Blessing in Disguise

Life has been a whirlwind, running from one thing to the next. Everything from family coming to visit to prepping Jason to leave for his two year mission, grocery shopping and everything in between. It has been anything but the quiet norm around here. Last week was supposed to be a chemo treatment week, but with the excitement going on, was pushed back to today.

This is Valerie, writing again on my mom's account. We are currently at SCCA bright and early in the morning. It is so good to be back home, I miss Seattle very much and it is great to be with my family. Jason is leaving tomorrow, I can hardly believe it. I am so lucky to be here watching him prepare to serve his mission.

After the usual pre-chemo blood test, the results were a blessing in disguise. My mom's white blood cell count was too low to do chemotherapy today. This is the first time being turned away. With all that has been going on, her body did not get adequate rest. This means we push back chemo another week, not without a little help for next time. We are waiting for her to get a shot to help boost those white blood cells! She needs to be careful hygiene wise by eating well, getting rest, washing hands more frequently because she is more susepctible to infections and the like. It is a blessing because today is Jason's last day and we get to spend it with him!! My mom is so thrilled about that. Just so everyone knows, this happens and is not uncommon for cancer patients. It is something they monitor regularly and will treat as needed.

We're off to enjoy our day! See you next week SCCA.

Here's to Family

The results of the CT scan my mom had a few weeks ago showed no growth in her tumors. Only the tumor in her thyroid shrunk just a little. Because of these results, the doctor decided to keep her on folfox (the current chemo she has been on) for another two months of treatments. She will have another CT scan at the end to check the progress again and decide from there if there will be any changes.

From the talks I've had with her and check in calls, she gets tired more frequently now. Her hair has started to thin again. She has even started feeling nauseous and throwing up (sorry mom, but friends should know). I will catch her working on her quilts and doing things she loves which makes me feel so grateful. I am so happy she has energy to keep going. However hard it is and however sick she feels sometimes, I know she keeps going for us, her kiddies. I wish our family was closer so that we could be more helpful and share more memories together, but I know even when we can't see the daily struggles and feelings she has, that she thinks of us and finds it in her to keep going. I know we all think of her often and are amazed. There is nothing better than family and I feel so lucky to have mine. For those who haven't heard, the youngest in our family, Jason, is leaving in August to serve a two year LDS mission in the Philippines. I know it was a hard decision for him to make, but hard as it was our family is so proud of his decision. In January, we will welcome home Ian who is serving his mission in San Diego. My mom has been holding strong especially for him. He was gone when we learned about the cancer. I know when the two of them meet again, it will be a very sweet reunion. There is something about our family being apart, but feeling close. I love knowing I have them forever.

CT Scan Results

Monday was my mom's first CT Scan that I did not go to. I was bummed and it seemed like I heard about 50 cancer commercials at work. She is sick with a cold and not feeling too well, but it did not effect anything and the appointment went on as usual.

Great news!! Her cancer markers are down, way down, to 209! Remember, that's all the way from 16,000!

The tumors are shrinking a little bit, not anything significant, but they are at least still responding to the treatments and a little smaller is better than nothing. She is still on the pill version of chemo which has been more convenient to do. And so far so good since the last dosage adjustment. She has felt more herself these days, which is amazing!!!

She is now enjoying a week with one of her brothers, and his family. Wish I was there!

Results from the 2nd CT Scan

I just got back home from an all day adventure at SCCA. First we did the CT scan and then had 3 hours to kill before meeting with the Doctor to get the results. We went to the mall and had brunch...I love brunch. :)
Then we browsed through some stores and had fun window shopping...wishing money was no object.

The results of the CT scan showed that all tumors are smaller and nothing new has cropped up. Good news!
My cancer marker is now 877! Again, that's down from 16,000 and just last month 1400!
So chemotherapy is working! The Doc gave me a couple of choices. I could continue on chemo as we have been doing or I could go on the chemo pill. The downside of going on the pill is that he doesn't know what dosage will be right for me so we need to start and then tweak it til we get it right. But I chose the pill anyway. Once it's tweaked just right it sounds easier. I still have to go in every three weeks for some kind of infusion...sorry I can't remember what but it's just a small part. And every 2 months I go in for another CT scan.

With all the love and prayers being sent in our behalf it's no wonder the cancer is running scared. I do not feel alone in this battle. I can feel so many warriors standing behind me and beside me in support.
Thank you to all of you for your love, support and prayers. I am glad to have the love of family and friends through all of this.
Ultimately it is not what the doctors say and it is not what we want for ourselves but it is in God's hands and I put my trust in Him.

Results

We just finished meeting with the doctor here at SCCA. He went over the results of the CT scan. We have two months of chemo down and two more to go. Her tumors have shrunk an average of about a third of the size, or less, of the original. The large tumors in her liver have only lost only about 2-4mm, which is not nearly as significant as we had hoped. They are still fairly large, but they are at least responding! The doctor was pleased with the results. He also said surgery is not likely after the treatments. It would not help because of how wide spread the cancer is. After two more months of chemo she will switch to a pill form that is more a targeted therapy than a chemotherapy, that will cut off the blood supply to all of the tumors. The pill would still help shrink the tumors. It's looking like the tumors will never completely dissapear, but there is always hope! It is good news that the cancer is responding to the treatments. Just because the tumors did not shrink in half does not mean there isn't hope for there to be more progress. Only time will tell and we pray continually we will pull through this.
Her cancer counters went from 16,000 to 3,600.
We are currently in the waiting room for her next chemotherapy....

Colonoscopy

January 31st

Dad brought Mom to the scheduled colonoscopy.

They were done much sooner than expected because they

immediately found what they were looking for.

A 5-inch malignant tumor

35 cm from the start, partially obstructing.

This tumor is the primary cancer site so it is Colon Cancer.
It has caused the pain she had been feeling the last year

and the harsh prepping for the colonoscopy.

She was scheduled for surgery consultation on friday

to talk about removing the tumor.

Today doctors called in the morning saying

they did not want to wait until friday.

Mom and Dad immediately went in to consult with the surgeon
who did not think surgery was necessary but highly recommended
starting chemo ASAP to shrink the tumor.

We also found out today that she has Stage 4 Colon Cancer.

After considering and praying about our options,

we decided to cancel the oncologist
appointment that was scheduled for today.

We chose the

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

and our appointment with the oncologist is scheduled for Monday February 6th.

As soon as we spoke with someone from the SCCA

we felt we were in good hands and felt very good about going there.

Even though it puts off the oncology visit by a few days,

we still feel it was the right decision.

Emergency Room Visits

Saturday January 28th....

Mom, Dad and I went to do a session at the LDS Seattle Temple.

[which was an incredibly sweet experience beyond words]

We got out about 3:00pm.

Towards the end of the session she had been feeling

chest pain going downward.

Her doctors office has doctors on call 24/7

on the way home from the temple we debated going by the office

or just calling in about it to see what to do.

After getting home, she wanted to be at Jason's (what she thought was) last basketball game.

After the game, the pain had intensified.

She was having a hard time taking deep breaths and

having a hard time walking without pain.

She called in to a doctor to explain what she was feeling.

He told us to go to the ER.

Her blood pressure was up to 182.

Her cheeks and chin suddenly became very flushed.

They prepped her for a CT scan and took an x-ray.

She was given pain meds, to which she was called a "light weight"

because of her immediate reaction to them.

She became more comfortable

and her blood pressure came down.

The results from the x-ray and CT scan

did not show the cause of her pain,

and showed she did not have the problems

the doctor were concerned it may be.

Because she was comfortable and they could not see anything wrong,

she was released.

We went and filled a pain med prescription and got home around 2:30am.

Sunday we slept in, laid low and hoped something bad would not happen again.

She said she hasn't had that good of asleep in a long time.

Easy on those drugs mom ;)

We also had a visit from some friends.

On January 30th...

Preparing for her colonoscopy did not go smoothly.

She suffered really intense pains.

She said "No one should ever have to feel that"

"It was the worst pain I'd ever had in my life"

She could not keep anything down and her system was not clearing.

We called the doctor twice

First time they said to discontinue some of the cleanse.

Second time they said

"We're canceling the colonoscopy, something's wrong,

take her to the emergency room"

Just before leaving things started to move.

Which was good news and meant there was nothing blocking.

By the time we got to the ER around 4:30pm she was feeling better.

Not much was done and she was released but understood the

importance of the colonoscopy and decided to reschedule it.

January 26, 2012 And All That Led Up To It

Beginning early 2011,

my mom had been feeling low abdominal pain.

Really low. She says the pain would come and go and to her,

felt like it could be gas pains.

She would feel tired and not as energetic as she normally is.

Feeling tired like that was not exactly an alarm.

My mom is known to be deeply involved

with various projects and, well, it can make you tired.

Not exactly a red flag.

In December of 2011, which is also the month she turned 45,

she very quickly developed

a lump on her neck the size of a walnut.

My husband and I were living 5 1/2 hours away while he finished his last year in college. He graduated in December and we came home for 4 or 5 days before leaving for Christmas with his family on the east coast. We left and returned home January 3, 2012.

That was the first time I had seen the lump.

I was shocked it was so big because

I did not notice it when we were with her last.

Other odd signs came up in December.
A few times she would become so exhausted while showering
she had to sit down in the shower to rest.
She felt like she would pass out and
did not have energy to hardly stand.
Suddenly every time she brushed her teeth
she would gag and to the point of sometimes throwing up.
She would feel nauseous when her stomach was empty
and at the same time her appetite was decreasing.

January 4th

The first doctors appointment.

Our concerns were the lump on her neck,

the abdominal pain as well as some side pains.

Her doctor was leaving for France so they set up appointments to run tests and then
they would meet again after she came back from overseas.
The doctor suspected a cyst on her thyroid.

It did not seem life threatening.

At the time we were unsure if all of her pains were related.

The doctor ordered an ultra sound and some blood tests
to look further into it.

Life went on...a little too fast if you ask me.

January 6th

She was diagnosed with RP. Retinitis Pigmentosa,

a degenerative eye disease

that has no cure and leads to blindness.

Her peripheral vision is narrowing.

At the time this was the most devastating news we had ever heard.

My mom loves to quilt and create things and has a very artistic eye.

She has a real talent for design in a variety of areas.

The thought of her going blind was unimaginable.

It is because of her sight that she has developed into who she is.

January 9th

She went in for her blood tests.

January 10th

My parents 25th Wedding Anniversary,

and the day she went for the ultrasound.

January 11th

Her son, Ian, my brother, left to serve a two year mission

in San Diego, California for

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

She received the results from the tests.

Blood test showed slightly elevated liver function and iron deficiency.
Ultra Sound found that the lump on her thyroid to be a solid mass.
It also showed that her liver was covered in lumps
the largest being 11 cm (4 1/2 inches) in size.

January 12th

She went for the CT Scan.

January 13th

Results from the CT Scan
The CT Scan confirmed the lumps in her liver and her thyroid
and also showed several lumps in her lungs.

January 23rd

She went in for Biopsies of the liver and lump on her thyroid.

January 26th

The world stopped.

She was diagnosed with Cancer.

They do not know which kind yet. They are suspecting colon cancer.

From the biopsies, the tissues pulled from the liver and thyroid

exhibited characteristics like tissue found in the intestine/colon area.

We go in Wednesday, February 1st to meet with an oncologist.

I am humbled and overwhelmed by the blessings I have already seen.
The most important, to me, being,
Garrett and I, living here with my family.
THAT is why we are here. I have no doubt.
The timing could not have been more perfectly aligned.
No other time would we be living with them, for this long.
Garrett graduated in December and begins law school in the fall,
giving us a good 8 months to be in "limbo"
giving us time to be here.
Through that I feel our Heavenly Father's love.