Finally

Iva started chemotherapy yesterday. She has three more days and then this cycle will be done. So far, she is feeling pretty well. She is just more tired than usual. She has been making us the most lovely of all pastas for dinner. It is so great to see her up and around doing these domestic things.

Saturday and Sunday the oncology clinic that has been treating her is closed, so she will have to go to the hospital to get her chemotherapy those days. Then it is more tests and scans to see if it is working. Dr. Ludwig at MD Anderson will assist in reading the films to decide what to do next.

Monday Iva has an appointment to go see an orthopedist about her leg. He will be telling her what he thinks is the main cause and whether there is anything to be done.

Our Iva has been enduring so much and yet her spirit is shining on. We love you, dear Iva!

Another delay

So another false start today. No chemotherapy due to white blood cell count being too low again. The goodish news is that the scans showed no new tumors, but they did show the seroma has returned and is now two. The walls encapsulating the seromas are too thick to puncture with a drain as the risk of excessive bleeding is too great. The only way to remove them is through an open procedure (a.k.a. an operation). Since her immune system is too battered and she is to be getting more chemo, I don't think it is possible at this time. So the discomfort will probably continue. The problem is that the seroma forms because there aren't enough white blood cells, which are responsible for "eating" the serum. This causes the seroma to keep returning. At least that is how it as explained to us.

Today and tomorrow she will be getting immune-boosting medications (the same ones that already did nothing) and on Wednesday they will test her again. These delays are immensely draining for all of us, and we hope there won't be another.

Art-tastic

Today Iva decided she wanted to go to church, so she and Tony and Zoki went down to Galveston to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Zoki said the priest had a new robe, and he could tell he felt inspired. Good stuff.

Then we decided to head into town to go to a museum I have been wanting to go to since I heard of it nearly 5 years ago. The Menil Collection is not too terribly big, but it has a great selection from Medieval pieces (even 2 from Macedonia!) to 20th century modern stuff. There was one particular temporary exhibit that none of us got--a bunch of lewd and intentionally shocking pieces that seemed old hat really--vaginas, boobs, dead people, etc. (One of the pieces was, in fact, titled "Dead Girl.") So unimaginative, really. Perhaps it was her obsession with death that was so incomprehensible to us--we who have been focusing nothing but on life.

So the best part is that we got to get out and do something to enjoy the day before she starts chemotherapy again tomorrow. It was a typical hot Houston day, but it was time well spent.

Latest

Iva finished the first round of chemo and everything seemed like it was going well. Then she developed increased leg pain and swelling and the old pain with sitting returned. She has been undergoing tests of her pelvis and leg these last few days, and so far we know nothing that explains the pain. Her seroma is returning, but that doesn't explain the pain, weakness, and swelling of her leg. Today we went the last of the test, an MRI of the pelvis and upper leg--a $2,100 test. (And that doesn't include the fee for the radiologist to read the results.)

This past Monday Iva was suppose to start chemotherapy. After running blood tests, they decided her white blood cell count was too low. So despite giving her the medications to boost production, her immune system had been wrecked. Interestingly though, we have had an outbreak of a summer cold here, but thank God, Iva did not get it!

So Monday she is suppose to start again. Five more days and then more tests to see if everything is working.

In the mean time, we have been spending time together, eating and trying to forget. Tonight Iva is making us pasta and a lasagna for tomorrow.