Cruisin' with the family

On Aug 29th this year, our whole family including our 3 daughters, our son-in-law and grandson flew to Miami, Florida and the next day caught a massive cruise ship headed for the southern Caribbean. We stopped in Grand Cayman, Belize, Roatan - an island off Honduras, and Cozumel, Mexico. During the various stops we visited a turtle farm where they raise humongous sea turtles, para sailed, jet-skied, got massages, hiked thru the forest for 25 minutes after which we cave-tubed. Besides all this, we were waited on hand and foot by friendly staff both in our tiny staterooms and in the lovely dining room. On top of it all they had some of the most amazing shows I've ever seen. We laughed at the comedians, oohed and awed over the magic show, and sang along with the singers and dancers. Those 7 days passed by fast and now we're home again.

I was supposed to have a chemo treatment a few days before we left but with my doctor's permission, I skipped it in order to give my body a short break and to not be sick on the trip. And I wasn't sick! We used a wheelchair for me at first but I got tired of it and wanted to try out my sea legs and found I could do pretty well. The weather was, well...tropical. Hot and humid. Not Walt's cup of tea so he ended up staying on the ship for a couple of days. But that's the nice thing about a cruise, they have something for everyone.

Here are the three websites if you want to look at photos of our trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/weverly/sets/72157622319850272/
http://picasaweb.google.com/Ellis.Damon/CruisePicturesForBlog?authkey=Gv1sRgCJL5uuaOjJX0wAE&feat=directlink#
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3960785&op=1&view=all&subj=1173777900&id=563045408#/photo.php?pid=3960760&op=1&view=all&subj=1173777900&id=563045408

Update

This is my chemo week so it's back to the yucks. The doctor added another 4 days onto my antibiotic schedule so it's twice a day at the hospital unless there's a test to be done and then it's three trips to the hospital.

Anyone who's talked to me lately knows that my voice is difficult to hear or listen to. This has been going on for several months but now it's worse than even - at times I can only whisper. I saw a nose, ear, throat specialist and he explained that we all have 2 vocal cords that vibrate when we talk, thus making sounds. In my case however, only one is working. The other one seemed to be paralyzed or something. I've got a scan scheduled which will hopefully give him more info to go on. No idea at this point what there is to do for this problem if anything.

For those who don't live nearby, we're having extremely hot weather - over 100 degrees many days. Thankfully, this is the first summer we've had a heat pump which means AIR-CONDITIONING!! I'm not sure how we could have survived without it.

Something doesn't look right

There are places on my body that I can't see including my upper right chest where they inserted a port by which I've been getting chemo treatments. Fortunately I have an observant sister (Lu) who saw the area around my port which was bright red, hard, swollen and painful to touch. Although we had a doctor's appt in 2 days, she insisted that I not wait and made an appt with my general practice doctor who immediately admitted me to the hospital and started me on IV antibiotics (again). At first I was told the port would have to be surgically removed but it was later decided to discharge me to home but have me come in twice a day (x 10 days)for IV antibiotics at the hospital in the hope of saving the port.

Thankfully, there have been many friends and family members who have volunteered to take me, stay with me, and bring me home. That's dedication - which I really appreciate! In the meantime, I'm feeling much better although the infection seems to still be present. Hopefully by the end of treatment, it will be gone - otherwise I might still have to have the port removed.

LuAnne has gone on holiday to India for 5 weeks to trek in the mountains with her friend from Great Britian. My other sister, Carolyn - bless her heart - has been making meals for us which has been a great help, esp when I was feeling so sick. Hopefully I'll be back on my feet again soon and can be of some use around here.

Hadn't been to the hospital for a while, so...

Walt here...
Last week the cough that Yvonne has had for a long time started getting worse, and she began running fevers. LuAnne took her to the doctor on Friday and after getting some x-rays done, Yvonne was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. Her white blood cell count was down to .8 (low normal is 4.8). Within a day or two at the hospital her white cell count was back up to 4.5 and her temp was back to normal, but she was still very, very sick. Her sisters and daughters have been taking turns staying with her day and night.

She was released today and is back home but still very weak.

As always, we are so grateful for everyone's prayers, encouragement and good thoughts.

Walt

Another Brief Update

Very short update from my appointment last week. Tumor markers had risen 3 small points (dr says he's not concerned). I continue to have lots of nausea and vomiting - the most embarrassing one being at a nice restaurant with a friend for lunch. Thankfully, I had an airline barf bag with me which I whipped out in time to put my deposit in. I was also wearing my "cancer sucks" t-shirt which hopefully explained to people what was happening. Still, I felt bad for the other patrons who were trying to eat.

Chemo week continues to be rough. I basically don't leave the house for a week and spend most of the day resting, wishing I could be more productive.

Brief Update

Last week we found out my tumor markers had dropped from 106 to 83 (normal is 0 - 35). Yeah! And the MRI of my brain showed no change - better than the other direction. We're happy.

A great week

At my last doctor's appt on Monday (18th) we got good news that my tumor markers had dropped from 120 down to 106. Yeah! Unfortunately, my weight is going in the opposite direction. I've gained around 30 lbs in the last 8 months. Heavier than I've ever been which is discouraging since it's mainly due to the steroids I'm on. Discussing it with my physician's assistant, she said I could cut back slowly on the steroids and see how I do with nausea, appetite, etc. I'm on a tiny amount as it is but it still affects me a lot. Swollen face, neck, hands, feet, etc. I shouldn't complain but my vanity gets in the way.

On an entirely different note, our oldest daughter, Miriam recently announced she is pregnant for the first time! She and her husband adopted our adorable little 4 year old grandson, Isaiah and he was the one to make the announcement that he was going to be a big brother. He has no idea what that means but he dutifully recited was he was told to say. Very cute. The next day, their pug gave birth to six puppies. The father is a boston terrier and the puppies are so cute (at this stage anyway). We love playing with them.

Had all the kids over for Sunday lunch and in the heat of the afternoon (except for Hannah who was napping - and I) went outside and doused each other with water balloons and water guns. They were laughing their heads off so I guess they were having fun. Isaiah was soaked to the skin as were most of them. What a great family I have. I'm so blessed!

A good direction

Had more chemo on Monday (27th) and found out my tumor markers had dropped slightly which pleased us. Also, we had been told the results of my last CT scan showed more tumor growth in the liver - but as it turns out, they had been comparing it to a 6 month old scan instead a more recent PET scan. Compared to the recent scan, the tumors had actually gotten a bit smaller rather than larger. Nothing massive but at least things are moving in a good direction.

Liver problems

We saw a doctor who does the SIRTS procedure. According to my oncologist, he's the best in the state. After comparing scans, he felt I should go ahead and have the procedure. He explained that it's actually 3 surgeries. One to map, one to shoot radioactive beads into one liver artery and the third to shoot the beads into a second liver artery. In the meantime, they want to keep me on chemo which becomes slightly complicated since I can't have chemo too close to the surgeries. After we had talked and decided I would go ahead and do this, the doctor's office called me that evening. My oncologist and the SIRTS doctor had put their heads together and decided I should wait and give the new chemo treatment more time to see if it would have a positive effect on the liver perhaps making it unnecessary to have the other surgeries. I'm all for not having surgery if I don't need it but it makes me a bit nervous to wait very long in case the chemo doesn't work on the liver. Right now, I've decided to take the doctors recommendation and wait. Hoping and praying this is the right decision for the moment.

My tumor markers were up again but the doc says he's not that concerned since the scans are the more accurate tests to go by. Thankfully, I'm not in any pain and my only real complaint is fatigue and some nausea the week of chemo. I think I can handle that.

CT scan results

I had another CT scan (which shows the chest and abdomen) on Wed. The dr called me yesterday with the results which were mixed. Everything was better - shrinking tumors - except the liver which showed more tumor growth. We had looked into a procedure several months ago called a SIRTS (don't know what that stands for) which is threading a catheter into the femoral (leg) artery and up into the liver where they inject radioactive beads. This involves 2 surgeries. The first one is when they "map" the area so when they are ready to inject the beads, they will know exactly where they are supposed to go. Unfortunately I must be awake during both procedures which doesn't sound like fun to me. I was very distraught when this was first brought up but in the meantime, I've been in contact with a very pro-active cancer patient named Suzanne who had this done herself and credits it for extending her life by years. She also didn't think the pain was too bad. It was very good to talk to her since she was able to give me a patients point of view and reassure me I could do this.

One thing that still makes me a bit nervous is that there is the possibility that in spite of the "mapping" they do, they might still get some of the radioactive beads in other organs nearby and this would definitely cause problems and pain. Because of this, I'd like to find an experienced doctor who has done this procedure many times. Right now, I don't know any.

I'm supposed to get an appt in the next week or so and proceed from there. Prayers are appreciated. Right doctor, right timing, etc.

Woohoo!

I saw the doctor yesterday and got the best news I've had in a long time. My tumor markers had climbed to 168 at the last count 3 weeks ago (normal is 0-35). Yesterday's count had dropped to 75 - less than half of the previous count! This simply means that the new chemo I'm on must be having a positive effect on the cancer. Now I'm just praying for it will continue to drop to zero.

I continue to feel fine although with a bit of nausea this week due to the chemo. We have a big wedding coming up in two days for my nephew and I'm hoping to hold up for all the festivitives.

I have a wound under my reconstructed breast that won’t heal up. I’ve seen numerous doctors and wound specialists about it and they are all in agreement. This wound is not going to heal on it’s own. Surgery would be required. Now there is talk of another mastectomy – but I have questions of my own. Will I need to go off chemo (answer: yes) in order to have the surgery? Would that be safe to do given how much tumor growth there has been in the liver and brain? Priorities: what to take care of first? Isn’t the liver a more vital organ than a breast wound that is not causing me any pain? With my compromised immune system, would I be able to heal from surgery or would this be like opening Pandora’s box and making things worse? Is this going to extend my life (and for how long) or make a mess of it?

Nobody seems to have the answers for me and there are 3 main doctors working on this who do not necessarily agree with each other on a course of treatment. Very frustrating sometimes. On top of all this, I got word this afternoon that my tumor markers have jumped from 120 to 166 in a few short weeks. Normal is 0 - 35. Once again this is hard news. The dr has already changed my chemo regimen in anticipation of this. Now we play the waiting game to see if the new chemo will have any effect on the tumor markers. Bummer.

Catching up on my health

For the past couple of months I've just been going along with my 3 week chemo treatment plan. But I've recently had more scans which is going to change things. The MRI on my brain showed continued growth of my main tumor which progressed from 16mm to 19mm in 3 months. The PET scan done 5 days ago showed "substantial progression of the metastatic [spreading] disease" which involves the liver, bones, left breast tumors and lymph nodes. The liver seems to have the most cancer involvement. The doctor has decided since the current chemo regimen doesn't seem to be holding the cancer in check, he is going to switch me to something different in the hope that this will be more effective. It's difficult to be hopeful since so far, nothing medically has seemed to help very much. We're still praying for a miracle.

It's easy to be discouraged and depressed with news like this, but as my sister, LuAnne pointed out - we have lots to be thankful for. The best thing is that I feel pretty good most of the time with no pain. This is the strange and frustrating part. How can I feel this fine and have so much wrong with me?

Some dear friends of ours loaned us their condominium at the beach for Valentine's Day weekend and I felt better that weekend than I have in months - possibily years! It's the first time Walt & I have been able to get away together for ages. We've got a great family who is surrounding me with love and friends who are dedicated to praying for my healing. Others have brought bread, sent cards of encouragement, called, visited, sent flowers and even knitted a prayer shawl! I couldn't ask for more. So in spite of the bad news, I will continue to trust that God has the best plan for me and I'll try to focus on all the good things to be thankful for in my life.