Treatment #2

Mom started treatment #2 yesterday. She tolerated the first one really well and her counts have stayed good with the Neupogen shots. She is having some bone pain from the Neupogen shots so we may have to decrease the number she gets before Chemo and after. This will be one of those things that may need adjusted from time to time based on her WBC counts. She did get sick a little but it was about 7 days after the last Chemo so not sure if this was from the Chemo or some other bug. She was only sick this one time and felt ok otherwise. Home health will come tomorrow to remove the overnight pump that she has to take home with her and then blood work approximately 7-10 days after to check counts.
Dad is scheduled to have his back injections on Feb 11th. I am planning on taking a few days off to go stay with them as this will probably be a Chemo week for Mom if her counts are ok. Continue to pray for our family.

Starting Chemo

We survived the holidays but the snow is about to get to us all. It has been snowing since before Christmas and still more in the forcast. Mom and Dad have not been able to be on the go like they normally do with the weather.
I have not posted in awhile but Mom has been feeling pretty good. She went back to Dr. Shem(surgeon) on Wednesday and got a good report. Her surgery has healed well. She will be starting chemo on Monday 11th at the Cancer Center in Beckley. The Dr in Beckley will be in contact with the ones at Bowman Grey during the chemo regimen. She will start her Neupogen shots(to help WBC,RBC counts) tomorrow. Hopefully she will be able to tolerate the chemo ok. The chemo will be a little different than the first round with an additional drug added to it. Dad's back is feeling better with him doing his therapy and he is scheduled to get injections in Feb. Keep them in your prayers as they start yet another journey.

Mom's Home

Mom got to come home on Wednesday and is doing pretty good. She is still sore but feeling ok. She is already wanting to go out to eat so that is a good sign. She and Dad go to Beckley just about every day to eat, go shopping , or go to Lowe's. She is planning on coming for Addison's birthday party Sunday if she and Dad are feeling ok. She will not start her chemo until about 3 -4 weeks. She will have 6 months of it. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes. Continue to pray for Mom and Dad. Dad will be doing his therapy for his back 2-3 times a week since Mom is home.

!!!!!Pathology Reports!!!!
As of this morning, Mom will get to come home tomorrow as long as she keeps the solid food down today. I talked with Dad about 930am and she had been ok thru the night. Pathology reports came back on the section of liver that was removed with the tumor being mets but all the margins were clear which is a good thing. This means that the tumor itself was cancer but all the surrounding tissue was not cancer. She will still need chemo for 6 months and will start it in about 3-4 weeks when she gets a little stronger. Dad forgot to ask about the lymph nodes so he will find out in the morning about that. They have started her back on the coumadin and this will take a couple of days to get back to therapeutic levels. Dad will be able to monitor this at home like he always has. So hopefully she will get home tomorrow. I know they will be glad to get back home. Mom has said over and over this past week that she WILL NOT have anything else done to her and for us not ever ask her to. She is just really tired of dealing with hospitals in general and it typically sets her back so far as strength and moving around that it takes her twice as long to bounce back. It still amazes me that all she has endured and still keeps going.

Mom had good night and is feeling better today. Kristen stayed with her last night. They have walked this morning and she is sitting up in a chair. Dr. came in and said they would try clear liquids again today and hopefully the bowels will wake up and get active. Won't be coming home today but maybe tomorrow. Dr said it is not an unusual thing for the bowels to be lazy especially as much as they had to manipulate them during surgery. This happened one other time during one of her surgeries. She does have some bowel sounds so they think it will be ok eventually. She is a little mad about not going home. I am back at work today and have to go to Charlotte for a couple of days for the hospital but plan on going over to Winston from Charlotte if she is still there on Wed. Jerry is going today to spend the night and if by chance she gets to come home, Jerry will follow them so he can help get her in and out of the car on the way home.

Day 5

Not a good night last night. Started out pretty good and about midnight she got sick and threw up most of what she had to eat all day. She was coughing when she threw up and had been given her meds all at one time so they think it was a combination of all that made her throw up. She only did this once and has felt ok since. Dr. is going to do stomach xray today to check the bowels out to make sure they are getting active again. Have been up all night so I am glad it was me and not Dad here. Should be taking her for xray soon. Blood work looks ok today but she will definetly NOT be going home today. He said still probably tomorrow. Heading back to hotel to shower and pack. I think Kristen is coming today to stay with Dad until tomorrow. Continue in prayer.

Sat 28th- Dr. made rounds and is going to get rid of the pain pump. Mom has been up a couple of times and PT came and worked with her some on walking and getting up. Dr. says maybe she can go tomorrow but more likely she will go home on Monday. She had solid food today and has tolerated it well. She's been a little grumpy today only because she is being made to do things that is uncomfortable and makes her hurt. Her soreness is getting a little better each day. Her Hgb is a little low 9.6 down from 11.5 but Dr. said her body is trying to concentrate on healing instead of making red cells. She has had no bleeding but through the port blood draws they have to waste 20cc when they access her port so that doesnt help her Hemoglobin get back up. Checking it again tonight by a fingerstick and hopefully it has gone as low as it is going to go. We don't want a blood transfusion for sure. Dr. didn't seem that concerned with it but did mention to me. Mom said to be sure and "blog her thanks" (haha) to everyone that has prayed for us. Getting ready to go eat some dinner with Dad. Thanks for all the many prayers.