Well, as predicted Wednesday was terribly busy. Unfortunately I misjudged the timing of things and took Helen on a supermarket adventure in the morning which then rolled on into getting a blood test at the Mater, driving to Wickham Tce to see the Psychiatrist, driving rapidly back to the Mater for what we thought was to be a conversation with the medical oncologist but turned out to be the beginning of the next cycle of chemo - 2 drugs, 3 hours. Poor Helen missed official lunch but luckily we'd had enough non-official snacks to tide her over until the sandwich trolley came round at chemo. Increasing anxiety and slight confusion has continued to be a problem. The oncologist, Dr C, told us her sodium has done a rapid dive from 135 on leaving hospital to 127 now and this could cause confusion and twitchiness. Sadly this means she is back onto a litre fluid restriction. The psychiatrist, Dr A, said he felt it was all anxiety rather than depression and again there were various factors driving it not least of which is a biological effect of the cancer itself. He increased Helen's Epilim, kept Olanzapine at 5mg with the option of 10mg whenever we want to use it and suggested prn lorazepam rather than an antidepressant at this stage.
Thursday started well - Helen and I drove out to Fig Tree Pocket to meet Julie and her 2 children at Lone Pine. For those from elsewhere Lone Pine is an icon to the children of Brisbane - all of us were taken there at some point to feed kangaroos and have our photos taken holding koalas! In my memory I didn't think so much of it but the current reality was delightful and a very pleasant way to spend a morning.
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