Loose Strife

Laura is doing so much better today compared to a few days ago. Still fatigued, yes. But up and dressed and walking around the house, often cavalierly without a walker. She read stories to the girls this afternoon for the first time in weeks. I had a call from hospice this morning asking whether a home health aid should start coming every day and Laura said that once a week would be better! If you’re bedridden then some daily physical care is important, but today Laura was taking care of herself and she expects to keep it that way.
Considering that she is taking essentially no medicine of consequence except for morphine and a steroid, I attribute this big swing over the last week entirely to the change to the patch and then return to morphine. I’m very glad that her condition seems to be improved and I’m hopeful that it will stay that way for a while. There are new minor signs of advancing CSF mets. Laura has been a little nauseated off and on recently and she is having a little more trouble standing up — similar to how she felt at the onset of her troubles with bulky tumor at the base of her spine in May. Unfortunately, it’s a real possibility that this same problem could return.
But those are worries for another day. As for this weekend, the race is on! The weather forecast currently predicts that Hanna will be moving through Boston just before the event and won’t be a problem. We’ll be heading for Boston tomorrow afternoon. To those of you who are joining us, we plan to arrive — like everyone else! — at check-in around 8am on Sunday. We’ll be hanging out somewhere near the check-in, I think, but may head over to the “Survivor Parade of Pink Ceremony” at 8:15. My mobile phone number is 413-522-4397. The event starts at the Clark Athletic Center at UMass Boston. See you there!
Hoo boy! Did you see that we’ve raised over $2000 in the last 4 days? Thanks to everyone who contributed. We’ve been a little cynical about the fundraising aspect in the past. Cancer research, after all, has its own national institute of health and is one of the biggest funding recipients from the federal government. But although the “Komen for the Cure” fund focuses on a cure for breast cancer, the Massachusetts branch also invests in health care access and education for state residents. I think that supporting these interests is a very worthy goal. So good job all!