Today I was supposed to be on a plane to Italy for three weeks to celebrate ten years that GS proposed along the hillside overlooking the Amalfi Coast. Instead I was with mom at an infusion center, then at the hospital getting her ready for a blood transfusion tomorrow. Makes the thought of planning seem futile.

Mom had Day 2, Cycle 2 (carboplatin + gemzar) today. Everything ran well. No nausea. Pain managed. Unfortunately, more weight loss.

Plus her hemoglobin is low (anemia) so they gave her a dose of Aranesp (a product I’m very familiar with through my work; the company that makes it, Amgen, is a client of mine). And tomorrow she’s going in for a four-hour blood transfusion.

So if we stick to the original plan (see paragraph one) we are at the halfway point of the chemotherapy regimen.

The weather has been warming up here in Napa, and we’ve enjoyed the daily trip out to the garden to see how things are progressing — you can see the embryonic grape clusters forming, the orange tree is blossoming, the tomato plants are holding their own.

This morning on my early walk I spotted six hot air balloons hovering over town. It’s such a peaceful scene and I love those quiet hour-long walks around town, and reminiscing about where friends lived and where we drove around town in the flush of independence after getting driver’s licenses.