Status on Phyllis

Just spoke with Phyllis on the phone. She has been off her antidepressant for 14 days now, in preparation for her next round of chemo. Needless to say, she is feeling low. The nausea has subsided finally (now that she's ready for another treatment on Monday), but she says nothing tastes right. She is trying to eat and drink, but it is difficult when you have no appetite, no taste buds, and are nauseated most of the time. She said she has lost 20 lbs. Not good. We need to pray harder, so she can make it through this next round of treatments with a different drug. We don't know how she will react to it, but the doctor says she will ache all over. She sees her psychiatrist on Tuesday, so she'll see if there is something else that she can take that might lift her spirits some to get her through the treatments. I heard about a vagal nerve stimulator on 60 minutes a couple of weeks ago, and mentioned it to her to ask her psychiatrist about. I've known seizure patients, who did not respond to medications, who had a stimulator placed and it kept them from having seizures. Well, apparently, they found that those who also were suffering from depression that didn't respond to any of the antidepressants, felt like themselves immediately after the stimulator is placed. This guy they featured on 60 Minutes was a stock broker (Wall Street), very dynamic, but suffered from depression and was to the point of suicide because none of the meds they tried worked. Then they found out about this vagal nerve stimulator and he said he felt better immediately. He goes in every three months to get it recharged. Hope Phyllis is a candidate for it. I think it is just a same day surgery procedure.