Happy New Year! 1/2/2016

Whew! It's been a while since I've updated, sorry about that! It's been a very busy few weeks filled with appointments and holidays and surgery, oh my!

We had so much fun on Christmas! Sheree ate and laughed and watched Elf with Megan, my husband Evan, and me.  Then she went to visit Ryan and they went to a movie.  She said it was exactly what she wanted. <3

Sheree had neurosurgery this past Monday to place her Ommaya Reservoir and Dr. Tumu said she did great! She was up and eating and walking only hours after the surgery.  She spent the night on the Neuro floor of Brackenridge (In a corner suite, fancy!) just for observation, and then they released her the next day.  She's got a cute new haircut that covers up her "frankenbubble," as we lovingly call it! Pics soon. 

She also had a pesky tooth that needed to be pulled (OUCH!) before we could start chemo.  Big shout out to Terri Michelle who ran her all over town for two days getting that done. As expected, mom sailed through that as well with minimal pain.  

She's using her walker, but appears to need it less and less each day, as radiation seems to be helping with the neurological symptoms that had caused her so much unsteadiness and weakness.  Dr. Patt cleared her for physical therapy, so we're hoping to stay with the walker until a professional evaluates her fall risk and says she doesn't need it.  ALSO!  Mom has gained a few pounds thanks to her hard work at eating enough good foods, even when she doesn't feel like it.  The meal crew has been a great help, extra thanks to Terri Michelle, Cathy, Phyllis, and Rachel!

She'll need those pounds to get through the next round of Cancer Fighting.  Chemo starts Tuesday, just as radiation tapers off. She'll have twice weekly chemotherapy into her Ommaya for 4 weeks, then once a week for 6 weeks, then every other week for 4 weeks.  Dr. Patt says she'll probably need to do systemic (IV or oral) chemo as well for the mild mets seen on her spinal bones and lymph nodes.  We don't yet know if that will be concurrent with the intrathecal injections. Then, there might be more radiation.  We will find out about that from Dr. Nuesch next week.  Sheree is keeping her head high and has some great support to get through this next tough part. 

Angela, Megan, Susan and Terri have been absolute rockstars at getting her to and from appointments, this would not have been possible without them.  The latest research says that chemo patients being around babies is no big deal, which is great because Angela has a beautiful toddler named Aubrey that comes along for all the rides.  Still, that decision will have to be up to Sheree, Dr. Conrad (the radiation oncologist) and Dr. Patt (her primary onc).  I also expect to be permanently working at my Austin facility by 1/18 and will definitely be pitching in for rides, too. 

We may also call for backups in the event that anyone gets sick on a day when they were planning to be around her. It is still flu season, y'all.  If you have the sniffles, keep 'em home. :-)  I'll update the rides/visits/meals calendars accordingly. 

Lastly, we are keeping our fingers crossed this weekend as we await the approval of her application for a new place to live.  Moving amidst everything else won't be any fun, but she's looking forward to having a first floor bedroom again and the rent is much lower in the new apartment, which means she can take some much needed time away from work and thinking about bills.  Sharon has been helping us get organized and ready for a move when the complex says we're good to go. 

Thanks for checking in, and please call or text any time.  Mom is usually pretty sleepy in the afternoons/early evenings, but she's a night owl, and somehow also an early bird these days too and would love to hear from you.  

Love,
Kelly

PS- One final note. At this time, we are not asking for donations. Caring bridge seems to have several popups asking for Tributes/Donations.  While you are welcome to contribute, please know that the money goes to CaringBridge for site maintenance, not to Sheree.  I'm also not crazy about the CaringBridge layout, so I have moved the updates to a blog page, bluebonnetsandbubblegum.blogspot.com