This is the picture that should have been my Christmas card, so... MERRY CHRISTMAS.
(We went to the Domes and took a bunch of photos with a great background, but the tree behind us was in focus, and we were not. Then the setting sun light lit up a patch in this spot, so we took a quick shot here, but there is a pole growing out of Miranda's head.) This is the second year in a row that I didn't send out Christmas cards. This bums me out more then it should.
We had a good Christmas. Much better then last year's (2009).
Above is a family photo snapped at Carl's sister's house on Christmas day, Saturday, December 25, 2010. The next day Carl's hair mostly fell out, and he had to wear a hat to church to cover the bare patches.
On Monday, December 27, 2010, Carl went in for inpatient chemotherapy from Monday to Thursday December 30, 2010. The Doctors shortened the chemotherapy stay by one day so that Carl could try to attend New Years Day events. He is really tired, and so am I, but we are both glad he is home again.
I am feeling reflective on this year, and I thought I would be blogging about my feelings, but I find I just can't. My feelings are "complicated". 2010 was a good year. At the beginning of 2010 there were no guarantees that Carl would still be here one year later. All I heard was that terrible word Cancer. I know more of what the cancer journey is like, and what will be happening in 2011 is not the big unknown that the start of 2010 was, but I am still unsure of what I feel about all this. I had a lot of good days and good moments. I had some bad days and bad moments. I think Carl could say the same. I am glad my family is intact, I am thankful for friends, family, and good health care. I hate cancer, and the fact that Carl has cancer. I want to end this paragraph on a good note, so I guess I will say that I am hopeful for 2011.
I'll quote Carl (although he was not the first to say this) - A day above ground is a good day.
Happy New year to you all.
On Thursday, November 11, 2010, Carl started a course of chemotherapy that featured the drugs Irinotecan and Vinchristine. The 'protocol' for this chemotherapy is a dose on Day 1 and Day 8. On Day 21, the patient can start the course again. The Day 1 and Day 8 doses are delivered through IVs into his port. He gets these doses at the outpatient Froedtert Cancer Center Day Hospital.
Under this protocol, Day 8 is tomorrow, Thursday, November 18, 2010. So tomorrow we will once again trek down to the Cancer Center. Carl will be connected to the IV for around 3 hours, making this one of the shorter chemotherapy sessions, although with the registration and waiting, we will end up being at the Cancer center more then 1/2 of the day.
Carl 'completed' one course of chemotherapy with the drug Irinotecan before, getting the drugs on Monday, October 18, 2010 and Monday, October 25, 2010. He tolerated the Irinotecan well, so the Doctor added the Vincristine to this course.
I hope these drugs are effective and that Carl can continue getting them for quite some time. At the end of the month the Doctors will check to see if the drugs are holding back the tumor.
Thank you again for all the encouragement and prayers.
So, isn't this kind of a boring post? I hope the photos from one of our trips to the pumpkin farm make it more cheery.
This last photo shows one of the side effects of the Adriomycin chemotherapy. (photo taken October 17, 2010.) Carl didn't loose all of his eyebrow or eyelash hair like some people do, but wow, did it thin out. Already his hair (and eyebrows, and eye lashes) are growing back in. Another reason I hope that Carl can use these drugs for quite some time.
This week Carl continues outpatient Radiation with concurrent chemotherapy at Froedtert. The Monday infusion of chemotherapy drugs interacts with and stimulates the daily radiation. I hope it annoys the cancer cells!
Last week, on Monday, April 19, 2010, Carl got a dose of Chemotherapy. On Tuesday April 20 - Friday April 23, 2010 Carl got radiation treatments 1 to 4 to his left leg each day.
This week, on Monday, April 26, 2010, Carl got a dose of Chemotherapy and his 5th radiation treatment to his leg. On Tuesday April 27 - Friday April 30, 2010 Carl plans on getting radiation treatments 6 - 9; and on Monday, May 3 - Friday May 7, 2010 Carl should get radiation treatments 10 - 14 each morning. We are getting used to the daily drive to Froedtert Hospital. I am glad Froedtert is so close - others travel from much further to get treated. At least now the route is getting pretty with flowering trees and green grass everywhere.
After radiation on Tuesday through Friday Carl goes to work.
Carl has a good attitude, and he has a fuzzy head of - fuzz. (You can't call him bald at the moment, but you can't really call it hair yet.) I love running my fingers through his hair though. "Touch me head for good luck" Carl says in his best British accent. (or Irish?) He resembles a British Rock star or soccer player (we think), though why the British would mess up the English language like that (touch me head?) I don't know. Nevertheless, the children and I like to touch the soft ducky fuzz that is growing back in.
I hope his treatment keeps going this smoothly. That's all for now!
Carl Grisa (right) and Anthony on a normal weekend, Carl electing not to shave.
So then I had him shave, and I took this picture.
On Jan 16, 2010, Carl Grisa had me shave his hair off, so that the cancer could not claim it. Three of the four children where off elsewhere with friends, and the chemotherapy was beginning to make hair fall out significantly. This is not something I have any experience in (shaving heads), since all the Grisa's have lots of hair. At first I tried putting chevrons in Carl's hair.
Carl even took phone calls in the middle of the hair cut. (How am I supposed to do a good job?)
Then I decided to go for shaving the words in the back of his head. It wasn't for fun, (this wasn't really a goofy, fun filled hair cut) but because I knew it could be a powerful graphic, and it reflected Carl's feelings. I had figured out by the second word that I couldn't fit all the letters in unless I misspelled sucks. But you get the idea.
I then shaved off the words after I took this photo, and before most of the children got back home. (There is another photo of Carl with a short mohawk, as a British punk rocker, but it looks just wrong.) The children were aware that Dad was going to loose his hair, but they were still surprised.
Here is an after shot with from that night. Ray couldn't stop laughing that he finally had more hair then Carl. [Carl had (and still has) more eyebrow hair, though.]
The next day at church, we sat in the back pew, because the words were still faintly visible after all the hair was shaved off. Who knew? I always wonder if anyone noticed it from the back that day. Carl, the children, and I now have a hard time remembering what Carl looked like with hair.Carl's hair - You will be missed, but you shall be back.
