Skype Me

Kristine and I made it back from Houston last week without any trouble. Kristine had mixed feelings about coming back home to Philly. She was sad to leave her parents and the relaxing lifestyle she was able to carried out with them. At the same time she knew she had to get back on a regular rehabilitation schedule if she is going to continue to make progress physically.

Kristine started rehab right away last week. Her first session was challenging. She said that she noticed some loss of muscle strength from a lack of regular exercise. Her therapist also pointed out that she had begun to compensate for her leg weakness when walking by swinging her left leg out instead of dragging it straight through -- a critical technique for regaining a more natural gait.

We are waiting to hear back from Dr. Staddon's office to confirm Kristine's appointments for scans. His office is a bit chaotic at the moment with his nurse practitioner out on maternity leave and his coordinator having been out on vacation. We will find out early this week when Kristine's scans are and by early next week we should have results to report.

Kristine also wanted me to let everyone know that she is open to talking to anyone who is interested on Skype. It's a lot easier for her to talk this way since she doesn't have to hold a phone up to her ear. If you are interested you can search for her name on Skype (she is the only Kristine Becker in Philadelphia) or email one of us for her address.
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Finally we both wanted to share this article with you all. It's about a recent study on diet and it's correlation to cancer and other disease. NPR NEWS LINK

An Uneventful Week

For me this is actually quite refreshing, but I really don't have much of anything to share this week. Unfortunately for you it makes for a pretty boring blog post.  

Kristine will be down in Houston for another week and a half. I'll be joining her and her parents starting later this week until the middle of next to fly her back home to Philadelphia.  She is doing very well, enjoying her time with her family and relaxing in the warm Texas sun before coming home to a routine of regular Physical Therapy. The blood that was coming up when she coughed has improved. It seems to be showing up in only very small amounts and only every couple of days versus everyday as before.

Other than that things have been entirely uneventful.  Hopefully after reconnecting with Kristine and spending time with her parents this next week I will have at least some good stories to tell. For now though I'll relish in the tranquility of an absolutely unremarkable and ordinary collection of days.  Of course, I say all this knowing that even uneventful weeks must feel anything but ordinary to Kristine in her current state.  

Until next week.  

In Her Shoes

When I asked Kristine what I should write about this week she replied, "shoes." That's right shoes.  With all that is going on in her life and all that you would expect her to be absorbed with during such a time, Kristine has but one thing on her mind. She is preoccupied by, if not obsessed with, the fact that she has an entire closet full of shoes and is restricted to just one pair of sneakers. This is, of course, because she needs added stability while she regains mobility in her left leg. However, this fact doesn't help abate her desire to buy and wear a variety of different types of footwear.   

I can't exactly put myself in her... ah-hum... shoes partly because I don't have her disability leaving my options completely open, but mostly because I can't even fathom having any sort of obsession with this attire for the feet. Even when I have had more than one pair of shoes at any single point in time (meaning two or maybe three if you include sneakers or flip-flops) I still gravitate toward that same familiar, established, no-need-to-break-them-in-any-more, comfortable pair of shoes.

For Kristine though the idea of wearing just a single pair day in and day out is torturous. She much prefers to have an assortment of different options at all times. When we travel anywhere at least half of our luggage is her shoes (this is no exaggeration). And buying shoes is like going on safari -- she hunts down her prized pair even if they just look good in her closet next to her others.

At the moment she can't even justify buying an additional pair of sneakers because the brace on her left ankle stretches the shoe out and she doesn't want to ruin another pair.  Knowing Kristine though this problem will not persist. Just like her dissatisfaction with the plain and unattractive canes she was finding eventually led her to a modern fashionable one from a London based company (switchsticks.com), she will again find a way to improve her look within the confines of her physical limitations.  

On a more serious note, ever since she has gotten over her respiratory infection Kristine has been coughing up a very small amount of blood almost ever day.  We talked to both our primary physician (who recently saw Kristine for her infection) and her Oncologist about this issue to better understand the severity. Both suggested that it could very well be related to the prior infection or to the frequent coughing that she has been having. Of course, given her current condition -- cancer in her lungs -- the blood is a cause for some concern.  Our Oncologist suggested that Kristine just watch it while she is in Houston to make sure it doesn't get any worse and to set up her 3 month check up scans as soon as she is back in Philadelphia later this month.  Neither doctor seemed overly alarmed given the very small amount of blood that is presenting, but just cautioned us to keep an eye out for more severe symptoms.  Otherwise Kristine is doing very well, feels great and is enjoying the warm Texas weather, even if she does have to enjoy it in sneakers. 

Taking It Easy

Kristine is doing very well down in Texas with her family.  The weather has been nice and warm giving Kristine the opportunity to take in some sun.  Those of us on the East Coast are surely jealous, especially given the impending snowstorm that is headed our way.  She has started on a couple of natural therapies that have made her pretty tired, but the extra rest is probably doing her some good. Her mother has been disciplined about stretching her left arm and shoulder.  It's critical that Kristine keep her muscles loose so that when she does regains movement she will maximize her range of motion.

We have started to talk to one another via Skype.  Skype is a free application that allows you to talk over the Internet at no cost with anyone else who is also on Skype.  You just talk through your computer's microphone and speakers or through a headset.  You can also use a webcam to view one another live, which is what Kristine and I have been doing.  It's so much better to see the person on the other end of the line, especially for someone who does not like talking on the phone much like me.   

I've posted a slide show of pictures in the upper right corner of the site.  You can either watch them here on the blog or you can click any of them to view a larger version of the slide show.  I know, it's about time I got some photos on the site.  Enjoy.