Going to Church

Nothing's been going on lately. The only thing new is I found out Ma has been going to church on Sundays. She hadn't been going because she thought she'd have a hard time. But she does fine as long as she stays in her wheelchair.

Shopping

Even though Ma has lost a lot of weight, her belly is huge due to gas. Physical inactivity doesn't help. Her pants are all too tight. So we went to Mervyns to buy some clothes. I wheeled her around in a wheelchair.Thank goodness they have dressing rooms for the handicapped. She tried on several pairs of pants and a few shirts. Trying on all those clothes must have tired her out because she slept for 3.5 hours afterward. At least she had some physical activity. She even agreed to walk from the store entrance back to the car. Usually she would insist on using the wheelchair even for very short distances.

Wound Healing Slowly

Ma saw her surgeon today. The abscess in her breast is healing, but it's going slowly due to her diabetes. Dr. Cogen wants Ma to hold off on her radiation. She will consult with the radiation oncologist as to when Ma can start. I'd prefer to wait till she's completely healed. She has another follow-up with Dr. Cogen in two weeks.

Orchids, Orchids Everywhere

Food isn't the only thing friends have been giving Ma in abundance. She also has been getting lots of flowers, especially orchids. She got two last week alone. We're running out of space for them!

Speaking of food, Joy sent fruits & cheese from Harry & David. And a friend stopped by this afternoon with a pot of turkey soup. Yum!

Trip to Airport

Kit flew back to Switzerland today. Ma went with us the airport to see Kit off. As usual, she didn't want to walk, so we had to use the wheelchair while at the terminal. At least we're getting our money's worth out of it. She did walk around the house when we got home. And she prepared herself a snack instead of just sitting down and waiting for someone to serve her. I told her she should do that more often so that she's a bit more active.

Trip to Oakdale

Ma, Pa, Kit & I drove to Oakdale to visit a family friend who was injured in a head-on collision. She's had four surgeries and is in rehab now, but is still unable to walk. Today is her birthday, so we brought presents and a cake.

Oakdale is two hours away. I figured the trip wouldn't be too tiring for Ma since she'll just be sitting in the car (vs. sitting at home). The problem was she refused to walk once we got to Oakdale and had to be wheeled around in her wheelchair. I don't think she walked at all the whole afternoon.

Port Flush

We went to the Cancer Center today to have Ma's port flushed. They don't usually remove the port-a-cath right after the chemo treatments are done in case the cancer comes back and additional chemo is needed. But the port has to be flushed with Heparin every 4-6 weeks to keep it from clogging.

After the port flush, we saw Dr. Irwin, Ma's oncologist, for a follow-up visit. He thinks Ma is doing well although he didn't know about the infection in her breast. Ma had a blood test done yesterday, and the numbers look okay. One thing we forgot to have tested are her tumor markers. Ma will have another blood test done in a couple of weeks to make sure she's tested for tumor markers.