A midweek update

Tomorrow I start my Gemcitabine treatments again. This time the infusion will be done over 30 minutes (vs. 75) to cut down on the toxicity and its effect on my white cell counts. As you may recall, my white cells rarely recovered in the seven days between treatments and I often had to put off treatment for an extra week. Dr. K is trying this new infusion rate to see if I can better tolerate it. I will receive Zometa on Friday (that's still once a month). Then I will have Gemcitabine again on the 27th and then I'm off for a week (that's the completion of one cycle). Still haven't figured out how to handle the inconvenient timing of our cruise, but I'll discuss that with the oncologist tomorrow. I'll do three cycles or so before my next scans and appointments.

On the 27th, I have my appointment with the ear, nose and throat specialist. While I was congested the coughing and dripping wasn't too bad, but as the congestion has eased, the coughing has returned. I hope that he is able to prescribe something that will actually work.

We have decided that our big vacation this year will be a one week return to Paris. We bandied about a 10-night vacation in Hawaii, but even with the specials hotels and airlines are offering, it was too rich for our budget. A trip to Paris in early May will cost us less than half that of a trip to Hawaii. (Maybe we'll get back to Hawaii when bonuses return and/or my medical costs ease a bit.) We'll be staying in the same hotel as last year, and this time we hope to see several sights we missed last time due to time constraints: the Rodin Museum, Notre Dame (we saw a bit but there was a service going on that day and I forgot to walk around back), the palace and gardens at Versailles, the many neighborhoods and gardens we missed, and hopefully a day trip to Chartres so we can visit the cathedral and labrynith that our friend Melinda has told me about and visited several times. It should be fun!

Before I sign off, I want to wish a very happy 60th wedding anniversary to our friends John and Joann. They will be celebrating this aupicious occasion tomorrow, and they are to be congratulated as well as admired. They are a kind, thoughtful and loving couple who continue to enjoy each other's company. I believe there is a lot to be learned from these two. Enjoy your day!