Sue Charen

Post Chemo

Sue is now getting chemo every six weeks. Since getting it this last Friday, Sue has been generally free of nausea. No longer with a cold or ear infection, she is doing much better. Next Friday she has the regular MRI to make sure nothing is happening.

It was a wonderful new year celebration with guests from out of town visiting. It has been quiet since then, with the snow and ice storm keeping us in this weekend. 

Happy New Year -- a little late, I realize. 

Chemo and Colds

I know it has been awhile since the last posting about the death of my father. Sue and I have appreciated the outpouring of cards and calls from our friends. I will try and keep things up to date again.

Sue is now suffering through both a cold and having the LP chemo on Friday. Unfortunately, we could not postpone the chemo till Sue got better and probably it has made recovering from both more difficult. Sue is getting a lot of bed rest.

Last month, Sue had an appointment where her future treatment was discussed. Unfortunately, the wonder drug Sue is taking is not sufficient to fight the relapse in her brain without continued chemotherapy. There are one or two drugs that are likelier to be effective in getting through the blood brain barrier, but they are one to two years off from FDA approval. The doctor believes that with the current drug and the LP chemo every other month, there is a good chance to keep things in check until FDA approval. The doctor is monitoring the trials and success of these two agents that have already had human trials. We are also closely following these developments.

Arnold Bennett: My Father Died Suddenly This Weekend

Sue and I are grieving the loss of my father who had come down especially to be with us in DC/WV and to help us. On Saturday night, my father suffered a heart attack and died suddenly here in DC. 

We are holding a memorial service for him Thursday at 2pm.

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Arnold Bennett, former Washington political consultant, Families USA media director, writer and filmmaker, died suddenly on Saturday, while visiting family in Washington. Bennett and his wife , Nancy,have resided in Newfoundland, Canada for the last 15 years. He is survived by his wife Nancy, sons Daniel (Susan Charen) and Jeremiah (Marnie Wohl Bennett) and granddaughters Elorah and Serafina. A memorial service will be held this Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, 3935 Macomb Street, N.W., Washington, DC. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his name can be made to StephenLewisFoundation.org .

Pain in the Backside

Last week, Sue went in for the LP chemo (lumbar puncture). The hospital was able to do the LP to test the spinal fluid, and fortunately the results came back clean again. Unfortunately, the chemo was not ready for Sue and she had to go home without the chemo. Now the chemo is scheduled for next week when my parents are visiting. And Sue is recovering from the LP which is a pain in the...

Also, Sue has had some leg/hamstring pains which she will get an MRI to check on. 

After next week's chemo, Sue may only be getting chemo once every two months as long as the tests remain good. 

Deer, MRI and Birthday

Wednesday Sue celebrated her birthday with her folks in for the holidays. Then on Friday, Sue went in for her doctor's appointment and MRI. Fortunately, the brain scan in the MRI looked clear of the original tumor and there was no evidence of anything else. If the next lumbar puncture chemo is clear, then the chemo treatments will be less frequent. Still waiting to hear how well the oral medication's effectiveness is.

And then, just minutes ago, a young male deer visited us for lunch (we had eggs, he had grass). Here are some of the pictures of our new friend. 

 

deer

Third Test is Also Clear

Sue has been recovering from her LP/Chemo a week ago. There was some pain and nausea, but mainly being tired from it. We learned that the last test came back clear of detectable leukemia. This means the chemo has pushed it back. We are hoping to see if the Sprycel drug is also working within the central nervous system, which offers even more protection. We haven't heard the schedule for chemo, but it will probably be once a month. 

Aviary and Moonlight

Last night, we looked out into the yard and saw strong shadows. As we stepped out we could see the light that was creating the sharp and clear shadows, it was the moon. The moon was almost too bright to look at directly. As walked in the lawn, it seemed almost like daytime, not needing to strain to see each other or the trees and house lit by the moon alone.

Earlier yesterday, Sue spent sitting on the porch in our aviary of sorts. During the day, purple thrushes, doves, chickadees, yellow finches, small woodpeckers and many other birds are at our bird feeders. Often the woodpeckers will alternate between the feeder and banging against the trees. Yesterday, was the first day without a downpour in a while and the air felt good, not sticky or clammy.

Sue has been feeling well enough to do some work, and thanks to the generosity of colleagues, has received some additional leave to fill in some of the gaps. The medications and aftereffects of the treatments still cause bouts of discomfort, but have been more manageable. Tomorrow, Sue will go in for her next LP chemo treatment. May be we will get a better sense of the treatment schedule going forward. 

And thanks to our friends who brought out a nice lunch during the week and helped teach me a little about planting.

Welcome News for the Labor Day Weekend

Sue has had a string of friends visiting over the Labor Day Weekend. Friends from junior high, book club and work, all stopping by our house. It has been a good weekend that started out with welcome news from Sue's doctor. Apparently the last two results from the chemo/LPs came back clear of leukemia. It is now down to an undetectable level. Sue will continue to receive chemotherapy, but probably somewhat less often, perhaps every other week. 

Although the last LP went much better, Sue still needed time to recover. With more time between treatments, Sue should be getting more energy and less nausea we hope.

Earthquake and Waiting

Sue has had a couple of intrathecal chemo treatments (direct delivery of chemo to the central nervous fluid by way of an LP, lumbar puncture). These times the chemo was an easier to tolerate type. Still the LP itself can cause a bit of nausea especially the day of. We are still waiting for the results from the last two, which will tell the doctor if she has to continue the twice weekly chemo. 

While we were waiting, Sue in bed recovering from the LP/chemo, the house started to shake and the telltale rumble of an earthquake struck. I quickly checked out the USGS site to confirm (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/ ). 

While we continue to wait for the results, and now as the excitement of the quake recedes, I continue to do research on the potential drugs that may be helpful to Sue. New drugs are being tested that may be eventually approved for use by the FDA that could be potentially better than the one that Sue is taking (and itself is the third of the wonder drugs that Sue has been on). 

Waiting for results, waiting for new answers, waiting for FDA approvals, but the shaking yesterday did not speed up the process. But it was an interesting diversion.

Arachnoiditis

Apparently, the pain was caused by arachnoiditis which can be caused by the type of procedure and chemo Sue had. Fortunately, the effects have mainly worn off and Sue is doing much better. The steroids given to other patients have staved off this problem, but for Sue it might have helped to have more steroids. 

Due to the still apparent leukemia found in the spinal fluid, the doctor has moved Sue to having chemo more often. But, for now, not the harsher one that caused the arachnoiditis. Sue will be treated Wednesday, next Monday and next Friday possibly. 

Sue is working right now and enjoying the cool breezes from the yard.