Halfway there!

Ed's halfway through his five weeks of chemo and radiation. First day was Oct 25th, last day will be Nov 29th, if all continues to go as planned.

Hyper, hyper, hyper! That's Ed. The steroid that he's taking for the swelling of his spine tumor has a really amazing affect on his mood, activity level, and appetite. He's making me tired just watching him bounce around. We have had a great social calendar this week. Wednesday night was "dinner and a movie" with Ingrid. Ed cooked filet mignon, and we watched Julie & Julia on DVD while we ate. We definitely need to do that again! Friday, Ed was seduced by a chocolate-frosted cake at the bakery, and we shared it with friends Natalia and Arild. They brought roses and a card. The card had the most heartfelt message. It will be treasured forever. The cake was as delicious as it promised, too. Surprisingly, it was peanut inside.

Saturday night, we went to a birthday party at Joanna and Krzystoff's new house. Joanna cooked all day, and to say it was delicious would be shortchanging her. Ed and I ate and ate, and even brought some home with us. Sunday morning, Ed was up two pounds, to 176. That means he has gained nearly 6 pounds since finishing the first chemo round. The docs like that. Sunday we can't wait to share the second half of the cake with friends from work, Janne and Vandita. 

It is so great to have such wonderful friends. Ed is looking forward to being pretty much confined to one spot next week. He promises to answer everyone's e-mails! He has been so busy these last two weeks, running around being happy, buying a new lens for the camera and taking pictures with it, organizing and documenting his collectibles, and walking, walking, walking since it makes his back hurt less, that he has fallen behind.

 The new lens gives great telephoto shots, like this one across the harbor from our place. The fall colors are mostly over, but they were awfully nice while they lasted.

The funicular (Fløibanen) up Floyen from our place shows the sprinkling of snow we got. Pretty soon, they'll put the giant candles up there, getting ready for Christmas. We'll have to post a new picture then.

Ed in his "Batter's circle getting ready for little c" clothes. Next round of chemo is this week.
Thanks for sending cards! Ed got a very nice one from Neal, and he really loved the letter from his mom. 

Comments

  1. cybershotNovember 16, 2010 at 4:32 AM

    Way to go Ed!

    And Pilla and my wife, Geraldine should definitely compare notes of their apparently similar experiences of trying to tame, and bring back to earth, husbands flying high on steroids. If it wasn't for Goliath and his minions lurking in the background life would be a ball.

    My spinal pain is less on my mind also when walking with Chaka and our friends in the great outdoors. Trying to decide on my own camera upgrade and thinking of a basic Canon SLR body and putting some really good glass on it!

    Good luck both and will be thinking of you when Ed's treatment ends with what I sincerely hope are good results. I am expecting a CT scan etc. inbetween my 4th (Nov 24)and 5th cycles of chemo to determine what lumps we've managed to knock off the ghastly green giant, and plot the route ahead.

    Onwards and upwards

    David
    [X]

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  2. Pilla LeitnerNovember 21, 2010 at 6:41 PM

    Hi David. Yes, I'd love to share tips and notes with Geraldine! Good luck with the 4th chemo cycle. You are lucky that you get to have a CT scan to see how you're doing! Ed had an MRI of his spine this week, and it shows that the tumour is localized within the T5 vertebra, but it is damaging the bone there. He didn't have an equivalent MRI before treatment, so we can't say if it's changed.

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