Connie (Mrs. WebSlave)

Connie called me again today. She is VERY homesick. She was crying most of the time, and when not crying, I could tell she was fighting back the tears. Not feeling well is certainly contributing to that. She is worried about her blood pressure (194) and the swelling of her feet and legs. She also seems to be very out of breath, having trouble breathing. She talked to a doctor today, and he said that fluid buildup from all the infusions is not unusual. And that fluid buildup could be contributing to pressure on her lungs to account for the breathing problems.

It is just tearing me up with her being so far away and I can't be there to hold her hand.

She got an X-ray to look at her lungs, but hasn't heard the results yet. She is due for more infusions today, so I guess that depends on the X-ray results and what her blood pressure reading is.

Had to take a valium yesterday, and then another one today after talking to Connie on the phone. These are only 2mg tablets, so they don't have any real notable effect on me. But I think they just take a little bit of the sharpness away from that blade sticking in my heart.

Oh Rich, I'm so sorry, for you both! It sounds like Connie is having a bad time, and you're unable to do anything. I hope they know what they're doing. I read a lot on their website, but don't recall seeing what percentage of patients go into remission, and of those, for how long? She just seems a lot worse than she was when she went in. I hope that's temporary. Try to hang in there, even if you need Valium to get some sleep.

I talked to her later in the evening and she seemed to be doing better. The doctors cut back some of the infusions she is getting. I also think it may be a case of just temporary effects from the infusions as they seemed to be doing better. She didn't seem as homesick, so I think the combination of not feeling well and just missing me was a bit too much for her to take. I guess she got used to when she wasn't feeling well here I was right by her side to take care of her. Her sister is there to help, but I don't think it is the same for Connie.

I told her if she wants to break loose and come back home early, I would arrange that with the airlines. Heck, I would drive there myself to go get her, if needed. But she really wants to stick it out. She has high hopes for that dendritic cell therapy. I checked and it appears that negative side effects are very minimal. Mostly flu-like symptoms for a few days, and some soreness at the injection site. I don't know if they will be using her port or not for this.

Saturday she is supposed to get something (according to her calendar schedule) called "LAK - lymphocyte activated killer cells". A search online shows something called "lymphokine-activated killer cell" instead. Hmm, info seems to be quite dated. I guess this is something else that the FDA swept under the rug. They seem to do that a LOT with promising cancer treatments that have no value to the pharmaceutical companies.

Connie just texted me and she says she is feeling a lot better. I think she just has been getting a lot of new stuff put into her blood stream, and she has always seemed more sensitive to such things than most people.

Well, one thing I can say through all this. I am finally beginning to see the benefit of having these cell phones. I guess I am being assimilated by the Borg after all.

Connie has been getting outside more and taking walks outside of the hospital grounds. She goes with her sister and at least one other person. Yesterday she had a 3 hour walk. I think it is doing her good to get outside and getting some exercise.

She seems to be feeling better, but still has a nagging cough. She thinks it is something in the hospital as she doesn't cough at all when outside.

Armed guards are everywhere in the area. And not just your Walmart security types. These are guards in full battle gear with rifles. Her sister took a pic of Connie the other day with a pair of those armed guards in the background. Sure doesn't give one a real warm and fuzzy feeling about walking about in Tijuana.

She looks like she's feeling better 👍🙂

She is looking very lovely in that last picture Rich.
When I had my open heart surgery both lungs collapsed with one being worse than other. They had me up and walking 24 hours later and that helped a lot with coughing. Sitting up was better than laying down but a brisk 5 min walk helped tremendously.

Hopefully she was just having a bad moment when she called earlier. When not feeling 100% some times you need a few minuets to cry and have a little bit of pity for yourself, then you go enough of that and go back to normal.

She'll be back soon, Hang in there!

She still has that nagging cough. Seems to cough. I won't lie, it really worries me. Ovarian cancer is known to spread to the lungs. And she already has cancer cells in the fluid that has been extracted from the sacs surrounding her lungs.

She had that "LAK - lymphocyte activated killer cells" injection today. They used her port, so that was a good thing.

She is supposed to begin the dendritic cell therapy tomorrow (Sunday) and I think that is not going to be any fun for her. Apparently they have to inject via a needle (and she says a LARGE one too) via veins in her thighs. Alternating from one to the other in the series. Others who had it said it can be a bit painful, even with the anesthetic administered locally.

God I wish she wasn't going through all of this. This is a very serious strain on my heart with the constant stress.

Hoping that the LAK introduction went smoothly. Connie is lovely in the picture. Tijuana, not so much. It has obviously changed since I was there with Dad in 1976, and not for the better. Keep talking care of yourself, Rich. You and Connie will be back together soon.

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Yeah, it will be really good to have her back home.

But how long can someone live with this text book Sword of Damocles dangling over their head before they just crack under the strain?

That goes for both Connie and myself.

Yesterday (07/10) Connie, her sister, and another patient got a taxi cab driver to take them on a little trip down south to a town called Rosarito. They had a good time, and Debbie took some pics of Connie. I think she looks like she is getting healthier. She has some of her color back and just seems like she is feeling WELL again. Yeah, maybe wishful thinking on my part, but I wish for little else these days.