Emily Update - 7.15.17

Greetings from Emilyland!

I know I haven’t done an update in a while, and let me assure you, it’s not you, it’s me. I’m lazy. Let’s not bring it up again. Except for me to remind you that the Jews spent 40 years in the desert so, technically, I’m doing better than God.

So, here’s what’s happening around here. Emmy had a chemotherapy treatment on Thursday, as of the maintenance protocol. That protocol includes a treatment every three weeks until this type of chemotherapy stops working or the side effects become intolerable and scans (CT or PET) every three months to see if the cancer is growing or not.  Her scans up to this point have shown that the cancer is growing very, very little of not at all. The comments on these reports identify this stasis as “not exceptional.”  It is very strange it is to see a written report about Emily that says “not exceptional” all over it. I just keep thinking, “Have these people MET her?!” Apparently they cannot revise the term just for one person blah, blah, blah.

I tried to argue that the term is kind of demeaning to everyone it is directed at (Solidarity Forever and all) but this effort, like so many of my other campaigns based solely on moral outrage, is not taking off. But I think everyone appreciates me bringing my voice to the discussion.

Emmy continues to tolerate the treatment very well. She does have fatigue and that is most extreme the week following the treatment and persists at a lower level after that. That is really the worst symptom but she also has had a bit of hoarseness in her throat lately. There are can be a more than one explanation for this.  Apparently, it can be a side effect of chemotherapy. It could also be because something may be pressing a bit on her laryngeal nerve. I suggested that maybe it is due to talking too much, but that hypothesis didn’t get much traction. Still, I think the medical team is really starting to appreciate my input. Our doctor kept telling the other doctors in the practice that I was available to join other consultations.

Abby