Hi everybody,

Thanks for all the well wishes. And gnelson, thanks for the PICC line tips. The TPN line is working smoothly, but now the morphine line is tight. We just keep using extra flushes. We do have the 5 cc ones. Heather always had trouble with her veins. She's a very hard stick because her veins are small and they roll. I guess we just have to be careful.

She didn't make it for chemo on Wed, June 25th, but she did make it on the 30th. The first 3-4 days she had really bad nausea, but the meds controlled it fairly well. The Phenergan tends to knock her out, so she slept through much of it. They switched her from Zofran to Kytril because she seemed to be having a rebound effect with the Zofran in the hospital. The Kytril does seem to do a better job than the Zofran. Although the nausea isn't entirely gone yet, all in all, this time was better than the last.

We're having a deal of a time with the fistulas. As soon as she feels up to it, I think we need to get it in to see the surgeon to assess the situation. The antibiotics just aren't keeping the drainage under control. Although the front fistula looks like it is actually starting to heal, the side one is draining constantly. It's just like having a faucet turned on!

She's still not getting much nutrition through the J-tube and she isn't moving enough. It's hard to make any progress, though, because every time she has a chemo treatment, it knocks the wind out of her sails and we have to start all over getting her built back up.

Today, Heather's daughter, Cati, was feeding her some ice chips when Heather needed to have her trach tube suctioned. (Remember, Heather's arms are mostly paralyzed from the tumor in her spine, so she can't do it herself.) No one else was in the room at the time, so Cati turned the suction machine on and did it for her. She's watched us do it numerous times, but this is the first time she tried it herself. She was so proud that she was able to help her mom. laugh I was pretty impressed, considering that she's only 6 yrs. old. She still has moments when she is bewildered and overwhelmed by her mother's illness, but overall, I think she is doing well with it.

There are days when I look at Heather and I feel like we're just biding time while this cancer works its evil. The there are days when I think she actually has a chance to beat it. Although I must admit, given her sloooooow progress, I feel the former much more than the latter. But "hope springs eternal" and we will continue to do what needs to be done and hope we are on the right path.

My thanks to all of you who have included Heather in your thoughts and prayers. And our best wishes are with all of you in return. Stay strong and keep fighting. smile

Rainbows & hugs, wink
Rosie

Was primary caregiver to my daughter Heather who had stage IV base of tongue SCC w/ primary recurrence. Original diagnosis August 21st, 2002. Primary recurrence March 18th, 2003. Died October 6th, 2003.