Naked Therapy

I've been pondering since the last  Chemo exactly what Suzanne meant by Naked Therapy.  Even though I haven't witness it I'm thinking it may be similar to Naked Ironing.

The Cadillac of all Juicers

Since Suzanne has to be careful about certain antioxidant's that might interact with chemo we decided to get her vitamins with fresh squeezed vegtebjuice. Meet Annabel the  new Juicer......now we are just trying to find the organic fruit and vegetables to go in her......Isn't she a beauty! The first attempt at using it Suzanne blew a carrot clear across the living room, it covered the dogs, the counter, the table. It must have been like a canon.....was so sorry I missed it.   Juicing party anyone??

Second Chemo

The 3rd of August was the second chemo.....she started out really good, humorous, even telling  Dr. Scott she had started Naked therapy, and then soon as the first bag was going she almost immediately started not feeling so good. First bag is anti nausea meds, steroids, next bag is the Adriamycin, then the Cytoxan. By the third bag she crawled in bed and slept the rest of treatment.  Later in the afternoon by the time we got home she was better. Rested the rest of that day and the next but by Friday the girl was ready for her colonic.  That is one tough chick.
The photos are just a few of the chemo girls that come for Suzannes treatments.... Alli and Caroline, and Sherry Lee. There were others that day,  Julie Nardie, SueAnn, Leslie Grossman, and Odette.....They have to give Suzanne a room cause she has so many visitors.

The Port-a-Cath

A week after the first Chemo Suzanne had a Port-a-Cath placed to make the chemo sessions a little easier. Its basically a rubber stopper placed under the skin that has a line like a IV that goes into the subclavian vein and goes into the superior vena cava. The rubber stopper under the skin is the access port for all chemo from now until she's done;  which is 8 rounds of adriamycin/cytoxan 1 day every other week. Then 12 rounds of taxol/herceptin 1 day every week, the herceptin is given because her cancer is HER2 positive , the other markers of progesterone/estrogen were negative. Then 9 months more of herceptin 1 day every three weeks for a total of a year.  After the taxol/herceptin there will be a short break before a double mastectomy and then radiation that can take place while she is doing the rest of the herceptin.

Your friend and your sister is amazing in all of this.  She is taking this on as an adventure, with grace, dignity, and humor and I can assure you everyday in this with her is adventuresome. No two days are the same so far. Be proud to know her, to call her sister and friend.

The First Chemo

Its amazing how anti climatic the first chemo becomes after all the wait and worry. Suzanne handle it with grace and dignity as always.

The Hair Wizzing Party

 

When Suzanne was diagnosed she thought it would be too emotional to have her hair fall out in her hand, the shower or on her pillow so she did the thing she does best....Throw a Party

Our home in the country

For those of you who have been to our home I hope these photos bring fond memories.  And for those of you that have never been to our beloved space on earth, I hope these photos make you rush to buy a airline ticket.  If you do manage to score one, we'll have our coffee every morning looking out this window.