On To Round 2!

Today was Mom's second chemo.  Her doctor's plan was to skip the Neulasta this time (the shot that gave her such bad bone aches).  Mom was worried about her counts being low but the doctor said there was a different shot they could give her if they were low.  She had bloodwork before her chemo today, and her counts were actually pretty low.  They were 0.1 above the cutoff level for not being able to receive her chemotherapy, so she was still able to receive her chemotherapy.  They decided to also give her Neupogen shots on Friday, Monday and Tuesday.  This is a shot similar to Neulasta but with hopefully less side effects.  The shot is intended to help her body so her blood counts don't get too low.  So we got past that little hurdle and then there was another one!  Her port had turned around in her chest!  The nurse tried to stick a needle in her port to give her chemotherapy, and it had turned backwards, so she was hitting the back of it.  They had to call someone to come flip it so the nurses could access it.  That was not a fun process for my mom-very painful.  But after a few tries they were able to flip it, and mom was able to receive her chemotherapy!  What a morning!  Whew!!
She goes in for fluids tomorrow to help her keep hydrated.  They are also planning on doing another surgery after we get back from our trip to make sure her port stays the way it is supposed to.  For those that don't know, instead of getting poked in the arm with an IV to receive her chemotherapy every time, they insert this device into her upper chest, right below her clavicle, that hooks onto a vessel that delivers her chemotherapy throughout her body.

So of course mom did great with her treatment, had smiles the whole time despite the few setbacks, and she had wonderful nurses which we are so thankful for!  If you all could please say some prayers that her body handles this round of chemotherapy better than the last that would be great!  Last round was pretty hard on her, so we are hoping that she will feel better this time!

Also, please pray that she feels well enough to enjoy our trip to Cancun!  We leave in 9 days whoo hoo!!!  I just hope she feels good enough to enjoy it.  She is pretty nervous about how she will feel and how her blood counts will be when she is down there, so we are hoping for the best!  My whole family is going minus the babies, we are lucky enough to have some great in-laws that are taking wonderful care of them so we can enjoy time with our mom!

So mom's hair took a hike this week!  She gave me permission to post this picture.  Of course my Dad had to join her in the fun of shaving their heads!  She is the most beautiful person I have ever seen.  I don't think there is a need for her to cover up her beautiful head with wigs and scarves, she is so beautiful the way she is!  Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers!! 

First chemo treatment in the books

Well, mom survived her first chemo treatment.  It is hard for me to describe how the week went, but I can tell you it was awful.  The first day or so was not bad, and then it hit.  My mom was completely wiped out and had horrible side effects to her chemotherapy.  The worst part of it was the Neulasta injection she received the day after her chemotherapy.  This shot is given to make her body produce more white blood cells, which are low after receiving chemotherapy.  This helps her to have good counts once her second cycle of chemotherapy comes along, reducing delays in treatment because of low blood counts.  The main side effect of this drug is severe bone pain, and boy did she have it!  She described it as "when you have the flu and your bones hurt, times 100".  She could not even wash her hair for a few days because her head hurt so bad-every part of her body was in pain.  This was awful to see.  I know I have mentioned she is the strongest woman I know, but I can't imagine how much pain she was actually in.  After that got better, it was just the normal side effects to chemo, such as nausea, mouth sores, stomach issues, loss of taste, things like that.  Everything tastes like cardboard to her.  So yeah these chemotherapy treatments are no fun!  But her energy is slowly returning.  Despite feeling awful, she had a good attitude, thinking 'tomorrow will be a better day' even though that was usually not the case. We are so grateful to hear from all of you and to know you are all praying for her!  Please pray that her body will handle the next round of chemo better!

How about some fun news?!  So when we first found out that mom's cancer had come back, we made a decision.  Every year my parents go down to Cancun with their friends, Rick and Linda Tofte.  They always come back and say one year our whole family is going to go.  It has been my mom's dream to have all of us down there with them.  So when she found out her cancer had come back, she said no more waiting around, we are doing this!  We booked a trip to Cancun in May!  (21 days until we leave but who's counting...)  So that has given my mom something to look forward to!  It will be great for our family to have some time together without the business of everyday life.  We leave 9 days after her next chemo treatment, so she should be feeling better.  Yay!  Can't wait to tell you all about our trip!

I again want to thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, messages, everything!  She has so much support from family and friends and enjoys hearing from each of you.  Even if you don't know her that well, the messages she reads truly helps her through!  Love you all!

Matt and Lindsey's daughter, Ava, turned 2 on Friday!  We are so thankful we were all able to spend it together!

And We're Off!

After a long week of wondering which treatments she will do, Mom met with her medical oncologist today and started chemotherapy.  We all felt very comfortable with this decision and mom was ready to get started!  The plan is to have 4 cycles of chemotherapy for now, one every 3 weeks.  At the end of that Dr. Gray will evaluate her and decide if she is going to give a couple more cycles or not.  We are lucky and unlucky in the manner that we both (mom and I) know a little too much.  She was a medical oncology nurse for years and I am a medical dosimetrist at the Bismarck Cancer Center.  So it has been hard to decide which treatment route would be best for her, but we are so fortunate that we work with amazing doctors and coworkers that are so willing to help with anything, we feel she is getting the best treatment available to her right now.  She did great through her first treatment, had smiles the whole time.  She received a fun picture from her Williston coworkers that made us all smile and shed a tear, it is pictured below.

 

 

 

I will keep you updated with how she handles this first round of chemo.  She also will have a chest x-ray tomorrow to see if the fluid has returned to her lung or not.  We are hoping it hasn't!  After her chemotherapy she went right home to "sleep".....well when I called a bit ago she was cleaning the house!  Of course she was.  She told me not to tell Dad but I guess that's out the window.  She also celebrated a birthday this week!  Here is a picture with her cake!  (the kids call her "Shrama", I would have loved to see my dad explaining that one to the cake decorator)

 

 

So we're off!  Thank you all so much for your prayers and all of your kind words!  She is still keeping her positive attitude and is still sassy ;)  so keep the prayers coming!  Here is the wig she plans on wearing when she loses her hair.