September 3

Judy had chemo on Monday. In preparation for chemo, she was given a cocktail of drugs to prevent a similar reaction to chemo that was experienced during the last treatment. Thankfully, the drugs allowed Judy to get some sleep on Monday afternoon, evening, and night. She was feeling well enough to join a friend for breakfast on Tuesday. Unfortunately, Judy did not get any sleep on Tuesday evening and limited sleep on Wednesday evening. Judy was able to see her G.P., Dr. Dahl, today. Dr. Dahl is very compassionate and quick to respond. She prescribed a sleeping pill. I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that Judy has some very painful bumps on her back that cause a burning pain every time she lays down. Judy has met with a pain management team from the cancer center. The team consists of a nurse, doctor, social worker, and pharmacist. As a result of the team meeting, Judy was prescribed an ointment that will relieve the pain topically. In addition, Judy is on nerve blockers. Nothing that has been tried to date has given consistent results;therefore, Judy has not had adequate sleep in quite some time. Judy had an MRI three weeks ago, but we have not received detailed results because the surgeon, Dr. Kanthan, has been on holidays. He will be back on September 8. When we get to see Dr. Kanthan, we should have a rough idea of when Judy will have surgery to remove the tumor in her pelvic area. Judy continues to live triumphantly and, as always, she is an inspiration to everyone who knows her story.