Holiday Season update!

Well... at least I'm updating before it's been a complete month!!! :D

She has gained a total of 6 lbs since the last update! Still wants to gain about 20 more lbs before she's in the "normal" catagory. She tries to eat anytime she thinks she can stuff another bite in! Doctor is still giving encouraging reports. She will have another CT scan within the next month or so to see how she's progressing along!

She's having Chemo today instead of yesterday because of some other stuff going on. Her mom is in the hospital with some fractures in her back, and Aunt Judy's husband had cataract surgery yesterday. So they have been running here, there, and everywhere the past week.

We had a great Christmas together as a family. Christmas morning we spent at the house, then that afternoon we went over to my dad's mom's house. Here are some pics of my mom enjoying Christmas presents :D

Results from CT scan

We sure do have a lot to praise the Lord about! Mama got her results back from the scan she has last Tuesday. The cancer has not grown since the last scan! Its a big praise that this rapid growing type of cancer has been stopped in its tracks! Now we just have to pray that the meds continue working and shrink the cancer.

Also pray that she can gain some weight back. Thats not a normal request from most women. We are usually wanting to lose weight. She is eating good, just needs to eat more fatty types of food. She still had to worry about sugars for her being diabetic.

This is a short update for now... its getting late! Have a good week!

Much needed update!!

Sorry for taking so long to update. Lots has gone on in the past month, both good and bad. She was put on oxygen about a month or so ago. Her oxygen level wasn't extremely bad, but they wanted to just be cautious with it. Thats not something you want to play around with. But a good thing.... Doc took her off oxygen this past monday!!!! In the beginning of Oct, she began having nose bleeds. Over the course of a couple of days it just got worse and worse. They went into the doctors office and they immediatly sent her on over to the hospital. Her platlets were so low. I think I'm saying this right... platlets are suppose to be over 100k, and hers were 6k. It was a huge blessing that they had platlets at the hospital that were her type. Normally they have to have them brought from Charolette. Also, the bags were about double the amount in them than they normally have. Otherwise they would have to of gotten more sent from charolette. Since then, she hasn't had much problem with the nose bleeds. Nothing else too exciting has gone on since the last treatment. She has her tired days, and her energetic days. This last monday, Dr. Atkins was very pleased with how she was doing. He said she was responding well to the treatments. She's going to have another scan the tuesday before thanksgiving to see how everything is going inside! Keep up the prayers! God is definitly working!

Sorry Its been so long since the last update. My computer has been away to get repaired, and just didn't think to get on another computer to update! Since the last update, Mama has come down with a cold of some sort. It's something going around, but for those on chemo it is alot worse. She still has some congestion in her chest, but it is getting better. Her doctor put her on oxygen just to help her breathe better while she has this cold. This is her sleepy week. She usually has a few sleepy days after chemo. It is frustrating when you want to go do things, even as simple as going to the grocery store, but your body just wants to sleep. Her body is working hard to get rid of this cancer! Hopefully by this weekend she will be feeling more energetic! They are aiming for a "Sam's day" on saturday! She loves going to Sam's to see her coworkers and friends.

New Adventure and chemo # 7

Well, while I was thinking I wouldn't have much to report but just the same stuff, more "adventures" have gone on this weekend. Mama had a GREAT week. She wore me and my Aunt Judy out, and she was still going strong. We were out and about every day shopping and running errands. It was so much fun! Sunday started out good until right before we were leaving for church. She starting acting confused and not knowing what was going on. We went on to church anyway because I thought it was just something random and would pass. But the longer we were there the more confused she got. About halfway through the service Brad and I decided that we needed get her out of there. She felt like she had a fever at church, but once we got her to the house she was back to "normal" as far as temperature. We called her doctor and they told her to take her on into the ER. They checked her over and did a couple minor test but everything was fine. They just labeled it as dehydration and sent her home. We were so perturbed that they didn't give her fluids or do a CT on her. They do that on almost every moving object that goes into the ER, but not her. Just told her to drink water and go home. She was acting better, but still had some speech problems. Yesterday was better than Sunday but once she got to chemo they told her that her doctor said no chemo and go get a head CT. He didn't like the fact that they didn't do it at the hospital either. HUGE PRAISE... everything looked great... she really does have a brain up there :D. Last night she even worked on her ABC's some just to get her mind going. Today she's back at the chemo lab getting her drugs. She sounds almost normal now! She's got so much stored energy and her mouth is moving about 90 mph! Our poor ears are going to be hurtin' after today :D

Treatment #6

Having Chemo only every other week makes for better weeks :D. Last week (her off week) she felt great. She and her sister got out of the house most days for a while to run errands, go shopping, or just to get out. They didn't stay long, but it was progress from the week before. Mama had treatment yesterday and it went well. She continues to bring home her "doggy bag" with one more treatment, which they will take off tomorrow! She's had a pretty good amount of energy yesterday and today. We'll see how the rest of the week goes!

Treatment # 4

Big blessing.... Mama didn't have to get more blood yesterday. Her blood count was higher than it's been in a long time! We were so excited for her. It makes for a long day when you spend 4-5 hours at chemo and then have to spend 7+ hours getting blood. She started 3 different kinds of chemo drugs yesterday. Since they found the cancer in the stomach, the doctor wanted to start a more effective chemo for the type of cancer she has. It took longer this time because they had to explain the new drugs and all that good stuff. She was also sent home with a pouch that has a chemo drug that will be administered over a 48 period. We go back Wednesday to get that taken off. She will only be going for treatment every other week now. So we have next week off!!!! She felt really good last night. Actually had some energy. Not enough to run around the block, but more than she's had in the past week. We also had a special visitor that we haven't seen in about 10 years. He and his family lived next door to us for many years. They live in Illinois now, and he's down on a business trip. It was so good to see him again.

The doctor said mama would have even less side effects from this chemo. The main thing is going to be extreme temperatures. She can't drink anything really cold or really hot for a few days after each treatment. She also can't touch really cold things either, as in reaching into the fridge or freezer for anything. Good thing its summer. The doctor said that many people who are on these drugs in the winter have a hard time even opening car door because the handle is so cold. Mama hasn't lost any hair yet, and the doc said she has an even less chance of losing hair with the new drugs. Hair loss may be a minor thing compared to whats going on, but it does give her that peace of mind. Anything to make my mommy happy :D

Please pray that she will do well with these new drugs and that the cancer will begin to shrink. She is retaining alot of fluid, almost 25lbs worth. She is really tight around the abdominal area and her legs and feet. As the cancer shrinks, it will help reduce the fluid!

Thank you all for the prayers, cards, and visits so far. It means so much!

Update

As we were told from the beginning, the type of cancer that is in the liver usually does not originate in the liver. They just didn't know where it started until yesterday. They did another endoscopy yesterday (thursday) morning and found a large ulcer in there. The final test results wont come back till monday, but they did enough swaps to tell that there is cancer there. They believe that is where it originated from. They are changing the type of chemo she will receive. She will get 3 new types of chemo and will also get a portable chemo that will attach to her side on monday and will wear till wednesday. She will only get chemo every other week now. Please pray for my mom. Please leave comments, prayers, and/or encouraging words for her to read on here.

More adventures

Apparently Mama didn't feel like she was getting enough attention with just the liver cancer. She had a great Saturday and a sleepy Sunday. Monday she was still a little droggy, but she was getting used to a different pain medicine and the chemo didn't help with the drogginess. I was actually able to be with her during this chemo treatment. We got to the docs about 10:00 and left about 1:00. After a quick trip to Walmart to get a couple necessities we went to the house and she snoozed for the good part of the afternoon. Since our church is having revival this week, we were planning on going. We had dinner about 5:30 and about half way through she started getting sick. Thinking that it was just a one time thing we were going to go on with our plans for church. After the second time of getting sick, we decided we better stay put for the night. She started seeing blood coming up as well. We called her doctor and took her on to the emergency room. They admitted her and had a room for her only 2 hours later. They gave her 4 units of plasma during the night and then started her on 3 units of blood . This afternoon they have given her 4 more units of plasma... one of those still going in as I type this. They are going to do some more tests to see if her blood counts are up. We are pretty certain this doesn't have anything to do with the cancer. We are hoping that she will be able to go home in the next day or so. We will know more later on tonight! On the brighter side of things, the meds they gave her this morning made her very looney acting. She was very silly! She has had many visitors as well. Hopefully the doctors and nurses will let her sleep a little tonight!

Treatment #2 and then some...

So after a few good days, and a few not as good days, it was time for another treatment. And of course nothing goes quite as planned either, cause that would just be too nice! After the treatment, she was told to go over to the hospital to get another transfusion. 2 units of blood. And exactly how long does it take to get 2 units of blood into a person's body???? FOREVER. They started their day about 9-9:30ish AM and Mama called me about 8:00PM and was still laying in the hospital watching the units drip into her body. But good things happened today too! The ladies that she works with at Sam's made a HUGE basket of goodies for her. Things like teddy bears, coloring books, novels, candy, and so much more. There were also cards in there from other people in the Sam's club! I haven't seen the basket for myself yet, but I could tell she was SUPER excited about it. Besides talking to me on the phone, it was the highlight of her day :D. (I just had to add that in there) Hopefully she will have a good night and rest of the week. The meds make her a little energetic. Last monday night she wasn't able to sleep well. Hopefully she will be able to sleep tonight! I'll be coming into goldsboro tomorrow for a while! I can't wait to see my mommy :D

Treatment #1

So far, so good. Mama had her first treatment today and it went pretty well. It took a while this time because they had to do some preliminary things, but hopefully it will be shorter visits from now on. They did say that they think the cancer is only in the liver. But I guess they will know for sure a little later. She is feeling good tonight... the treatment didn't make her feel any different.

I don't know if anyone has heard of Pennies from Angels before, but they collect pennies to pay for wigs and such for cancer patients. They gave mama 3 wigs to choose from and she can keep 2. What do you think about this one???? :P Its not really one of the choices :D They were just being silly.




They also gave her two teddy bears :D. And if you know my mom any at all, you know she LOVES teddy bears. One of them was for her, and one was for Aunt Judy (mama's sister). This is her description of them. "Judy picked out a traditional brown one with a scarf and a hot pink one with white hi lites through out----she thought it was soooo unique---the pink one is hers and the brown one is mine. They are soooooo soft." Can you tell that she is excited about them????

Mama and Aunt Judy were able to meet a lady who is also battling cancer today. She doesn't have alot of family or friends near. I'm glad they were able to meet her. Pray that they can be an encouragement to her as well.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.


~Jennifer

The Beginning

I asked my mom if it was ok to create a blog to use for updates. And of course she said yes! This way we can update everyone all at the same time so you can know more how to pray! Hopefully I'll get her on here too sometimes to give you an update from her perspective.

We don't know too much yet, because we just found out on Wednesday (July 22nd). But we do know that liver cancer is not a good type of cancer to have. Friday, Mama had the porta cath put in so that she doesn't have to be poked in her arms so many times. A porta cath is a small rubber bubble like thing that is placed in the upper chest/shoulder area. It is right under the skin, so it was technically "surgically" placed in. She's been very good at keeping her left arm still so that it will heal up properly! I've made sure of that!!! :D Monday she will start her chemo treatments. I'll try to put up a schedule of her appointments so you know how to more accurately pray.

Josh and I came up to NC yesterday to be with her for a few days. We will be going back on Sunday afternoon. I'll be returning about a week later to stay for a while.

Thanks for your prayers in all of this.