What's Up?

What's a girl to do when she wakes up at 1:11 in the morning and can't go back to sleep? Well this morning, I took a picture of my wonderful new slippers (Christmas present from my sister, Martha) and the sleepy look on Harry's face. These slippers are made out of those socks that years ago, folks cut up, re-stitched together, stuffed, and created into cute little monkeys with long curly tails. If you could turn my feet upside down, you could see the monkey smile, his nose and his button eyes. Aren't they adorable? My sister has a pair just like them. We also have monkey pajamas to match.

But what I truly love about this photo is the sleepy look on Harry's face. He really doesn't like it on nights when I can't sleep. At least he doesn't like it while I'm wandering around trying to decide what to do. He prefers for me to get settled in my Lazy-boy recliner, wrapped up in the down blanket and the soft, soft reindeer blanket, so that he can jump up in my lap, cozy up and go back to sleep. But this morning, I just wouldn't cooperate.

What is this about not being able to sleep? Perhaps it's the blood pressure medicine I'm on... does anyone know if that keeps your adrenaline pumping so you can't sleep? Perhaps I'm having "sympathy pains" for my sister who has been getting up for several weeks with Zoe at 2:30 in the morning. Is that possible? Whatever it is... I'm ready to return to sleeping through the night. However, just about the only thing that will put me back to sleep is to find MASH re-runs on the tv. And, those re-runs are never around when you need them.

Now for an update on my treatment as it's looking right now. The good news is that I have been given the "green light" for Cyberknife, something I've been talking about for over a year. So, over the next 30 days or so, I will receive radiosurgery through this robotic device at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. If you’re interested in the details of the procedures, you can check out http://www.accuray.com/ for a look at the machine, and to the right you can view a video. In the next few days, Clint and I are hoping the process will begin with the implantation of 4-5 gold fiducials (about the size of a grain of rice) in and around my liver. These will be the guide for the robot to know where the tumors are as I’m breathing during treatment. The placement of the fiducials is an out-patient surgical procedure. They will be inserted with a needle similar to a biopsy. Between that time and the actual robotic surgery (called non-invasive surgery), I will be fitted with a vest; a cradle will be molded for my body to rest in during the surgery (no movement allowed), and new CT and PET scans to the mm instead of the usual cm will be done. The actual surgery will require 2-3 days (all in one week) for timeframes that may be anywhere between 90 minutes and 3 hours. I cannot imagine not moving for three hours, but I do see a nap in my future.

We are waiting to hear from the doctors at Sinai for the scheduling of step 1, the placement of the fiducials. I'll put some quick posts on this site as I know what is happening and when it is scheduled to happen. Dr. Hudhud, my oncologist, is also meeting with us this Friday to talk about what chemo I need to be on. I haven't received any treatment since early December, so I need to get started on something again. Thanks for all your concern and prayers during these past few weeks. Clint and I are so appreciative of everything that you do and say to encourage us. Your prayers mean so much to us.