Hot D@mn...

My latest visit to MD Anderson went well.  I was very happy friend Stephanie could drive with me and that Ruthie could meet us. We (my cancer team and I) have relatively short appointments between testing/measuring visits. We really just discuss side-effects, refill prescriptions and they send me on my way to receive the chemo (Avastin). And I am certainly not complaining about the simplicity of it after 15 months. I'm on my 8th cycle of this chemo study, with an approximate 16% reduction. My next measurement is around April 16, and I'm looking forward to seeing if this chemo holds up and continues to control and peck away at the tumor slowly. 

Each MDA visit is followed by a cardiologist visit the following week at the Austin Heart Hospital. I report in for an EKG and to discuss how my blood pressure is doing. We increased one of the medicines in January which may have caused some difficult side-effects that we are now trying to resolve by decreasing the meds again. Although the drug is helpful for maintaining an angina-free heart, it might have contributed to an increased depression, and caused me to feel listless, unenergetic and sluggish. Yes, "unenergetic" is a word, I looked it up. So I am still Crabby-Spice occasionally, but most of you knew that already. I'm working on the other stuff with a trained professional.

In general, ALL IS GREAT. Having another birthday is always a GREAT sign. It's actually more of a HOT DAMN I MADE IT ANOTHER YEAR kind of a sign!

I now leave you with an awesome quote. It's one of Nancy A's faves. Life is a roller coaster, be careful not to spill your drink. 

smack, 

jan aka Crabby-Spice