Mom's Words - 10-27-10

Our lives are filled with blessings and trials! I guess we have had our share of both throughout the years, always grateful for the gospel and what it means to us. In this latest trial we see many blessings. We have three wonderful Doctors, the best facilities in the world filled with sweet and kind people, plus we have been surrounded with family, friends, and love ones with their love and prayers. We thank you and feel it all working together for good.

I am glad you are enjoying the "Blog" - a great name for an old granny. ;) I wasn't sure how I first felt about it, being on stage and such, but it is working great and we are thankful for Jon and Victor for setting it up.

Thank you for all your kind words and sweet thoughts and prayers! Keep them coming. Bob and I have found that if we just, "be still and know that I am God," he will "arrange" things. Take care and God bless!! We love you all.

Mom (Alice Jo) & Dad (Bob)

P.S. - the picture is of our front door to our apartment adorned with some beautiful yellow mums given by a dear friend. Each time we have approached our home in process of going and coming they have brightened our day and filled our souls with warmth.

1st Chemo Treatment - 10-25-10

Well we finally moved to treatment!!! Mom's temperature was 99.8 and the Dr. was excited to get her in and we were too. The antibiotics seemed to have worked along with all the prayers. The whole chemo process from start to finish took about 3 hours and everyone there were was amazing. They helped Mom to feel very comfortable and to make sure she had all the information she wanted. She is on two chemo medicines: 1) docetaxel (doe-se-TAX-el) and 2) cyclophosphamide (sye-kloe-FOSS-fa-mide). These prevent cancer cells from dividing and growing, and can eventually cause the cancer cells to shrink and die. They are administered intravenously along with saline. They also gave her some preparatory medicines, about 6 tablets, to help with nausea and other side effects. Once they got her all prepped and medicines flowing, we set her up with her Ipod and the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Vanessa donated her bright pink head phones for the cause so Mom wouldn't have to use the Apple earbuds. She loved it. She said if afterward, "if this is being treated with Chemo, it is not half bad!" : )

The wonderful thing is that she has had no nausea or discomfort at all. She came home and has rested the rest of the day. She did feel a little more tired by the end of the day, but nothing to worry about. We will keep watching her. She was sworn to speak up about any discomfort or change in status, and the nurse said that it is not considered "complaining." They need the information to be able to treat her. Mom was told that it is not the time to be a soldier and endure. It could compromise her situation the longer something is delayed. One thing that she and all of us will have to watch out for is that her immune system will now be compromised and she will have to be vigilant in watching out for contact with colds and germs and such. A small cold for someone could possibly be life threatening to her. So plenty of washing hands and limited contact with anyone with a cold or flu-like symptoms is part of the plan.

All in all it was a wonderful day!!! Thanks for everyone's prayers.

1st Treatment - 10/22/2010

Well things continue to have twists and turns. As we showed up today and was getting checked in Mom was found to have a temperature of 102. The Doctor did a quick check and determined that she has an infection. He was not quite sure exactly what but Mom was feeling a little strange, but thought it was nerves. We had to reschedule the treatment until Monday and he ordered some blood work and an intravenous antibiotic treatment to be done. It was a little dissapointing, but we were thankful to be in Dr. Pritchard's care. It did give Mom a chance to get use to the facilities and the nurses. One other blessing was for us to be put next to a good friend of Tim's Heather. Her name is Jennifer Saylor. She was there getting treatment for Lymphoma. This is her third time with her cancer. She helped us understand a lot of what's going on. Mom will be on some oral antibiotics through the weekend to help with the infection and we hope to be back on Monday.

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PET Scan - Oncology Consultation II - 10-18-10

Well we had finally some good news given to us. Truly it is an answer to many prayers. This morning we went for the PET Scan. We arrived early and they took us immediately. It ended up lasting about an hour and forty-five minutes. It then took another hour waiting for the results to be sent up to Dr. Pritchard's office, but he finally got them. About 11:00 am, he came in to report the results. First off, the PET Scan showed no other signs of cancer anywhere else beside the left breast!!! It did reveal that there is a lymph node behind the tumor in the left breast that has cancer, but nowhere else in the body. Second, the blood test revealed that the low iron was not the result of some internal bleeding rather what the doctor called Anemia of chronic disease, probably the result of the body fighting the cancer!!! He said that they would only have to monitor the blood work regularly but felt we could now go forward with treatment. Dr. Pritchard went onto describe his recommendation as to treatment which was what Dr. Spalding had reviewed with us, and what we have posted previously. It was asked if instead of chemo, could there be just the mastectomy. He said of course, but this would entail more extensive surgery to make sure that all of the cancer was removed and probably skin grafts to repair the area. He also said with this type of cancer, being more superficial, it has a high rate of returning and reinfecting the area. Questions were asked about the chemo treatments and Dr. Pritchard gave us some great information as to what would be the routine and effects on the body. He then left us alone to make some decisions. After counseling with one another we felt impressed to go ahead with the chemo treatments. They are scheduled to begin this Friday at 9:40 am. Dr. Pritchard said that we would have 3 to 4 treatments of 3 weeks each and then begin looking to surgery. The hope is to shrink quite considerably the cancer to allow the surgery to be less intensive than it would be. All in all, we felt peaceful with the news and the decisions. We celebrated with Tim, Heather, Felicia, Doc, Lucy and Victor. Of course the place was Vinnies!!!

Oncology Consultation - 10-14-10

Today's meeting with Dr. Pritchard went well. We were pleased with him and what he is doing. He had reviewed all the data that had been previously collected and had consulted with previous doctors prior to our visit. He revealed to us two concerns that were going to require further research before moving forward with any treatment. The first concern was that the blood work that was run yesterday showed anemia. Previous blood tests had never shown any signs of anemia, the last one being drawn in May by Dr. Murray, the primary care physician. Dr. Pritchard was not sure if this was either low iron or anemia of chronic disease. Both scenarios would have to be properly diagnosed and treated before starting chemo. He ordered more blood work to be drawn, which was done before we left, and said that there was a specific test that was exactly for this and he would know the results by Monday. The second concern was the scale that they use to judge the cancer itself. The results were so high that Dr. Pritchard has ordered a PET scan to be performed this upcoming Monday. This full body x-ray will allow him to be able to know for sure the extent to which the cancer has spread. The PET scan is scheduled for 10:00 am. Right after the scan we will meet with Dr. Pritchard and discuss the results of both blood work and PET scan. We will then know better the next steps to be taken. One thing that also was given more clarification was our understanding of the chemotherapy. We had mistakenly thought that the treatments were going to be for three weeks total. It is actually three weeks per each chemo therapy treatment. Which there will be between 3 - 4 treatments needed before the surgery. So it looks like no surgery will be performed this year but early next year. We will keep everyone posted Monday after the PET scan and next consultation. We greatly appreciate all the kind comments and kind words from everyone. The picture was of our group after the consultation enjoying a little time at Mom and Dad's favorite local restaurant, Vinnies.

Radiology Consultation - 10-13-10

Today we met with Dr. Spalding, Radiology Oncologist at Martha Jefferson Hospital. (http://www.mjhcancer.org/roncologists.php) She told us that the cancer is Inflammatory Breast Cancer, which so happens to be an extreme, uncommon, and progressive breast cancer. She was very nice but direct in what it will take to take care of it. She reassured us that it could be taken care of. It would take a 3 step process of: 1st - 3 weeks of chemotherapy or hormonal therapy (we'll find out tomorrow which will be the best when we meet with Dr. Pritchard, the Oncologist, http://www.mjhcancer.org/moncologists.php); 2nd - surgery to remove the entire left breast and lymph nodes under the left arm; and 3rd - 5 weeks of radiology to blast any remaining lingerings. We'll know more tomorrow as to when this could all happen. Depending on how she does with each step the timing could be as outlined or extended up to 9 months. They went and took x-rays and more blood work to get a head start on somethings. The picture was in the waiting room at Martha Jefferson. We'll keep all posted.

Introduction

Hey everyone! It was suggested that a blog be started to allow those who would like to have up-to- date information about Mom's progress. We hope that this helps so that all can be informed and feel a part of what is going on. It has been difficult for Mom to write recently as she has also developed a numbness in her fingers and hands. Writing has been a therapy for her over the years and she really misses it. We hope that this will be something that she might be able to use to still feel that she can connect with her children and grandchildren and great-grand children. Please feel free to post comments or questions or suggestions. Thanks for your love, concern and prayers.