Mostly about Barbara

Barbara Satchell, Nancy's sister, had surgery on Friday evening to repair her perforated bowel. She felt much better until Sunday afternoon when the epidural accidentally came out when she was moving from a recliner to the bed. Barbara was in a great deal of pain Sunday evening as the nurses tried to get her pain under control. She seems to be doing ok other than the pain issue. Barbara's daughter, Kristy, came Saturday afternoon from Detroit to be with her mother during this ordeal. It has been very nice for Barbara and Nancy and me to have Kristy here. I suspect that Barbara will be in the hospital until Friday.

It has been a tough few days on Nancy not only because of Barbara's ordeal but also my health after my last chemotherapy treatment on Thursday. Nancy has had a double whammy in that she is taking care of her sister, Barbara, and me. Please send Nancy any extra energy that you might have!!

I was feeling fine on Friday (I was at the hospital until 10 pm with Barbara and Nancy), but the muscle and joint pain and fatigue set in at noon on Saturday. I hit a wall at that time and have been in bed since then with lots of pain. On Sunday I vomited for the first time in this whole chemotherapy ordeal. I am not on an anti-nausea medication with the Taxol treatments, but I do think my issues are more from a messed up digestive system because of the cumulative effects of the chemotherapy. I have had a chemo treatment every two weeks since June 5, so I think my digestive tract (and the rest of my body) takes a little more time each treatment to recover. I hope to feel better in a couple of days, but thank goodness for my ipod, computer, and TV. As I am writing this on Monday morning, I am listening to classical music on my ipod. I want to give a special 'shout out' to my nieces and nephews for giving me the ipod when this journey started. It has given me the opportunity to re-connect with a variety of musical genres such as classical, gospel, classic country and rock, and lots of Elvis! In fact, right now I am listening to Pavarotti sing Nessun dorma.

The Ta Ta to the Ta Ta's party is this Sunday, September 23, at 5 pm at our house in Manhattan. The address is 1731 Kings Road. I will try to post the awesome invitation made by my friend Ben Hopper. Anyway, mark your calendar for the party to honor those affected by cancer AND, of course, to have a little fun on a Sunday evening!

Love to all,
Mary Kay