Darren LeBlanc

So today was chemo. That’s not the big story though…

The big story is that Misty got 15 needles this week. When you are on IV chemo your veins tend to get hard and don’t want to give up any blood, or even let you stab them to get an IV line in. Misty had her MRI a few days ago and it took them 3 tries to get a line in (they put a dye in her blood to contrast better in the scan). Then she had to get her blood taken on thursday (they took 6 pokes to get it right – and blew out 3 of her veins!). So we are up to 9.

Now, the outpatient chemo areas are generally filled with nurses who are extraordinarily good at setting up IV lines and taking blood. That’s basically what they do all day and the people who are best at it get sent there because the chemo patients are particularly hard. So Misty showed up today and was greeted by a very nice nurse who tried to get a line in and quickly called the most senior nurse in the center. Well, try as she might…she wasn’t able to get a vein either. So, the last hope is the IV nurse (a nurse whose job is to get IVs in when no one else can). The IV nurse shows up and spends about 30minutes trying to get a line in. 2 more pokes…and no luck. Then she brings in the ultrasound machine to try to find misty’s veins with that…lots of jelly all over her arms…but no luck.

So finally she takes misty out into another room to do a small procedure called a Midline IV Catheter. Basically, she put a thin tube deep into misty’s arm (this was needle #15 on the week!!) so we could actually get blood and give her the chemo. So after 3.5hrs of poking…we were ready to get started.

The rest of the day went ok. Misty is feeling pretty sick/exhausted…but we expect that.

So I chatted with the Dr today. It seems that the scan is just ok. No super great news…but doesn’t seem like its taken a huge turn for the worse either. So we are off to another round of chemo friday and we’ll get another scan soon to assess. I wish I knew more…believe me.

We go in for an MRI late this evening. Results will follow in a few days…

We are hopeful that this chemo is helping. (hopeful and prayerful)

In case anyone is checking in…misty is feeling significantly better today than she has since friday when she went in for chemo. Ah…a bit a relief. Not quite feeling great, but much better.

Its been a tough few days for Misty. When we got home from her 7 hr Chemo on friday she felt quite sick. She has felt quite sick each day since. Its tough for her to eat anything, so we are battling a bit with dehydration and lack of nourishment. The worst part is seeing her upset that she can’t care for her daughter like she wants to…

But Olivia is a champ. She walks over to the couch and gives mommy hugs and kisses when she is resting. And often lays next to her on the couch at night, falling asleep to an episode of My Gym Partner is a Monkey.  She really does make us smile. Today I left her in the living room for a minute by herself only to come back around the corner to her standing in the middle of the room blowing her nose into napkin that misty had been using as a coaster. This nose blowing thing is her latest trick. It’s pretty cute. Especially since most of the time she gets more on her cheek than she does into the napkin :)

Anyway, we are anxious about the next MRI…7 days and counting. We are praying for good results.

This morning was the memorial service for a good friend of mine: Lou Gayoso. Lou died at age 64, after 10 years with colon cancer. Lou had been a mentor and inspiration to me for years. When I was young and trying to break into the world of music, Lou opened up doors for me and provided guidance and counsel that has significantly impacted who I am today. Later, in college, Lou gave me my first paying Web Design gig (a side job that has stuck with me to this day) building a website for his business, JLG inc. Still later in my life, Lou was a friend; meeting occaisionally for lunch and exchanging emails about life, family and business.

What I learned most from Lou was the importance for a songwriter to have purpose in creating music. At age 15, Lou wrote a song with the Enchantments that rocketed to the top of our country’s billboard charts. He was a talented musician and songwriter who had proven himself in the secular music industry. Yet, as he grew in life he saw the higher calling of making music that impacts people for good. Making music to earn money is ok…but being able to do that and impact people in a positive way is a much higher calling. He embodied that to many of us younger aspiring musicians. I’m thankful for that.

I’m really sad to see him go…but happy to have known him.

—

Click photo below for the Asbury Park Press writeup:

Misty has the priviledge of another half day chemo session tomorrow. Hopefully, that will go well. 10 days later we get the scan to see if this has been halting the cancer. we are hopeful.

UPDATE:
So the chemo went pretty well. It took a little longer than we’d planned. We were there from 8:30am till 3:30pm. Misty didn’t feel great, but it wasn’t terrible. Now she is quite tired and bit nauseated, but thats pretty much what you’d expect. Hopefully, that will clear up soon. We are of course, remaining hopeful that in 10days her MRI shows significant improvement.

I’m excited about today.

I will be taking my wonderful, beautiful and incredibly strong wife out to dinner tonight. Its Valentines Day (as observed in the LeBlanc house, due to chemotherapy schedule –friday– combined with the burning desire to eat dinner in a “non-super-over-crowded” restaurant –tomorrow–). I believe we have found the most exquisite restaurant in NJ (but i really should wait till after dinner to make that judgment) – So expect a review!

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James (from the Bible)

Some days are better than others. But according to James..this is what makes us “mature and complete”. For that I’m happy.

Today was a great day.

Early this afternoon, I heard back from the doctor about Misty’s chest X-Ray and it turns out that she doesn’t have pneumonia after all!! It’s likely something less serious. On top of that…she is starting to feel better today and has been having a pretty good day.

I was able to get out of work a little early and I ran home to pick up Livi. I took her out to the beach to go take some pictures and walk around in the sand (it wasn’t all that cold….not exactly warm, but not freezing either). So we made the long 2 block drive over to the beach. Well, she didn’t like the whole sand thing.  I think it made her feel unstable. Oh well. So, I carried her and we took some pictures. We got “attacked” (read: “they landed very close around us looking for food I guess”) by one of the largest flocks of sea gulls I have ever seen.  Olivia was saying “bihr”, “bihr” repeatedly as we watched them stand in the sand looking at us (quite literally, they surrounded us). She has a bath toy of a sea gull that we call “bird” so she’s pretty familiar with these things. We also saw some beautiful clouds with light rays beaming through…it was quite nice. Then we get back home and Misty is feeling pretty good to boot. It was really a nice day.

Click on the picture below to see the photo gallery of our beach trip: