What a whirlwind the holidays were! A bright star-filled Christmas eve around a bonfire with friends... Christmas Day here with just me, Pete, and the kitter catters...then a wonderful all day long feast & fest on Boxing Day (Dec 26) with my husband's family. To top it all off, we zipped off to Ohio for a late Christmas with Mom (Petunia) and to bring in the New Year with her and family.
Now back into the "groove" of the new year... Sigh. A bit slow to find that groove. Petunia Frog Eyes is doing terrific. We finally figured out her relatively recent weight loss was indeed due to the diarrhea that was caused by a nasty little gut bug called C. diff (Clostridium difficile or C. diff for short). Though it can be contagious, it also can occur after a course of antibiotics. With a round of antibiotics (which she had in June for pneumonia), the good and bad bacteria are killed off - sometimes the bad ones grow back stronger. Ironically - even though the C. diff can be caused by antibiotics - the treatment is also a round of antibiotics. So, after the metronidazole (Flagyl), the bug appears to have been eradicated. Yay! Mom had gone off of her supplement protocol because it seemed to increase the problem. So she is now slowly introducing supplements back in, starting out slowly with her multivitamin, vitamin D3, Green Magma (green is good! wheat/barley grass). Soon she will be starting back on the curcumin, a powerful MM fighter. And to help her body rid itself of the C.diff and replenish the good flora in her gut, she took a solid course of Florastor probiotics.
Petunia Frog Eyes is on round 2 of the Revlimid/dexamethasone treatment for the MM (also called Rev/dex). She takes it in pill forms at home. One round consists of daily Revlimid (5 mg - the lowest dose) for 3 weeks with what is called a "pulsed" dose of the dexamethasone (20 mg) - which is just once a week. So far, her side effects have been minimal compared to what she experienced last year with the much higher doses (25 mg of Rev and 40 mg pulsed dose of the dex) - which is The Goal - to get her MM numbers back into normal limits with the least possible of side effects. She has learned to deal with the "dex crazies" - dex is a steroid and wires some people. She takes it in the morning once a week and knows she will be up all night long... and the next day, she is not tired - not even a nap required. She just expects and plans for it with extra movies to watch, good books to read. She also spent time last night (Wednesday is dex day) learning more about her new iPad, a Christmas gift from my brother. She is eager to learn it and having fun (when not being faced with the differences between a Mac and a PC,having only used a PC before!). The first thing she discovered on the iPad was the special effects you can apply to taking pictures. The two of us spent hours it seemed, taking pictures with these special effects and laughing and laughing.
Mom sees her new oncologist on January 9. Our fingers, toes, and eyes are crossed that it is doing the job expected - and that getting back on her supplements - especially the curcumin, Green Magma, garlic, and green tea extract - will also help with their synergistic magic. There have been studies done by Professor Aggarwal at MD Anderson Cancer Center that showed curcumin enhances/potentiates the effects of many chemotherapeutic agents including. Even better, a study is starting at the same institute with curcumin and Revlimid (lenaliomide)!
Petunia Mom continues to inspire and amaze me with her zest for life, her strong connections with so many special people who love her so, and her unflappable sense of humor. So, Happy New Year from both of us! (Okay Mom, your turn - time for you to tell some more funny stories on yourself!)
