Second round of chemo

Today Mom saw Dr. Genesen (her oncologist), and he said that she is still healing from the surgery, although the healing has slowed some due to the chemo. They changed the dressing on her power port, and it is more comfortable now.

Amazingly, Mom's white blood count was well within normal range, and she was able to have her chemo. The doctor has ordered an injection of Neulasta, which will promote white cell production. She will likely experience some bone pain, but it should be temporary. This drug will hopefully help her body avoid the severe dip in white blood cell count that she experienced last week. He did not change the dose or interval of her chemo.

Please pray that we are somehow able to see each other this Christmas--that Mom's immunity will be strong enough and that our family will avoid viruses & other winter ailments.

P.S. Check out Mom in the new photo! Daddy shaved her head last Friday, so she is now bravely passed that hurdle.

Please telephone!

Mom is stuck at home, unable to see people because of her low immunity. She would love to have calls, just to chat or hear your news. If she is at the doctor or sleeping when you call, please leave a message. Thank you!

Power port

Mom is having her picc line removed today. She is in Tulsa as an outpatient to have a power port inserted, which will deliver the chemo. The picc line, which has been in since her surgery, is more likely to cause infection, and indeed, it seemed to be start showing signs of infection on Tuesday. However, her blood draw Tuesday showed her white blood count to be almost non-existent. The oncologist has put her on antibiotics, as a preventative measure, and she will not be able to take her chemo next Tuesday if her white blood cells don't start multiplying.

Most days she does pretty well. This week she has been very fatigued. Because of her low immunity, she cannot be around people (not even family, like me & my girls), so cards have been especially lovely. Thanks so much for your prayers. You have shown a great outpouring of love, which is part of Mom's healing.

First day of chemo

Mom's chemo was postponed from Monday until today, which was a bit of a bumpy ride. But, yeah, now it's behind us! Mom did really well. . .mostly. She had a muscle spasm, an allergic reaction to the Taxol, that was sudden and very painful. They were able to give her meds to control that reaction, and she seemed to tolerate everything else very well. She snacked while she received the chemo & visited with people around us. It was not a bad day. Pray that her body tolerates this treatment remarkably well.

She will get a power port before her next chemo treatment (scheduled every three weeks). It will be put in while she is an outpatient at St. John's, using conscious sedation. The picc line will then be out, which is probably good since it carries a greater risk of infection.

Thank you for your prayers & support.

Chemo class and x-ray

Mom had a chest x-ray done in Tulsa today, and the doctor left a message on her phone this evening: the fluid in her lungs seems 95% resolved. Praise God. We are so thankful that her body is taking care of this, and she did not require another tap on her chest cavity.

Tonight, Mom, Dad, & I attended a chemo class run by Cancer Care Associates in Tulsa. It was over 90 minutes of great information. They gave Mom a book with all the information they presented. The majority of the information was on side effects of the chemo, with both preventative & treatment ideas, and under what circumstances you need to contact the doctor. Mom felt really empowered by the information.

She will begin chemo on Monday.

Oncologist and pulmonologist

Today Mom had an appointment with her oncologist in Tulsa, and we believed she would start chemotherapy. She had synchronous tumors (tumors growing in both her uterus and on her ovaries), which is actually good news. There are many kinds of ovarian cancer, and this type has a good prognosis. She will require chemo: eight rounds, spaced out approximately every 3 weeks. It is stage 1-c ("1" because it is contained to the ovaries, and "c" because it ruptured).

However, Dr. Genesen did not want to start her treatment today, but rather do further examination of her lung situation. We feel so blessed to be under his care. His office scheduled an appointment for 1:45 with a pulmonologist, so after lunch, we were off to that doctor's office.

The pulmonologist looked over all of Mom's records available to him and questioned her about her situation. His conclusion is that she has Meiggs Syndrome, which is a situation where ovarian cancer patients develop fluid in their chest cavity. Usually it resolves within 1-2 weeks of surgery, but since Mom had post-operative complications, she may not be showing "textbook" results. In the past several days, since she was in the ER on Thursday, she has shown marked improvement in the swelling of her ankles, and her weight has dropped (gotta be loss of fluid, because Mom has no mass to be losing now). The pulmonologist thinks her body is handling the situation itself and recommends no immediate action.

However, he did suggest delaying her chemo for perhaps another week, and Mom will return to Tulsa on Thursday to have a chest x-ray, just to make sure her body is clearing out the fluid in her chest. Her incision is healing very well, and you would be surprised, by seeing how great she looks now, that just 3 weeks ago she underwent massive surgery. All that broccoli and asparagus must be paying off!

Pleurisy

On Wednesday afternoon (yesterday), Mom became short of breath, and lost her appetite. She began having sharp pain in her chest on the right side. This morning, she called her oncologist in Tulsa, and their office recommended she go to the ER in Bartlesville to check for blood clots or any further complications.

A chest x-ray and CT scan showed the fluid level in her lungs to be similar to what it was when she left the hospital last week. She was diagnosed with pleurisy (inflammation of the lining around the lungs) and her pain medicine was increased. She went home feeling better and resolved to use her spirometer. The spirometer is a simple tool to help her lungs fully expand, and she has instructions to use it 10-12 times an hour. It is not difficult, but it does take her energy, and it is time consuming. Anyone who has ever had recuperative therapy knows how irritating it can be to plug through exercises intended to restore your body to normal function.

Mom had been making really great progress at home, regaining her appetite and even taking a walk outdoors in the lovely fall air. Continue to pray for her as she recovers. Her oncologist has an office in Bartlesville, where they can change the dressing for her picc line this Friday. Her next appointment with him is Wednesday, November 12.

It's ME!

Well, look! I'm standing in Connie'sCorner smiling, waving, and blowing kisses! Whew! That was exhausting. I'm sitting down now.

It is so wonderful to be home! Two weeks in a hospital is enough to kill a healthy person, and I didn't go there too healthy. I'm so grateful to Angie for keeping everyone informed and I appreciate all the love and concern posted here. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we start the chemo phase of my treatment.

Must go rest for now. Keep posting! I can actually read the posts now. Hugs, Connie

Home

Mom checked out of the hospital after dinner. . .she was dismissed, she did not just escape. She plans to eat her own healthy food & rest in her own comfy home, watch the birds and Jamie, and heal. She has a follow-up appointment in about 2 weeks.

Disappointment

Mom woke up hoping to go home today, but she did not get her wish. Her surgeon wants a GI doctor to examine her, to check on her gallbladder & liver function. The tests should be tomorrow, but she is a bit hesitant to hope she could go home afterwards. . .

I asked her if she wanted me to visit this evening, and she said no, but "please pray." We cannot express how much prayer has sustained us all, especially Mom, through this trial. It is very natural to hit low points emotionally, and today was such a day. God is faithful to give us grace in time of need, and when we think we cannot endure any more, He somehow gets us through.

Mom still has her picc line, but she is free of all her other tubes and gadgets. They removed the staples from her incision today. She has had more jello than a person should endure; how can someone gain weight and strength on unappetizing food? One of her bright spots is to imagine what ornery things she could pull once she is back at church.

Continued improvement

Mom's news continues to be good. They took her off the catheter and iv nutrition Tuesday. She is eating and walking around the hospital. One of the nurses told her, "I can tell you are used to being active, because you are just not content to sit in bed and let everyone do things for you." On Wednesday morning, she circled the floor 5 times. I teased Dad, "Are you guys going back to walking 2 miles a day already?"

They have a few more tests to run, to make sure all of her systems are up and running. You know it's time to think about home when you begin to complain of the hospital food. . .

Thanks again for all your prayers & concern.

Monday report

Mom gets better every day. She is up and walking around the hallways. They are going to reduce her iv nutrition so that her appetite will increase. She is offered "real food" now, although she is only eating enough to sustain a skinny mouse.

The surgeon will remove her staples in a couple of days. It is ironic that the incision has been secondary to Mom's lung issues. She has been off oxygen for 24 hours and her chest x-ray today showed that her pneumonia is clearing up.

Her bilirubin level has "plummeted" (doctor's word), which is a tremendous praise. There is some concern about her jaundice, perhaps her gall bladder is having problems. We are asking the Lord to handle this one directly so Mom doesn't have to endure anything else!

Sunday afternoon

The doctor has "prescribed" Mom to get out of bed four times a day, so she's up and about a little. She is off the oxygen today, and her color is steadily improving. Pray that her system flushes out all the junk that has collected and that her progress pleasantly surprises the medical team taking care of her. She is still on a liquid diet.

Friday afternoon

The doctors took Mom off the ventilator Thursday around noon. She is doing breathing treatments and is still on morphine. They did move her off ICU to a room in the Women's Health Center, so Dad will be able to stay with her overnight now.

Paul & family are visiting this afternoon. We are holding our breath that we have passed the worst and can begin to heal from the surgery.

Visits tire Mom very quickly. I take a book when I am there so she can drift off and not feel a need to interact with me. She can listen, but it is harder than you think to talk to someone without their input, and it is hard to listen without holding up your end of the conversation.

Prayers are the ship we are sailing in. Thank you so much.

Notes from Mom's bedside

Mom told me on Sunday before her surgery that she wanted to be a witness for the Lord through whatever lay ahead. I wanted to post some things to aide her heart's desire.

Last night the nurses had to do a somewhat painful blood draw. Afterwards, Mom mouthed "thank you" around her ventilator and smiled with her eyes. The people who care for her are always saying how incredibly sweet she is. Despite all the apparatus on her body, God shines through.

By writing and gestures, she and I talked about her surgery and then the rush to ICU that day. Several times she pointed up with her left hand. I kept trying to interpret the gesture: do you want to scratch your nose? do you want more lip balm? do you want to write (but she's not left-handed)? She did this 3-5 times, and it baffled me. Leaving the hospital, I finally figured it out--she was pointing up, to God. (I'm sure she was quite frustrated with her dim-witted daughter.) She was praising him for taking care of her. There was a quote in one of her hospital rooms that said, "Remember that just because you are not saved from a situation, it does not mean that you cannot be saved in a situation."

As a final note, I wanted to share the funniest thing Mom scratched out with pen and paper: "ventilator sucks." Amen.

Wednesday not so good

Mom started out doing well today. She spent the night in a regular room, and Dad stayed with her. She slept well; she had some water and ice, and sat in a chair for fifteen minutes.

Paul, Lan, & Sofie came down to see her, and while Dad came out to my house, Mom's breathing became difficult. Her stats dropped a bit, and they moved her back to ICU. Now she is back on a ventilator. The ICU doctor said that her lung is a bit compressed from the fluid in her abdomen, and the ventilator should help it to expand to its normal size. Mom is sedated because of the ventilator.

Tomorrow they will take some more fluid from her abdominal cavity, and we expect her to be in ICU for several days. I know this post will concern many of you, but there is so little we can do now--even immediate family--but wait and pray. The Lord is Mom's strength, and he is with her every moment. The Great Physician knows exactly how to heal her body.

Tuesday after surgery

Doctors removed a liter of fluid from Mom's abdomen today, and she was immediately able to breathe better. They were able to remove the ventilator. She is much improved over the last 24 hours, and they are moving her to a different ICU unit.

Paul and I did not visit today--only Dad. He stayed with her whenever visiting hours allowed, but they are much more restricted on ICU. We do not know when she will be on a regular floor.

The surgeon told us that pathology would take 2-5 days to provide a report on the tumors, so we do not have further information on what kind of cancer we are facing. If they are not able to make a determination themselves, the wait could be longer.

When she is able to receive visitors, we will post that information. Thank you so much for your respect, love, and support.

Results of surgery

Thank you to everyone who prayed for Mom. The surgery was 4 hours, and Mom's condition is now stable. The surgeon removed a tumor from her left ovary, a smaller one from her right ovary, and one from her uterus. The larger tumor on her ovary had ruptured, and they drained one and a half liters of fluid from her abdomen.

The surgeon said that although two tumors sounds scarier than one, the fact that they appear synchronous gives her a better prognosis. It is cancer, but they are not sure what kind. It will take many days for pathology to make a report, and they may need to call in specialists to conclusively determine the cancer's origin.

He removed some lymph nodes and fatty tissue, but her other organs were intact and healthy. The incision was larger than he anticipated. She will be in the hospital for 4-10 days. Currently she is in ICU, where she is receiving excellent care.

Mom cannot yet receive visitors or flowers. Thank you so much for your loving support.

Surgery tomorrow

Thank you to all of you who read this blog. I print the comments and posts for Mom at the hospital, and it is a hug to her each and every time.

Mom is the second surgery scheduled tomorrow, which means mid-morning or later. The surgery will likely be long, so you should not expect a post from me until evening.

Thank you so much for respecting Mom's need for quiet. She can feel your love and support through this contact, and still get the rest and hard work of surgery prep accomplished. Thank you so much for your prayers. May God be glorified in all aspects of this trial we face.

Surgery still on

The doctor saw Mom today, and really did not have much new information. Her white blood count is coming down. They are planning to continue with surgery on Monday, and will simply keep her as comfortable as possible in the meantime.

Sofie visited, with gurgles and coos, which is always a delight. Being in Tulsa allows her to see all of her close family, a true blessing. We are praying that she can rest and gain strength before Monday morning.

Pre-op visit not as planned

Mom's pre-op visit was in Tulsa today at 2:30. We thought it would be routine, but the oxidation of her blood and her white blood cell count raised some alarm. The doctor sent her to the ER for some additional tests and ended up admitting her to the hospital.

She has pneumonia in her right lung; they have started antibiotics. We do not anticipate the surgery being pushed back. We will know more after her own doctor visits her in the hospital Saturday morning.

I will post as soon as I can. Please be patient with us regarding news. We feel a bit as if we are riding an express train; it is not always easy to hop off to make a phone call. She is at St. John's, but we would ask that you not call or come by until after her surgery. Please keep us in your prayers.

Mom was very nauseated today, but they gave her some good drugs in her IV that helped her feel much better. God is the conductor of this train we are on, and He is not texting anyone while driving. He is not distracted. We are secure in Him.

Surgery is scheduled

Mom's surgery is scheduled for Monday morning, October 20. This is the fastest we could have anticipated, with all the prep that is required. Praise the Lord.

Mom has had quite a bit of activity lately, and she tires easily. Please be respectful of her time to rest. It can be trying to repeat all the details of her situation, which is why we started this blog.

Thank you so much to each of you for the outpouring of love you have shown to our family. Your prayers and expressions of concern are dear to us. You are a key element on her path to healing.

Scheduling the colonoscopy 2

No sooner had I finished typing the last post, than the phone rang. Dr. Street's office was able to schedule an appointment TODAY with a gastroenterologist in Bartlesville. Mom will not have to travel to Tulsa, and things are moving faster! The colonoscopy will be Thursday, and then Dr. Street's office will schedule surgery. Praise God for answering our cry so quickly!

Scheduling the colonoscopy

Mom has an appointment in Tulsa tomorrow with a gastroenterologist. This appointment is a prerequisite to having the colonoscopy, which the office told us this morning could not be scheduled this week. May the Lord be at work, causing things to move faster than what we have been told.

First doctor's visit in Tulsa

Today we saw Dr. Genesen, an associate of Dr. Street. We liked him. It took 3 hours before we saw him, but. . .the office was nice enough.

Mom looks three months pregnant. Her weight is increasing, but she is skin & bones except for her abdomen. Dr. Genesen mentioned surgery almost as soon as he saw her. After examining her, he wanted a colonoscopy, to see if the mass is invading or constricting her colon. This procedure will be done in Tulsa, likely at the end of this week (Thursday? Friday?). The surgery will be scheduled early to mid next week, depending on when they can get OR time, at either St. Francis or St. John.

When they do surgery, they will make an incision from above her navel down to her pelvis. They will remove the mass, and have pathology test it immediately. A complete hysterectomy is almost certain, and they will check for invasiveness in the bladder, colon, lymph system. She will be in the hospital 2-3 days if the surgery is straightforward, 5-10 days if they find more complex problems.

They cannot biopsy this mass. They simply need to remove it. We are praying for expedited scheduling in everything. Please also pray for Mom's comfort and rest as we wait. Feeling poorly makes her more concerned about undergoing surgery; pray that her body is strong. Please also pray that she tolerates all medications well, including the anesthesia.

Update

It's nice to visit my corner.  I appreciate all the love and concern revealed in the posts.  I especially appreciate your prayers.  They are lifting me up to the King and giving me peace.

I slept well last night, and that is answered prayer.  My OB/GYN changed my pain meds and gave me something to help me sleep.  What a blessing he and his nurse have been to me this week.

My doctor here thinks that when Dr. Street examines me on Monday he will take immediate action.  Please pray that I tolerate these strong drugs and that the surgery is scheduled soon.

Angie will continue to update this blog for me, and that is wonderful.  Just wanted to add a few lines myself.  Love and appreciate all of you, Connie

Appointment Monday

Finally! Dr. Street's office in Tulsa set Mom's appointment for Monday at noon. We are praying that her pain and nausea will decrease over the weekend while she has to wait, and that she will sleep well. She has had such an outpouring of love and support--thank you to everyone! She is dreading the ride to Tulsa, but we are grateful it is not OKC. We are hopeful they will schedule surgery very, very soon.

Will be in Tulsa

10/7/08 Mom's records have been forwarded to a gynecological oncologist in Tulsa. They will review her file and call to set up an appointment. We anticipate hearing within a couple of days, and hopefully when they schedule her initial appointment, the surgery will follow within 24 hours. We are anxious to move forward.

Initial visit to Dr. Miller

10/6/08 Mom saw Dr. Miller today in Bartlesville. He did not have her CT scan from last week, but did a sonogram in the office. He thinks the mass in her abdomen is a tumor, not a cyst. She will require surgery, and he wants to send her to a gynecological oncologist. There are two in Tulsa and a group of six in Oklahoma City, any of whom he feels would do a good job. His office will try to get something scheduled asap.