Week Two

Hi everyone!

Radiation and chemo have begun and I am remaining healthy and feeling good. I will be meeting several times this week with radiation care providers, social workers, having my first weekly blood draw, and also attending an "educational session" on the process of radiation treatments. I am just hoping that I continue to feel as well as I have this week...

Aunt Dar and Uncle John visited us over the weekend. On Saturday we drove to Winona, Lake City, and crossed the Mississippi into Wisconsin. It was really nice to see them and we enjoyed spending time with family and traveling outside of Rochester.

Dan will be doing some testing this week as well. He has been having similar symptoms as those that lead to my original diagnosis and is having a MRI, video EEG and neuropsychology testing. Nothing to be worried about, he just wanted to checked out while in Rochester. Dan's also been talking with the media services department at the Mayo Clinic about photography opportunities. We bought some dress shirts and shoes last week for his interview and training.

Below are pictures of our new apartment, which is about a ten minute walk from the clinic. Dan and I share a single bedroom with two twin beds, bathroom, and a mini fridge/microwave. Downstairs there is a large common area that contains several couches and a pool table. The kitchen and laundry room are also shared.

Go Iowa! Whoo.

Aunt Dar and Uncle John came up from Iowa this weekend to visit. We drove to the upper Mississippi river and stopped at some neat places along the way.

More soon... This has been a very busy week for Renee and me, lots to do. Thanks for your patience!

Hello everyone!

We were originally going to name this blog Renée in Rochester but decided that the subject of the blog was broader than that—about our lives in Rochester and Renée specifically. So, I will be writing a bit too, and together we'll try to share our time here.

It's been windy. Wind gusts of up to 45mph have been blowing through town. The temperature is expected to dip to a low of 32 degrees tonight. I asked a nurse today when snowfall usually came here and she said she'd love for snow to come in late October. "Last year it didn't snow for months. The wind-chill was forty-below but we didn't have snow until December."

Here's some pictures from the last week:

In good spirits. Near St. Mary's Hospital on the way to Caribou Coffee.






Morning at the Ronald McDonald House.





Dinner.





And by popular demand... the mask. Renee's radiology mask was molded to meet the contours of her face and attaches to the table so that each radiation session will radiate the same area. Each of the markers bolted to the mask allow the radiology techs to pinpoint the location of her head to align the machine (using lasers on the ceiling...yes lasers on the ceiling, how cool is that?)






Nah. Not that one. We're just getting ready for Halloween. Here's the real one...



More soon!

The First Post

Hello everyone!


I have finally gotten around to posting and will try to remember all that has gone on this week with flying, moving, removing, doctor's appointments etc. I hope to post at least once a week or if there is any big news. Dan may also be posting as time goes on...


We flew out of Seattle on 9/22 into Minneapolis and took the shuttle down to Rochester where we slept in a downtown hotel. The next morning we took a taxi out to the "guesthouse" we had rented and dropped off baggage before heading back to Mayo clinic for my first appointment of the day.


I met with Dr. Marks, a medical oncologist who will be managing me while I am doing Chemotherapy for the next six weeks. I was prescribed Temozolomide, or "Temador", which is a once daily pill that supposedly has seen less side effects in patients. Hopefully this will be the same with me! http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR601299


Thursday I met with my neurologist/ neuro-oncologist Dr. Lachance. I also had blood work done, which came back "normal." I also received another MRI, which appeared normal for post- brain surgery procedures.


On Friday I met with the Radiologist Dr. Brown to go over radiation treatments. I will be going in five days a week for sessions that are each about twenty minutes long. After our appointment I was fitted for a face mask that will help to make sure I am in the same position during each treatment.


We also found a new apartment on Friday! The other house was much farther than expected and, being without a car, would take us about a half hour to get to Mayo by bus. The new place is in the Old Town Hall complex, which houses a mixture of students and Mayo employees. There is a shared kitchen and living area/common room on the main floor. The bedrooms are furnished with two twin sized beds, desk, closets, bathroom, tv and mini fridge. We were able to get a handicapped corner room that is larger than others that were available. I'll send pictures once we move in on the first.


Yesterday Dan and I had an exciting day at the mall. (That's about all there is to say about this "exciting" adventure...) Mom also flew in from Seattle and will be staying until next Friday.

Today was pretty relaxed and was mainly spent walking around the downtown area. We did stop by K-Mart and mom tried on a children's dinosaur costume. I was trying to convince her to be puff the magic dragon for  the Kinetic Ball at Halloween....

The seasons are definitely shifting and I am enjoying the wind and changing colors of the leaves. I am hoping that winter does not come too fast and that treatments go by quickly. I will try to keep everyone updated the best that I can! Love you all....