5th treatment update

Mom was supposed to have her 5th treament yesterday, but her white blood cell count was a little too low, so they rescheduled for Jan 6.

5th chemo treatment update

The infusion center was booked the 28th, so mom will have her chemo appointment on the 29th in the morning. The usual blood work the day before.

CA 125

At chemo treatment the nurses were able to tell mom that her CA 125 test went from 9 to 7! So still in the right direction.

update

Mom met with her Doctor today. The CT scan shows the spots on her liver and intestine to be gone! So great news there. But the tumor is still there. The doctor says it looks like it has shrunk about 30%. So she will be doing the next 3 treatments of chemo. She has the 4th treatment today at 2pm and is scheduled to have her 5th treatment after christmas on Dec 28th.

I know she is disappointment she has to continue the treatments, but at least it shows the chemo is working. The doctor didn't have the results of the CA125 test.

Thanks for all the prayers and positive vibes, they are working, we just need a final push to get rid of that tumor.

The Plan

Mom has an appointment for a CT scan and CA125 test on Dec 2nd. Dec 3rd she will have a morning meeting with Dr. Chan to find out the results and make her decision to have her 4th chemo treatment that same morning or if all the test come back with positive results she might not continue with her treatments.

3rd chemo treatment

Mom had her 3rd chemo treatment today. She found out the results of her CA125 test (before the 3rd treatment), it was 9!!! So to recap, she went from 32, to 18 and now to 9. Such great news!

check up with the doctor from Peninsula hospital

The doctor gave mom the all clear to go back to chemo treatments, She will probably book her 3rd treatment for friday. The doctor said he doesn't think these two hospital visits have anything to do with swimming, walking, diet, chemo, etc. There is extra room since the surgery so her digestive organs can move around a bit more and can kink easier. He said this could happen again in 20 years or in 2 days, there is no way of preventing it. He did suggest that as soon as mom has the feeling it's happen again, be sure to switch to just liquids and talk to her doctor.

Great news

The doctor just saw mom and says the nurses will take the tube out and she should be able to go home sometime this afternoon/early evening. Great news! I'll let you know when she is home.

Update: the tube is out, she is eating ice cubes, next will be broth to make sure she isn't in any pain before she goes home!

Update

The doctor came in this morning and was happy with mom's progress. He thinks one more day with the tube in her nose and then they'll be able to take it out. Thank you so much for your prayers and positive thoughts, they are definitely working.

Mom is okay

Mom took an ambulance ride to Peninsula hospital last night after she started to get abdominal pains after eating dinner. Once at the hospital they gave her pain meds which helped a lot. It looks like the same thing happened again that happened in February. She has a tube down her nose and is feeling much better. She will be in the hospital for a few days. Call me if you want her room number.

Update

Mom had blood work done and she has neutropenia. Her white blood cell count is down. Normal is 1.8 and higher, hers is currently at 0.92. She will be taking it easy this weekend, which is hard because she love dressing up for halloween. Her count should be going back up now, but if it's not high enough for chemo, she'll get a shot to boost them.

She saw Beverly (eastern doctor) yesterday, for a check up and acupuncture. She feels mom is doing really well with the diet, more organic veggies and fruits.

Thanks for all the prayers and positive thoughts, they are definitely working.

Good news

Mom got her CA125 test results back after having 1 chemo treatment. It went from 32 to 18! A big jump in a good direction! And so far her white blood cell count is doing fine, too.

a great thursday!

Mom had an appointment with Dr. Barrows for her second time on Thursday. He gave her some documents on diet for those with Ovarian Cancer. He also gave her a list of foods favorable and unfavorable for Ovarian Cancer. He also gave mom some good news, he told mom she can get back to swimming laps, unless her white blood cell count gets below 500, which can happen in the middle of the three week period.

Then mom and dad had some extra time in between doctors appointment so they went to Upper Fillmore for some shopping and ate lunch at a Peruvian Restaurant.

Next mom met with Beverly Burns, a Traditional Chinese Medicine Specialist. Her focus was on childhood exposures to pesticides and exogenous hormones ... meat and dairy. At the end she did acupuncture which left mom feeling peaceful, calm, and healed.

Then we (Tony, Sheila, Helena, Moira, Nick, Dela, and I) went out to dinner to celebrate the October birthdays. It was a lot of fun.

Chemo session 2

Wednesday mom had an appointment at a new easter/western medicine branch of UCSF. She talked for a half an hour about her history, and to come up with a diet that can help her get rid of the cancer and to keep it away. The doctor was very helpful. She has another meeting with him next thursday and the same day with a female eastern medicine doctor to talk more specifically about diet.

Yesterday mom had her 2nd chemo treatment. She said it was the toughest one yet. The nurses are very nice and helpful, it doesn't hurt to bring brownies with Ganash on top for all of them. :-)

Before the treatment she had a check up and it appears the tumor is gone, great news!

We are still waiting for the results of her most recent CA125 test.

She will have a CT scan after her 3rd chemo treatment.

Wedding dress shopping

We just found out a Bridal store in Burlingame was closing, so mom, my godmother Pat, my soon to be sister in law Gabi and nephew came wedding dress shopping with me. We had a lot of fun, I was so happy they all were able to join me.

Hair cut update

So the haircut was supposed to be a peace sign, and it looked more like a Mercedes Benz logo. Mom got it fixed. She said she went from a classy lady to a hippy.

A new hair cut

Since chemo has started, mom figured she's get her head shaved. Here are a few pictures of her with Rudolf the hairstylist.

Prayers and Love please.

Well, it's been about 2 years since my last post. So remission was pretty good at 2.5 years. Mom had her first of six chemo treatments on Thursday. It started at 10:30am and ended around 6pm, so a long day. I was able to visit mom for about an hour and a half, she was doing very well. Friday and Saturday mom was feeling nauseous and under the weather, I got a call from her Sunday and she was feeling much better.