Ana Updates 017 January 12th 2009 (English)

January 12, 2009

I’m so proud of Ana.

Ana is improving day by day.

On Friday she had her last application of radiotherapy (at least for now). This will help her to start feeling a bit stronger as each day passes. She will continue to receive the different chemotherapies.

On Friday she started to eat pureed food in very small amounts. Today she was able to eat a saltine cracker and swallow it without any problems. She was able to sit up straight for about 5 minutes. She had the strength to do it but her balance needs work. She has been in bed for more than 6 weeks. Her folly catheter (pee pee tube) was also removed.

Tonight she called home for the first time to speak with the kids before they went to sleep and make sure they had done their homework.

Ana is getting two daily sessions of general physical therapy and one of occupational therapy (to rehab fine coordination in her hands and arms), plus the speech therapy. It’s pretty exhausting for her. She gives it her 101%. To be proud of someone has a whole new meaning in my book.

She was moved to a different room. She’s still on the 5th floor in the cancer ward, but she was switched out of the critical care room that’ she’s been in for the last 3 weeks to a normal room. This is another important step. A short time ago Ana was in such a bad situation we were on the verge of going to the intensive care unit.

The new room number is 5205 instead of 5217. The new room is a lot bigger. The head nurse said to me “We should get you a room with stadium seating so you can fit all the visitors your wife receives”. She made me laugh. It’s so wonderful to see the concern that so many people have for Ana’s health. I can only say thank you.

It’s hard to believe that watching a 39 year old woman eating a cracker or sitting up for a few minutes could cause so much joy but life is full of surprises. Things that we take for granted all of a sudden become significant accomplishments.

Like I said before I’m so proud of Ana. Normally a cancer patient will get their different therapies separately. In other words they complete radiotherapy then have a period of a few weeks to recover, then chemotherapy followed by a recovery period and then followed by any other treatments that may be necessary.

Until last Friday Ana was receiving daily sessions of radio therapy, the two types chemotherapy in her blood stream plus the chemotherapy in her spinal fluid simultaneously. Obviously this was not a voluntary decision; it’s the only path we had to fight for her life. Anyone of these individual therapies can be extremely taxing on a person. Ana is taking on all four at once and is doing great.

She also gets her blood sugar tested twice a day, she has to take massive amounts of steroids to help keep the inflammation in her brain controlled and this raises her blood sugar levels. Even though she’s not a diabetic, she is has a temporary diabetic situation so she needs insulin to keep her physiology as normal as possible. Her blood pressure is also measured 3 times a day. She gets a full battery of medications like steroids, insulin, antibiotics, anti convulsive, anti depressants and only God knows how many others.

It’s incredible how well she’s standing up to this. After 6 weeks in bed and 3 weeks of chemo and radiotherapy her blood count remains remarkably strong. Her skin is in great shape. Her face looks fresh.

Instead of getting weaker and fading she’s getting stronger and shinning. Once again, I’m so proud of Ana.

I always knew I had an absolutely incredible person as my wife, but after knowing her for almost 18 years I’m starting to realize that I had barely scratched the surface.

Music has always been a huge part of my life. It has always been a key part of my emotions; a magnifying glass thru which I can see the outer world and also view my inner world. Ana began to know and understand me by listening to “my music”. Some of the music I love can be very unconventional and some of it pretty standard.

I’ve always loved to have people listen to “my music” and eventually understand exactly what they’re listening to, what the artist is trying to say or what it means to me. Not in vain after so many years I still miss working as a DJ and doing radio.

So for what it’s worth I decided to start sharing some of that music with all of you. You have give me so much energy with all your visits and messages that I want to give something back. I will try to pick one song a day to share with you. I’ll send a link to listen to it and the lyrics.

Since I’m so proud of Ana let’s start with the song Proud by Heather Small.


Sincerely


Victor

------------------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6994kxPSDI

Proud – Heather Small

I look into the window of my mind
Reflections of the fears I know I've left behind
I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I am on my way
Can't stop me now
And you can do the same

What have you done today to make you feel proud?
It's never too late to try
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
You could be so many people
If you make that break for freedom
What have you done today to make you feel proud?

Still so many answers I don't know
Realise that to question is how we grow
So I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I am on my way
Can't stop me now
And you can do the same

What have you done today to make you feel proud?
It's never too late to try
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
You could be so many people
If you make that break for freedom
What have you done today to make you feel proud?

We need a change
Do it today
I can feel my spirit rising
We need a change
So do it today
'Cause I can see a clear horizon

What have you done today to make you feel proud?
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?
'Cause you could be so many people
If you make that break for freedom
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
What have you done today
You could be so many people?
Just make that break for freedom
So what have you done today to make you feel proud?

I look into the window of my mind
Reflections of the fears I know I've left behind
I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I am on my way
Can't stop me now
And you can do the same