Hello one and all,

     Well, a belated Memorial Day greetings to all of our military people especially our veterans.  This past Thursday (May 30) Karen finished her second cycle of a six cycle chemotherapy treatment program.  As you know, a cycle is when Karen receives her chemo treatment of Taxol three weeks in a row and then has a week off.  Although the session which includes the pre-medications is supposed to last only an hour and a half, the sessions have been lasting almost three hours.  Karen as well as the other patients have discovered that the hospital has made the process more time consuming.  Even though Karen's appointment was at 3:00PM this past Thursday, the nurse did not call her name until after 3:30PM.  The week prior Karen again waited a half hour after her appointed time and after she was prepared for everything, the nurse informed Karen that she (nurse) was waiting for the medications and the Taxol to be delivered from the hospital.  The items eventually arrived almost thirty minutes later.  Karen noticed the nurses seem more upset and not happy with the new procedures.  Additionally, it is a new group of nurses so Karen is trying to get to know them better.   
     As far as side effects, Karen is only experiencing a little insomnia on the day of the chemo as one of the medications does cause temporary insomnia.  Karen still has the neuropathy in her fingertips but takes glutamine and a B-complex to help with that issue.  Karen is slowly losing (more like thinning) her hair again.  Her blood counts are okay, however, her cancer marker was elevated after this last blood draw.  Although Karen was not happy with that result, she is keeping a positive outlook and is enjoying doing some of her hobbies (yard work, woodworking, etc.).   Anyhow, Karen and her mom want to thank everybody for keeping them in your thoughts and prayers.  Thanks. 

Tip of the Blog:  Keep a smile on your face and say a little prayer for that special military person in your life (living or deceased).