Deaths and Births

We are all very sad. Janette's eldest sister, Elenore "Sis" Theroit died this afternoon with all her family around her. Aunt Eliska flew to Louisiana early today to be with Aunt Sis. Janette is staying in Florida with me.

Two weeks ago, their cousin and foster brother "Dickie" also died. Aunt Sis went into the hospital and critical care soon after. They are the first siblings, out of the 10, to leave them.

Earlier this week, we were happy for Aunt Eliska. Her granddaughter, Rebecca, gave birth to an 8 pound 13 ounce baby boy, Zigmund or "Ziggy." I'm not sure of the baby's last name or if I correctly spelled his first name.

Last night, we also learned that Jill's daughter, Lacie, gave birth prematurely to an almost 2 pound baby boy, Kaden. Mother and baby are doing fine, though we were worried about both when we learned the day before that Lacie had gone into labor.

Also yesterday, Jochen flew in from Oregon to spend 3 weeks with us here. Aunt Eliska and I drove to the airport to bring him home and then at 4:30 this morning, Jochen and I drove Aunt Eliska to the airport to send her to Louisiana.

To make an understatement, the Plaisance-Theriot clan has had a very stressful week.

Stressful Week in Clearwater

Last blog entry, I wrote that Janette was not feeling well after her compounded treatments. The next day she felt even worse--vomiting, running a fever, sleeping most of the time and not able to eat or drink. The oncologist prescribed antibiotics, just to be sure, though the fever may have been from dehydration. Her weight dropped from 126 that Thursday to 119 on Monday. This Monday through Thursday, we went each day for Janette to get a liter of IV fluids and an IV dose of Tagemet, steroids and antinausea meds. They call that a "Happy Meal." By Wednesday, Janette was feeling much better. But still, she is not eating or drinking much and is dehydrating too quickly, too often. Early this morning while I was napping after my airport run, I heard her calling out to me. She was mildly disoriented, gaunt and lightheaded--all signs of dehydration. So, once again we drove to the cancer center for a liter of saline and a small dose of steroids.

I've avoided writing about this because it upsets her so much when we all tell her: Janette is not eating and not drinking anywhere close to enough to be healthy. She's not nauseous; she just doesn't feel like putting anything in her stomach. Cancer does that. Now her stomach has shrunk so much, she feels full after a few bites or sips. I think the lack of nutrients, fuel, electrolytes and water is her biggest health challenge. IV fluids are not the answer. The nurses say she needs fluids in her digestive system. The nurses have explained also that one liter is not enough even for one day. I think Janette is drinking about three cups a day on average and never more than four. And dehydration and maybe chemotherapy also cause her to pass more fluids than what she takes into her body. She is never taking in enough to stay even mildly hydrated and each week has at least one dehydration "crisis."