Some pictures from Disney

A Pretty Good "Week After"

It's been a week since my last chemo, and not a bad week at that. I got a pretty tired one day, but then felt better the next couple. Maybe it was the extra week since my last chemo, maybe it was the sunshine in Florida and the nice break over the holidays, maybe I'm getting used to things, maybe all those prayers made everything smoother. Two more weeks until the next chemo, and then just one more "week after" - I am SOOOOO looking forward to the first part of February when THIS phase of cancer treatment is behind me!

Wowsa.

As we enter what is usually the bad week for Mom, I was amazed to see the statistics for this blog. As of the time of post, there are over 2200 views of this blog since October. There are hits from all over the world including Canada, UK, Iceland, Sweden, Guatemala, Belgium and Singapore. Thank you all of you for fighting this fight with our family. I'd like to think that over 2200 views from all around the world means that there have been 2200 prayers from all around the world, which has got to be part of the power behind mom right now.

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.
~John Milton, Paradise Lost

Now entering the final stretch

Mom's in having her fifth treatment today. We had a great time at Disney and she was feeling very refreshed. That one extra week between treatments made a difference I think. She's been consulting with her doctors on all of the details of what comes next after the chemo. It will be a combination of radiation, more surgery to remove her reconstruction, and possibly some other things they've been talking about. She's been getting loads of second opinions from a website of doctors, so she'll have to explain those details and dad has been consulting with the same people. So they'll have to share those developments, but mostly those doctors have reaffirmed what their doctors have been saying and their methods of treatment. So after this chemo, mom has one more and then she's done with this whole pump toxic chemicals into your body thing! I know she was having a hard time visualizing getting through it back around Thanksgiving time, and now here she is and I think she's very much refocused. However, as she's nearing the end of this cycle, she seems to feel the side effects more severely in the week following treatment. She can't taste much at all. So hopefully this round that energy won't be hit so badly.

Thanks for prayers and thoughts!

We're going to Disney!

We're off on the drive to Orlando tomorrow. We're going to Disney for a tournament of Amy's, and a celebration of mom's almost finished chemo journey. Two left! We had a very nice holiday together and even found that Grandma, who passed away in September, had left behind a little encouragement for Mom under the Christmas tree.

Either all the partying or the three months of chemo have gotten Mom pretty tired, though she's been in good spirits. Even more than usual, she is feeling worn out. We're taking a wheelchair with us in case she gets pooped while walking around the parks. here's hoping for some Disney magic that she feels good while we're down there and is able to really enjoy herself. She'll return to a treatment next week, and then back on schedule, one more three weeks later.

Hope all of your holidays were happy and healthy- here's to a blessed 2011.

Overall, it's good news!

Another chemo treatment today, which means I saw the oncologist as well, and she walked in the room and said "the scan was good news" - that was good to hear right off the bat! She said the scan that showed 2 cancerous areas before I started chemo showed nothing when they repeated them last week. Now that doesn't mean there is no cancer left, as this scan only tells them about big areas, its not super-sensitive to small areas, but it means the cancer worked/is working on the larger areas. So we finish the chemo - 2 more after the new year - and then we talk about surgery.

Surgery options will be a little interesting, because they think the cancer got into the tissue they used for reconstruction, and that presents some problems. That is one of the areas that doesn't show cancer now, but it wouldn't show small or micropscopic areas. If I hadn't already had a mastectomy, they would likely be recommending one just to be on the safe side.  For one, they can't get to the suspected area to biopsy it, and if its really just small little areas of cancer left, the biopsy might not pick it up.

So after the holidays I will go talk to the plastic surgeon to see what's involved in removing the reconstruction, and what my options are for other forms of reconstruction once we get past these shorter term treatments. I wouldn't have been ready for such a step 7 years ago, so I guess God really does give you only what you can handle, as I think I could be pretty Ok with such a step now. If the choice comes down to keep what I have but not be sure that we got it all, or get rid of the "fake one" and be as sure as possible that the cancer is gone (which isn't 100% but its a whole lot better odds than the other choice) , I think I'll be able to get used to that idea pretty quick. I did get a "tummy tuck" with the first reconstruction, maybe I"ll take the "boob job" option this time around and get all new ones :)

In the meantime, feeling pretty good now, looking forward to a good weekend and the girls starting to come home for the holidays, got some good tips on how to handle the overall yucky feeling I had last time the "week after",  and looking forward to a little longer break before the next treatment (it will be 4 weeks this time, as we are going to Disney after Christmas - Amy is playing soccer and we are going to enjoy a little "Disney magic" as well - all but Steve who will be enjoying his own little version of heaven - a wrestling tournament in Wisconsin "with the guys").

Thanks for the ride home today Laura, and the great conversation. And thanks for all those who were praying for me for good test results today. I was a bit superstitious, because Jim left later today to take Amy to a soccer tournament in Memphis. He took Julie to this same tounament twice when she was in high school - the first time someone hit my car and totalled it, and the second time was when I found out I had cancer the first time, and there I was in each case looking at a lonely weekend dealing with stuff. So I was convinced the trend would continue and I'd hear bad news again just as he was off for Memphis - I'm SOOOOO glad it turned out so much better. This lousy chemo that I hate so bad is at least working, making it a lot easier to "stomach" things (oh, that was a bad pun!) I made a point of asking Mom to look out for me this week, and she came through for me!

Love to you all,
Teri

Awaiting News...

Mom got a semi-update from one doctor last week about the results of her MRI, PET, and various other scans, but has not heard anything conclusive as of yet. We're waiting on the final new so please continue to keep her in your prayers and hope for good news!

On a sadder and hopefully not similar note, please keep Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former presidential nominee/ scumbag John Edwards, in your prayers. She has been battling cancer and recently was told further treatment would not be productive, so can sure use some thoughts in the twilight of her struggle.

[Update: Elizabeth Edwards passed away this morning. Sad news.]