Mark and I met with Dr Campbell today. He is “pleased” with the effect the Halaven has had. My tumor marker numbers have gone down and my pleural fluid has decreased. He suspects that because I’ve had the drain in so long (he wondered if I was going for a record with my 60 days and counting) I won’t need a pleuradesis–rather, the lung and the lining will be irritated enough by the drain to adhere to one another without the procedure. That would be nice!

So, we’ll stay the course with my current meds. I will have two more rounds of Halaven (4 treatments total). They will be at a reduced dosage since my white counts are so low. After that, we’ll check tumor markers again and if they are low enough I would possibly get a break from the chemo. That would be nice, too.

I have been slowly getting stronger as time has gone on with this treatment. The last two days have been as close to normal as I have been in months. I’m hoping it continues.

Thank you for your prayers and care. We have been so well taken care of.

As this drain issue has dragged on, I have taken on a new mantra. “Be like Birdie.” Birdie the puppy lives in the moment swinging wildly between crazed action and sound sleep. So, I am trying to be more like her. Living in the moment. Doing what I can do when I can do it. This has meant short days at work if I’m able to go at all. And resting in the wonderful care of God’s people.

Yesterday, I had chemo again and my hemoglobin was very low so I had a blood transfusion today. My drain also stopped working yesterday, so after a CAT scan following chemo I had a new drain put in and then removed to have a different drain placement this morning. It has been two long days at the cancer center for me and my favorite mom.

Last weekend, during my lovely sister’s visit, my hair made a mass exodus from my scalp. This means I actually let Becki near my head with a scissors and I am now wearing hats and waiting for my scalp to be less tender so that I can try the wig Mom got me last fall.

Through all of this I feel rather calm. My new drain is comfortable and drains from the front rather than from my back so that I think I will sleep better at night. I’m not terrifically upset about my hair coming out. When I do get to work, I love it just as much as usual and my wonderful colleagues pick up my slack with grace and kindness.

I’m hoping that I can continue to “be like Birdie” until the drains are out and my hair is in.

However, I do know that there is one Birdie thing that I will not do. I will not climb up onto the grill to survey my fiefdom and get a good look over the privacy fence (as pictured below–Dad took the photo through our garage window–she’s hard to catch up there once you open the door). I’ll let that be Birdie’s special thing.