Jennifer models her new wig, in her sitting room at the Hope Lodge in Gainesville.Sunday, January 4. We had a very relaxing week at the beach (St. George Island). Ursula took Jennifer back to Tallahassee Monday for part two (intravenous) of the current chemo regimen, which hasn't had any bad effects on her other than a sore arm. She is tolerating part three (her daily chemo medication) well, aside from a bit of nausea and some tiredness.
Sunday, January 11. Jennifer is coping very well with the current chemo regimen, with few side effects. She wrapped up the grading from her stint as a substitute Latin teacher last fall, and is now doing a variety of short-term subsitute teaching jobs as they need her, as well as some tutoring of individual students.
Monday, January 19. Jennifer finished up the current chemo cycle today. All-in-all it went very well. She has been doing occasional substitute teaching and tutoring, but now is about to take a break--in the frigid northeast.
Sunday, February 1. Jennifer got back from Massachusetts okay, surviving several connection near-misses due to the weather. She actually enjoyed it up there in spite of the snow and sub-zero temperatures--meeting some old friends and professors and her favorite Dean at Smith, checking out the program for Latin teachers at the Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst (not Amherst College, my mistake), and seeing Winston again (in both Boston and Washington). She picked up a bit of a cold, but got rid of it quickly back in balmy Tallahassee, and is feeling good.
Sunday, February 8. Jennifer completed her grad school application to the Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst, and then had a fairly relaxing week.
Sunday, February 22. Jennifer started another chemo cycle, and is doing okay with it. She's also doing occasional substitute teaching and some tutoring. Yesterday she and her mother joined me at a local running event. They did the one mile Fun Walk, with Jennifer coming in 8th and Ursula 9th. Jennifer is leaving for Washington later this week for a long weekend with Winston. If the weather cooperates, she'll ski for the first time, after driving to West Virginia.
Sunday, February 29. Jennifer is still on her current chemo cycle, and still doing okay with it. She's in the DC area this weekend with Winston, trying skiing for the first time (in West Virginia).
Sunday, March 7. Jennifer had a good time skiing for the first time, with Winston in West Virginia, although she wasn't up to too much actual time on the slopes. She did get on skis long enough to get some sore muscles. She's back home now, fatigued and under the weather from the chemo, but staying in pretty good spirits.
Sunday, March 14. This has not been a great week for Jennifer. The chemo has left her very tired, and she's had a cold as well, and headaches, and hasn't slept well. She had an MRI Thursday, and the results were not good. Depending on what the doctors at Shands decide after they review the MRI, we may go down to Gainesville soon for another consultation. Meanwhile, the current chemo cycle has ended (except for one more dose Wednesday) and she's staying in pretty good spirits.
Monday, March 15. We're going to Gainesville tomorrow for a consultation with the neurosurgeon who removed Jennifer's tumor last May. He and the oncologist reviewed the MRI report from last Thursday and decided that her best option probably would be a "re-resection" --additional surgery to remove the tumor that has grown back rather rapidly recently, accounting for Jennifer's recent headaches and general not feeling good. The neurosurgeon will examine Jennifer and we will make the decision on whether to proceed with the surgery. If we do, it probably will be Wednesday morning (the day after tomorrow).
Sunday, March 21. We're back from Gainesville today, as Jennifer is recovering well from her Wednesday surgery. However, tomorrow morning we go back to Gainesville for chemotherapy. This will be a new drug combination that will have side effects serious enough that Jennifer will need to be hospitalized for the three days of the chemo itself, and probably for a couple of days afterwards. We plan to be back in Tallahassee for the following week (March 29-April 4). That makes for a two-week cycle that we will repeat for 6 or 8 weeks.
Jennifer isn't pleased that she needed surgery or that she needs more chemo, but she's determined to do whatever is necessary and is in remarkably good spirits.
Monday, March 22. We've always known that Jennifer's schedule was subject to change (see the archives), but it changed sooner than we expected. The doctors decided that it is too soon after Jennifer's last chemo to start the new one, so the entire schedule has shifted back a week. This also gives Jennifer some additional time to recover from the surgery and build up her strength. So...we will be in Tallahassee this week, and in Gainesville next week.
Jennifer is quite tired and still on pain medication (but not as much as yesterday), and keeping her spirits up.
Sunday, March 28. Jennifer has had a good week. She's feeling much better now, and by the end of the week was taking little of her pain medication. Winston came down from Bethesda Friday for a long weekend, and helped keep Jennifer in good spirits.
Friday, April 2. Jennifer got through her chemotherapy at Shands this week with an absolute minimum of immediate side effects. She's tired, and has lost some of her appetite, but didn't have any of the serious problems that the doctors were concerned about. It went so well, in fact, that they let her come home yesterday afternoon instead of staying in the hospital for a couple more days of observation. Also, they will do the next cycles of chemo with Jennifer as an out-patient at Shands, without having to be admitted to the hospital. She will have additional medication and testing to help her cope with delayed side effects, but that's manageable.
Monday, April 5. Jennifer has been very tired, with little appetite and an uncertain stomach, but no real problems otherwise. We kept an appointment with the Gainesville oncologist today, and everything went well. Jennifer's blood cell counts are okay, and she isn't showing any worrisome side effects.
Saturday, April 10. Jennifer avoided immediate side effects of the chemotherapy last week, but the cumulative effects caught up to her Wednesday when she became extremely fatigued and lost nearly all of her appetite. We took her in to get her blood cell counts checked Thursday morning, as planned, and her platelets were very low and her white blood cells were worse. TMH gave her some platelets and (at the request of her Gainesville doctor) sent her to Shands Hospital in Gainesville in an ambulance. Her spirits picked up yesterday, and her energy level is above zero now (Winston coming down from Maryland helped), but she's still too low with her white blood cell count to be released. They're hoping her white cells come up without a transfusion; meanwhile, they're taking precautions: visitors to her room have to wash their hands and wear a mask.
The doctors expect her to be able to go home around Monday or Tuesday, depending on her blood counts. The chemo that was planned for next week will almost certainly be postponed a week. We'll probably stay in Gainesville longer after the next round of chemo to avoid making any more emergency trips to the hospital there.
Saturday, April 24. The past two weeks have not been good ones for Jennifer. She is still in Shands Hospital in Gainesville, and still waiting for her white cell counts to come up enough for her to safely leave the hospital. She has received transfusions of blood and platelets several times, but must make her own white cells to fight infections. Her anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal medicines are keeping any infections under control, but also make it difficult to identify the cause of recurring fevers. To monitor all this she has visits by nurses and technicians every hour or two, day and night. The result of it all is that she is usually very tired, she sleeps a lot (when she can), and she has little appetite. She can get into good spirits when awake for awhile, however...such as today when her grandmother brought her a new hat. It covers what little hair she has left, and also can be adjusted to block out the light when she wants to sleep during the day.
A bone marrow biopsy Thursday showed no indication of new blood cells being produced, so it will be at least several days before we see the beginnings of new cells in her blood stream. Our routine now is for Jennifer to get the medications she needs to fight infections and keep her fever down, to get blood and platelets when needed, and to wait for the daily blood test results to show some white blood cells.
Saturday, May 8. Jennifer's condition has not improved over the last couple of weeks. She is still in Shands Hospital in Gainesville, and still waiting for her white cell counts to recover enough for her to safely leave the hospital. She is receiving transfusions of blood and platelets periodically, and getting a variety of medications to keep any infections under control. They continually fine-tune the medications to minimize side-effects as much as possible. She still is very tired most of the time, and she has still has little (if any) appetite.
Tuesday, May 18. Things are looking up a bit for Jennifer. After weeks of very few or no white blood cells, this morning a small but significant number of them showed up in her daily blood test. We're hoping this is the start of a trend, and not just a temporary blip. In any case, the doctors have decided that she has been in the hospital long enough, and that to stay longer would not be beneficial. We're planning to move her tomorrow to the Hope Lodge in Gainesville (See the May 23, 2003, entry in the Archive of Previous Notes below). There she will be able to sleep better, without all of the noise and intrusions of a hospital room. She'll also be close enough to Shands to make daily visits to the Pediatric Oncology Clinic for tests and any additional care she may need. She is already getting all of her medications orally now, rather than by IV. We'll continue to guard against exposure to any carriers of infection.
In the last few days Jennifer has made several excursions outside by wheelchair, and has made several walking trips around the halls, usually with the aid of a walker. She has also started doing some exercises and stretching with the aid of a physical therapist. She is trying to eat, but still has trouble keeping very much down, and still needs to sleep much of the day. We're hoping all of that improves as her blood counts come up and she gets better quality sleep.
Ursula is staying with Jennifer now, and I'm back in Tallahassee except for periodic visits to Gainesville.
Sunday, May 23. Jennifer finally moved out of Shands Hospital Wednesday evening, and is doing pretty well at the Hope Lodge in Gainesville. She is definitely sleeping better, and still making trips to the Clinic for tests and transfusions. She has now had five days in a row of white cell counts at a still-very-low but non-zero level, so we're hopeful they will start going higher. In addition to sitting up in the wheelchair for hours at a time (especially during trips to the Clinic), she is now getting around rather well in a walker, and can manage walking on her own for a bit, with something to grab onto now and then.
This morning we drove to the Cracker Barrel restaurant, where Jennifer had part of an egg-and-cheese omelet, part of a pancake with stewed apple topping, and half a glass of orange juice. For her, this was a BIG breakfast.
Jennifer models her new wig, in her sitting room at the Hope Lodge in Gainesville.Monday, May 24. Two good news items today. First, Jennifer's white cell count jumped up again; still not near normal, but significantly more than it was. Second, the doctors have decided it's okay for Jennifer to come home soon. They are coordinating with Jennifer's Tallahassee oncologist to make sure she gets the tests, transfusions, etc., that she needs. The return trip is planned for Wednesday!
Sunday, May 30. Jennifer is home again! We came back Wednesday night, and Jennifer is feeling better every day. Her white cell counts continue to rise, and Friday were about 70% of the low end of normal. This is tremendous progress from the zero and near-zero counts she had for so long. She did have to have another platelet transfusion Friday, but with her white and red cell production rebounding, the platelets should be up there soon as well. Jennifer is eating better, sleeping well at night, and staying up and alert much of the day. She is getting around the house without her walker, and even managing to get up and down the stairs occasionally.
Jennifer will continue to get blood tests regularly for a while, and is still taking a lot of medication to control various kinds of potential infections, among other things, but we're hoping she will be able to discontinue many of the pills soon.
Sunday, June 6. Jennifer's white cell counts are now in the normal range, so we don't have to worry so much about her getting infected with something. We've even discontinued a couple of her medications. Her red blood cell counts are still below normal, but coming up gradually. Her platelets are still too low, and she had a couple of units of platelets transfused during the week. We're hoping her red cell and platelet production will match her white cells soon.
Jennifer is getting around the house okay, but has trouble walking or standing for very long. She gets tired very easily and spends more time sleeping or napping than we'd like, and we're working on helping her to be more active.
Sunday, June 13. This week has been much like the previous one. Jennifer's white cell counts are still in the normal range, but her red blood cell counts are still below normal and her platelets are still too low. She got more platelets earlier in the week, and a couple of units of red cells on Friday. Friday morning she was extremely fatigued, but she perked up a bit after getting the red cells.
Sunday, June 20. Jennifer has gotten a little stronger this week. She is walking more, and even climbed stairs several times. Her red cell and platelet counts still aren't into the normal range, but they do seem to be increasing slowly and she didn't need any transfusion this week. Her white cell counts are great.
Sunday, June 27. The good news is that Jennifer is feeling better than she has in many weeks. She is more active, and eating better, and generally happier. This week she even went out to see a movie with friends--twice. Her platelet counts are increasing faster than before, and may be back into the normal range before too much longer. Her red cells aren't going up yet, but are at least staying about the same. Her white cells actually got too high, under the influence of the daily granulocyte stimulator shot she had been getting, and dropped back below normal without it. Now she's getting the shot twice a week to try to stabilize her white cells.
The bad news is that the MRI Monday revealed some significant new tumor growth. Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do about the tumor until Jennifer's platelets and white cell counts are higher, and stay that way--without the granulocyte stimulator--long enough to ensure that her bone marrow has recovered enough to get her through additional treatment. The doctors also confirmed some loss of short-term memory function, which has seemed to be a problem since early in Jennifer's most recent hospital stay. It's not serious enough to interfere with our daily activities, though, and we're hoping it will improve along with her general health.
Sunday, July 4. Jennifer continues to feel better and be more active than she has in many weeks. Her platelet counts are still increasing, her white cells are bouncing around the normal range, under the influence of twice-a-week granulocyte stimulator shots, and her red cells are about the same as before: they still need to come up.
A top brain tumor expert at Duke University has agreed to review Jennifer's records and is optimistic that he can help. With the help of Jennifer's doctor in Gainesville, we have arranged to ship all of her records up to Durham, North Carolina, for the Duke doctor's evaluation.
Monday, July 19. Jennifer is still feeling pretty good, and staying fairly active as long as she doesn't overdo it. Her platelet counts are edging closer to the normal range, and her white cells are still around the normal range (still with the benefit of the twice-a-week granulocyte stimulator shots). Her red cells are increasing, but still need to be a little higher.
Thursday Jennifer had her PIC line removed. This was a pair of fine plastic tubes that were inserted into a vein in her upper arm and that went up that vein into a larger vein in her chest. She's had it since March, to carry chemo drugs into the large vein where they are quickly diluted in the blood stream. It has also been handy to draw blood for frequent blood cell counts, without poking her with a needle each time. One of the two lines failed several weeks ago, probably because it got clogged, and the other one stopped working well enough this week. The good news is that now she can take a shower, or get into a pool, without taking elaborate precautions to prevent infection at the site where the PIC line entered her arm.
The brain tumor expert at Duke University has been out of town, and also is still looking for some more information. We hope to hear something soon about what he might be able to do for Jennifer.
Sunday, July 25. Jennifer is still feeling pretty good, and staying fairly active as long as she doesn't overdo it. Her platelet counts are still about normal, and her white cells are still around the normal range (still with the benefit of the twice-a-week granulocyte stimulator shots). Her red cell counts continued to improve, and are now around the low end of the normal range.
We still hope to hear someting soon from the brain tumor expert at Duke University, about what he might be able to do for Jennifer.
Sunday, August 1. Jennifer is still feeling pretty good, and staying relatively active. She has been going up and down stairs, to movies, shopping, and out to dinner. As long as someone can drive her, and she gets to rest now and then, she can go pretty much anywhere.
Her white cell counts are close to the normal range, but she is still benefiting from the white-cell-stimulating injections. She needs to maintain her white cells at at least this level without the injections for a couple of weeks or so in order to try one of the new clinical trials. Meanwhile, she has started on another chemo drug that shouldn't affect her cell counts or cause any adverse physical reactions.
Sunday, August 8. Jennifer continues to feel pretty good, and is staying relatively active. When not going out to dinner, movies, or parties, she's spending more of her quiet time reading and not just napping or watching TV. Her white cell counts are still close to the normal range, even though it has now been more than two weeks since she has had any white-cell-stimulating injections--therefore, we're confidant that she's producing all of the white cells on her own. We're hoping now to get her into one of the new clinical trials that are available.
Sunday, August 15. The good news: Jennifer is feeling stronger. Yesterday she found she could drop down to the floor and spring back up again without a lot of effort. This afternoon she splashed around in her grandmother's swimming pool for half an hour. Her hair is coming back enough that yesterday she went out to lunch without her wig or cap, for the first time. It's not quite long enough to look like just a short haircut, but it's getting close. Jennifer's appetite still isn't what it once was, but she's held her weight steady for a couple of months now.
The bad news: Jennifer's platelet count has been sliding, and Friday dropped below the 100,000 level necessary to be considered for most clinical trials. She'll have her counts checked again Monday. We're hoping she won't have to discontinue the chemo that she's on now.
Saturday, August 21. Jennifer continues to feel pretty good, as long as she gets rest when she needs it. Her platelet count has come back above the 100,000 level necessary to be considered for most clinical trials, and she is continuing the mild chemo that she's been on lately. Jennifer had her latest MRI yesterday, but we don't have the results yet.
Sunday, August 29. Jennifer is still feeling pretty good, other than being tired. Winston is here for a visit, which always perks her up. The doctors think it's no longer necessary to monitor Jennifer's blood counts twice a week, in fact once every two weeks should be enough. Her hair continues to grow back (straight but soft), but she still wears her wig on formal occasions.
We got the MRI results Tuesday, but they were essentially meaningless. We can't really tell anything from the images ourselves, and the accompanying report from Tallahassee Diagnostic Imaging compared the latest MRI to one done in Tallahassee more than five months ago--before her March surgery. We asked them to send the images to Gainesville and Duke, and hope to get theiranalysis soon.
Sunday, September 5. Good news! Jennifer's 8/20 MRI showed no tumor growth compared to her 6/21 MRI. There are still "enhancements" showing on the MRI that include the effects of the radiation that Jennifer had earlier and that can also include tumor tissue, but the fact that the enhanced area did not increase over the last two months is very encouraging. Her red blood cell counts dropped a bit more, and she got a shot this week to help stimulate their production. Her platelets and white cell counts are still okay.
Jennifer still gets tired easily, and has some digestive issues, but continues to do well in general and is in good spirits. Ursula is working mostly evenings and Saturdays now, so Jennifer doesn't get lonesome when she isn't out somewhere with friends.
Sunday, September 12. Jennifer has started tutoring a high school student a few times a week, here at home. She continues to stay in good spirits, although she needs to rest occasionally during the day. She's going out more often without her wig than with it.
The seemingly constant hurricanes have been a distraction, but so far we've had few problems from them. Hurricane Ivan could be worse on us than Bonnie, Charley, and Frances, but it is still two or three days away from us.
Sunday, September 19. Jennifer has had a cold for a couple of days, and hasn't been too active. Thursday, however, she enjoyed a trip with us as we brought her grandmother down to The Villages south of Ocala for a visit with relatives. Jennifer also celebrated her birthday on Thursday (her 24th).
Hurricane Ivan was gentle on us, causing only small branches, leaves, and twigs to fall, along with a modest amount of rain. We lost power for a while on Thursday, but were out of town for most of that time. We're looking forward to some nice weather the next few days, for a change.
Sunday, September 26. Jennifer has been tired a lot, but she is over her cold. Her appetite has picked up in the last few days; her weight, which has been about the same for some time, may be increasing a bit. She went shopping with her Oma a couple of days ago, and bought a dress for one of the weddings she's going to attend in the next couple of months.
Hurricane Jeanne is moving up Florida as this is being written, but is expected to stay to the east of us. We may get some high winds, and most likely will get a lot of rain, but it shouldn't be too bad.
Sunday, October 3. Jennifer is about the same as last week. She gets tired a lot, but is mostly okay otherwise. She has made plans to spend a long weekend in Houston in a couple of weeks for a wedding, and is looking forward to that.
We had very few problems from Hurricane Jeanne, and there aren't any more hurricanes in sight right now (although hurricane season doesn't end until after Thanksgiving). So far, so good.
Sunday, October 10. Jennifer is still about the same--she gets tired a lot, but is mostly okay otherwise.
Thursday we went to Lake Ella for "Light the Night," a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. After a couple of hours of eating, listening to music, and talking to several friends we met there, we walked around the lake with (electrically) lighted balloons. Jennifer made it all the way around (about half a mile?) once, then watched as the crowed went around again. The Society raised over $46,000 for leukemia and lymphoma research.
Yesterday Jennifer got a CD-ROM of Debussy and Fauré sheet music. She wants to start playing the piano more, and we really enjoy hearing her play.
Sunday, October 17. Jennifer came back from Houston this evening, tired out and glad to be home. She had a great time there, however. She got to see Winston and his brothers and his mother again, and the wedding was fun. The bride was Chinese, the groom wasn't, and the food was varied and good.
Now it's time to rest and recover, and get ready for the next trip.
Sunday, October 24. Another pretty good week. Jennifer and her mother frequently visitor to Lake Ella on week days, and often walk around it—at least as far as the Black Dog Cafe, where Jennifer enjoys an Italian soda or a cup of hot white chocolate. Yesterday Jennifer and I and her friend Lauren had lunch at the Greek Food Festival, and last night Jennifer and I went to Ruby Diamond to hear Shastakovich & Rachmaninoff played by the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. Jennifer enjoys getting out and about, especially when she can sit down and rest when she needs to.
Sunday, October 31. Another typical week. Last Sunday afternoon, the three of us went to see Shrek 2. Jennifer and her mother frequented Lake Ella and the Black Dog Cafe during the week, and yesterday Jennifer and her grandmother went out for lunch and got some material for Jennifer's beginning cross-stitching. Last night she carved jack-o-lanterns at Yuh-Mei and Lester's house. This afternoon, Jennifer and Lauren went to Tom Brown Park for Dog-o-ween (dogs in Halloween costumes). While in her room, Jennifer enjoys watching birds in a new bird feeder outside her window.
Sunday, November 7. Another good week. On days when Jennifer and her mother don't walk around Lake Ella, we try to go for a short walk in the evening. Friday Jennifer and her mother drove up to Auburn, Alabama, to visit Judy B., a long-time family friend. Yesterday Jennifer and I went to the Sugarplum Fair and Market at Goodwood Museum & Gardens in Tallahassee, and she found a long hand-made batik scarf/wall hanging that she liked. Today Jennifer is working on a painting of some bamboo as a birthday present for her Oma (grandmother).
Sunday, November 14. Jennifer is in the Boston area (Cambridge) for a while. We saw her off at the Tallahassee airport Thursday around 5 pm, and she finally got there after 10. Her flight was late getting into Atlanta and she missed her connecting flight, but managed to get another one. We had arranged for her to get wheelchair transportation in Atlanta--it can be a long walk in a short time and she gets tired quickly--and a Delta rep met her at the arrival gate. They didn't help her get to the gate for the backup flight to Boston, but she managed anyway. Yesterday she and Winston flew to Maryland for the wedding of one of his old roommates. She'll spend most of the next nine days back in Cambridge, where Winston is working on a Master's degree at Harvard.
Sunday, November 21. Jennifer is still in the Boston area (Cambridge) with Winston and friends. We'll have more news to report after she returns.
Sunday, November 28. Jennifer finally got home Tuesday. She was scheduled to be here Monday night, but her flight from Boston was delayed and she missed the last flight from Atlanta to Tallahassee. Delta put her up in a nice hotel, but she got only about five hours of sleep before getting up for her new flight—which was itself then delayed. She finally got home late Tuesday morning. It was a good trip overall. She went to the wedding of one of Winston's old roommates, and also visited with Lisa and Denis (long-time friends from Tallahassee, now living in Boston), and got to spend some time with Winston.
Late Tuesday night Jennifer's sister Monica arrived home after a long car trip from Chapel Hill. Wednesday, their cousin Joachim flew in from New York City, where he works for a software training company and also does some acting, directing, and writing on the side. We all enjoyed his visit, which included walking in the sunshine at Lake Ella, eating good food at Oma's house, and a lot of just talking and laughing. Joachim had to leave yesterday, and this morning Ursula drove Monica to the home of the friend for the start of her trip back to North Carolina, but this afternoon Jennifer's cousin Elisabeth (Joachim's sister) and their mother are driving up from Central Florida for a short visit. It's been a full week, but a fun one for Jennifer.
Sunday, December 5. Great news! Jennifer's 11/30 MRI not only showed no tumor growth compared to her 8/20 MRI, it actually showed a smaller "enhanced" area. "Enhancements" on the MRI are highlighted areas that include the effects of the radiation that Jennifer had earlier and can also include tumor tissue. The fact that the enhanced area decreased over the last two months does not mean that all of her troubles are over, but it is very encouraging.
Other than some celebrating Friday after we got the MRI results, it's been a quiet week for Jennifer. She's been resting up from the efforts of her recent travels and Thanksgiving visits. Her red blood cell counts are low, and she's getting periodic shots to help stimulate their production, but her platelets and white cell counts remain high enough to not worry about them.
Sunday, December 12. Jennifer's doctor in Gainesville was very pleased with Jennifer's 11/30 MRI. She will continue with the same anti-tumor medication, and doesn't need another MRI or doctor visit for another three months.
Jennifer's red blood cell counts are still low, and this–as well as at least two of the medications that she's on–causes her to be tired most of the time. She's coping, though, and manages to go for the occasional walk or shopping trip. Yesterday she braved a crowded Super Walmart with me and picked out bows, garlands, and lights for our front yard.
Sunday, December 19. It's been a quiet week for Jennifer. Most of her walking has been around malls–Christmas shopping–rather than around Lake Ella. She has started tapering off her anti-seizure medicine—Dr. Smith thinks she doesn't need it, and it may be contributing to Jennifer's tiredness. She is still tired most of the time, but it will be another three weeks before she's off that medicine entirely. Another one that can cause fatigue is an anti-tumor drug, and she's staying on that one!
Sunday, December 26. We had a relaxing week at the beach, on St. George Island. Jennifer chose a cozy room in a loft, even though she had to climb some steep stairs to get to it. She also took a walk or two on the beach, but low temperatures and rain limited our outside activities much of the time. Jennifer didn't always feel her best during the week, but in general we had a great time. Jennifer's friend Lisa came to visit us on St. George, as did Lisa's parents and sister, which added to the fun.