Second verse same as the first! A little bit shorter and not at all worse!  Mom/Kathy had her second chemo treatment on Thursday.  This week she had a view of Lake Erie from her chemo suite.  The treatment only lasted one hour this week!  The benadryl knocked her out quickly.  She was having an early St. Patty's day celebration substituting benadryl for beer.  Chemo was followed by a stop at Au Bon Pain for her weekly cheese danish and a mocha latte.  Mom/Kathy's chemo nurse this week was Kristin, who donated our blog title of the week.  Kristin is an upbeat nurse who lives in Tremont.  More importantly, mama likes her...so she must be Irish!  Happy to report no nasty pain or side effects so far.

We have a new edition to the menu at the Shamrock Chalet Bed & Breakfast. Kristian (daughter/sister-in-law, NOT chemo nurse) made Kathy's Krunch Protein Bars to make sure mama/Kathy gets all the protein she needs to fight the nasty little microscopic enemy!

Greg was able to Skype in from New Zealand this week during our Saturday afternoon family St. Patty's Day Celebration...AKA blogging session.  We all piled on the couch to chat with him.

 oh yeah, parking is still free!!!

Erin go bragh!!!

Little Miss Shamrock & Elfrhys

***Definition of reiki (n)

• rei·ki
• [ ráykeè ]

1. alternative medical treatment: in alternative medicine, a treatment in which healing energy is channeled from the practitioner to the patient to enhance energy and reduce stress, pain, and fatigue

So, notifications are working!!!

Well, sort of...

I needed to put a workaround in place to make them send correctly while I finish tracking down the problem.  As a result, you may be receiving an email that is addressed to someone else's username, or you may receive multiple emails.  Or both.  However, at least you're receiving it!

My apologies for the problems; hopefully everything will be sorted out soon.

-Angela

Meanwhile, back at the Shamrock Chalet Bed and Breakfast, Mom/Kathy is resting comfortably and Dad/Jack is happily creating new menu items to tempt her appetite. The newest addition to the menu is the Egg McJack, a delicious egg sandwich with spinach, red pepper, asparagus, cheese and Jack's Secret Spice Mix (recipe available upon request...for a nominal fee, chemo is expensive )

Things are progressing, stay tuned for more news!

Until next time,

Little Miss Shamrock & Elfrhys

Don't mind us, we are just testing notification system :-)

Karla & Ang

Before any medical updates there are two very important items that Kathy would like to be included. First, on Tuesday she needed to have blood drawn. We were sitting in the waiting area.

It was quite full. A woman arrived with two small children; one asked her mom, “Why are we here?” Mom said, “I need to have a test done.” The oldest of these two a girl, about 5 years old, immediately shouted, “Oh Boy, mommy’s getting a Princess test. A princess test!” This brought smiles to all present.

Second, Kathy wants everybody to know that during her chemo program she gets . . . wait for it . . . FREE PARKING! Now that is a big deal to Kathy.

Okay

We met with Dr. Rose on Tuesday. She has a large tumor mass on her right ovary. His review of the clinical data he had indicated that the probable stage of the cancer was Stage IV. The use of the word “probable” is because we are starting with chemotherapy. Evidently staging generally is a surgery thing.

Kathy starts chemotherapy tomorrow Friday March 7. She will do nine weeks (three cycles). At the conclusion of these treatments Dr Rose will review the progress. If all is as expected then she will be scheduled for surgery to remove the tumor. This will more than likely be followed by more chemotherapy.

For now, please send thoughts, good wishes, and positive vibes her way. Feel free to send emails through the “Contact” link on the blog. Do remember that the Shamrock Chalet is a “no-negativity” zone!

Aaand we have a blog!  :)