Hello again. I meant to post this blog right after I returned from Vienna, but it's been a week already. My, how time flies!
This journey was accompanied by my good friend, Terri. She and I had a lovely week together, and we discovered a couple new cafes that I hadn't yet experienced. One of them was at the top of a hill, which the two of us and my cane managed to hike up without much difficulty. It had a beautiful view of Schonbrunn Palace and the rest of the city below. The other cafe looked like a palace inside, and the best part was the nightly live piano music played on a baby grand by a tuxedo-clad man. We ate there twice to enjoy the ambiance (and the desserts!).
The clinic was much busier this time compared to my other weeks there. We met quite a few Americans with sad stories to tell, but everyone managed to find a smile and a kind word. As with my recent scan reports, my lab results also showed a mixed picture. My tumour marker level is up again, possibly indicating more cancer activity. Some other indicators of immune activity, vitamin D and liver function showed improvements. So, it's hard to know what the take home message should be. I have also been having pain in my right hip, back of my skull and front rib. The rest of me feels pretty good. It's keeping my anxiety under control that has been my bigger challenge.
I had another treatment of low-dose chemotherapy, local and whole-body hyperthermia, and IV supplements. I continue to pray that these will be enough to get my body going in the right direction. I will go back again for the first week of April with my friend, Leslie, whom I met in Thunder Bay but she has sinced moved to the Toronto area. We are looking forward to a good catch-up.
Will and Alexis once again were superstars in holding down the fort while I was gone. No new pets were added to the household, thankfully! Life here is status quo which is how we like it. We're just working out the details for a little road trip during Alexis' spring break when I return in April.
No other news for now. Take care and God bless,
Shawna
