Ready for Round 2

1-30-09

The end of an energizing week!

I have enjoyed not having any chemo treatments this week and spending time with friends. Yesterday Larry Wilde, a fellow librarian, took me to lunch and then during the afternoon dear friends Barb and Janene, from Evergreen paid me a visit. Afterwards I was able to join them with Moses and Chris for “coalition” meeting at Crown Burger. Today I enjoyed a Café Rio lunch with the Skyline group..good friends and good food! These are reminders of how many wonderful and support friends I have surrounding me during this battle.

Monday I will begin round two. It will be much more aggressive I will be having chemo for longer sessions for 6 days in a row and then 3 weeks off. Radiation will also begin on Monday with a 5 minute daily session for 6 weeks. I hope that the side effects will be minimal and that I will still have the energy to work at least part time.

We are looking forward to having my parents with us for a couple of weeks. Hopefully they won’t freeze in this cold weather.

Thanks again for your prayers and support…we are surrounded by great friends and family!

Another Week

1-25-09

This past week has been busy for our family…..

Ron continues to stay busy with school, classes at the U, and basketball games at Bingham High. He did get the results of the radon test in our house; it came back high, so now Ron is doing research to find out how to ventilate our home. If you are interested in ordering a radon test click on this site….http://www.radon.utah.gov/. Since January is national radon awareness month the kit only costs $6.00.

Savanna continues to enjoy student teaching at Draper Elementary, she is also helping with coaching the lacrosse team.

Marie enjoyed having Monday and Tuesday off from school. She was thrilled yesterday when her winter league team won the championship game. Marie played well and even scored a goal!!!!

On Thursday Ron went with me to see Dr. Avizonis, the radiologist. It was informative meeting with her. She talked to us about my next round. I am thrilled that I will have next week off, but then starting on Feb. 2nd I will be starting radiation and chemo. I will have radiation every day for 6 weeks, and then I will have chemo for 5 days in a row and then 2 weeks off. It will be a more aggressive round so I hope that my body will be able to handle this treatment. I have been blessed with having minimal side effects so far, hopefully it will continue! On Thursday I also got my radiation tattoos….too bad they look like freckles; it is hard for me to find some of them!

We appreciate everyone’s prayers and thoughts for us. Thank you!!!

Go Cardinals!!!!

Thanks for Dinner!

Thanks to the Cardona women for bringing our family dinner tonight. Yvette and Ivonne brought some delicious soup, rice, and oranges for us to enjoy!

Chemo Day

Chemo Day

WARNING….WARNING…WARNING…WARNING…WARNING…

OK, you HAVE BEEN warned…..I decided to document my chemo treatment today. If you have a weak stomach you may want to skip viewing this blog!!!!

Thanks to Marie for joining me on this treatment and being the photographer.

My appointment was at 8:00 A.M. this morning, the first stop is the desk to check in and make a co-payment!




Now we wait in for a few minutes in the waiting room.



Don’t you like my “press and seal”? I wish that they used this instead of the dreaded tape. Before I go in I have to apply an ointment that numbs the area where my port is so that I won’t feel the needle that they have to insert.


This is the tray of medical equipment that is used to access my port. Notice the needle that is located right beneath the yellow plastic object that is on the lower right hand side of the tray.


This shows you a picture of my port. It is the bump right below the collar bone.


No, this is not blood!!! This is the iodine mixture that is applied to kill any germs that may be on the port access area.


This shows a picture of Shelly, the nurse as she is inserting the needle. I can’t feel a thing, it doesn’t hurt!


After the port is accessed Shelly can take a few vials of my blood. They check my white blood cell count and make sure that it is high enough before they administer the chemo.


The worst part of accessing the port is the tape…yes it has to be strong tape so that germs can’t seep through, but it is so strong that it hurts when it has to be removed!!!! The thought makes me cringe!


Ready to go…but first I have to meet with the doctor.



Dr. Harker took the day off so I just met with Rick his PA today. Everything seems to be fine with my blood work so all systems are go for chemo!

Now we wait in the Chemo Waiting Room for a few minutes while they get my chemo ready!

Here is a picture of the chemo room at the Utah Cancer Specialists. Usually the room is busy, but since it is MLK day there were only 2 other patients today.


Today Darren was my chemo nurse; he is getting me hooked up to receive the chemo. Notice the comfortable leather recliner that I get to relax in while I get my “drugs”.


Darren makes sure that I am warm and comfy during my treatment. I love the warm blanket. They also let us have treats while we are undergoing chemo. You can see the refrigerator behind the chair where Marie sat during my chemo, it is stocked with juices, pop, and other munchies!


Now I just sit and relax for either an hour or an hour and a half while the chemo drips into my body! Today Marie and I watched an episode of “The Office” while we were waiting.



At half-time I usually have to unplug the pump and take a “potty break”. With the juice plus the liquids dropping into my body I have really need this break.


Now the worst part of the treatment…removing the tape!!! Darren is gentle, but it still hurts!!!!


The tape is gone!!!!!



The little bandage to keep my port free from germs while the puncture wound heals. I only have to leave this on for about an hour!


Marie and I are glad to have completed my final chemo treatment for the first round!!! I continue to have minimal side effects, I will find out later this week when I start radiation and my next round of chemo!!!!

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!

Countdown

1-18-2009

Another week has flown by…this week I was more exhausted from the chemo. Working and chemo can be demanding on my body!

I had my treatment on Monday, but I was able to work at school in the morning. Tuesday I was able to work all day, but by the afternoon I was running low. Wednesday I stayed home and slept, this is the day that I felt like I had hit a wall. I slept most of the day and then forced myself to stay awake until 9:00 P.M. because I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. No worries, I slept all night and then returned to work on Thursday, but by lunch I was running low again so I came home and slept two hours before my brain MRI scan. Then that evening I had my hair cut!!!! I am so grateful that I still have my hair!!! Friday I was able to work the entire day but I went to bed by 9:00 P.M. Then yesterday I was able to have a normal day!! I really am glad that my side effects from the chemo have been minimal.

Friday evening Dr. Harker called to let me know that the scan showed that the spot on my brain are stable!!!!! The spots are still of a concern, but they haven’t grown so that will give the doctors the green light to make my next round of treatment more aggressive. I will be doing chemo and radiation during the month of February. I pray that my body will respond well to this new treatment and that the cancer will go into remission! I want to enjoy my summer!!! I am going to countdown to summer!

Ron has started his classes at the U and is now in countdown mode, only 15 more classes until he is done! He has decided that he doesn’t want to “walk” through graduation, but he is going to have a class party at his school!

Savanna is enjoying student teaching at Draper Elementary. She has some fun stories about the kids in her class.

Marie is looking forward to sleeping in again tomorrow and Tuesday since she doesn’t have school because it is MLK Day and the end of the quarter! Lacrosse tryouts will begin this week so she will be busy with lacrosse after school now.

Thanks again for your faith and prayers as we go through this trial. We are blessed with such great friends and family.

MRI Brain Scan Results

Dr. Harker just called to let me know that the brain scan looked very "stable"!!!

Yippy...but now I will face a demanding month with chemo and radiation. On Monday I will have my last treatment of chemo for this cycle, then I will set up an appointment with Dr. Avizonis and get ready for radiation.

Today I feel normal...I have energy and food actually tastes good! Yesterday I came home and had a 2 hours nap before my scan. Thanks to Sally, Ruth, and the secretaries for insisting that I go home and rest. They are taking care of me and they notice when I start to run out of energy. They are also great to help out when I am gone!

Thanks again for all the considerate acts of kindness, thoughts, and prayers for me and my family. We truly feel strengthened by the love and support that our friends and family extend to us.

We will enjoy our long weekend, even though I have chemo on MLK Day!

Tired....

Today is my "tired day" so I am home getting some extra sleep. I seem to hit a wall the 3rd day after chemo, but luckily I am back up and around on Thursday. Last night Savanna and I enjoyed a Stake Enrichment Night with Sister Julie Beck. Savanna was asked to give the opening prayer and she did a great job. It was a wonderful, uplifting evening.