Thank God for Friday

Yesterday was a really long and trying day. We were so tired the blog wasn't touched...sorry! We are currently at Julie's nephew Rich's house in Wisconsin. It's nice getting out of the hotel room and being around family. Rich has two dogs and we (especially me) are really enjoying them...I miss my Chloe. Yesterday the drs told us that the tumor had grown and is blocking the bile duct so Julie will be having a stint put in Monday morning to open it up and hopefully get her bilirubin down so that she can start chemo. The proposed treatment which Julie has agreed to is simultaneous chemo and radiation for 5-6 weeks. We will know more on Monday about when the radiation will start since it can be administered before the bilirubin is lowered and then they can start the chemo along with it once it goes down.

We met with the nutrionist, naturopathy dr, and mind and body person yesterday. They have already started Julie on a drug that will help with her digestion. There are so many options here. They have a chiropracter, which I'm sure she will see soon since her back is still giving her fits, accupuncture expert, massage therapist, cosmotologist, nail technicians, and just about anything else you can imagine. They stress treating the whole person and not letting the disease define who you are. Julie really feels comfortable here and seems to be excited about taking advantage of all of these resources.

We are not sure if we will be back on Wednesday or the weekend. The oncologist said she might need a few days to get clothes together etc. but I don't think she wants to waste too much time so depending on what the drs recommend she may take some treatment next week before we come home. She is in good spirit and I think this little weekend vacation will help her a lot.