Update Oct 7/09

Hi All, this is CB (Cathy Brown) again. Spent some time talking with Cathy this afternoon and thought I'd catch you all up on what's been going on.

Cathy had her follow up CT scan at the Cross last week on Tuesday. Although Cathy knew it would be hard to drink all of the fluid they required for the test, she did so and the test went well. Cathy and I had a bit of a laugh over the number of times over the years we've told people to do the best they can with the amount of CT prep fluid they have to drink - "just keep sipping and get as much in as you can without barfing". Cathy has a new appreciation for how tough this really is.

Cathy and John are going to see Dr Sawyer (Cathy's oncologist) at the Cross tomorrow at 130pm to get the results of the CT and find out what the plan is for chemo. The type of chemo and its timing depends on whether Cathy's tumors have grown since her first CT on Sept 1.

Last Friday Jennifer and Jefferey took Zero to the vet to be put down. He has been unwell for some time and was getting worse. When he became reluctant to eat the family had to make their tough decision.

John's uncle Milton passed away this past weekend. His funeral is this Friday in Camrose.

Physically, Cathy is still trying to manage nausea, pain, constipation and diarrhea - obviously not all at the same time - otherwise the constipation and diarrhea would cancel each other out. At times Cathy is finding it hard to eat - anything that is high in fat content increases her pain and makes her very nauseous. It also tends to give her bad diarrhea. She has learned the hard way to watch the amount of fat in her food.

You've heard of night sweats that often come with menopause? Well, Cathy has developed flexible sweats - they come upon her whenever and soak whatever she happens to be wearing. (I told her to walk around naked with a towel under each armpit - she didn't think this was a great idea.)

Cathy's tired. I think this goes without saying (okay, I'm going to say it anyway) what with the nausea, diarrhea/constipation and pain, its hard to sleep. If anyone calls and there is no answer, fingers crossed that Cathy is having a nap and getting some rest.

That's it for now - I will add a further update when I find out what happens at the oncologist.