Itchy...huh?

The post "Where do you..." that preceeded this post probably only made sense to those folks from Chillicothe. One of our local newspapers (yes, we have two) regularly shows photos of people in exciting locales, reading the Chillicothe Independent. Here, our kids, Sea World in June 2005, posed for the pic that I didn't send to the paper to be published. I don't remember if I forgot to send it or I just looked at it and thought "I CAN'T send it." Anyway, with the newspaper, camera and Pam all present, I couldn't resist the photo op.

The photo below actually paints a more accurate picture of yesterday. Pam was pretty uncomfortable for all but the last couple of hours of treatment day. She had a horrible time with itching and at some point she thought it was the treatment recliner. Perhaps someone left some strange itching germs behind and it got to her. She gave me the itchy recliner and she took my window seat. I didn't notice any itchiness. By the time Janette Ackerman and FloMom showed (and way after she saw Lori and Gina) however, Pam was feeling better. She was glad Janette wasn't there to see her in the loopy druggy phase that is the start of each chemo day. There are plenty of Pam text message recipients who know what I am talking about. At the end of the day she successfully finished both drugs of the 6th treatment of 12. She gets next week off then begins the third cycle of treatments on April 1st.

Like the "harder" post described, Pam isn't feeling the best. This past week she again battled a lack of energy, lack of the ability to sleep, aches and pains and the sinus infection that isn't. Our buddy and ENT Randy, whose office is just over Pam's left shoulder in the pic, looked at her again last week (not in that office, rather at his kitchen table...how cheap are we?) and saw no obvious infection in the nose or fluid in the ears. The blood continues to persist though. And since last week Pam has had significant ringing in her ears and seems to have lost some hearing in at least one. This is her cancer experience, one thing leads to another. Yesterday she met with her oncologist who said that the neuropathy that is associated with one of the drugs she is receiving is way more common in the arms/finger/legs/toes. Once every five or six years he sees someone have it in their head. Argh, again, Pam is teetering on being in the "rare" group. She has two weeks off to see if the ringing in the ears and the hearing problems increase or decrease. If the problems increase, then it may be decision time. We don't want her ending up like Mary Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie). Except I guess Mary went blind. Bad comparison, but you get my drift.

Thanks to the many who keep her going. She puts on a good face for company and a peppy tone for callers, but it isn't so easy. Thanks to the girls who get her walking, that really helps. Thanks to the unknown woman who came up to her yesterday at the cancer center and said "I know you are sick, but you are so beautiful I just had to tell you. God is good." To which Pam replied, "All the time." He is, you know. Through this trial, He is unchanging and loving and always there. No doubt.