Family Time

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog. Mark and I were able to sneak away for a mini-vacation July 18-27 to Mark's parents cottage in Lake Tomahawk for a week for some much needed rest and relaxation.

First, update on Mom: she had her power port surgery on July 17. This is the port that was surgically implanted in her chest which will be used to administer the chemo every 3 weeks versus having to use a vein each time. The surgery went well, other than some significant bruising. Her first chemo treatment was on July 24, and while I wasn't there with her, my sister Kathy, my brother Roger, and my niece Stephanie were. I was able to get updates from Kathy on how things were going throughout the process and everything went well. Mom didn't reject the chemo which was great considering that can happen (something I wasn't aware of). Dr. Ahuja did decide to forego using the Avastin due to mom being on cumadin which is a good and bad thing. The Avastin would have shrunk the cancer more quickly, but because it causes bloodflow to stop to the areas of the cancer, and her being on cumadin and being too far away from Wausau should something happen, the risks of using it outweighed the benefit therefore, she will only be getting 2 chemo drugs: Taxal and Carboplatin and a bone strengthener: Zomeda. Dr. Barton confirmed that she would not need additional radiation at this time (great news), but she will be evaluated at each of her 3 week appointments. Her next chemo appointment is scheduled for August 14.

As of today, July 31, Mom didn't get good news. She had been having pain in her left shoulder for almost 2 weeks. She did have it looked at during her July 24 visit to the Center, but the doctors confirmed it was not cancer but rather a pulled muscle (most likely from the tremendous coughing and vomitting she had been doing). We'll, today, she wasn't well at all and Kathy took her to the doctor in Park Falls. X-ray confirmed the collarbone is fractured. Not good news to hear as this was just another "defeat" in mom's mind. We're waiting for the doctor in Park Falls to get with Dr. Ahuja tomorrow to find out what the course of action should be at this point. Potentially, more radiation. Another setback is that mom lost another 7 (almost 8) pounds. Something the doctors are very concerned about. On the positive side, Dr. Miller (the doc in Park Falls) is going to mandate that home healthcare visit mom and dad rather than having them travel to the hospital or clinic for lab work appointments and to also monitor mom's blood sugars (the chemo throws them out of wack). This will be a blessing for them since getting to/from appointments is a challenge right now. Hopefully, after tomorrow, we'll have better news on mom.

Update on Mark and me: like I mentioned above, we were able to take vacation last week. The weekend was pretty uneventful, which was very nice. Monday, July 21, we made a trip over to Park Falls. We enjoyed a cookout with mom, dad, Rog, Kathy, Grant and their family. We were also able to get some pictures during our visit (sharing on the blog). Something I know meant a lot to all of us, especially mom.

Tuesday, July 22, was our 8th wedding anniversary. Mark and I spent the entire day doing nothing more than relaxing on the water and of course reminising about the past 8 years. Wednesday, we took the speed boat on the big water and that was a lot of fun. Bailey on the other hand would have preferred we left her back at the cottage. She used to love riding in the speed boat, but for some reason, this year, she didn't like it as much. Probably because the water was a lot more rough this time and she was bounced all over the place. We did take a break though at the Thirsty Whale and she was able to enjoy laying in the lake to cool off and also play a little game of chase with a mallard duck before heading back to the cottage. Thursday, we ventured into town to do some antique shopping...needless to say, everything that we wanted to buy was way out of our price range, so for now, we just window shopped. I was also able to stop in and visit my very good friend Tracy Cook who I hadn't seen since the winter Badger State Games (her daughter competes in figure skating) in February.

Friday, we decided to head back home to re-group and gear up for the vacation to come to an end. I'm glad we did that since the laundry room was literally piled full of clothes to be washed. Made the transition back to work a bit easier on Monday!

This week, we met Mom, Dad, Rog, Kathy, Grant and their family and Uncle George and Aunt Bev on Tuesday for dinner in Wausau as Rog was heading back to Milwaukee for his flight on Wednesday to return to Florida. It was a very nice evening and we really enjoyed getting to see everyone. It is always hard to say goodbye to Rog when he visits, but this time, he plans to come up in October to celebrate his 50th birthday and mom's 69th birthday together, so knowing he'll be back in a couple months, made the goodbye a little easier. Thankful that tomorrow is already Friday so we can enjoy the beautiful weekend ahead.

So in closing, I want to share this with you. While on vacation, Mark and I found a little plaque that we purchased for us and for mom. We thought the quote was very fitting (especially with our infertility stuff and mom's cancer)...so I leave you with what the quote on the plaque reads:

"Faith Makes Things Possible.....Not Easy"

Great News....FINALLY!

Thursday was by all standards a GREAT day for Mom!

Although the time leading up to the appointment was filled with anxiety and a lot of tears, the news she received could not have been better or come at a more perfect time for her and for us.

Kathy and Stephanie came down Thursday to be a part of the appointments. Mom had her last radiation treatment (she even has a certificate to prove it) and the we met with Dr. Barton for the last time. He said mom responded well to the treatment and the radiation should continue to work in her system for the next 2-3 weeks and continue to make her feel better. At each appointment, the nurse asks her what her pain level is at from 0-10, and for the very first time, she said "I don't have any pain today" -- I almost broke down in tears. To see where she has come from, crying from how much pain she's in to saying she has no pain, made me feel all the days of daily radiation treatment were worth it! Of course she continues to take the morphine for pain, but even that doseage has decreased, so it means the pain management is working. Mom will have a re-check with Dr. Barton on July 24.

After we met with Dr. Barton, we then met with Dr. Ahuja. Now, like I said earlier, Mom has significant anxiety over what the news of her MRI would be. When Dr. Ahuja came into the room, he said he had fantastic news for her...there is no cancer in her brain! Let the flood gates open.....lots of tears of joy were shed. So, she can now begin the journey through chemotherapy.

July 14, she has an appointment with a General Surgeon for a consult on installing a port. Mom cannot do her chemotherapy via her veins as the chemo will be done for 6 hours and it is a bit too hard on her small veins. She will find out on Monday, when the port will be put in. It is a surgical procedure, so she'll need to be put under for it. The good news is, the surgeon that did Kathy's gallbladder surgery is going to do the port for mom -- and he was really great for Kathy's surgery.

July 24, will be a very big day. Mom will need to arrive at the Center at 8 AM for labs, 8:30 she'll meet with the Radiation Nurses, 9:00 with Dr. Barton for her follow-up and at 9:30, she'll meet with Dr. Ahuja and the chemo will begin. She gets to relax in what is referred to as the "Ballroom" for the 6 hours of treatment. Mom will receive 3 drugs during the chemo: Taxal, Carboplatin and Avastin. She will also be given Zomeda (a bone strengthener) in conjunction with the chemo meds due to the cancer already being in her tailbone, they want to make sure that the rest of her bone structure remains strong.

If there can be a silver lining amongst all of this, it would be:

1. Mom completed 12 days of radiation -- like a CHAMP!
2. Great news from the doctor that there is no cancer in her brain!!!!
3. She gets to have a break for now to rest at home and enjoy sleeping in her own bed!
4. Roger (my brother from Florida) will be home Wednesday for 2 weeks to spend time with Mom and Dad -- something I know they are both looking forward to.

Thank you again to everyone for their support, care, concern and prayers. All of our prayers certainly paid off so far!

Learning Process....Baby Steps

If you were to be diagnosed with cancer today, what would your first reaction be? Fear, hatred, anger? The doctor has recommended to me that I have mom verbalize her thoughts, feelings, emotions to me so that she doesn't hold them in, as part of the strength and healing is getting all of those emotions tucked inside, out. For the most part, she doesn't want to verbalize much right now -- I still think she's in shock of having her world completely uprooted in a matter of a day. However, every once and awhile, she will convey her thoughts and it tends to catch me off guard. Let me give you a few instances (and also an update on how things are going along the way). The last few weeks have been busy so I apologize for not keeping the blog as up-to-date. Tuesday, June 24, Mom started her daily radiation treatments (which are at 2 PM every day) and made it through the first 7 of 12 days. Hoping that all will look good and she will be done with treatment on or before July 10. Other than the fact that she does get very tired after the treatments, she said she feels nothing during the radiation and enjoys getting to see the beautiful painting that they have to look at during treatment of a window with flowers, birds and deer outside -- in her words "it is absolutely beautiful". Again, catches me off guard that is what she wants to verbalize to me about the treatment, but I'm glad they have found a way to make a terrifying situation be "absolutely beautiful" for mom. Thursday, June 26 my braces came off!!! I thought for sure I'd be sad after having them on for almost 3 years, after all, they became a part of me, but I was BEYOND happy. I now have removable retainers that I have to wear for the first 2 weeks (except when I'm eating) and then only at bedtime after that. Talk about having a bit of joy in amongst a lot of sadness right now. I guess God knew I needed the braces to come off to feel the small joy. I love my new smile. We meet with Dr. Barton every Thursday following Mom's radiation treatment to go over any concerns mom has and also give an update of the treatment plan. Mom's pain isn't being managed the way it needs to be, so Dr. Barton has switched up the pain meds as the Vicodin is no longer doing the trick so she now has a mixture of morphine and vicodin -- which Mom refers to as her "drunken sailor pills" as it makes her feel like she's drunk. I'll take the "drunken sailor" as long as she isn't in any pain. Overall, radiation is on target. Friday, mom and I made a trip to Marshfield to see the orthopedic surgeon for a check of her foot/ankle and achilles. She was given the green light to slowly work strength back up get out of the brace and walker. That was a huge relief to mom as that will also help her get her independence back. So, we've now started to do little jonts and walking so she can get back to walking independently 100%. She's doing really well with walking just holding my hand. I think we'll have a walker/brace burning party when she is finally done!!! Mom also had treatment on Friday and Kathy and Dad came down to the Center to meet us and also take mom back to Park Falls. I think it was good for Kathy and Dad to see where mom goes and get a better understanding of things when mom tells them about the Center. Dad enjoyed the very large fish tank in the waiting room! Mom enjoyed a weekend in Park Falls with Dad and also had her sisters visit for the weekend, which made it even more enjoyable. Good to have lots of family and friends around to keep her spirits up. Mark and I met mom in Tomahawk on Sunday night to bring her back to Wausau for the week. See, I told you it was a very busy week last week! This week.... Tuesday was a very long day. Mom had her MRI of her brain July 1. That was a pretty hard appointment for her since she is extremely clostrophobic. Thankfully, I was able to catch Dr. Barton's nurse on Monday and ask if there was any good drugs they could give her prior to the MRI to calm her anxiety and next thing I knew, we were getting lorazepam! Thank goodness for that little pill!!! Mom was so relaxed before the procedure with that and the pain meds, she made it through the MRI with flying colors. We won't know the results of the MRI until her next appointment with Dr. Ahuja on July 10. Praying very hard all looks well so she can begin the chemo treatments. After the MRI, Mom had treatment in the afternoon and then in the evening, we met with the orthopedic guy that fit her for her new "streamlined" brace. Very busy Tuesday. Thankfully, no more multiple appointments for awhile. Today is Thursday, and the last day this week for treatment for mom, which also means that she will get to go home to Park Falls tonight for a long weekend at home. Sunday, we'll pick her up and start next week. Since mom has been diagnosed with the cancer, I've had many people offer their support and prayers (thank you to everyone). One person though in particular said the following to me, "take this time that your mom is with you to truly get to know her and learn all you can about her" at first I thought I know all I need to about her...then, it is in the little moments with her when we're driving to/from treatment, sharing breakfast or lunch on the deck, or just watching the Brewers (which she is bound and determined to make me a fan before she goes back home) that she tells me something or shares something with me that I'm learning exactly what that piece of advice meant. Learning Process....