treatment update

Mom and Dad met with Dr. Chan on friday. Mom will start a new chemo treatment (topotecan) on the 23rd of December. Her and dad will learn more about it on Thursday. It will be once a week for 3 months, with a week off every 3 weeks. And she will start radiation on the middle of her spine around the same time. Mom will also be taking zometa once a month to prevent the cancer from getting into her bones.

From the last post, I didn't include mom now has lesions on her lunges also.

We appreciate all the support, love and prayers.

"Hope prevents us from clinging to what we have and frees us to move away from the safe place and enter unknown and fearful territory."

- Henri J.M. Nouwen

CT scan results

For some reason this time after the ct scan, mom got the results in the mail. Turns out the Radiation did shrink the tumor, I don't know how much. But unfortunately the cancer has spread, mom has some lesions on her liver, spleen and spine. Mom has a doctor's appointment with Dr. Chan on friday. So we will have to wait and hear what he recommends for the next steps. Many more prayers and positive thoughts please, we really appreciate all the support.

Great news

Mom had an appointment today with her radiologist, she said it seems like nothing is there. No more tumor? Mom has a CT scan on Dec 2nd and then the results appointment on Dec 9th. So many more prayers that this tumor is officially gone! Thank you so much for all the prayers and positive vibes.

sorry for the lack of updates

It have been a crazy month.
Mom has be doing very well. Radiation has been quick and easy, so much easier than chemo.
Mom finished her last Radition treatment October 20th. Just two days before my wedding, and she was able to dance away on the dance floor. Everyone said mom looked great!
Next will be a doctors appointment to see how well the radiation worked.
When I know dates I'll let you know.

Radiation update

Mom started 5 weeks of IMRT Radiation treatments today at Mills. She said it was fast and easy.

radiology appointment update

Thanks to Cindy (mom's friend) for bringing up the possibility of Mills Hospital and for my dad being at mt zion hospital today and bugging sunshine (dr. chan's receptionist) Mom has an initial appointment with the radiology doc at Mills (san mateo) for this Friday and possibly starting treatment late next week....depending on the set-up and paperwork. We are so very happy mom doesn't have to wait as long.

next step

Mom and Dad met with Dr. Chan today. He says the tumor has grown and is pressing on the bowel. Mom had 4 options, she and dad went with Radiation. They will have a meeting with a radiologist on September 9th. From there we will find out when she starts Radiation, it will be 25 treatments. 5 a week for 5 weeks. Thank you for all the support.

update

Mom went in for her Avastin treatment today. She told the doctor everything that has been going on (uncomfortable, hospital, etc) and they decided its best if she didn't have another Avastin treatment. Mom has a doctors appointment with her primary doctor on friday and then another appointment with Dr. Chan on the 19. We'll have to wait and see what they say.

mom is home

Mom got to go home yesterday (sunday). She is feeling even better today and has more energy.

hospital update

I just talked to dad, the ng tube came out at 1pm. She feels so much better. She had broth and jello, and it looks like her insides are working once again. So she should be able to check out of the hospital tomorrow around 11am.

mom is in the hospital

Hi everyone,

I apologize, I should have updated the blog a couple of days ago. Before I get into the whole thing, mom is already doing better. Okay, so mom went into the hospital Tuesday night because she was feeling uncomfortable again (blocked bowel), no pain this time. So dad took her into saint mary's they did a ct scan said nothing was blocked but she was backed up. So she went home at 2:30am. At 8am she got up and started throwing up and couldn't stop, so dad took her back to st. mary's. She got an IV and they waited. Thursday she asked for the NG tube, the doctor said he's never had a patient ask for an NG tube before. Yesterday she was feeling better, the tube was working. We are hoping the tube comes out today. They are waiting for the doctor and surgeon to agree. Many prayers and positive thoughts for my mom please. We really appreciate all the support.

more Avastin treatments

Mom will have 3 more Avastin treatments, she had her 4th treatment last wednesday. She is doing well.

Ct Scan Results

Dearest Family & Friends,

The "relatively good news", as Dr. Chan put it, is the Avastin kept the pelvic tumor from growing (still there, about 1" in size) and there are no new growths/lesions...Alleluia!

Then the docs have to say it, and once again it devastates me and I loose hope...the cancer will never go away...completely...it will always return. Eventually the cancer will outsmart the Avastin and I will need to do another chemotherapy.

So, three more rounds of Avastin and another CT-scan coming up.

I have allowed myself to grieve, and now I will focus on being present in the NOW and totally grateful for the NOW and all the many blessings I've been given and continue to receive...you, dear family & friends being a cherished blessing indeed!

In love and gratitude,

Moira

3rd Avastin treament/ Birthday

Tomorrow mom has her 3rd Avastin treament and it's her birthday!
She will have a CT scan on July 6th and then a doctor's appointment on the 8th.

2nd Avastin treatment

Mom had her 2nd Avastin treatment on the 8th. She is doing well. She flew to Indiana on wednesday to celebrate hers and her friend's birthdays and to visit with family.

update

Mom had an appointment with Dr. Chan.
After the 1st Avastin treatment, the tumor is still there but has not changed at all.
Dr. Chan said not to have expectations for the tumor to shrink, but that Avastin will prevent it from growing. He said mom can basically live with this tumor as long as it doesn't spread or grow. Mom still has two more Avastin treatments to go, the closest one is Wednesday.

Many more prayers and love, we appreciate the support.

Avastin

Mom is home from her first Avastin treatment, it was a sort 30 minutes and went well.

She will have an appointment with Doctor Chan on June 3rd, and her second Avastin treatment on June 8th.

Port update

Mom is home from the Portal surgery. She says she is good and everything went like clockwork.

schedule

Tuesday May 10th, surgery for Portal
Wednesday May 18th, Avastin infusion

Avastin

So the two drugs were Avastin and Doxil, Doxil seems to be pretty toxic still. her white blood cell count would still go down, still have hair loss, very similar to chemo. While with Avastin her hair can grow back, her white blood cell count should be fine, her engery should be good, and her time in the infusion center should be shorter.

After talking to a few professionals, I'm pretty sure mom has decided to go with Avastin. She will correct me if I am wrong.

She will have three treatments of Avastin, and then they will do a CT scan.

Many prayers that Avastin will shrink the tumor and mom won't have any side effects.

Thank you for the love and support!

ct results

The tumor is still there, it hasn't changed.

Mom has 4 options for other treatments to try. She's brought it down to two. Avastin or another drug. Both are less toxic but have other side effects.
They will do a semi sugery to add a portal in a week or two.
She has a week to decide which treatment she will use.

Many more prayers please.

We are very grateful for all your love and support.

ct scan

Mom has a ct scan today, and will hopefully find out the results tomorrow.

8th chemo treatment today

Hi everyone. Mom has her 8th chemo treatment today at 12:30. Please many prayers and positive engery that this will be her last treatment and the tumor will be gone. thanks!

rescheduled

the 8th chemo treatment is rescheduled for Tuesday, April 5th.

8th chemo treatment update

Mom's white blood cell count is too low for chemo today, so they will reschedule.

8th chemo treatment

Mom goes in for blood tests today to see if her white blood cell count is high enough to have her 8th chemo treatment tomorrow. Many more prayers that this is her last chemo treatment. Thank you!

update

Mom had her 7th chemo treatment Thursday, her friend Nancy went with her. Dr. Chan said the tumor is really shrinking from the 6 chemo treatments so we are hoping the 7th and 8th treatments will finish it off. Mom and dad leave for Giants spring training this week, they are driving down to avoid the germs from everyone in the airplanes.

7th chemo treatment

Mom met with Dr. Chan today. He is bringing the ct scan results to a board of tumor specialists to see what they think. I guess the ct showed the tumor had possibly grown by 10%, but after he did an exam, it felt like it was the same size as before. So mom is sheduled to have the 7th chemo treatment on thursday and with the same chemo meds as before. She is sounding pretty positive about it, her body has been handeling the chemo treatments, so two more treatments is totally fine.

ct scan update

mom didn't find out the CT scan results on Monday, because it was a holiday. Tuesday she found out that she would find out Thursday morning. Tonight she found out her white blood cell count is too low for a possible 7th chemo treatment, so she has a meeting with the doctor on Friday morning to discuss her CT scan results.

On a side note, my dad has been having some health issues. First a dog bit his hand a few weeks ago, now some other body parts have acted up from the antibotics so he went into the hospital for a procedure today.

Please prayers and good vibes for BOTH my parents.

(sorry for not keeping up the blog as much as I should be. I started a new job, and just had some of my fiance's family staying with us for the past few days. Needles to say, its been a crazy couple of weeks.)

date update

Mom's CT scan is this friday the 18th. And she will call on Monday to find the results of the scan.

update

Please send lots of positive energy for the ct scan on thursday at 1 pm pst!!!

Thanks so much!

6th chemo treatment today

Mom's white blood cell count is now up enough for her to have her 6th chemo treatment today. She has an appointment at 9:30 and hopes to be home by late afternoon. Thanks to Nancy C. for going with mom today! Many prayers this is mom's last chemo treatment, that the tumor will be gone.

appointment with Dr. Chan

Today mom had an appointment with Dr. Chan. It looks like the tumor is still there and still at 2cm. After the 6th treatment at the end of the month, there will be a CT scan, and possible a Ped scan to check for hot spots. If the tumor isn't gone after the 6th treatment, Dr. Chan thinks a 7th and 8th treatment will be necessary. Mom and dad asked about surgery and he said that's not what he would regularly do. With the 7th and 8th treatment he might switch to a different chemo to see if that gets rid of the tumor.

So many many prayers that the 6th chemo treatment gets rid of the tumor.

udpate

Mom's white blood cell count was still down from yesterday's tests. She went in early today to take another test to see if the count was up from yesterday. It was and after much waiting she started her 5th chemo treatment. Mom and dad will be there till about 8pm tonight. A long day for the both of them.

5th treatment update (hopefully the final update)

They changed mom's 5th appointment to Jan 5th in the afternoon.
Thank you for all the prayers and support!