Recent pics

Hi everyone:

Here are a couple of our more recent photos of Kathleen (from about four weeks ago).

Denise (our neighbor and Kathleen's friend) and Kathleen

Kathleen at The Foundry (for a kids' birthday dinner)

Nothing new, really

Hi everyone:

Sorry I've been so long between posts; just the other day, my father asked, "How's your sister-in-law doing? You haven't been writing about her." Guilty as charged. I sometimes forget that some who are following her situation are great distances away. As always, I promise that if there are any developments, I'll share them here as soon as possible.

As of a couple of days ago, when last I spoke to Kathleen, she seemed to be doing great, all things considered. I know she still has times where it's a challenge to stay on top of the pain, and I also know that the sleep-inducing effect of her medication is sometimes a frustration for her, but, healthwise, she seems to be maintaining the status quo.

When I get a spare moment, I'll post some more pics.

Love,

Brian

Nothing new

Hi everyone:

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Kathleen's MRI results came back, and they found nothing new in terms of progression of her cancer--which sounds to me like very good news. Of course, the best possible news would be to hear, "Oops, our mistake; turns out you don't have cancer," but this takes a close second. We're hoping to see Kathleen this weekend sometime; if we do, we'll snap some photos and share them here.

Love,
Brian

Medical clarifications

Hi everyone:

As I mentioned yesterday, Patty joined Kathleen and Don during a visit to the oncologist. The three asked a number of questions, and the doctor was very thorough in his answers. The oncologist confirmed that the cancer is all through the vertebrae of Kathleen's spine. Kathleen explained to the doctor that she has been experiencing increased numbness in both hands, which is consistent with metastatic cancer of the spine. She is also experiencing pain that spreads up her back (again, an expected symptom of this type of cancer.)

On Monday, Kathleen will undergo another MRI of her spine, and this time they will also scan her brain to see the extent to which the compression of her spine may be contributing to her symptoms, and to check for any spread of the cancer. If they find anything new, the doctor will pull Kathleen from her current drug protocol (except for the pain meds) and will likely order radiation and perhaps chemo to more aggressively attempt to control its spread. Keep your fingers crossed that things are moving along very slowly.

Kathleen visited with us for a few hours yesterday, and snoozed on the sofa for much of the time. She continues to be in good spirits.

Love,
Brian

Back from California

Hi everyone:

My apologies for not updating the site earlier than this; Kathleen's been away in California, and I've been swamped since her return. Trust that if any developments arise on the medical front, I will make sure I get the information here promptly; if there's no news, it's likely good news (or, at the very least, no bad news).

Kathleen and Don had a great visit with Jim and Att and their family in the L.A. area, and returned this past Saturday safe and sound and with hundreds of photos. It would appear, from the photos, that they did just about everything. Some of the pics follow; I will encourage Kathleen to load the rest on her Facebook account.

Kathleen popped by our home for a quick visit earlier this week; she seemed a bit tired and uncomfortable, but otherwise was in good spirits and looked well. It turns out she was coming down with a cold--likely the one that had plagued Don of late.

Kathleen plans to write a blog post of her own this week, so she's asked that I hold off on describing the details of her trip until she can tell you herself.

Patty will be joining Kathleen and Don at Kathleen's appointment with her oncologist this morning. We've had a bunch of questions about the specifics of Kathleen's condition, so Patty's tagging along to ask them. If we learn anything new, we'll share it here soon.

Love,

Brian

More pics of Kathleen

Hi everyone:

We had the opportunity to spend a fair amount of time with Kathleen this weekend. We saw her at the O'Mara family reunion, and then she stayed with us for a couple of days. She still has good days and not-so-good days (and some rough spots within her good days), but she's still laughing most of the time. Below are a bunch of pictures of Kathleen from the weekend.

Kathleen is looking forward to escaping the cold when she and Don visit California next week. Jim and Att, please take lots of pics and share them, so we can post them here.

Love,
Brian

Saturday/Sunday visit

Hi everyone:

After going out for dinner with her friends Cindy, Sheri and Geraldine on Friday evening, Kathleen came over to our home for a visit on Saturday afternoon and night. With our neighbors Kevin and Denise (who know Kathleen well), we sang, danced and looked at some of the dozens of photos we've taken of Kathleen and her family (nuclear and extended) over the years.

Kathleen's still here, relaxing and deciding whether or not to satisfy a craving for Wendy's. The photo above was taken just moments ago. Kathleen says she's been feeling "pretty good", although she needed to break away from the chaos for a while last night to nurse a headache.

Kathleen has her next treatment of drugs (IV and injected) this coming Thursday.

Below are some more photos from last night. The slightly edited picture is Kathleen's way, I think, of telling me I'm #1.

Love,
Brian