Stand Strong With Us ♥

February 11, 2016

Michelle has completed her first month of chemo infusions, had a week off, and now has started the second round. All have gone pretty well, still with fairly minimal negative side effects.

There are many positive changes, though:

  • Lying down to nap or sleep is now a normal occurrence, and sleep is mostly uninterrupted.
  • We've stopped several medications, removed nearly all breakthrough pain medication, and are starting to reduce the base pain medications.
  • Appetite and food intake is up, sometimes with nearly-normal meal sizes and timing.
  • We've been able to do a few trips out for fun or light errands—the first multi-hour trips in two months that aren't medical appointments.

Michelle also had a small surgical procedure last week to receive a chemotherapy port, which has gone well and was used in the most recent chemo infusion.

This past weekend, Michelle cut her hair short for the first time in a long time! Check out some photos of the day on Twitter.

The cards and gifts have been tremendous—thank you to everyone who has sent something or said hello. We now have two doors in the house completely covered with cards and many more things around the house that lift our spirits. Starting to regain some structure to our days has been the biggest boost and continues to be our focus. We're both used to being very active people, but have settled into good routines inside the house of healthy eating, light activity, and proper care of everything that is going on. We are continuing to set our sights on incremental goals down the road and taking time to fully recognize the ones we are meeting each day.

© 2016 Michelle Petruzzi & Justin Miller ♥