Back to regular life

Mom starting doing so well, I forgot to post anything. She tolerated her treatment well and was able to complete it by mid June. For the first few weeks after the chemo and radiation ended, she was not feeling well. This was to be expected according to Dr. Whisenant. Eventually, her strength came back as did her energy. She now has more energy and feels better than she has since this whole ordeal began.
She had a CT scan at the beginning of this month. The tumor is considerably smaller (which she already knew because the pain was gone). With this news, her doctors are just going to wait and see how things go. They are hoping not to do surgery. She will have another scan the first part of November. That scan will test for cancer as well as measure the size of the tumor. They are in hopes that it will be smaller or at least not any bigger and of course, not have any cancer left.
Other great news, her last check up showed she had, in fact, gained 7 pounds! This is a big accomplishment. She has had such a difficult time getting the nutrients and calories she needs. Instructing her body on how to digest her food worked really well. She only had to concentrate on it for a couple of weeks. Now it does it on it's own. She still has to eat smaller portions, but it isn't such a chore.
So, life is back to normal. Both mom and dad are working at the Draper temple several days a week, If you're friends with them on face book, you may have noticed the pictures of them remodeling the house. They are doing most of it by themselves! It's a big project, but they're doing great.

You never know

Monday was a long treatment day. First to radiation and then to chemo treatment. As always, mom carries around a little fanny pack that administers chemo therapy treatment directly into her pic line. Every Monday she goes in to have it refilled. Every other Monday (and this last Monday was one of those) she gets a 4 hour infusion of a different type of chemo therapy. This one really wears on her. Monday, she was tired, but seemed OK. Tuesday morning she was a little tired, but not doing too bad. By afternoon she wasn't feeling well and Wednesday, she was just sick most of the day. Of course, it doesn't help that her sleep patterns are off. Either she doesn't sleep at all, or she sleeps really well for a couple of hours and then wakes up and can't go back to sleep, Her pain levels go up and down and since we're nearing the end of her treatment, the radiation is really taking it's toll. Even though heating pads help with discomfort in her lower back, the radiation has made adding heat to that area really uncomfortable. So, she just has to endure it. Of course, taking medication can help, but as in all medications, there are undesirable side effects. So, she has to chose which is worse, the discomfort or the side effect.
The good news is, her radiation doc said she can stop her radiation at 29 treatments instead of 30. That means she will end on Friday the 17th instead of Monday the 20th. Even though it's really only on treatment day, it means treatment ends 3 days early! She's really ready to have this over. It's just so hard to make plans if you never know how you're going to feel from one day to the next. Of course, as always, she's a trooper and willing to do what ever it takes to make herself well.

Such a difference from the last round

Another week has past. Mom seems to be tolerating everything fairly well. Of course some days are better than others, but for the most part, she is doing well. As we think about where she was last time with these treatments, she is doing remarkably well. She isn't sick all the time; Her energy level is way better than the last round, and she seems to be remaining healthy. Of course, she has those days one in a while where it's difficult to leave the house and sitting for long periods of time is not the best thing, especially on hard surfaces.
While her pain seems to come and go, she can usually keep it at bay with tylenol. Once in a while she needs something a little stronger, but not often. Another difference about this round of treatment is her weight. We were all worried that she would have to go on a feeding tube again just to maintain her weight thru all of this. But, she has been able to eat well and her food seems to digest better these days so she has actually gained a pound or two instead of losing like we feared. All in all, she is doing great in comparison.

This week was ok. Some things are better, some things are worse. Mom hasn't seemed to be as sick as last week, although some days were much better than others. She is experiencing less pain in the area she was having it before, and more pain in other areas. Just when we get one thing under control, another problem creeps up. She was able to attend a family gathering today where she got to see all of her living siblings. She really enjoyed visiting with them again. She was pretty wiped out afterward, but I think she thought it was worth the effort it took to go. Hopefully this next week will be even better than last. She's pretty excited to go three whole days without radiation. Since Monday is a holiday, she won't have to go back in until Tuesday.

Ups and Downs

Mom has been faithfully attending her radiation treatments every afternoon. The appointments aren't very long, but her energy seems to get zapped along with the cancer. She has been sick to her stomach off and on throughout the week. Some days are really good, then others she can hardly get out of bed. We are working on figuring out what the triggers are so we can avoid them when possible. The days she's down, she tries to think of the better days and remember it won't be this way forever. Of course, she keeps her positive attitude as always.

Mental Control

Mom has been doing well so far this week. Her energy levels are good and she seems strong. She discussed some of last week's issues (lack of energy and sick to her stomach) with the doc yesterday. The oncologist's office said they will try and adjust the levels for her chemo infusion for next week to see if that helps. We'll just have to wait and see.
This past week, her digestive system seems to be improving as well as her pain levels. I attribute this success to her ability to instruct her body on how to function.
Once she found out what the problem was with her stomach (it was not squeezing and contracting to help digest her food), she was able to talk to her body and instruct it on how to function. She does the same thing with her chemotherapy, radiation treatments or even when she takes medication. She instructs her body to utilize these treatments in the areas they are needed and leave the rest of her body alone. Hopefully, eventually her stomach and the rest of her body will start to function automatically as it is designed to do; but, in the meantime, she is able to mentally control some of those functions so she can get the calories and nutrition she needs to keep her healthy as well as the medication she needs to kick this cancer.

A New Week Begins

After having some rough days last week, she finished up with a bang. Friday and Saturday, mom felt really energetic. Most of the time, she didn't have to have any pain medication, including Tylenol or Advil, Today, again she felt so good, she decided to walk to church with dad. Unfortunately, that was probably not the best decision. By the middle of Sacrament meeting, she was hurting pretty bad. She also started feeling kind of icky. She came home, got some Aleve on board and took a hot bath and a nap. That made her feel much better. We'll have to wait and see what the night brings. Hopefully she will wake up feeling refreshed and invigorated and ready to start a new round of treatment.

Feeling better

For the past couple of days mom has not felt well. She hadn't been able to hold food down and she was exhausted. Today, however, she looked like she was full of energy when she woke up. And, throughout the day, she didn't seem to lose it. Normally after he radiation appointment, her energy just drops. But, today, she still seemed to feel pretty good. She did get a little tired and took a bit of a nap. But, all in all, it was a good day.

Jabba the Hut

Mom was sounding surprisingly strong yesterday morning. It was as if nothing had happened at all. But, after the radiation treatment and another doctor's visit, she was pretty tuckered out by end of the day. The pain levels seem to be decreasing. Or, at least the tylenol or advil seems to be working better.
When I got home tonight, however, she was plain worn out. Her voice was weaker and she could hardly keep her eyes open. She was in pain but hadn't taken anything for it most of the day. She mentioned she had been reading her journal and on the 3rd day, she had written she felt like Jabba the Hut from Star Wars. That is just how she felt today too. She took a hot bath and went to bed by 9:30. Hopefully her energy will return in a day or two.

Day One

Mom did great today. As she went through her first four hour chemo and radiation treatment, She read, listened to music and visited. Part way through the day, family came to the chemo treatment room, sang Happy Birthday and gave her balloons. She seemed to easily keep her spirits and her energy levels up. Of course, we know it isn't easy. It takes lots of concentration and inner reflection. But she does it well.

Happy Mother's Day

Mom enjoyed her day. Kim came over and made breakfast this morning and then made lunch this afternoon. This evening, Chrissy and her family joined us for dessert. It was relaxing and enjoyable. Of course she (being the mother of many) also received numerous messages from friends and family wishing her a happy mother's day. Tomorrow is her birthday and the beginning of her radiation and chemo treatments. She is in good spirits and ready to begin her big fight.

It starts

Mom got her picc line today. This will remain until she stops the chemotherapy. It's quite an ordeal to get it in and she's pretty exhausted. One thing I didn't mention before is why the doctors think the chemo and radiation is a good idea again. Apparently, last time, it totally got rid of the cancer. They expect it will work again since it proved to be so successful. The Picc line will be how the chemo is administered. She will have it going 24 hours a day and then go in every other week or so for a four hour infusion. That will start on Monday. Of course, amid her exhaustion, she remains in good sprits.

Catching up - Never the "Typical" Patient

So, we're back to the cancer center again. If you're wondering what brought us back, let me back up a few months. Of course, we all know mom is a super woman. She broke her hip the end of December, but recovered so quickly, they kicked her out of rehab after just few days. She only used her hot pink crutches for a couple of weeks and then was back to her usual schedule of temple work on the weekends and workouts at the gym during the week.
Around February, she started feeling some pressure in her bladder which felt like a bladder infection. Her doctor, understandably, put her on an antibiotic. The antibiotic didn't seem to do the job so after a week or two she was put on another one. When that one didn't work, she went back and was put on a third and then a fourth antibiotic.
Finally on Saturday, April 16th, after working in the temple all day, the pressure became so uncomfortable, we finally convinced her to let us take her to the emergency room. Of course, the ER doc immediately diagnosed her with a bladder infection, but took a blood test, just to be sure. The blood test came back with no infection showing anywhere. Next he said, it must be kidney stones. Mom told him it didn't feel like the kidney stones she had last year, but he said it sounded like a classic case. He took a CT scan just to make sure. When the results came in, he was very surprised to see there were no kidney stones present. Thankfully there was someone observant reading the CT scan who saw a mass near her tailbone that shouldn't be there. The ER doc advised us to get in to see Dr.Ott (her surgeon) as soon as possible. He was very comforting, reminding us we didn't know what it is was and it could very well be nothing major so we shouldn't lose any sleep over this, but it was something we needed to follow up on.
Our visit with Dr. Ott on Tues (April 19th) basically told us it was a mass but he couldn't tell what it was. He said it would not likely be her esophageal cancer because it was so far removed from her other cancer. He ordered another CT scan and also a biopsy. It may not seem like a big deal to have those things, but, every time she has a procedure like that she has to skip a couple of meals and then has to drink a sickening sweet substance to help the images be more clear. It totally zaps her energy and makes her sick to her stomach the rest of the day. The CT scan was done on Wednesday and the biopsy (done with in conjunction with another CT scan) was done on Friday (April 22nd). We were told we would be able to get results by Monday or Tuesday. Actually, the results weren't back until Thursday afternoon.
The results; this mass was cancerous and it was the same type of cancer as before (Esophageal). Dr. Ott was as surprises as any of us. He scheduled her for a PET scan for Monday, May 2nd (yesterday). The PET scan shows hot spots so we can see where the cancer is and if it had spread. Today we learned the cancer looks like it is contained to that one place. Which is very good news. Her doctors met together this morning and we were able to meet with all three (Dr. Ott (surgeon), Dr. Whisenant (oncologist) and Dr. Sause (radiation) ) this afternoon. The plan of action is this:
Thursday - May 5th -She will have a pic line put in for her chemotherapy 24/7 treatment.
Monday - May 9th (which is her birthday) - she will start her radiation and chemotherapy regimens.
She will continue with these treatments for the next couple of months or so. Then they will reevaluate. As always, she is a trooper and willing to take on yet another fight. Dad is holding up fairly well under the circumstances.
We so much appreciate your thoughts and prayers in her behalf.