kvetching up

Entry 1     8:14 a.m.   Night and day. I visited Jenny last night. She was in high spirits AND fully hydrated for the first time in ages. She seemed to be feeling better than she has been in weeks. She was alarmingly thin, but that is unsurprising as she is still on a very restricted diet of clear liquids, and hasn't eaten in forever. She had a dextrose/saline drip, which I wish she had everyday to augment food/water intake, which due to cachexia and the duodenal blockage was close to zero for a couple of weeks at least, only alleviated until now by repeated visits to the ER. Jenny has to have a barium enhanced CT today, and then, absent any leakage from the stent in the findings, will be discharged.  Moni will bring her home. Snow on our street is still compact and unsanded, and so it will remain until it melts, so I am grateful I am not driving to VM. Entry 2.    9:19 a.m. I just spoke with Jenny. The barium CT procedure is not scheduled until 2...

 Entry 1     10:24 p.m. Processes and mechanisms associated with cancer-associated cachexia Cachexia, also known as wasting disease, is a condition that is common among cancer patients, and is often what kills you before the cancer itself. I've written about it here before. Jenny weighed 147 lbs. last night, which seems to be a stable weight. She is so thin and gaunt it is incredible. But, sans chemo--its been four weeks, she seems more robust. She can't stand for long periods of time, she can't walk for very many feet without risking collapse, but she has stopped the freefall.  Her meds still haven't arrived from wherever they are being shipped from, and Christ only knows what the cancer is up to inside her body.   Yesterday, a family friend brought over a treadmill for Jenny to use in her battle against cachexia. Cachexia weight loss eliminates lean muscle mass and the good fat in your body, rendering you weak and without energy reserves.  ...

 Entry 1     10:46 a.m. Jenny is up and out. She shuffled into my room before leaving to go see Heather and do a bit of Christmas shopping. I do worry about her.  This extended chemo respite, its been some time now, and will be some time--maybe a week--before she begins again. That makes me nervous.  Her receiving chemotherapy makes me nervous. Her not receiving it makes me nervous. It isn't six of one, half-a-dozen of the other.  But I don't know. I just don't. If I haven't noted it, the doctor suggested this chemo regime will have milder effects on her body--and didn't mention loss of hair. But it is gemcitabine which caused her hair loss before, and that is the primary constituent of this chemo. I read a study from 2014 on GTX for people receiving the drug after second, third and fourth line failure, and it is fairly positive in terms of extending life. At least something positive to ponder.