Thursday, June 28, 2018

6/28/18 Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Hi there.  Once again, Steve checking in.  

We’ve made it back from our first Houston trip, but it’s almost time to head back down there.  On Monday, Gabrielle got a call from the coordinator that they were able to get a surgery date for the end of next week on July 6, which is sooner than we expected.  All the tests look promising to allow her to be in the study.  The CT scan not unexpectedly showed some growth of the tumors in the liver, but happily that seems to be the main area of concern.  No new sites of metastasis.
Unfortunately, she has to be in Houston on July 5 in the morning to meet with the anesthesiologist, which means that she has to travel on the Fourth of July.  Daniel will be heading down there with her this time.  He got approval from his residency director to allow him to take the time off, which is a huge blessing. 
This trip is anticipated to take about 3-4 days: time to get the surgery, have a couple of days recovery and then tentatively head home on Monday, July 9.  Meanwhile, the sample of her tumor obtained during surgery is going to be whisked away to some lab where they will isolate and grow the lymphocytes.  That process takes about a month, which means that if all goes as planned, she will get an infusion of said lymphocytes in early August.  
So, till then, it’s mainly a waiting game, trying to keep the pain under control, which has not been easy.  She has gotten some new medicines to help with the pain, but it still wakes her up and is a constant “companion”.  Her appetite isn’t very good so she forces herself to eat, but then that makes the pain worse…and I don’t think it’s my cooking, though am not sure about that.  
However, even with the added pain medication, she is still a whiz at Scrabble, beating me by 70 points yesterday.  What’s my excuse?  None.  I am not too proud to admit when I have met my match. 
So, thanks as always for your prayers, support and encouragement during this cancer journey.  I asked Gabrielle if she wanted to write this blog post and she said she did, but then she got distracted and has her nose buried in the Scrabble dictionary, furiously taking notes.  Maybe I can pry the book from her hands eventually.

Oh, I tracked down one more picture from our recent trip to Houston.  Here it is:



Texas, being the land of cowboys, oversized belt buckles and all the trappings that go with Western gear, I thought I would get in the spirit by getting my very own Stetson.  I had to pay extra for the  "Sheriff Dudley" badge, but I think it adds a nice touch to the hat, don't you?  

As that ditty goes:
To Houston, to Houston to buy a hat that's big.
Home again, home again jiggety-jig!

Who knows what I'll come back with after the next trip!  Leather chaps?  Spurs?  A Gene Autry sing-along book?  You'll have to wait and see!

Signing off for now,

Sheriff Steve

1 comment:

  1. God bless you all! I've been praying for Gabrielle's pain to be under control and for the treatment in Houston to be a huge success. Baby steps! Hang in there! My love & prayers to everyone! πŸ™✝️πŸ˜πŸ˜‡πŸ¦πŸŒˆπŸ‘πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈπŸ°⭐️πŸ™

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