Some Follow Up

Hello Hello!



Sorry for the length of time between posts but there really hasn't been much to report. NOW there is though. We have a couple of updates and stories to share- so it's finally time for this follow up!



We'll start with the fun story:

Mom has a friend from high school who comes from a Family FULL of DOCTORS and she also happens to write for a medical journal. Wanting to make sure we had taken the best course of action and made the right decisions we asked Judy to tap into her resources and see what they would recommend. They all said "she should see Dr. John Chan at UCSF!" And guess what - that's who MOM sees!!!! So that made us feel really good about mom's doctors and the care she's been receiving.



Now for the updates:

On Friday, Mom had a visit with Dr. Chan (her oncology surgeon). This was a follow up appointment from her Surgery on December 18. The update is that Mom looks good! Her most recent CT Scans were CLEAN. Dr Chan was happy with the results and said that she should stay on the AVASTIN as maintenance treatment.



Mom had chosen to stop chemo therapy (since she made it through the prescribed course of treatment) and is just having AVASTIN infusions every 21 days (as long as the insurance will allow it). There really isn't an ANSWER GUIDE to tell us if this is the RIGHT or WRONG decision but after letting Dr. Chan know about what she is doing and discussing her options - he AGREED and said this is the best course of action at this time.



Then we had some Questions for Dr Chan:

One of the Questions that we had was "does this mean she's Cancer Free?" Dr. Chan's response was "No, Not yet." He explained that she had cancer and underwent treatment and that now she is in the maintenance phase. In this phase all we can do is continue with the maintenance drugs and wait....Wait for the Cancer to reoccur OR not. If after two years without any signs of cancer then that is GOOD news.



Another Question that we asked was about Nutrition "What should mom eat to boost her immune system?" And then we talked about whether certain foods feed cancer or not. He said that there really wasn't anything she could eat to boost her immune system and just told her to eat a well balanced diet. OVARIAN CANCER cannot be brought on by DIET, EXERCISE or LIFESTYLE so she can eat sugar, chocolate, whatever!!! Just needs to maintain a normal healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.



Then since we all have this DANG Summer Cold AND since Mom is traveling next month we asked him about AIRBORNE!!! (te hee, yes we wasted his time asking him what he thought about Airborne). His response included a smile and smirk (that he did not present at any other time during the appointment) and said, "well, my wife swears by it but I don't use it" and that was all he said!!!



WHEW this has been long...but in closing:

We can't say she's in the clear.

We can say that she feels good, her hair is starting to grow back, and her results so far are GREAT.

Life is Good.

Ring a Ding Ding!

Mom has finished her scheduled treatment plan for her Ovarian Cancer! At the Redwood Regional Oncology Center, there is a BELL in the lobby/waiting area. When you finish your treatment - you get to ring the bell.

So, last week, Mom rang the bell!

Weighing the Options

Barb, our super hero, is nearing the end of her treatment plan. The outlook was grim but the doctors have been so impressed with her response to the disease fighting infusions they've been giving her. They say she can:

A. Continue with Taxal, once a month for a year with close monitoring (turn to page 62)

or

B. Stop the treatments altogether and be closely monitored (turn to page 65)

But since this is real life and not a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book...we can't really look ahead. What we do know is that Mom is down to two more treatments (May 26 and June 2).
These are the last of the Original 6 treatments that she was scheduled to get (that somehow turned into like 15 or so...that just according to me...I don't really know how many she's gotten).

Anyway, She's weighing her options and talking to people. She has some friends who have faced ovarian and other forms of cancer and have "beat the odds." So she's talking and planning and moving on...but in what direction? FORWARD.

She's looking forward to our visit this summer and her 40th High School Reunion in August. That's about it for now though.

Just a Few More

Howdy All,

Sorry it's been so long since the last update (I almost forgot my log in information). Wanted to give you an update though.

Mom had Chemo today! She has Treatments scheduled for May 19, and 26 and then should have her last round on June 2!!! She's looking forward to finishing up.

Her and Dr. Anderson are going over her options...because it is a RARE form of cancer with "squamous cells" (the floaters), Doc thinks she's going to have be a HIGH RISK for recurrence. BUT they won't know until they quit with all the chemo. He is VERY PLEASED with the CT Scans and says there are ZERO Signs of Cancer right now. SO that is very good.

Mom is Excited to be done and is busy making plans for Me, Tim and CJ to visit in Early July and then she and Dad will be making a trip back to Kansas City and Sioux City in August. So the calendar is getting filled again!

That's all for now - Hope all is well with everyone reading this! Happy Tuesday.

A Birthday Post

Happy Birthday MOM! Here is a Cute Picture of her with her Birthday Cake in the shape of a HAT because she's considering hats for a change!

Today is Mom's Birthday. Yesterday she had a small celebration with family. Today and the rest of this week she is just resting. She will have Chemo again this week. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though in terms of Chemo Treatments (at least from the first plan of action). She should be done with them by the end of this month. Yippee!

God Grant You Many Years, God Grant You Many Years, God Grant you Many, Many, Many YEARS!

Gosh Darn It

Mom had a nice visit with Mike and Abby. They all went out to dinner at the Bear Republic (one of my favorite treats) and my friend Emily just happened to be there. She wrote on my wall (Facebook Thingy) right away saying that mom looked "AWESOME."

I know that mom's been pretty tired though. Also, the other night she commented on how cold she was, so I asked if she had a fever. She didn't know but said she'd check. Well apparently she did have a fever.

Today she was at the oncology center and they gave her chemo anyway (despite the fever last night). They also ordered a bunch of new tests (more ultrasounds, x-rays and CT Scans). So she'll be busy this week with medical tests. Please keep her lifted in prayer - She really does have a positive attitude and that's great. It's just frustrating for me to hear of more tests - this bites.

Doing Well

Mom came home from the Hospital early this week. Saw Dr. Anderson and received Chemo already! After getting her dose of chemo she even went shopping. I talked with her yesterday and today and she seems to be doing well. Mike and Abby arrive tomorrow morning so I hope everything stays on a good course for her through the weekend at least!!!

Really hasn't been anything new. Mom did arrange for some house cleaners - and she LOVES that. She said it's quite a LUXURY but I say she deserves it!

Plans

Well, she's planning to go home today. She is still at the hospital right now...but should probably be home later this afternoon.

Uncle Mike and Cousin Abby are coming to visit her this Weekend.

Plans for the next Chemo are currently on hold...just because of the infection, hospital visit and such. Technically though she's ALMOST DONE with the original chemo plan (which was six rounds of the chemo). She has had 4 out of the 6!!!

So - Hopefully she'll have a good week and a GREAT time with Mike and Abby!

The Latest

Well...Mom is back in the Hospital. Looks like she'll be there a couple days at least. I don't totally know what it is...but apparently she is "Septic." From talking to friend who is a nurse and from checking out webMD I found out that people receiving chemo are prone to this sepsis because their immune systems are compromised. It is basically an infection.

She was supposed to go up today for labs, so that she could get TAXAL (chemo) tomorrow. Last night however, she got super sick. She had the chills, shaking and was very weak. Dad took her up to see Dr. Anderson and he said no to chemo tomorrow. He called the hospital and told them mom was coming. So they got her all checked in and she'll be there for a couple days.

I know it's not good news...but I also think she is in good hands for now. I know she'll be disappointed missing Pascha this weekend but hopefully she'll be better soon!

Genetics

The results of the Genetic Testing are in! Three tests were performed and the results on all three were "NO MUTATIONS DETECTED."

So I'm not a geneticist, or whatever you call someone who studies genetics, but apparently this means that it is NOT Hereditary. That is Good News.