Update from Stephanie, December 18th, 2012

Dear friends and family,

A quick update on how Gabriele is doing.  In general, very well!  She is still fighting nausea on a daily basis, and so it's quite difficult for us to get her to eat, although Suzi has taken over the Nurse Rachet role for that duty.  If we can get a few bites into her every hour, then we are happy.  We also have the feeding J-tube as a backup, so she gets a few hundred calories that way each night.  Despite the challenges, Mom continues to amaze us.  She walks 3 miles a day, works out with her weights, and even steps out to a holiday party or two.

Christmas is just around the corner, and we are ready!  We are all packed into the Clybourn house at present, as Suzi managed to rent her house out over the Christmas week.  Todd comes in Wednesday afternoon, Simone and Chris join us Friday night, and we'll all be together here during the holidays.

We have launched into the Christmas spirit by practicing our traditional Christmas songs every Sunday after Thanksgiving (what is still celebrated in many places as Advent).  There's a big Christmas tree in the living room, and we've scavenged, borrowed, and thrift-shopped our way to furnishing this big old hacienda until it's downright warm and comfy.  The kids have decorated throughout the kitchen, Ado bought a 7-foot inflatable snowman at the thrift shop, and they all shopped at the little Christmas store at school, so we are just about ready.  Now all we need are our traditional Christmas cookies!

As I look back on the last six months, I am so grateful for the time we have had together. My learning has been an immense and precious gift, as has the time together with my mom and family.  We continue to be hopeful, optimistic, and on the hunt for whatever might help.  We feel your prayers and love coming our way--so often yet another reminder of this positive energy makes itself known--and we are filled with gratitude.  May you all have a wonderful holiday season.  Watch for Mom and Rich's New Year's Letter at the end of the month!

With love,
Stephanie

Griffen's new haircut...just like Nana's!

Update from Stephanie, Dec. 11th, 2012

Here's an addendum from Stephanie:

It is probably too long between posts!  Please feel free to nudge me when I overlook posting.

Since her Whipple operation, Gabriele has been doing phenomenally well, considering all of the circumstances.  Her healing has progressed in a quite amazing fashion and she has a beautiful peace-sign-shaped scar to show for it.  She has very little pain at this point, 2 months post-surgery, which is GREAT for such a complex operation.  We go for 2 to 3 mile walks with her and help her work out with weights.  Her spirit is so willing, and she pushes herself constantly.

We continue to battle with nausea and eating.  It's been tough to get to solid foods and decent portion sizes; Mom tends to pick around at food, and no sooner did we get past the surgical pain than we launched back into chemotherapy, using a combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin recommended by the oncologist who tested her tumor.  She tolerated it fairly well except for nausea and platelet suppression.

We will start our second round of chemo today with a lower dose.  Mom is quite slender and beautiful, with this shimmering silver hair growing back in and framing her lovely eyes and face.  All her life she believed she had an ugly-shaped head with a "flat" spot in the back, but the opposite is true--her head shape is beautiful and round, and there is something so gorgeous and avant-garde in this new look!

We are putting together a team of doctors to continue her care: the conventional arm, with Dr. Nissen, her surgeon, and Dr. Nassir, her oncologist, at the helm, with an incredible backup team of doctors at Cedars-Sinai.  There is something extremely reassuring when you get admitted to the hospital and your doctors greet you with a hug!  We are also putting together a complementary/integrative medicine arm to help with the support side, supplements and other alternative medicines that will help Mom get through chemo and beyond.  Both teams, conventional and complementary, will work together (hence the integrative piece!).

We continue to be amazed at the flow of love and positive energy coming our way, coming Gabriele's way, even after six months of this work and learning.  Thanks to you all, keep that good energy coming!

With love,
Stephanie

You can also view Suzanne's posts about Gabriele at this website:
http://walkingpapers.wordpress.com/category/gabriele-rico/

Update from Rich, December 10th, 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

Gabriele had a different chemotherapy agent infused on November 20th and 27th.  Although her negative response was not as severe as the last two times, her platelet count dropped due to the chemotherapy and fell below a critical level.  Her physicians felt that she should be admitted to the hospital, which occurred last Monday (a week ago).  She was discharged on Friday after receiving a few units of platelets.  For the non-medical people, platelets are blood cells that assist in normal clotting; without them, excessive bleeding can occur.  Her attitude remains good most of the time.  We very much thank you for your concerns, prayers, and well-wishes.

Best,

Richard