and she's already asleep. Pa drains anywhere from .5 to >1 liter of water from her lung daily. At this rate she's going to get dehydrated again.

Food from Goldilocks

Chemo #4 Day 10

I got lunch for Ma at Goldilocks and went a little overboard. I got the following: fresh lumpia,
pork inihaw, pinakbet, sotanghon, chicharon bulaklak, daing, sago't gulaman, and taho. Not bad for
$40. We managed to eat them all in two meals except for a little daing and one taho.

Ma is feeling better and stronger today. She was able to walk around the house. However, she's out of breath at the end of it, and the walk is only 70 feet long! Her voice is also hoarse. I don't know if she's caught a cold or what.

I asked Pa to check Ma's lung because she's so out of breath. He decided to drain her lung again tonight and got 550 ml of fluid. This morning he got 650 ml.

Visit with Gynecologist

Chemo #4 Day 9

Ma saw a gynecologist today for the first time in 31 years. Dr. Tracy Phillips thinks the vaginal bleeding is due to Ma's low platelet count. But just in case, she also did a biopsy to check for uterine cancer. It will take a week to get the results.

Ma is still feeling weak. She lies down all the time because she feels dizzy, but we think she feels dizzy because she's lying down all the time.

Ma's Home

Chemo #4 Day 8

Ma was sent home today. I'm not clear on why she was even admitted to the hospital. The gynecologist never did show up. Ma will see a different gynecologist on an outpatient basis.

Pa slept in Ma's room last night. I didn't think he'd be able to because Ma had a roommate, but the nurses managed to squeeze in a recliner for him.

Ma is still feeling weak. She didn't do any walking around the house today, and she spent most of the day sleeping. Her appetite is still good though, and she's eating a lot.

Bleeding

Chemo #4 Day 7

Pa took Ma to the emergency room this morning because she had vaginal bleeding. Her hemorrhoids have also been bleeding. Blood tests show a low platelet count, but they're holding off on giving her platelets till she really needs it.

More troublesome is the ultrasound. They found something in her vaginal canal. The hospital doesn't have a resident gynecologist, so someone has been called in to see Ma. The doctor didn't come today though.

In the meantime, Ma was admitted to the hospital. The hospital is full, and Ma has to share a room. Bummer.

Oh, and I found out today that Ma hasn't had a gynecological exam since she lived in Michigan. She left MI in 1982.

Lip Sores

Chemo #4 Day 6

Ma still doesn't have leg pain or canker sores. I'm amazed. She does have sores on her lips, but the pain doesn't stop her from eating. Her appetite is still good. She was complaining of feeling weak yesterday though. And her blood sugar is too high.

So Far, So Good

Chemo #4 Day 5

Usually by now, Ma would have leg pain and mouth sores. But she hasn't had either one yet. She's been using her special mouthwash every day though, so maybe that's keeping the mouth sores at bay. I hope I haven't jinxed it by even mentioning the absence of side effects so far.

She does have one unpleasant side effect. Yesterday she insisted on taking an enema. That was a bad, bad thing for her to do. Poor Pa had to do the clean-up. Now she's taking Lomotil.

Need a Commode

Chemo #4 Day 2

Ma was supposed to receive a commode at the same time her hospital bed was delivered in July. For some reason, she never got the commode. I won't go into the gross details, but she needs one now. I will say that she's being good about drinking a lot of water. I told Pa to follow up on the commode tomorrow. He'd been told before that it'll take 4-6 weeks. That doesn't make sense. I'm hoping that if he calls tomorrow morning, that one can be delivered by late afternoon.

Ma wanted to go out for dim sum today, but I told her it wasn't a good idea because she just had chemo. So I got her some items to go -- shrimp siu mai, chives dumplings, shrimps wrapped in tofu, another shrimp dish wrapped in noodles (I think I got too much shrimp) and sesame balls. Ma tried one of each. I think she likes having a variety. Next time I'll get something that doesn't have shrimp.

Last Chemo

Chemo #4 Day 1

Ma had what I hope is her very last chemo ever. We arrived at 9am and were at the infusion center till 3:30pm. They serve the patients lunch. However, they always serve the same menu -- soup, three dry-looking meatballs (no sauce), rice, sliced steamed carrots, a roll and juice. Ma eats the soup; the rest she won't touch. Pa and I went across the street to the Filipino restaurant and got her bistig and monggo soup. I like having tiny fish eyes staring at me while I'm eating, so I ordered dilis for myself. Those things sure are salty.

Ma is doing a good job today of drinking lots of water. She's on her 5th bottle (500 ml each). It helps that it's warm today.

Prunes

Not much to report today except that Ma asked for prunes. She has her last chemo tomorrow. The chemo gives her diarrhea, so she won't need those prunes for a while.