Hawaii to Chemo round 10

22^nd August, 2012

We flew in from Hawaii last night & arrived home around 9.30pm. We both collapsed happily into bed.

Up early today, straight to the Cancer Clinic for bloods and chemo.

Chris was certainly more than a little zonked mid-way through treatment today but with all the beautiful moments, still fresh in our minds, we managed to laugh most of it off... Warning, jet lag & chemo dont mix..LOL.

We bought the nurses some delicious Hawaiian macadamia nuts covered in chocolate, as they all really do such a tough job, always managing to bring a smile to our face...They really are something. 

Port Douglas to Hawaii

14th August, 2012

I had recently planned a little interstate escape for Chris & I, a little stint between her treatments, to grab a little sunshine & just chillax.

At the final hour, Susie had suggested that we should travel with her to Hawaii instead. So, unbeknown to Chris, I spontaneously decided to go for it.

Chris only realised what was going on once we arrived at the airport. Chris was obviously shocked but thrilled at the same time.

Susie was a genius for thinking of this little plan. We all had an amazing experience. This little break away will be held in our hearts & minds forever. 

We shared so many incredible experiences, we were all just living in the moment! 

Thank you to Susie for your fabulous last minute ideas & for giving us the opportunity, to live super spontaneously, in that marvellous week of bliss.

Photos below tell our tale of relaxation, hilarious moments, with complete belly laughs & the best sunshine therapy ever.

Enjoying the sunset on Waikiki Beach

Bliss

We all said a prayer at the Byodo-In temple

OMG we are in Hawaii!

Lush green Hawaii

The view from our room

Infinity pool at the Sheraton- ridiculously beautiful

Hula dancers at the Royal Hawaiian

deep fried macadamia ice cream at Sanseis- Life changing!

Red Velvet pancakes at Cinnamon's- Amazeballs!

The incredible mountains of Oahu - think Lost

Chris in the Jeep we drove round the island in, ah she is such a good driver even managed the whole driving on the wrong side of the road thing & with chemo brain. She is amazing!

Chemo - Round 9

8^th August, 2012

Chemo went pretty smoothly today with no great tales to tell. The good news is that the Dr has added a new pre & post med called 'Emend' which seems to have assisted in reducing Chris's nausea. While Chris still experiences nausea, she seems a little more capable, moving around & doing things slowly.. So, this is brilliant..Yay for Emend!

Chemotherapy round 8

26^th July, 2012

Up early, off to the hospital for the new PICC Line procedure (right arm instead of left). Thankfully, all went smoothly during that procedure.

Following that procedure, it was straight down to the cancer clinic for treatment. As usual, it’s time to say ‘bye bye’ to my baby, as she starts to drifts off from the toxic chemo treatment, it is a necessary evil & yes we have to continually remind ourselves that it works... & it kills cancer !

Susie came down & spent most of the day with us in the clinic. It’s always nice to have the added love & support around us.

I’ve attached a video, one of the four chemo treatments that Chris receives. This one is the ‘Red Devil’ slithering up into her PICC line, it is particularly nasty chemo med.

Also, Chris has started to lose patches of her hair. It’s mainly getting quite thin in areas. Currently, we are trying to decide whether it’s time to just shave it off or continue with attempts of pushing it together with hair products (in the scheme of things..not really a big deal).

Also they have added another anti nausea drug to Chris’s little bag of pills, it is called Emed so we are hoping it helps to ease the nausea that goes on for so many days after treatment.

We finally finished up around 3.00 pm after a 6 hour stint at the hospital, it’s always good to get out there, even though all the nurses are fantastic & humorous they do their best to keep Chris distracted from the awfulness of the treatment. We are all so lucky to have such great nursing staff, the nurses down at Crown Princess Mary’s really amazing people.

Unexpected Dramas

25th July, 2012

Today’s trip to the cancer clinic for chemo equaled another blocked PICC line episode.

On two separate occasions, while the nurse was trying to flush the PICC line clear, she was using so much force, that that heparin needle snapped from the line & splashed all over us and the nurse. All we could do was laugh. 

So, after sitting there for about 4 hours trying to get Chris prepped for treatment, the nurse finally gave up trying to access the PICC line.

They then called another senior nurse who attempted to flush & access the line, but her attempts were also futile. At that stage, we knew that treatment wasn’t going to happen. The senior nurse said that the amount of blockages & issues that Chris has had with the PICC line so far, was more than enough and that it was time to take it out completely, so they did.

We were told that a new PICC line could not be surgically put through today; therefore, we would need to come back tomorrow, for the new line, followed by chemo.

Good news today was the nurse removing the old PICC line.. WOW, this would be the first time Chris’s arm would be free...first time in 4 months that she wouldn’t have to cover it when she showers & worry about bumping it or anything. So this was an exciting moment & she would be PICC free for the night.

So, by the time we got home, we were so pleased that Chris was free of the PICC line and not dosed up on chemo, that we were both on such a high we decided we would have a little dance, right there in our tiny little lounge room. We haven’t practiced our rockabilly dancing for months *A- because of the PICC line & *B- Chris would normally be afflicted with nausea from the chemo treatment...

Anyway, we danced & it was sublime, we just really savoured the fact that Chris had another day feeling good as she didn’t have to receive treatment today; yes, she would tomorrow but tomorrow is another day that we would be dealt with then.