Send a Message to Stacey
If you would like to post a message to Stacey and her family, this is the place to do it. Just click the “Comments” link below; you do not have to create an account on Blogger, but you will have to decipher some letters to prove that you are a human being and not a spambot.
I will create a permanent link to this message on the sidebar so that it does not get archived into oblivion.
April 29: Thoroughly Uneventful
Nothing of interest happened today.
(Thank God!)
By the way, I just wanted to let you all know that Stacey is reading this blog, as well, so she will see any comments or suggestions you post here. She said “I check in every day, just to see how I’m doing.”
April 28: a calmer day
Stacey went to work this morning, went in for her hip zap, picked Ruby up and came home for some Chinese takeout with her family. That is all.
Oh, except that I set up an appointment for her with the fabulous Kerry and Judi Weinstein, who have an acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine practice here in town. They have fifty years of combined experience, amazing insight and compassion, and Judi wears glittery green Danskos. What more could you want?!
(Seriously, if you live in this area and are looking for an acupuncturist, look no further, they really are fantastic.)
May 8: An Opportunity to Help
The American Cancer Society “Relay for Life.”
On June 9-10, at the Lincoln-Sudbury High School track, I will be joining hundreds of other people in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. We enter the event as a team, and each team commits to having at least one person on the track at all times… all night.
Now, when I heard about this, I couldn’t figure it out. All night? Round and round a track all night? For why? Well, here’s the best explanation I could find:
“Relay For Life was originally conceived as a 24-hour event because cancer patients battle the disease around the clock. When we relay, we go on whether it is day or night, rain or shine… cancer never sleeps, so neither do we. There is no finish line until we find a cure!”
So, as far as I can tell, it’s another opportunity to do nutsy things for cash. (I, myself, have absolutely no problem with this; in the next few days, you will see some other nutsy things I’m willing to do for a donation to cancer research.) There is only one catch: I must raise at least $100.00 to be able to participate. If you would like to sponsor my Relay for Life, please follow this link to my Relay page and pledge your support. And thank you!
I Found a Typo; Should I Harass Stacey’s Sister About It?
Oh, by all means.
But please bear in mind that although I am an editor, I am just as bad at proofing my own work as everyone else is. Also this is a semi-creative endeavor, not a user manual, so I allow myself all sorts of Faulknerian liberties such as starting not only my (occasionally endless) sentences but even whole paragraphs with prepositions which, by the way, according to Theodore Bernstein, is not actually all that bad. But I digress. (Which I am also allowed to do.)
I am especially interested in hearing about broken links and subtle points of grammar and punctuation. Boring typos may or may not be fixed (I got a life to lead, Cha Cha!)
Contact me at deb AT staceyssister DOT com. (Parsed thusly to avoid spam; replace the AT and the DOT with the appropriate symbols and then squoosh it all together.)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Diagnosis and Treatment Plan although this is likely to change over time…
Prognosis: health and wellbeing. Everybody good with that?
Update to Update for April 27
So, I just saw Stacey this evening, and she looked and sounded a lot better than yesterday. She said that she read somewhere that the chills/fever reaction is common for the iv hormone treatment, but is temporary, and that she woke up this morning feeling very well.
I also noticed that she is walking more easily — she said that her hip isn’t bothering her as much right now, but that her legs feel stiff (no surprise, as her muscles have had to work pretty hard to get her around while bracing her hip).
And, so that I can stop writing about “bone glue” and “hormone stuff,” she gave me a list of all the medications and supplements she is being treated with right now. (Has anyone ever noticed that Stacey’s handwriting leans to the left instead of to the right? Who taught this girl her penpersonship?)
Anyway, for your reading pleasure, here is…
The List of Stuff They’re Pumping Into My Sister
(Links go to WebMD definitions; click on “Uses” for information. Do NOT read “Warnings,” as these are extremely scary and we’re not dwelling on stuff like that.)
Pills
Percocet, now replaced with a longer-acting version (pain reduction [this is for the hip])
Flexeril (muscle relaxant, also for the hip)
Tamoxifen (estrogen blocker)
Compozine (anti-nausea)
Zofran (anti-nausea)
Emend (anti-nausea)
IV
Zometa (Bone glue!)
Herceptin (just says “used to treat breast cancer.” Gee, that’s helpful…)
Two others with the chemo (not sure what these are yet)
Supplements
Vitamin E
Vitamin C
Ginseng
Iron (slow fe)
A partridge in a pear tree
Update for April 27
(Sorry, I couldn’t think of a snappy title.)
Stacey is continuing the radiation and “bone glue” treatment for her hip; apparently, this will go one for more than one week, but we’re not sure how long. She has also started the hormone therapy that will slow the cancer down, and whether it’s that or the cumulative effect of the radiation, she is feeling not actually all that terriffic. She said last night that she feels shaky and keeps having the chills and fever feeling that sometimes comes with the flu. And generally very tired. Her hip is still very painful, but she is able to drive and sit at work fairly comfortably.
Suggestions for Complementary Treatments
Stacey has been feeling very good about the quality of care she is getting, so she is not on the lookout for Alternative treatments (anything that would be used instead of standard treatments.) However, we’re always up for Complementary treatments (those used in addition, to complement standard treatments.)
If you have a suggestion for any supportive treatments that you’d like Stacey to know about, please post it as a comment here. Links to additional information are very much appreciated.
The Stacey Report 
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