A day with Susan

Yesterday was the big day to meet Susan at Jennifer Caskey's
office for a consultation on her breast cancer. I arrived
at 11:50 AM and Susan and Doris Ann were already there. We
chatted and waited an hour as women came and went. Clearly,
it is a busy practice. When our turn came it was worth the
wait. Dr. Caskey (recommended by Dr. Braun) is very thorough
with explanations. She described the whole route of Ductal
Carcinoma In Situ. Previously, it was assumed the cancer
spread by fanning out from the site so that if all the cells
surrounding the site were removed and there was no sign of
invasion in the lymph nodes, the cancer was contained or
eradicated. with Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2
(HER2+) they have discovered it enters the blood stream and
may show up anywhere in the body. Hence, the chemo therapy
which is to get any stray cancer cells that have already
fanned out, followed by radiation therapy to make sure that
all the cancer cells in the breast are gone. The chemo is
given once every three weeks and repeated six times. After
she completes the chemo she'll do the radiation which takes
less time for each dose, but is administered every day. In
addition tothese two procedures herceptin is taken
simultaneously and then continued until she has been on it
for a year.

Susan has to have a small surgery in breast to insert the
tube which will be used to insert the chemo medication.
She'll do this next Thursday. After that surgery I'll pick
her up at the hospital and take her to Dr. Caskey's office
where she'll get her first infusion of chemo. This first
time will take about 4 hours and since her reaction to the
medication is unknown she has to have someone be there to
take her home. I'll be that someone. In the future she'll
probably be able to transport herself.

The room in which she gets the chemo therapy is tucked away
in the rear of Dr. Caskey's suite. There are about half a
dozen very comfortable chairs in the room and when we peaked
in there were four women there. Three getting treatment and
one visitor as well as Susan. Doris Ann and I retreated to
the waiting room. Later Susan said it was very comfortable
chatting with the other women, reminiscent of women bonding
during pregnancy. That sounded very positive and reassuring.

It was a relief that it isn't as bad as we thought, but it
is bad enough!

A musicale at Louisville Elementary School

Today I did my usual stint at the Carnegie Library scanning old
photographs. These were formal portraits taken in late
1800 and early 1900.

In the evening we went to Louisville Elementary School to
see Ariel perform in the third grade musicale depicting the
best of Colorado. It was quite a performance. The kids had
memorized a dozen, it seemed, songs about the west and
specifically, Colorado. As Robert suggested, quite a brain
washing of the superiority of Colorado and the United
States. All very patriotic, which is OK, I guess.

Martha took the pictures.







The whole third grade class.







Miss Ariel, wired and ready to perform









Ariel and James ready to rock

The Ladies head out on a road trip.

The solar panels are working very well. It is great to have 15
panels all up and running!

Robyn and Janis left on Sunday, heading for Boise to visit
Alan and Patti and then on home Monday. Robyn called Monday
to say they had arrived safely and the trip had gone well.

Alyssum's friend Rosa turned up on Sunday and stayed until
Tuesday morning. We all went up to Big Horn mountain on
Monday. The view of the back range was obscured by clouds.
Actually, it looked like it was snowing there. Rosa's car
was steaming when we got to the road to Big Horn. Robert
had her take it to Vernon after we came home. It turned out
she had a leaky water pump and Vernon said he could fix it
that afternoon.

Later, I was listing things that Alyssum might want for her
train trip in the morning. Rosa commented that it sounded
like a road trip. After much discussion, debate and some
planning the ladies decided they would drive Rosa's car to
California. She wants it there when she gets back from
Hawaii anyway because she hopes to go to nursing school
there. She is still a resident of California.

We scrounged around and outfitted Alyssum with coat, down
vest, scarf and gloves as well as a towel and wash cloth,
food, sleeping bags and good wishes. Yesterday Rosa and
Alyssum left for Salida, Colorado. They'll spend the night
there and Rosa will pack all her stuff, some to leave there
and some to take with them so she'll have it in Hawaii.

We have our fingers crossed that Rosa's car will make it.
Vernon allowed as how it wasn't in great shape and it has
120,000 miles on it. Stay tuned.