Holiday and Treatment Updates

This holiday season was filled with love. My mom has always been blessed by her co-workers and close friends. She got to experience more of the blessings of their love and friendship through their generous gifts to her this holiday season. Many thanks from my family and especially my mom.

Mom also got to spend a lot of time with family. We celebrated my brother's birthday by going to Dave and Buster's. Mom enjoyed playing a few games and watching all of us as well. Mom even ventured to the mall to do some last minute Christmas shopping. My parents hosted Christmas at their house this year. We enjoyed a great meal and time together.

Mom's had some regular appointments to the Cancer Center. At her last chemo treatment, she was put on blood thinners. In order to make sure her blood reaches the right level, she's had to go have her blood checked at least twice a week. Thankfully, today at her regular chemo appointment, her blood reached a high enough level that she could stop the injections. Yeah....as mom said!!! The only negative, regarding her high blood level now, is that she was unable to have any fluid drained from her abdomen today. Over the holidays, mom's abdomen began filling with fluid again. It's been very uncomfortable. She's been short of breathe and unable to eat very much. The doctors did make an appointment for her to come back this Wednesday to see if she can have the fluid drained then. Please be praying that she'll be able to have the procedure done.

12 pounds

After mom's blood transfusion last Tuesday, she began to experience some swelling in her stomach. The swelling caused mom a lot of discomfort. After a call in to her oncologist, she was scheduled to have an ultrasound on Friday. The ultra sound confirmed that there was fluid in her abdomen. The fluid is a common occurrence for patients with the type of cancer mom has. The doctors went ahead and scheduled to have the fluid removed. Once they inserted a small needle into her abdomen, the fluid just poured out. They were able to remove 12 pounds of fluid. Amazing, huh? Mom had immediate relief. She was able to move, bend, and even able to sleep on her side for the first time in months. The doctors said that the fluid will return again. Mom is supposed to call when she begins to experience discomfort again. She was encouraged to not wait as long as she did this time.

Today, mom had her regular chemo appointment. She was feeling great. In fact, she's felt wonderful all weekend long. Yea!! Having the fluid removed, increased her energy and appetite. She even ate some steak this weekend. Mom was able to have chemo today. Her blood work came back fine. Her red blood cell count was way up. The only complaint mom had today was some leg pain. A few days ago, she began experiencing some discomfort in her calf. The doctor was a little concerned and decided to send her for an ultrasound. The ultrasound confirmed that it was the beginnings of a blood clot. Thankfully we caught it early. The blood clot is located right behind her knee and causing her calf to hurt because it's cutting off the blood flow. The doctor has now put mom on blood thinners to help get rid of the clot. She has to take a pill and also give herself a shot everyday. They will continue to monitor her blood and increase/decrease the medication as needed.

Update

The holiday weekend flew by. On Thursday, mom enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal at my house along with my husband's family. Then, on Saturday, we gathered with my dad's family for desserts and a movie. It was fun getting together with so many family members. Mom really enjoyed herself. We were a little worried that she wouldn't be up for all the festivities, because she'd been feeling a little weak. Since she began her new chemo cycles, she hasn't had much of an appetite and her energy level has been low.

Thankfully we found out the reason for her loss of energy yesterday when she went in for a chemo treatment. The nurses ran her blood work and her red blood cell count came back really low. They've been watching her blood count for some time now, but this was the first time it fell below 8.0. We were told before that she'd have to have a blood transfusion if it fell below 8.0. Her blood cell count was 7.1. So, that explained her loss of appetite and especially her loss of energy. The nurses canceled her chemo and scheduled a blood transfusion.

Today, mom went in for her blood transfusion. They gave her two bags of blood. Each bag took 3 hours. They were able to give her the blood through her port as well. Everything went well. She didn't have any immediate reactions to the new blood. The nurses noted that her hands and face were a little pink after the transfusion, which I guess is a good thing. Mom went home after the transfusion and rested. So far, she's been feeling fine. She is scheduled to receive her next chemo treatment on Monday.

Please be praying that her body continues to respond well to the blood transfusion and that her energy level increases.

The New Cycle Begins...

Today mom started her new treatment regiment. She is now only receiving 1 chemo drug with each visit to Community North. The morning and early afternoon flew by. The time she was required to be there has been cut in half with the treatment changes. Also, with all the changes, she now gets to decrease the amount of medications that she's been taking. Mom gets to cut out some of her nausea medicine, since she's no longer on the more aggressive chemo drug.

Her doctors continue to be very positive about mom's response to the treatments. They plan to continue to monitor her regularly. For now, she will receive chemo treatments every week. We are not sure yet about when or if she'll get to take another break from treatments.

Last week, mom really enjoyed the time off. She was able to spend a lot of time with friends. She got to go out to eat and even do a little shopping. As the week came to a close, she was able to join the family in an early Thanksgiving celebration.

6th Cycle Complete....Yea!!

Last week we got some good news. We got the results from another CT scan. The cancer is still stable. Yea!! We continue to give praise. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Today mom finished up her 6th cycle of chemo. Another yea!! We are so glad that everything has gone so well with these treatments.

Next week Mom gets an entire week off. And yet another yea!! She has no blood tests, CT scans, or chemo treatments. It's been a long time since she's had an entire week without any appointments. She's really looking forward to that time off to rest and spend time with family/friends.

Her oncologist is still planning to have her continue chemo treatments beginning on November 16. These treatments will be slightly different that the first round she completed today. Her previous treatments included two chemo drugs. This new round only includes one. And yet again another yea!! This is a yea, because the treatment days have gone from 6 hours long to 3. We are not yet sure how many cycles this round will include yet. She will continue to get regular CT scans again once this round has started.

5th Cycle Completed

Last week Mom finished up her 5th cycle of chemo. It's so hard to believe it's already been that many. Everything continues to be going well with all of her treatments. Mom really appreciates all the doctors and nurses that have been taking care of her.....and I think many of them adore her too. For example, when we were leaving the hospital after her chemo treatment a couple weeks ago, we got to catch up with a nurse practitioner that she used to see regularly. For some reason, mom had been switched to another practitioner. With the huge number of patients being seen at the hospital, I think they try to schedule you with the same person, but as times you simply get who's available. After catching up with her for a few minutes, she said that she was planning to go and change mom's schedule so that she'd get to see her the next time. We thought that was so nice. My mom really likes her a lot and she was excited to get back on her schedule. :)

Mom's been able to spend a lot of time with family and friends these past couple of weeks. She's gone out to lunch and even went on an overnight to her friend's home in Nashville, IN. We are so thankful that she's been feeling well to get out and about.

Today she went in for a regular blood test. The doctors are continuing to monitor her red blood cell count. There is still a chance that she'll need to have a blood transfusion. We should know those results in a few days. On Wednesday, she's scheduled to get another CT scan. We ask for prayers for her on Wednesday. The scan was very uncomfortable last time, and she's worried it will be the same this time. We also ask for continued prayers that this scan will show a decrease in the cancer or that it is remaining stable. We should receive those results next week as mom begins her 6th cycle of chemo.

Stable

Yesterday we got the results from last week's CT scan. The doctor said that the cancer has not changed and that it is stable. We were really excited to hear that. The doctor is planning to have mom complete 2 more cycles of chemo to make it a full 6 cycles that she will have completed. After the 6th cycle, she'll get to take a break. She is schedule to get a CT scan every 3 weeks from now on. As long as the cancer is stable, she'll get to take some time off from the chemo. We are not sure yet how long the break will be, but we are excited that she'll be able to have a break. The other good news was that she didn't lose any weight and actually gained a few ounces. Also, her red blood cell count increased from 8.1 to 8.4 in one week.

We are so thankful for all your thoughts and prayers.