Linda Grace Deaderick

Linda Grace was born yesterday, June 9th, at 11:07 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz and was not quite 19 inches long. She favors her sister, Maggie, a lot. She is nursing, sleeping and all the other little things babies need to do very well. Katie is hoping to come home tomorrow but it may be Saturday. Katie is feeling as well as she might expect to after a c-section.

Annie has been the perfect big sister. She wanted to stay with her mother and Linda Grace during the day but still had school and a couple of final exams. She asked her parents to allow her to ask permission to take the exams early and get out of school so she could help her mother in the hospital. So, that's what she's doing and we are all very proud of her.

I saw my oncologist yesterday, or rather his P.A. It is doubtful the Herceptin (an antibody) was causing the pain in my legs. The more likely culprit is a delayed reaction to the chemo. He gave me a prescription for pain meds but so far I haven't filled it. My legs still ache but they are much improved from the intense pain I had last week. I would rather not take pain meds because they also bring with them side effects. So, if my legs don't put me in fits like I was last week, I can live with it. Today after I received my radiation I went to the infusion center and received my 8th herceptin infusion. I have 7 more to go to complete the full round of 15 infusions. I should finish either December or January. I'm very thankful to qualify for these infusions. Test trials have shown that herceptin increases the chances of survival of my cancer by 50%.

So far my skin is holding up well to the radiation. It is red and irritated but regular applications of aloe vera and an aloe vera product by Vaseline, have kept it from blistering or breaking open. I have 13 more radiation treatments. I am over half way! Yeah!!!

Best to all,
Linda