I'm finished with Radiation!!

 Today was my last radiation treatment and I am so happy to be finished.  I met with Dr. Baseman yesterday and he is really pleased with how I've done with it all.  Have a share a couple of pictures.

This first one is with Lorene, my radiation therapist.  Missy was the other therapist but she wasn't there today.  Lorene said when she got sent to one of their other locations, Missy moaned that she would "miss Mrs. Lipe's last treatment."  I hate I didn't get to tell her good-bye.  These two ladies were so good to me!!

This next shot is with Kathy, the nurse, with us holding a completion certificate they gave me.  She was always concerned with my radiation burns and my healing!

It is SO good to be finished.  I hope in  2 or 3 weeks my energy level will pick up some, too.

On Monday I also completed the last physical therapy on my knee.  I will continue to do exercises they gave me and will continue to see improvement, but at least I don't have to go to PT anymore. Yea!!

Now I am looking forward to seeing Dad and my family this weekend as we gather to celebrate his 95th birthday!  I have only seen him once since Christmas so I can't wait. 

I will report back in to you after I see Dr. Harkness, my oncologist, on July 22.  Let's hope things are looking up then!!

Thanks again to all of you who have continued to pray for us so faithfully.  It means so much to know that we have you prayer warriors lifting us up in prayer.  It's been a LONG 10 months, and I've hit a wall several times, but always one of my family or friends were there with a call, an e-mail message, a card, something to help light my way.  Thanks to the ladies at church who have continued to write up the Sunday News for me each week--Pam, Martha, Karla, Paula!! (I haven't publicly thanked these ladies yet.) What a blessing. 

I am now seeing the light at the end of that dark tunnel we've been walking through all this time.  It is so great to come out into the sunshine!!  I could not have made it through all this without all of your love helping to light the way for us!!!  So a big Thank you!!!  And much love to you all.
Smiles, Laura

Still going...

Still going on the radiation treatments, that is.  Of course I am still going, too.  After I posted that last entry and had treatments through June 19, my chest was so burned (and my spirits so low because of the pain) that the oncologist suggested I take a week off before we started the last phase (of 6 treatments).  I don't think I could have taken any more had he not suggested this.  Frank was all for my quitting, because seeing the outer skin damage, he was so worried about what it might be doing to my internal organs.  We met with the dr. and he assured us all was OK internally.  He said I had actually done very well and lasted for 6 weeks when some women burned like me would ask for a break at 3 weeks.  He said I had some "nasty cancer" with many lymph nodes infected and they wanted to "hit it hard" to make sure it does not come back.  All I know is I was in real pain with burns that looked like you had sat a hot iron down on my chest.

That week off sure helped.  Here is a shot of some of the area 11 days after the last treatment.   Still looks like the point of an iron burned me in that one spot.  But it is scabbing over.  And darn it, it is up high enough that in shows in all my tops.

I still have some other pretty raw places, too, but when I saw the oncologist today, he said I was doing great and seemed like my old self again.  I decided to have a treatment today.  I will have 3 treatments this week (they will be closed Friday for the 4th), will have a 3-day rest, and then will have the final 3 treatments next week.  I will be so glad to have this over.  These last 6 do not cover my entire left chest, all the way to the clavicle, but rather just the area of the lumpectomy.  I am not sure if the dosage is the same or not, but at least it is not as wide an area! 

I also saw my orthopedist today and he is very pleased with how my knee is healing.  When the physical therapist measured my extension last week, I have 141 degrees in that knee, which is all you could ask for--outstanding!!  It is still a bit weak about my walking on it, but it is getting there!! I have 3 more therapy appointments, finishing up next Monday.  Just think, by Wednesday, I will be finished with both PT and radiation treatments.  Praise the Lord!!  He said it will be awhile--1 to 2 years--before I can kneel because of the lower area with the patella piece missing but I can just do without kneeling.  (I tried kneeling the other day to find something I thought might have rolled under the bed and yikes, pain on that spot!  Fortunately Frank volunteered to look for me.

I have some other things to go through with the oncologist.  Of course the radiation oncologist will continue to see me for awhile, he said, to see how I'm healing.  And the regular oncologist, Dr. H., will see me for the Zometa injections every three months.  But basically as my energy level comes back, I will be able to do what I want and not have so many doctor visits to make!

What I want most is to have my energy back!  I still get really tired sometimes, but as friend Pam Deacon told me, "you don't have to do ANYTHING except rest and get well."  I think of her encouragement every time I'm tired and think I SHOULD feel like doing something.  I have stopped "should-ing" myself!  You SHOULD clean the bath.  You SHOULD dust.  You SHOULD mop the floors.  No, I just have to get my energy back

On a lighter note, we have been dog sitting Gabby's sister Chelsea since June 19 and it's been so much fun to have them both here together.  Chelsea loves going for walks with us, running behind the 4-wheeler, and of course keeping me company.  Here they both are while I am posting this entry:

  These Schnauzers are loving little dogs and they stay right with their "humans".  What a joy!!  

Thanks for reading this latest entry.  And thanks for continuing to pray for me and for your cards and messages and calls.  I love each of you!!

Smiles, Laura

Two-thirds of the way through with radiation treatments...

Well, one thing you can count on: time passes!  I can remember back in April, laying in the hospital and wishing it was already June.  Wow, time seems to have passed quickly and here we are.

My knee is doing much better.  I still have some pain and walk with a slight limp, but it is improving daily.  Monday I will start physical therapy to help me do "step-over-step" when climbing steps.  That seems to be the hardest thing for me to do yet.  Right now I am "dragging" that leg up the steps.  Dr. Lemel wanted me to start therapy sooner but this is the first appointment they had in physical therapy.  So I am looking forward to that.  I don't know if I can kneel or not, but really didn't do much of that before I broke the knee and don't plan to start now.  But I can do most other things I want to do, except the steps.  I have to watch and not spend too much time standing/walking as it gets painful, but I know a few more weeks will help.  It has been 10 weeks yesterday since I broke the knee and I feel I'm on target.  Dr. Lemel is very pleased with my rotation (over 115 degrees already).

As of this morning, I was two-thirds of the way through my radiation treatments.  I had 11 of the 33 treatments yet to go, and had one of those at noon today.  I am to the point that the radiation is really burning my chest.  Here are some pictures I took 4 hours after treatment today:

Doesn't look too good, huh?  Well, at this point, this is how it gets with 5 straight treatments so thankfully I have the 2-day weekend to heal.  It will look better before they start on Monday.  And just 10 treatments to go!!  I can see the end in sight.

Had to share a selfie I just took, too.  I normally would not say this, but it looks better to add a head, right?  Ha!  I still have very short hair on top/front, so am still wearing caps.   But I can tell it's growing.  Maybe by the middle of July (when we celebrate Dad's birthday) I will begin going without a hat/cap.

Thanks for continuing to pray for me!  It means so much to me and my mental well being.  I have been reading articles on how important it is for friends and family to help keep up the spirits of a cancer person and you all have done a GREAT job of helping to cheer me!!  I love you all so much!!
Smiles, Laura

Almost half way there!

Well, a friend of mine reminded me at church yesterday that I have not posted to this blog in a bit and some of you are using it to keep up with my progress!  As of this coming Thursday, I will be half way finished with the 33 radiation treatments.  So far, so good.  They are coming along fine.  I am using hemp oil cream on my skin after each one and so far no redness or burning.  Dr. Baseman sees me every Friday after the treatment and thinks I am doing fine.  He asks me if I am feeling any fatigue.  Well, yes I am, but am not so sure that it is not from the chemo.  It takes a person a long time to get their energy back after chemo.  But I have the added issue of the broken knee and what that has taken out of me!  I'm telling you, it has been tiring to walk around with the heavy brace and with crutches.  The fatigue I am feeling is bearable and probably caused by a combination of all I've had going on this year.

I see Dr. Lemel tomorrow.  It's been 8 weeks since I broke  the knee and he is taking my healing very slowly.  I am pushing the limit, though.  He told me I could walk with the brace and one crutch out of the house and without the brace and with one crutch inside.  Well, for a couple of weeks now, I haven't worn the brace at all and am now only using my cane for walking outside and nothing to aid me inside.  Yesterday Frank and I even walked on the state road where we usually walk.  Of course I didn't go quite as far as we usually do, but still Gabby loved us walking with her after so long a time.  I can't wait to show Dr. Lemel how well the knee is doing.  (A church friend reminded me "those fellows have degrees for a reason, you know" so I hope I haven't pushed the limit too much.)  I probably am getting about 110 to 115 degrees rotation already, which is great.  But I still have pain in the knee when I walk too much or hold it in one position too long, or get up after sitting a long time, etc.  I just think I need to get started on some physical therapy to work the gluts so they are strengthened.  We'll see what Dr. Lemel tells me tomorrow!

Thanks for continuing to pray for me and to ask about my progress.  I know all this will be behind me before too long and then I can spend time getting my strength back and doing some household chores I have let go too long!

Frank and I love and thank God for all our friends!!  Keep the faith for/with us!!  And keep offering up prayers; we feel them!
Smiles, Laura

Finally started radiation!

Well, the old knee is healing and I am hobbling around pretty good.  I saw the orthopedist on Monday and he was pleased with my progress.  He gave me 70 degrees range of motion (but I think I can actually do 90 degrees with the knee brace off), is letting me sleep without the brace now, I can stand in the shower, I can walk without the crutches inside the house (using one when outside) and best of all, he is letting me drive now!! It will be so good to drive myself around without having to impact Frank.  Of course when I get out at a store to shop (like the grocery store) it is very wearing on me and the knee tends to swell later in the day, but at least I am showing improvement!

I wanted to share pictures of the knee because it is amazing how far I've come in 6 weeks!  This first one was taken on my iPhone by the EMT in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  Ewee!  Looks as painful as it felt!  You can see the patella broken into two pieces.  Broke it on April 1, but it was no April's Fool joke!

 This shot was on April 3, the first time I saw it after the surgery.  That's 19 staples in there!  You can see the bruise, too.

 This shot was on April 8, one week after I broke it!  Lots of swelling!

 This shot was taken April 28, after the staples had been out a week or so.  I skipped alot of time taking shots, as I was more focused on healing and didn't realize I'd want to see the progress later.

 And this shot was this morning.  You can see the heavy, adjustable brace, but also how well the incision is healing.  I will have a scar but not too bad and of course at my age, who worries about scars and their legs anymore! Ha!

 When I fell, I bruised my left hand pretty badly, too.  They thought at first I had broken my little finger but the x-ray showed I had not.  Here are shots on April 1 of my hand, the night of the fall.

 This shot shows the hand on April 7.  It has done lots of healing but was still sore to use.  Just glad it didn't break, too.

OK, thanks for bearing with me on the knee shots!  Ha!  Just documenting, folks!

I also went on Monday,May 11, to have my first radiation treatment.  Unfortunately they needed to take two more x-rays for the doctor to use to set my positioning correctly, so no treatment that day.  So I had my first treatment yesterday (May 12) and it was interesting and not painful.  Of course I had been told I would not feel anything.  I think the effects are cumulative and I will notice it more as treatments progress.  I am so glad to be started with these treatments!!

I did get so tired of laying with my arms over my head for 30 minutes.  I did not know all this, so I will share if you in case you did not know and are interested.  They lay you on a table and make a mold of you from your shoulders up (for breast treatment radiation) and you have to have your arms over your head.  They mark 3 or 4 spots and take pictures of how you are laying, and then do a CT scan. The radiation oncologist uses this to plot exactly where the treatment will be administered.  Each time you go for a treatment, they position you in that mold in exactly the same position to administer your radiation.  When they made my mold, they just said, "raise your arms over your head" and I thought they were going to do the CT scan--had never heard of the mold.  So I was not in a comfortable position with my shoulders and every time they have taken x-rays, lined everything up, or administered my radiation, I had been in that same uncomfortable position.  Guess I can stand it for 32 more times!  Just wish I had been warmed that this position was to be used for a mold for my positioning.  Oh, well.

I had a great Mother's Day on Sunday.  Meg and Dillon and Jessica came out for lunch and to celebrate not only Mother's Day, but Dillon's 17 birthday which was last week.  We had a nice visit.  You might have seen these pictures on my Facebook page, but here they are again if not.

 Jessica is almost as tall as Meg and of course Dillon is alot taller than Meg or me! 

 Just had to include a picture of me with my little sweetie Gabby.  She has been with me constantly while I've been healing the broken knee, laying on the bed all those long hours with me.  I don't know what I'd do without her!

Well, hope this post was not too boring for you.  Just wanted to report the radiation has started, I can drive again, and my spirits are lifted! 

I continue to thank God for all my many friends who had sent cards, have called, brought food, and just sat with me!  I love you all more than I can express.
Smiles, Laura

Broken knee setback...

Well, I was on target to start my radiation and then, for those who have not heard, on April Fools Day, April 1, I twisted my right ankle, fell and broke my left knee cap.   I know, I know, how could I do that!!  Well, it was just a bad accident.  I had dropped Gabby off at her groomers and was heading to my car when I stepped on a stone and down I went.  It was so bad I had to call an ambulance to come get me.  Of course it required surgery.  The lower half was in 5 pieces so that the doctor finally gave up trying to put them together after 45 minutes and just took them out and drilled holes in the upper knee cap half and tied it in with my tendons.  Bummer!

I spent several days in the hospital and have been convalecing at home.  Needless to say,  it has been painful but is healing.  Friday they took the 19 staples out and my incision looks good.  They want me  to go another week without bending it before I start physical therapy.  I know what is ahead of me from when I broke the other knee 18 years ago, but will get through the PT and have use of it again. 

So many of my sweet friends have surrounded me with love. I had 17 visitors at the hospital on Easter Sunday, with many bringing flowers, candy, cookies, etc.  Since then 3 friends have brought supper for us.  It is so gratifying to have so many wonderful friends.  I will never be able to thank people enough.

In the meantime, I saw my oncologist and he says I am still OK on the radiation, but wants me to start it within 6 weeks of the end of chemo.  So this Thursday I will see the Radiation Oncologist for tattooing the spot for the radiation and hope to start that next week or the following one.  My cancer treatment comes before anything to do with the knee! 

Guess I will be doing therapy and radiation treatments at the same time.  Thanks for your continues prayers.  Sometime we wonder why these things happen, but I know God has a plan.  I just hope things get back on track soon and I am not tested with any more trials.!
Love to all of you!!
Laura

Chemo is completed!!

Monday I completed my last chemo treatment and am so happy!!  It was a fun day, not because it was my last treatment, but because of the many friends I saw during my treatment!!  But first, here is the chemo chain my friend Jill Monte made for me when all this started.  Look at it with no links remaining!!! 

Here it is when we first started with chemo:

All those links! I thought we'd never get through them all!  We have come a long way from that chain with 16 links on it to be removed.  I'm glad the chemo is over but treasure the time I had with the nurses and other ladies I met there. 

Here are some of them.  This first beautiful lady is Hope and she is on her second round of chemo, having had her first in 2012.  She is such a beautiful heart and I pray for her daily.  I did not even get her last name, but we talked several times during chemo and she has a positive spirit in spite of the fact that she's going through chemo a second time.  I want total healing for her.

This next lady is Teresa Wheeling and her is her sister Jamie.

The first two times I saw Teresa, she had her hair, long pretty hair, and was sad to think of losing it.  But she has now and her spirit is so beautiful who even notices!  Frank and I talked to Teresa and Jamie a couple of times and she had treatment Monday, too, and came to tell me good-bye before she left.  Hard to think of not seeing these brave women each week.

My friend Sharon Kelly stopped by to see me on my last day, too. She was there for her blood work. Her last treatment was to be March 25, yesterday. Yea, Sharon!!  She just glowed and I think she felt better than she has in a long time.  Sharon's husband was a co-worker of mine, so I know we will stay in touch.  I pray for great outcomes for both of us. 

Then there are the wonderful nurses who administer chemo every day at the Hope Center.  I have already posted a picture of Tamara who was my nurse several times. She has left Hope Center to go back to school for her BS in Nursing.  Here are my other wonderful nurses:

 This is Kristie.  She did my final treatment.  Kristie is the nurse who so graciously cleaned up the coffee my sister Becky spilled.  So patient with us!!  Becky sent a special thank you to Kristie!

These are Debra and Joyce.  Both of them have administered my treatments, too.  Joyce got the call the morning I took the wrong drug!  What a scare that was to them all (not me, I was "out of it" at home).  We laugh about it now.  I don't think they will forget the lady who took 10 of the WRONG pills and was "out of it" for a day or so.  Now they say at least they know someone CAN survive taking so many of those pills but they don't see how!

This is Melissa.  I called her Michelle for 3 or 4 visits until I heard her say "Melissa" on the phone one day.  Never did she correct me! What a honey she is.  She brought me pillows and blankets and so graciously opened the combination door for Frank when he had to go out and come back in. Melissa is the receptionist and scheduler.  She tried her best to schedule me for the days and times I wanted.  Love her!!

On the last day, when treatment was over, the nurses all brought me my completion certificate and blew bubbles all over me and clapped for the finish!!

See all the bubbles in the photo?

The last nurse on the right is Judy.  I didn't get a shot of her and me together, except with the group, but Judy was absolutely wonderful to me, too.  Just think, these nurses treat people with cancer every day, some of whom are VERY sick and don't have a lot of promise for getting past it, but still these ladies stay cheerful and are so very nice to all of us in that room.  What a blessing they are to so many!!  I just had to include their pictures to give them the credit they deserve!

And lastly my friend Judy Thompson who drove me to 5 of my 16 treatments.  (I have to mention that sweet hubby Frank took me to 7 of my 16 treatments himself and was so patient with me!  Love him so much!!)  Judy is a jewel and also took the above pictures for me.  So I have to include a picture of her.  She's a dear, dear friend whom I love very much!!

So we are finished with the chemo---I PRAY forever!  When I started, I thought 16 treatments over 5 months was SOOOOO long, but you know, I met ladies who are HER2 positive who have been in chemo treatments for 4 years and are still going.  I pray for these ladies!! 

Some of my friend from church (we call ourselves "the Birthday Girls" since we all celebrate our birthdays with lunches together) and I went to lunch the day after my last chemo to celebrate.  Here are those precious friends:

Front row, Helen, Marge, Sandy and Pam.  Back row, Pam, me, and Mimi.

 We had a delightful lunch and fellowship that day.  What in the world would we do without sweet friends!

I meet with my oncologist Dr. Harkness on April 10 to see how he feels things are going.  His nurse did call to tell me that the results of the CT scan were good, no new tumors showed up.  (Well, I'd be REALLY upset if I had new tumors to come while having all this chemo!  I'll see what Dr. H. says when we meet.)  And I have the gene testing on April 22 and will be very interested in those results.

I don't know the dates, but will probably start radiation around the middle of April.  That is going to be very confining, since it is 5 days a week, every week for a couple of months.  I am getting mixed messages about radiation and the fatigue factor.  Some who have had it say it really fatigues you, but others say it's a "piece of cake" so I'll see how it affects me.  And report back.  Oh, and I can't remember if I reported or not, but my hair has started growing back in and yes, it's still white.  It started about February 14 (Valentines Day) and of course isn't thick nor very long yet, but at least I am getting hair back.  Yea!!

I hope this long post has not bored you too much.  I use this blog to document things so I won't forget details later so all this is probably more for me than for my readers, but I did want to show you the fun last day of treatment.  I know many others are much weaker and cannot enjoy the time like I did.  I praise God that I have done pretty well during all these treatments.  I am trusting in Him to heal my body completely so that this will be my only experience with all this.  But I continue to pray for all those who are going through chemo for so long and with so much sickness!  Precious souls!

Thanks for continuing to pray for me and Frank.  We feel your love!
Love to all, Laura

Only two treatments to go!!

Well, we finished treatment #10 and only have two more chemo treatments to go!! You should see how short my "chemo paper chain" that Jill made for me is now!! I wanted to share the link I took off this week.

Love that cute little heart brad on it.  Jill has come up with some of the neatest things on this chain!!  It has helped cheer me each time to remove a link and I even get messages from some of you helping to remind me to remove another link from the chain. We are all counting down!!

I will be so glad when these chemo treatments are over and I can get my sense of taste back (among other things).  I did say after #9 that these Taxol treatments were easy, but the fatigue factor is cumulative and I have had two busy weeks, and I am exhausted usually by the end of the day.  But the last two treatments will be over soon, too.

I am really going to miss those oh-so-sweet chemo nurses at the Hope Center.  They are so pleasant and caring and have taken such good care of me!  I think I'm going to make each of them a TU card and perhaps bake a sheet cake to take to them on my last treatment.  I had planned to take in lunch for them, but my last appointment is too late for that, so maybe cake!

Frank and I met with Linda, the Nurse Practitioner, and she gave us lots of information about what to expect next and answers to my questions.  I will start radiation by mid-April (or sooner, will report when I know for sure) and have an appointment for a consultation with the radiation doctor on March 13 (today) in Brevard.  Radiation treatments will be daily (5 days a week) for 6 to 7 weeks but thankfully they will be in Brevard.  They will take me until about the middle of June.  Linda said it will take longer to park and get inside and undress than the radiation treatment itself will take.  But I do have to watch my skin for burns from that and of course fatigue is about the only other side-effect.

I will have another CT scan on March 20 and let's hope it shows everything in good shape.  After my last chemo treatment on March 23, we will meet with Dr. Harkness to see how things are going.  I am not sure if we will really KNOW how all this is working but am hoping there are some indicators.  At least I hope the scan does not show new tumors have formed elsewhere in my body!!

They are going to do gene testing on me in April.  I'm not sure what I will have to do if I test gene positive; we'll decide all that later.  Could mean more surgeries.  But the information will be valuable for my sisters, nieces, and granddaughter, so they can make decisions and keep watch.  Let's HOPE I am not gene positive, but since Mom died of breast cancer and she, Dad, and one sister have had melanomas, they think testing me is advisable.

I asked Linda how long they will see me, keep track of me, etc. and she said they will see me every 3 months for 2 years and every 6 months "forever".  I hope at some point, they will decide yearly is enough, but for now, I'm so glad they are going to keep close watch on me.  I do not want this cancer coming back!!

OK, enough of this unpleasant cancer discussion.  I had a WONDERFUL lunch with my friend Ginny yesterday to belatedly celebrate my birthday.  Ginny was sick in January and then we had all that awful ice and snow so we finally got around to celebrating yesterday.  Her birthday was in February and we will celebrate that in April.  We are REALLY stretching these celebrations out!!  We had lunch and then shopped and at the end of the afternoon, we had one of the delicious Shamrock Shakes at McDonald's.  It was sinfully good!!  They only sell these in March and each year Ginny and I try to have one of them.  If you like creme de mente, you should try one of these during March!  What a fun day and how wonderful to have good friends to celebrate with! 

Today I have lunch plans with my friend Mary.  I got a new spring hat this week (it's about too warm for toboggans and my winter hats now) and wanted to show you. I added the scarf to coordinate with my top.  I have a lot to tops that will go with this hat.  My hair is starting to grow in, yes, still white, but is nowhere near long enough to go without a hat yet.  Frank calls it my "peach fuzz".  Me, I'm just glad it is starting to grow again.

Thanks to all of you for checking in on me and for the many cards and calls I continue to get.  It means so much to me to know you are all still praying for us!!
Love to you all, Laura

We completed treatment #9!!

I was waiting to get through treatment #9!  On the day I started treatments of Taxol (this series of 12), I met a girl in the waiting room who had treatments with this drug and she told me how horrible its side effects were. She had edema (swelling of the feet or ankles) so badly that she had to stop on treatment #9.  So I was waiting to see if those side effects would hit me before or at treatment #9.  So far, so good.  I have some of the other side effects like low blood counts (but not too low to skip treatment) and a mild bit of muscle aching and some tireness, but there are so many bad side effects I could have gotten that I'm so blessed to have my treatments go so well.  (Other side effects are mouth sores, hair loss--which I already had with the other drugs, pain in the joints and muscles, diarrhea, mouth sores and facial flushing, hives, etc.)  I have been so lucky throughout my chemo to have done so well.  So only 3 treatments to go.  I am going to miss those sweet, kind nurses in the chemo room.  They are the BEST!!  So I took another link off my chemo chain last night!!

Some of you have asked what's next.  I think they will do another CT scan and then I'll see the oncologist. I'm not sure at what point they take my chemo port out but I understand it is done there at the Hope Center, and not at the hospital.  Yeah!!  The oncologist (Dr. Harkness) will tell me what to do next with the radiation I'm supposed to have.  I don't know how many treatments nor how long but will find out.

I am just so thankful that all this has gone so well.  I just PRAY it is doing the trick and getting rid of all the cancer!

On a happier note, we got to have dinner with Dillon, Jessica, and Meg Saturday night to celebrate Meg's and Jessica's birthdays.  Jessica turned 14 yesterday!! Amazing our little girl is that old.  Here are some pictures from the restaurant.  (I always like to share some pictures!)

 Dillon was very good to be with us that evening as his high school basketball team was playing a district or regional playoff that night and he skipped going to the game to spend the time with us.  He only got on his phone after we ate to find out the final score.  His school won by 5 points!! Yea!!

 No shots of Frank as he was the photographer but he was with us.  It was a nice evening!

Not much else happening here on the mountain!! Our snow has almost all melted and the mud is drying up enough so that we can get up and down the hill without 4-wheel drive!  But thank goodness we have 4WD, as we have needed it for most of two weeks.

Thanks for continued prayers and thought, email, etc. on our behalf.  We can now see the light at the end of this chemo tunnel and are just hoping we don't pass this way again in a couple of years!  We want to celebrate year 5 without any reoccurrence!
Love to you all, Laura

Finished with Treatment 7!!!

Well, let's face it--I just do not get to write an entry for this blog as often as I intended!  I thought I'd post at least one entry per treatment, but don't seem to make that.  I have now completed treatment #7 of the 12 treatments of Taxol, and am still counting them down.  As suspected, these are cumulative and are getting to me more now than at first!  I have been down (weak, tired) the last two days and spent most of yesterday laying around watching TV shows because that's all I felt like doing!  But that's OK!  I remember my friend Pam Deacon who has gone through chemo telling me, "all you have to do is lay on the couch and get well."  Good advice and I take her advice some days.  I feel like I should be accomplishing something but just don't feel like it.  I suppose I am lucky that I can eat (even though NOTHING tastes like it once did!!  Let's hope this changes when the chemo is over.) 

It's hard to believe we are now over half way finished with these treatments, too.  Monday was when bad weather was predicted for us in the afternoon and we had a 1:30 appointment, so we called and they moved us to 11:30.  Good thing!  Just at we arrived home around 3:15, the sleet started in full force and we were so glad we had the treatment earlier!!  It could have been hard to get in to our house at 5:15!!  We still have ice everywhere.  We can't walk on the driveway, but my red Yukon goes up the drive in 4-wheel drive!  Fed Ex delivered one package and he parked at the bottom of the hill and walked the package up.  I didn't watch but Frank said it was precarious walking.

I have been wanting to share some pictures of some things I have gotten from friends.

Recently I was given this beautiful chemo shawl crocheted for me by friend Cathy Wilkinson.  I love it and used it for chemo last week.  It was so warm and comforting and is a beautiful purple and grey! Thank you, Cathy!!  This is my nurse of the day, Tamara, starting up my treatment.

My sister-in-law Mary Ann sent me this Chemo Dammit Doll this week and I think it's a hoot (the doll itself)!!

It has the following quote on it:

I just got my diagnosis

And don't know what to do

They told me I have cancer.

How can it be true?

Laying in this hospital

Isn't what I was born for.

I want to be better, so I can live more.

I want to fight, yell and scream

Why is cancer so mean?

I will fight cancer, 

Battle and beat it!

Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!

Mary Ann comes up with the coolest things!

Frank's aunt sent me a chemo shawl back in November.  She knitted it and her entire church prayed over it and touched it.  I just love it, too, and it is also very warm during treatments.

My friend Jill Monte made me this chemo chain.  It's a paper chain made from cardstock and colored paper, and Jill stamped various inspirations, brads, etc. on it.  I take off one link each time I finish a chemo treatment.  Here is it when I first got it with all 16 links for all my treatments.

Here it is now with only 5 treatments to go.

I love how it has gotten so short!!  Once we move to weekly treatments, I KNEW it would shorten more quickly!!  Yeah!!  Thanks so much to Jill for this neat "count down" chain!

These are just some of the things I've gotten that I haven't shared with you.  We have been given much more in the way of food, flowers, many Cancer Awareness things Becky brought me including a darling white bear I take to treatments, my pink cancer bracelet, a Cancer Awareness coffee mug, and scarf from friend Pam Winstead, several books from friends and family, etc.  Aren't people just the sweetest.  Just had to share these.

Thanks for continuing to pray for me and Frank.  We  can now see the end of the tunnel in sight and are amazed that I have done so well and gotten so far along.  Believe me, chemo, blood tests, follow-up visits, etc. have occupied a lot of our time in the last few months.  It will be nice one day to get back to "normal" life.  But for now, we are moving along and doing what the doctor wants us to do.

Keep checking in with us!!  We so appreciate all of you!
Smiles, Laura

Ready for Treatment #4 of this drug...well, now treatment #5

I started an entry to this blog the day before treatment #4 (1/22) and planned to complete the morning of treatment before we left.  Well, things did not go as planned---you'll read more about this below.

Here is what I wrote to post before my January 23 treatment:
It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted to this blog.  I am now taking the Taxol treatments, one every Friday.  I must say, this drug is a LOT easier on my system than those last ones were.  While this still makes me weak/tired, at least I can eat some normal things.  I have had 3 of these treatments (every Friday) and went today to have the blood work (which they do every third week).  I will have treatment #4 (of 12) on Friday.

This drug was originally developed from the Yew tree but I think is now synthetic.  But the pills I take 12 and 6 hours before the treatments (wrote about last time) are steroids to keep my system from rejecting the chemo. This chemo can cause hives, rashes, swelling, etc. if your body rejects it, so they have also been giving me Benedryl (a full vial) before each treatment. Believe me, that makes you sleepy!!  After 3 treatments, the nurse said they can cut that back, so I will  have 1/2 a vial on Friday.  Yeah!!

My two sweet sisters came up last week to take me to the chemo treatment on 1/19.  Becky of course had been, but Cynthia had not seen the place and wanted to be with us. They both came on Thursday and we had such a good time together.  Cynthia had to leave on Saturday, but Becky stayed until Monday.  Sunday was my birthday, so we celebrated while they were here.  And Becky cooked us a couple of her recipes while she was here. She is a GREAT cook!!

We did not get an official "sisters picture" while they were here but I did snap a "selfie" as we went into the Hope Center on Friday.  Here is that shot:  (OK, I cannot find where I filed this shot from my phone.  Trust me, we did take a "sisters picture."  Ha! It's hard to remember to take one with just 3 of us and Connie was usually the reminder to do so.) Ed Note:  Here finally is that picture.  Too close up and not the best quality, but it was what we got. 

Anyhow, the night after I wrote this entry, I was to take my 10 steroid pills and I mistakenly took 5 at 10:30 pm and then 5 at 4:30 of the Ativan "mild-to-moderately sedating" pills.  Frank found me by the bed the next morning, the morning of treatment 4, calling to him that I could not get my legs under me to stand up, could not get into the bed.  I was totally "out of it."  He called the Hope Center to ask them what to do.  (You are to take 1/2 to 1 of these pills every 6 hours and I took 5, twice in a row.)  The nurses at Hope were very concerned and told Frank to keep me awake until at least 2:00 p.m. and if he could not, to take me to the ER.  Well, he had a day of it.  I remember NOTHING of that day.  He walked me around the house, fed me lots of coffee and hot tea, had Becky call me about 4 times during the day to give me something to do (talking to her), etc.  I do not remember eating lunch, not showering, not supper, none of it. Of course I could not go on Friday to have my treatment, so they moved it to Monday, 1/26.  From now on my treatments will be on Mondays each week.  What a scare for Frank!! Me, I was in LaLa Land.  When we went in on 1/26, all the nurses administering chemo at Hope were aware of who I was and what I had done!!  One said in her 15 years of work, she only remembered one patient taking 2 of those pills at once by mistake but never of anyone taking 10 of them. She said if I were older, in poorer health, or a much smaller person, the result could have been fatal.  Thank goodness I had my sweet Frank to see about me that day.  I'm SURE I could not have called 911 by myself, had I been alone. So on the night of 1/25 and also last night (2/1) I was much more careful when measuring out and taking my pre-treatment pills!!

Other than that one mishap, January was a good month for me.  I did OK with the treatments and am now finished with #4 treatments of this drug.  I can tell it is affecting my mind a little more (I make more typos in messages that I do not catch and get dates of appointments confused) but I refuse to use the term "chemo brain" that so many seem to wear out!

On January 2 Frank and I also celebrated out 37th wedding anniversary---on a day we had chemo, so we went to lunch at Carrabbas after that treatment.  I said to friends it was not way of choice to celebrate an anniversary, but since we are wanting to add years to our life together, maybe it was the ideal way to celebrate!  Here is a shot of that celebration:

As I said, I had a birthday this month and my delightful friends who are in what we call a "Birthday Club" celebrated with me on 1/27 at Jaime's in Brevard. Here is our picture this year.... I try to keep a file of our pictures as we have been doing this for many years and I try to snap pictures at most of our luncheons.  (We will someday be like those old women jokes who cannot even remember all the restaurants we've eaten at and will revisit some thinking it's a "new place" for us.  Ha!!)

 Front row, Sandy Case, me, and Pam Moll.  Back row Pam Winstead, Mimi Hodges, and Helen Barker.  Absent was our dear friend Marge Woodruff.  I just love all these women dearly!!  Friends are like sisters we select for ourselves and we 7 have been through so much together.

On Sunday, January 25 my grandchildren and their mom came to celebrate by birthday with me. They brought a cute card and some of my favorite Lindt candy!!  Yummy.  Here is a shot of Dillon (age 16) and Jessica (almost 14 in March) with me.  We had a fun time just talking and visiting and of course Frank cooked us a delicious birthday lunch!!

So this catches you up to today, when I go for treatment #5.  It's hard to believe I am over 1/3 finished with this last drug.  Yesterday Frank and I thought back over November and December and let me tell you, I just did not realize how very hard those 4 treatments of those drugs were on me!  I am so glad I didn't have to take 6 of those!!  This Taxol is much easier on my tummy, but I am losing the rest of my fine, very shortly cut hair on my head, some of my eyebrows and eyelashes.  I so wanted to keep my eyelashes throughout treatments, but what will be, will be.  It will all come back so I am taking it in stride.  People keep telling me how good I look and I assume this means "as good as can be expected without hair!  Ha!  (Actually they are very kind and I am putting words in their mouths!)  The good side is how much time it saves not to have to do your hair each day.  Wow, when packing to go to my dad's at Christmas, I was amazed at how much less I had to pack, leaving all the hair products home (dryer, flat iron, shampoo, condition, brushes and combs, hairspray, product for lift, etc.).  No wonder going hairless saves time!

I continue to be so humbled and comforted by all of your email messages, Facebook comments, cards, hugs at church, food you bring, and the many, many expressions of your love.  I know I don't deserve it all, but let me tell you---as I said in my first entry, you all are holding out lanterns of love that are lighting our way through this tunnel of the unknown.  We still don't know how much/how long the radiation will last--that's another bridge we will cross in a couple of months.  But we are confident that all of you will be with us.  We are on prayer lists at churches and in home devotionals all around the country---amazingly far from our NC mountains--and the prayers make all the difference.  So continue praying for us as we are praying for friends when we get news that they are just starring this journey we are on!

Frank and my love to you all, Laura

Here we go again...

I have had a 3-weeks break from chemo.  It was nice to have Christmas without having to have a treatment last week.  It has taken almost the entire 3 weeks to get my tummy in any shape to eat food.  I've lost 14 lbs. so far (but needed to lose 50 so no biggie.  Ha!)  The last two days have been pretty good.

We got to spend quality time with Meg and the grandchildren the Friday after Christmas.  They turned me on to a new app game.  Nice to have young folks keep me up to date on what's current with their age group.  Here is a shot of us together.  Frank was taking the shot and we could tell he was aiming the camera toward our middles.  I knew Dillon was taller than I am.  After multiple shots, we got so tickled that he again missed the top of Dillon's head!  See us laughing in that one  shot?  Frank finally got a shot with all of us and our heads in it!  So nice to have these fun, laughing times!

Christmas was bittersweet for my family when we got together on Sunday, 12/28.  It was so hard not to have our sister Connie with us, but we had gifts she had bought for us to open, so it was like she was there with us in spirit, and this helped us with the transition. We knew Connie would insist we take as sisters picture as we always have when we all are together.  Here is our first sisters picture with just 3 of us--which will be our norm now.

Our sweet 94-year-old dad was with us and we enjoy every occasion that we still have him with us.  I had a poignant moment with him, when I was feeling down about always being so tired, not bring able to enjoy any food, and generally down about anticipating 12 more chemo treatments.  My very pragmatic dad who had his nose shot off in WWII trying to save a friend, and was not able to be airlifted out because of heavy fire, and just tied a bandana around his face and continued to fight all night and into the next day, pain and all, my dad who has had several surgeries for bladder tumor removals and surgeries for heart stint insertions, had many melanomas cut out, that strong man just held my hand tight, leaned his head over next to mine, and told me I have to do whatever I have to do in order to be here with him next year.  I cannot tell you how strong that made me feel, thinking of all he has gone through in 94 years and still is the most positive man I know.

Here is a picture of Dad, Cynthia and I holding hands with our pink bracelets on.  We all wear then all the time. This was taken on our trip to Pigeon Forge in November.

So last week I had a follow-up echo-cardiogram to see if that first round of chemo damaged my heart any, as it can do.  We are happy to hear that the results were good and my heart is just like before!  Yeah!! 

This week I had the blood work to see if they can start the next round of chemo.  This will be Taxol only (probably with some anti-nausea meds thrown in).  We will have these treatments weekly for 12 weeks.  Ugh!  Such a long time, but we will count them down as we did those 4 in the last round.  For these treatments, I have to take 5 prescription pills 12 hours before the treatment and 5 pills 6 hours before the treatment.  I'm not sure what that's all about, but I do follow orders!  I will ask today why I have to take these.  Must be to prepare my body for this chemo.

I want to say again how very much I appreciate all the messages with well wishes, calls, cards, and prayers from our many friends.  Because of my compromised immune system, Frank has been keeping me away from church and large crowds because so many folks have colds and the flu in our area.  I had a really hard time breathing a week ago because of my asthma, which the chemo makes worse.  So while I miss my friends terribly, I know Frank is right and I am staying in and away from germs!  All my friends, please know I love you so much and miss you all!!  Keep praying for me!   God is with us and we feel your prayers!

So let's get on the bucking horse again and start this next round!!
Love to all of you!
Laura