After the 3rd chemo treatment

I continue to do well with chemo. My CA-125, a tumor marker for
ovarian cancer, has dropped from 275 to 35 to 20 with three
treatments. The normal range starts at 21, so my last reading is
considered "normal". My main side affects are nausea/vomiting,
fatigue, bone/joint pain and neuropathy. All of it is tolerable and
I'm just trying to help my body deal with this assault. My white
blood count is high now thanks to a Neulasta shot the day after
treatment. My red blood count continues to plummet after a
treatment, but so far I've escaped a blood transfusion. All in all,
I'm pleased.

Thank you for the love and concern you have shown me and my family.
It means more than words can say. Please continue to pray for me. I
feel God is the ultimate healer and I'm trusting Him to make my body
whole again, cancer free.

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!