March 27, 2007

Savannah and I are finally healthy, and everyone went to school/work/babysitter this week! It’s a blessing to be back in the normal pace of life that we live. Shelby still isn’t feeling too good, but she’s at school and on the road to recovery. Mark also made it through this without getting too sick. PTL.

My treatment went pretty well yesterday, but my white and red blood cell counts are getting low enough to watch them carefully now. I’m sure that a week of being sick didn’t help with counts either. I’m feeling tired this morning and a little bit shaky, but 90% better than last week, so I can make this work. I’ll also have a week off of chemo next week, so the counts should have a little time to recover.

We had a great sermon at church on Sunday by Nathan, and he shared a message on prayer with us. He reminded us to never give up asking God for our needs even if we thinking we’re bothering him. I can see so many areas of my prayer life that start to feel like I’m bugging God with more than He wants to hear from me, and this message encouraged me to keep asking, seeking, and knocking. I can also testify that God has answered some of my most persistent prayers over the years when I haven’t given up, so I hope this encourages you to keep up your efforts on all fronts too.

It was a joy to be able to sing during Worship time on Sunday for the first time since I started chemo! I couldn’t get through all the songs, but I was able to sing several. Worship is my favorite time on Sunday mornings, and I’ve always loved to sing my heart out (I’m just like my Dad) even if I’m not that great.

Thanks for your prayers, concerns, cards, support and hugs.

Sandy

March 23, 2007

My heart went out to Elizabeth Edwards on hearing the news of her recurring breast cancer this week. She seems like a strong woman fighting a battle for her life; much like we’re doing for mine. One thing she said struck an extra chord with me… she knew without hesitation that her husband would be there for her through the whole ordeal.

During my first round of cancer Mark went with me to almost every chemo treatment and every doctor’s appointment, scan, test, etc. He was my rock and held me up through hard times. I also know without a moment of hesitation that he would prefer to be with me through this whole ordeal now, but the new store has prevented that from happening. He doesn’t show it very much, but this has been the hardest thing for him to handle.

Savannah started the week out sick, and then it found its way to me, so we’ve both been sick since Tuesday. This isn’t just a cold or slight touch of the flu…it’s bone aching, fever, head congestion, coughing, throwing up, barely vertical sick. I called my doctor about my fever and they put me on an antiobiotic and said to treat my symptoms. That was four days ago! I still don’t feel like being off the couch for more than an hour. I think my fever is finally broken, but I’m also feeling chemo nausea this week, and my medicines don’t seem to work much.

You can imagine that Mark’s been overwhelmed by all of this sickness, and he can’t be here to help us. We are very blessed to have family that come to my rescue when asked. Mary was here to take Savannah to the doctor and pick up my medication. Sharon came up to our house one night and sat with me, brought us snacks and “sick pop”, and cleaned my house. Last night we used a gift certificate for fast food that someone had given us to help out so Mark would have a meal when he got home. Thank you to everyone who comes when we need you and even moves your schedule around to be here. We aren’t that comfortable asking for help, but it sure has been needed.

Pray for Mark as he cannot be here with us…and PLEASE pray that he doesn’t get sick. We simply don’t have a backup for him at the store, so I don’t know what the Lord would have us do if he couldn’t work. It would also be good to pray for a home to come up for sale in Markle, so we could move and be closer to him all the time.

Sandy

March 20, 2007

Friends and loved ones, we have reason to rejoice in God’s mighty power this week… 

I had my second week of Round 2 treatment on Monday, and it went well. I was the last person to leave the chemo room around 5:00, but that was because my doctor spent so much time talking with me about the new drug that we’ve read about. She had discussed this new drug with me when I first started treatment, so she was very excited to meet with me yesterday because it is now approved!

The drug is called Kyterb and it was made to fight the specific type of cancer that I have. It was given to people who didn’t have a good response to Herceptin during the trials, but it is being approved for anyone who is Her2 positive (that’s me). It will be a pill form instead of the infused chemo that I’ve been getting (NO NEEDLES!!!). Dr. Aggarwal said that the side effects will be the same for my heart, but that I might also get an acne-like rash on my face (yuk!) that they will watch and treat with cream. This is just like Herceptin, in that I’ll probably be on this drug for the rest of my life, or until another advance is found to stop this cancer.

The change in the first drug also causes a change in my chemo drug. I’d start getting a drug called Xeloda. This is also available in pill form, and it’s given for 14 days, 2 times a day. Then you take a break and start the cycle over again. My doctor said the main side effects were odd for chemo…redness and peeling of skin on my hands, and my counts would still be affected negatively.

When a cancer patient talks about counts, they are referring to their white and red blood cell counts, plus possibly others. White blood cells are the immune system in our bodies, so if they drop, we can get sick all the time. If you have a fever of 100 or greater, you cannot have chemo. Red blood cells are what gives us energy, so if they drop too low, it’s hard to function and you get very anemic. There are treatments for both of these problems, but they will stop chemo until the counts come back up. Treatment = cancer killing, so we don’t want chemo to be stopped.

Dr. Aggarwal talked with me about when she might start the new drugs, and she doesn’t want to interrupt this month’s cycle because it appears to be helping my symptoms. She wants to wait until April to try the new drugs, and that will give her time to get approval from my insurance company. I’m happy with this direction and agree with her recommendation to wait. She also told me that my coughing has still got her worried, so she would have changed my drugs after this month anyway to see if something else would help. She may also run some more scans in April to see if she’s missed something that is causing the cough. It seems worse to me over the last few days.

After treatment last night, I felt like I had been hit by a mack truck. I’m not sure why it was so bad, but I couldn’t do much of anything except lay on the couch. I feel much better today, and I’m home with Savannah because she was sick this morning. God must have known that I needed to rest too.

Please pray for the approval of these new drugs from my insurance company. I’m so excited about a treatment that doesn’t involve needles, or weekly chemo trips.

Thanks for your encouragement and prayers. I’m still overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for our family. We get a card or two every day, and people are sharing special comments on the blog that touch my heart each time I read them.

 Sandy

March 14, 2007

My treatment on Monday went very well, and I’ve been feeling good this week! I’ve managed to catch a nasty head cold, so that’s not fun, and I’m more tired than last week.

Several people have sent me the Journal-Gazette article about a new drug on the market for my specific type of cancer. Thank you for thinking of me! I’ll definitely be talking with my doctor about this treatment at my next apppointment.

If you didn’t see the article, the FDA has approved the drug Tykerb, which is a pill form (yeah!) for women who have been treated with Herceptin and older chemo drugs. It’s supposed to be available in 2 weeks, and the cost is $2900 per month. Please pray that my doctor will know about the drug and that my insurance company will approve it. It sounds like a great breakthrough!

March 12, 2007

The Lord provided a good week for me last week, after the rocky start on Monday. I think I’m finally on top of the medication doses for the various side effects caused by chemo, and I’m feeling much better. I’m still feeling nauseous on most days, by the prescription that I have takes care of it, and some days I don’t need it. I’ve noticed that I’m more tired than normal, but everyone has been great about helping me find time and space to rest.

Whitney is home from IU for Spring Break, and she’s already been a huge blessing to us. We all miss her quite a bit while she’s gone…especially her sisters! They go crazy for a few days when she returns, but she handles their energy level very well and just has fun with them. I’m really proud of how she’s doing in school, and we’re very excited to be working on wedding plans while she’s home this week.

I have treatment again today at 2:00 p.m. (Monday), and Whitney will be coming with me. Please pray that the waits aren’t too long and that my nausea holds back this week.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

March 7, 2007

I ended up spending Monday afternoon at Parkview in the ER because I had a headache and blurred vision in the morning. I wasn’t sure what to think about the symptoms, so I called the oncology office and talked with the nurse. She recommended that I check into Parkview for tests that day, so that’s where I went. I felt pretty stupid going to the ER because I wasn’t sure if my blurred vision wasn’t just my contacts acting crazy.

Turns out that these symptoms are pretty serious, and everyone agreed that I should have come in. They ran another MRI of my brain, and it WAS CLEAR! PTL. After a long afternoon of waiting, they determined that I might have had a migraine episode in the morning.

My treatment was postponed until Tuesday morning, and it went great! They accessed my port on Monday at Parkview, so we left that in for my treatment. I didn’t have to wait in any rooms since I wasn’t seeing the doctor or getting blood work. They let me go right back to the chemo room when I arrived, and I was done and out of there in 1 hour. That’s a record!

I’m feeling good this week since I haven’t had to take the Valpedine, except for my cough which has made my ribs very sore. I’ve gotten a prescription for cough medicine to try, so that may get used tonight.

I can’t believe how many hits this blog has gotten, and I appreciate each and every prayer and thought on our behalf. You are all lifting me and my family up and carrying us through a tough time. Bless you.

March 5, 2007

This has been a roller coaster week with my health and our family’s transitions! At my chemo appointment on Monday I talked with a nurse about some strange symptoms I was having, and they decided to do some testing. Turns out, I had a urinary tract infection and was put on Bactrim for 5 days. I don’t normally get these kinds of infections, so I’m not sure why it happened now. It’s so hard to tell if symptoms come from chemo or something else when you feel bad all of the time. The good news is that my UTI symptoms went away immediately after starting the antibiotic! The pain in my neck and shoulder has gotten better with treatment, but I still need to take a pain killer every now and then if it starts bothering me. I’ve also had some nausea this week and still struggle with bowel problems. I have medication for each of these issues, too, and I think I’m getting closer to having the right amounts to take figured out. I’m still struggling with the coughing that started with the recurrence, and it seemed much worse yesterday. I tried to sing during church, but that was pretty much a lost cause.

Mark and I closed on our purchase of the hardware store in Markle on Thursday and went right to work from the bank. I took vacation days on Thursday and Friday to be with him during the first few days, and we had a blast! We had a steady stream of customers each day, even though this is supposed to be the slowest time of the year, but we weren’t swamped. Mark has the gift of service and an incredible knowledge of all things hardware, so this is a perfect place for him to be. We are still in shock and awe that our awesome God has led us to this opportunity. There’s no way we could have accomplished this purchase on our own, and we’ll never be able to run the business on our own merit either. We truly feel like little Davids in the hands of a mighty God, and we’re filled with joy and anticipation over what He has planned for us in Markle. Mark and I were talking Thursday night about our exciting day, and he commented that “the only thing that would make this adventure better would be if I were able to work with him every day”.

One of the many suprises from our business adventure has been the way so many unexpected offers for help have risen up. Our dear friends, Sherry and Tony Johnson, have stepped up in a big way to help with our accounting and bookeeping functions. Sherry has been at the store helping us set up our books and entering transactions, and she’s a great teacher even when we are being dense! Their son, Blake, also came in to help so he could earn some volunteer hours for FFA. He’s been a great organizer and hard worker in the store. It already looks better, newer and cleaner!

Today is my fourth treatment, and it’s my off week for Valpedine. I’ll only have the Herceptin (like I had last year), so it should be faster and not cause the nausea that I’ve been fighting. I’m looking forward to the week and grateful for the extra strength and health to make it through. I’ll talk to the nurses about my cough…hopefully they can give me some ideas for keeping it under control. My ribs and chest actually are sore from all the coughing.