Selena is in the Hospital

The news in this post is not very good. Selena is in the hospital. She is in surgery right now having the chemo port removed. She has been having pain in her arm, shoulder and neck all week and went yesterday to have an ultrasound. It was discovered that she has multiple thromboses (clots) in the subclavian, axillary and carotid veins. This is very dangerous because if they break apart they could cause go into the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolus. This could result in a serious complication from difficulty breathing to heart attack to death. I am not trying to be an alarmist, I am just trying to convey the seriousness of this situationl. She is on medication to dissolve the clots and to stop more of them from forming. Mum will post more when she gets out of surgery and knows more. I am at the FEMA disaster relief center and thought I would type a quick update.

Bradenton Bulletin 2

Mum Notes: Whee! It's been the usual rollercoaster. Sunday Selena had the worst day since the paclitaxel started with nausea and vomiting, spaciness, and bone aches. Monday was somewhat better and she was able to keep food down. Tuesday even better and Valerie came down from Tampa with her, son Brandon, wife Kim and 2 year old. Lawson is a cute dynamo so they could see we weren't geared for toddler terror and left for more appropriate entertainment.
We, Valerie, Selena and I passed a lovely afternoon visiting and watching the political story unfolding. We then had a nap and actually went out. We went to the 50 cent movie - thats not a typo. 50 cents on Tuesdays, $1.00 other days. saw MAMMA MIA which Selena and I had wanted to see all summer. Then drove thru Burger King and rushed home with the burgers to watch Dancing With The Stars. Selena and Val are devotees and I am learning to appreciate by default.
Today we are off for manicures and will take Valerie to the bus terminal.
The neuropathy had returned so we got Selena on Vitamin B6 as ARNP suggested and it is fading.
Thursday chemo again and so the rollercoaster continues!!

First chemo in Bradenton

Mum Notes: Well Selena had paclitaxel #7, her first in Florida, on Thursday. All went well. The infusion center is huge. A large room with 36 chairs, yes I counted them, in sections of 12 ceah a different colour. We sat in the blue room and had a nurse named Dianne. The gave her all the usual antinausea stuff but she had asked the MD to evaluate the dexamethasone as it made her so restless and antcy and she had never been nauseated on this chemo. He dropped the pre dose and decreased the iv dose to 10mg form 20mg. All was fine and we went out to Cortez kitchen for snapper sandwiches and fishing village atmosphere. Friday was another good day and we watched a lot of TV and had some good girl talk.
Selena received a parcel from Mary - good stuff - great warm halloween sox (she always has cold feet) a great candle and the cutest little pink duck with the breast cancer ribbon. Mary, I think
you got a twofer
as I enjoyed seeing the goodies as much as Selena did.
Today we had apts for mani' and pedi's but Selena woke up nauseated and needed to take the compazine she hasn't needed since the summer but the nausea did subside so we went to see Audrey who obligingly did the two pedicures and rebooked the mani's for next week. She has had a milkshake and is in bed. We will see how she does when she wakes. I have to go get mac 'n cheese, as that's the thing when she is poorly.

resuming chemo

Mum notes: yesterday was a GREAT day. Many good things happened.
#1 Selena got in touch with Dr. Markowitz who recommended continuing on with the original chemo plan as it appears that most of the neuropathy has dissapated. Br. Berry received the email from Markowiz and the rest of Selena's test results, thanks to Chris. So the end result of the uncertainty is that she resumes chemo tomorrow and we monitor the neuropathy closely. She has the next 2-3 chemos scheduled and feels very good about the decision.
Because she has had a week chemo free I am almost seeing the REAL SELENA as the chemo fog clears, almost hate to see it fog up again.
#2 We found a Massage Envy in Sarasota and Selena says she had "the best massage ever" so we will definitely return. We have paid for them anyway as we have a prepaid massage plan.
#3 Chris tells us he has gas AND electricity and plumbing. No ac as of yet as a platform has to be built for the ac and that takes $'s. (ins and fema have not been quick). Waiting for a cheque!!
Will post more after the chemo.

Some Pictures of Galveston

Hi,

Chris put together some pictures of Galveston from his trips there. You can click on the "START SLIDE SHOW" to view the pictures larger and as a slide show. He did his best to label the pictures so they would mean something to everyone. He has more to come later.

The website is:

(CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW)

http://web.mac.com/chris.scm

He is back on his way to Galveston today to move into the house. The bunnies stay in a safe environment with his Mom and Dad until electricity and niceties are restored to 1407.

Unfortunately we were very premature in saying that our house had not flooded. Chris has discovered that 2/3 of the house had about 3" of water in it. Not as much as our neighbors, by far, but this has changed the picture considerably. He will have to scrub all the floors with bleach solution to kill the silver HARRY POTTER "unicorn blood" looking fungus. Also there is mold growing everywhere. He will have to remove the molding at the bottom of every wall in every room to check the sheet rock and probably remove the sheetrock about 1 foot above to wet mark. He will also have to spray down the damp dovetail walls. Our house does not have stud wall construction. So he can't get inside the walls. Work-wise this means that EVERY piece of furniture in EVERY room must be moved out and the room inspected, cleaned and then restored. All of this by Chris. He really is not in the shape to do this by himself, but what choice do we have?  He will try to clean the floors with wood soap, but they will probably have to be sanded and refinished. The surge also displaced a large number of sewer pipes under the house. The electrical circuit box has to be replaced because it was submerged for 8 hours. All of the wiring in the house was submerged so it will have to be replaced. Our TV cable wiring and ethernet network will have to be replaced. Phone wires under the house will have to be replaced. All the Ike slime under the house (about 1 foot of yucky mud/sewage) will have to be dug out. It smells like a sewer under there. The central air conditioner unit has to be replaced. It was under water for about 8 hours. The roof leaks and was severely de-granulated and de-shingled, it will have to be replaced. Our bedroom ceiling needs to be re-sheetrocked because of leakage. We lost every tree, bush, shrub and all of the grass on the property. Insurance will NOT pay for landscaping. Our back yard fence was destroyed, it will have to be replaced. We lost two computers, a color laser printer, medical textbooks, clothes, shoes, bags, irreplaceable photos from my Grandmother, Nanny. (I did not mean to imply we lost Nanny, we lost her three years ago...) And, of course, we lost our refrigerator that Chris and Paul described as smelling of 'liquid cadaver.' Chris would know about this, but how Paul knows the smell, I am not so sure. Was he really in the Army all those years or are all those unsolved serial killings in the west coast somehow related to a bespectacled, short-haired man with a penchant for poetry?

We really are blessed compared to MANY of the people in Galveston county. Bolivar Peninsula is wiped of the face of the earth. The West End of the Island is really no more. Those still standing will probably be reclaimed because Ike took so much beach that they now stand on public land. This is a no-no in the state of Texas that calls for immediate demolition and most of the times they do not even pay the owners for their land. "This land is Texas, the great, great land of Texas!!!!"

We are trying not to be to pessimistic. The loss of belongings is not hard, it is the work that Chris is going to have to put in to try and get the house livable again. He is 40 now and a VERY old man.... ;)

Safe driving today old-man...   I miss you...

His FEMA hotel has expired. FEMA turned us down for the generator that they promised they would pay for so we have to appeal.  So much for George W. Bush's promise to do everything possible to help the people of Galveston rebuild. Different city, same story. New Orleans, we hear your cries across the swamps and bayous.

Selena

Another Video from the Day Before Hurricane Ike

Here is a another video of the awesome power of the storm surge 12 or 13 hours before Hurricane Ike made landfall. Qua'nisha shot this video while I narrated it. When we left this area we drove down Seawall for a little while dodging the debris and being splashed with huge waves. We got off Seawall when it felt that the waves were getting too dangerous. It was actually pretty scary.

Pictures From The Day I Evacuated from Galveston 9/12/08

Water coming up the storm drain from the bay at 9am 9/12/08

The Galveston Storm Drains drain into the bay sooooo..... the bay was filling up due to the early storm surge, thus the streets started to fill up WAAAAAYYYY early. NOAA has analyzed Hurricane Ike and said that according to wind Ike was a Category 2 and according to storm surge it was a Category 4!

These three pictures look like I am on the beach. I am not. The ocean is level with the 17 foot seawall. The waves are crashing onto the street and splashing and crashing debris all over the Sealwall Boulevard. The waves were shooting up to 20 feet into the air!

Seawall on the Day of Hurricane Ike

Here is some video I shot from 14th Street and Seawall (1/2 mile from our house) on 9/12/08. This is about 12 or 13 hours before the storm made landfall. This is the first place that Qua'nisha and I went. The police came and yelled at us on a bull-horn to leave because "the Seawall is closed and it is dangerous!" Qua'nisha is not in the video.

Qua'nisha's Video on the Day of Hurricane Ike

This is Qua'nisha's video she has been pestering me to post for over a month. We braved the dangers of being on Seawall Boulevard as Hurricane Ike was coming on shore to bring everyone a live update of what the conditions were like 12 or 13 hours before the landfall of the storm.

The police actually came and told us to leave the Seawall because it was very dangerous and closed at the the first place we went so Qua'nisha, the determined reporter that she is, made me drive her down Broadway to another spot so she could shoot her video. (She's very bossy sometimes, but she does such good work!)

A trip to the dentist

Mum notes: Today we went to my dentist at 7 am as Selena's temporary cap had fallen out. It turned out that she needed a root canal and antibiotics as she had a severe abscess. So she had the first half of a root canal, the rest to follow after antibiotics do their thing. Soo sore mouth and all we went to Target, the family's favourite store for her drugs and refills of other pills. We also perused the sale racks and found a great blouse for her for $3.

Tonight we dined on halibut, cheddar cheese biscuts, noodles and fresh spinach salad with warm bacon dressing, yum!!
The bathing suit Selena ordered from Tyler came so now we can go to the pool and jacuzzi, perhaps tomorrow.

Bradenton Bulletin

Mum Notes: Well Selena arrived safe and sound on Saturday. She was able to bring me most of my "stuff" left behind in Galveston. I was glad to see my checque book and other bits.
Selena was tired and achey on Sunday. Monday same but she was able to sit up and watch TV and visit with me. Tuesday we had an appointment with yet another new oncologist. Br. Brian Berry. He was found by Dr. Basile in Tyler, Texas and also recommended here by my dermatologist and a cancer nurse I know. We both liked him. He was kind and thorough. He spoke with Dr. Basile and they were worried about Selena's ongoing peripheral neuropathy and decided to hold/stop chemo and offered the following choices:
A His recommendation - Stop the paclitaxel and have surgery now. Then complete the last 6 chemo treatments.
B Second choice - Stop the chemo and wait a week or two and then start another type that would be less toxic to the neuropathy BUT much more toxic to blood cells and general malaise/aches.
C Least recommended - Stop the paclitaxel and wait a few weeks and then resume carefully monitoring for neuropathy.
Selena is pondering but favors C. She wants to consult with Dr. Markoweiz so we are going to see where he landed after IKE and see if we can get dr's M & B & B to all confer and put the pieces together. Each seems to have part of the puzzle.
Meantime Chris is still in Mineola and today has become "officially middle aged" as he had the big 40. We had apple tarts in his honour here without him. sic
We are planning a small birthday party and a "meet Selena" at my condo on Saturday. Sandy Luse, my dear friend and fellow nurse will be 61 but we won't tell her. She thinks she is 39 and I must admit she is holding pretty well, considering she's Irish. I did order a turtle cheesecake for the event. Have asked several of the nurses to come.
Today I made a Sam's run for essentials and Selena did a stint on the computer. Now she is listening to the McCain-Obamma debate. I figure I will be hearing about it for several days as TV and radio digest and interpret it so...
Another issue is Selena's temporary crown which fell off. My dentist is going to see her tomorrow and see what it needs. We have no idea where the previous crown is as it was ready at the dental office in Galveston, on Broadway, AND was paid for..... so we have a 7 am apt. I am sure you can imagine we are both excited about an apt at that time but she was squeezing her in so we have to be grateful, I guess. I'm working on it.
Guess that's all the Mum news but I did want to tell Joel hello and how much I enjoy his comments, so Joel consider yourself told.

Day by day

Yesterday I had my ultrasound and chemo- everything went well. I took Chris with me (I drove) since he had been driving all night to get here. He brought a lot of moms stuff that I am taking back to her today when I fly to Bradenton.

Dr. Basile has found me a doctor in Bradenton who will take me and keep me on schedule, just have to call on Monday.

I kind of hate to leave here, everyone has been so supportive and welcoming. Pat, Carolyn and Chris set up Matthew's old bedroom as a TV lounge for me and the whole family has been beyond, beyond, good to me. I can't even begin to express my gratitude. I have felt loved here.

Plugging along

I saw Dr. Basile today - Lori took me- and the following happened:

1. She is not happy about my liver enzymes and has scheduled me for an ultrasound tomorrow.
2. She is not happy about me leaving to go to Bradenton on Saturday. She is concerned that my treatment will be interrupted. She took down numbers and will make calls on my behalf.
3. She examined me and says my largest lump is now the size "of a bean" Yipee.
4. She is not too concerned about my peripheral neuropathy (tingling in fingers) and says that Because of the results I am scheduled for chemo tomorrow.

Afterwards Lori and I went to Chick-Fil-A and bought some cards in a dollar store. Chris is supposed to be coming back here to take me to chemo tomorrow - I miss him.

Sorry sucha downer...

I've kinda been waiting for good news... Sorry- ain't gonna happen.

• Chris has a hotel room, paid for by FEMA in El Campo, about 2 hours from Galveston and 5.5 hours from here (Mineola) Other than free Playboy channel it has little to recommend it. It's the closest he could find.
• Yesterday, Chris was in an auto accident - he's fine, just a bruised leg and head. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital and checked out, his heart and asthma. The car may be totaled.
• I'm starting to get tingling in my fingertips - a side effect of the chemo "peripheral neuropathy' that may set my treatment back. We'll see if the doctor let's me do chemo this week.
• My school started back today an I'm not able to be there -no work no check.

Here's my mother's update: Oct 6 Well I thought it was time to share the latest with all of you. I have been home in Bradenton since Sept 15 and haven't been back to work yet. Still don't know if I have a job or not?? Selena and Chris are based out of Chris's parents home in Mineola and Selena has been receiving her chemo in Tyler, TX, about 45 min away. Chris has been given a FEMA motel room about 2 hours away from Galveston instead of the 6 hours to Mineola. The rabbits remain in Mineola. Based out of there he has been working to make the house livable. FEMA has agreed to pay for a generator due to Chris's severe asthma so he can connect up fans+++ and try to dry out the house. He has been able to determine that the water in the office/computer room at the back of the house was from below (it really looks as if the water was right up there at the floor level and the few wet areas are from wave action and less than watertight construction.) In that room the Sheetrock does not appear to have wicked up. The next door ranchstyle house was totally submerged and those folks lost everything.Salvation Army drove thru and fed folks dinner yesterday. Chris said it was good to have hot cooked food. The Mosquito Cafe just catycorner on the corner was also totally submerged and destroyed but plan to reopen again. Selena will fly over here to stay with me on Sat Oct 11 and plans are forming for her to continue her chemo here. She started to have neuropathy (nerve tingling in her extremities - hands) yesterday so... who knows if and or when. That is evidently a side effect of her chemo, along with the flu like symptoms she gets for three-five days each week. That's the news as I know it today. Hope you all are well.

Sorry for the negative tone, but things pretty much suck right now. Please keep sending prayers, good karma - whatever ya got!