Well, today marked Joyce’s 4th infusion of Trodelvy medication. There will be two more to complete this “cycle” before we find out if it has helped or not. There have been a few setbacks ( a couple of hospital visits ), but all in all Joyce has been feeling okay. Yesterday we celebrated 7 straight days of her feeling “good” the whole day. She has been able to head outside when the weather allows ( high temps and high dew points keep her inside ). 

We have seen progress as she gains strength in her legs. Since she had her implant in her right leg last year it has been pretty achey and weak. Her mobility has been kind of limited. Now, however, she is able to get around, at times without an assist of a cane or a walker. She has more strength to get up and down our steps to enter and leave the house. And she has been walking around outside more and more, at times, to Gary’s chagrin, alone with no escort. You know you let her out of your sight for five minutes and poof she’s off and galavanting.

    She was even feeling well enough the other day to do the trails here at Peaceful Pines. 

    That gave her the opportunity to assess the upkeep needs of them and an opportunity to get the mail. The emphasis here as far as the picture is concerned is that she needed the strength she has gained in her right leg to operate the gas and the brake on the Raven ( those of you who have visited Peaceful Pines know the hill she is on needs some strength to brake on the way down ).

    So, for now on our metaphorical sailing journey, we can say we are currently sailing on relatively calm seas, enjoying the peace of nature and looking forward to new rays of sunshine that greet us each morning.

Compose, Edit, copy, paste so everyone gets the same information.

Originally written 7/9/21

We are setting sail on a new Trodelvy portion of this voyage.

I thought I would let you all know that we have recently “set sail” on a new voyage. Since Joyce’s cancer has decided that her previous treatments were no longer adequate to keep it at bay, so she has decided that a new treatment “Trodelvy” is something she is willing to try at this time. We are not sure how this will affect her condition. It was recommended by her doctor as a newly available treatment. 

One of the things about which we are concerned is that she is probably going to have a higher risk of a compromised immune system. With that in mind we are going to be masking up again wherever we go. And I would like those who are going to visit in the future to mask up while we are together. If you make a choice not to do so, the visit will be a “distant” type of visit like we had done in the past.

If you would like to find out more information about Trodelvy here is a link that may be useful:

https://www.trodelvy.com/patient/mTNBC/efficacy

We will see how this leg of her voyage goes as we navigate the ebbs and flows of her journey. We are always hoping for calm seas, but realize there may be a few rough currents along the way. We are trying the best we can to avoid as many of those as possible. For now it is not quite “full speed ahead,” but moving forward nonetheless.

Let’s call this one the voyage on a calm turbulent sea.

Originally written 6/31/21

It certainly is a voyage. For those who have been following along, I suppose I could have titled this “the calms in the concentric eyes of an infinite hurricane.” Either way, the point is that while most of the voyage has been relatively calm and the destination, while known, is taking a seemingly casual pace with a swale and a storm cropping up every now and again.

Joyce’s sessions had been going well. We have to be thankful for that. The staff at the Coborn Cancer Center could not be more helpful or encouraging. Her latest PET scan (6/22/21) showed us that her cancer has progressed (not a good thing). The comparison to last time indicates that the treatment she is currently on is not being effective like it was. She is going to be on a 3 week treatment break while they get her ready for her next best option. 

Along the way, the turbulence, reminds us that Joyce’s journey will never be the “quiet ride into the sunset” that we wish it would be.  In the middle of this month I decided it was best to call for an ambulance to take Joyce to the ER in Little Falls and subsequently to the ICU in St.Cloud. As it turned out an issue 40 years in the making decided to pay a visit to her system. An ulcer that had been treated and thought to be taken care of turned out not to be an innocent bystander in the process. Because of the blood clot that she had after the rod was implanted in her leg she had been prescribed Coumadin to keep her blood clotting under control. That, combined with the Excedrine that Joyce takes (had taken) to help ease her migraines, caused her stomach lining to inflame and bleed. 

The bottom line is that we weathered that storm, found the “calm sea” of Peaceful Pines, and continue on our journey.