Hey everyone,
First of all, I wanted to tell you how overwhelmed I am. Not in the bad way (though there are still some of those feelings) but in such a good way. I put out a simple call for help and I am blown away by the response that I have received. All of you are just such a blessing to us in this time. It just proves how great each and every single one of you are to be our friends, so blessed! The help and care and concern has just been overwhelmingly amazing and I can't thank you all enough. The other night I was about to pull my hair out and go running down the street crying but you all are there to keep me in check and step in when needed and I thank you all so much for that. So that being said, we are totally set for now on meals and help, thank you all.
Ok, on to mom. She is currently getting the wound vac put back on (yay and nay to that). It will hopefully allow her to have some quicker healing and a bit more freedom in day to day life. But it's also a hassle and it's another machine/thing to take care of. The goal is to get it out as soon as possible. It's job is to promote healing and hopefully that can be done quickly.
She is feeling better overall, she did have a pretty bad Monday and Tuesday, but much better today. Just in time to get cut into again on Friday!
Aunt Peg is coming to visit and help this weekend, and will stay with mom and help out while I return to full time work next week. She'll be able to help mom to doc appointments and through her first chemo round. Thank God for that!
That is all for now. I can't say thank you enough to all of you for your support and for being part of the TEAM! And what a team we have!
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Monday, July 28, 2014
Upcoming Week
Mom had an eventful (and not really in a good way) day. First thing we had to change her dressing. She really anticipates that each time and has to prepare both with meds and mental preparedness. Then we were off to the surgeon to discuss the installation of the port. It seems like an easy procedure, though she is quite done being cut into. The port will be put in on Friday morning. Please pray for that as she will be knocked out and have a tube put in her veins.
Then it was off to some other small errands and home for a nap. Then we headed down to Salt Lake to meet up with the first surgeon again to talk about closing the incision - again. She again anticipated the removal of the dressing and him poking around in there. Unfortunately, he was unable to close the wound, in fact, he had to open it up a tad more to reveal a sizable "cave" in there. There is no more infection at all, this is a good thing. But she needs more blood supply to the area in order for it to be closed again. He had to repack (not close!) and send us on our way. She will see the wound care people tomorrow (currently waiting for a call about that) to discuss putting the wound vac back on for a few days in order to increase blood supply to the area. Ideally, that would then come back out on Friday and they can close the incision again. Mom was not happy about this news - like at all. And she was very much not happy about all the poking in there during the appointment. Hopefully we can have this thing closed up again by end of week.
She is pretty low in how she is feeling right now. She has to take pain meds to deal with the messing around in her belly and that makes her feel nauseous and tired. Hopefully once the wound vac gets put back on, she'll feel a little better and not have to take too many pain meds. And then hopefully things can be healed up enough to be closed.
I'm in need of a few things from the community. Mom gets the port put in on Friday and we have some obligations to attend to in the evening. She needs to be attended to for 24 hours after the placement. If anyone is willing and able to come over on Friday night to watch mom, make her dinner and generally care for her, that would be great. I need from about 4:30 to about 9pm.
Also, I'm pretty tired and getting a bit overwhelmed. If anyone is willing to do a meal or just come hang with mom so we can go out, that would be amazing. Thank you!
Then it was off to some other small errands and home for a nap. Then we headed down to Salt Lake to meet up with the first surgeon again to talk about closing the incision - again. She again anticipated the removal of the dressing and him poking around in there. Unfortunately, he was unable to close the wound, in fact, he had to open it up a tad more to reveal a sizable "cave" in there. There is no more infection at all, this is a good thing. But she needs more blood supply to the area in order for it to be closed again. He had to repack (not close!) and send us on our way. She will see the wound care people tomorrow (currently waiting for a call about that) to discuss putting the wound vac back on for a few days in order to increase blood supply to the area. Ideally, that would then come back out on Friday and they can close the incision again. Mom was not happy about this news - like at all. And she was very much not happy about all the poking in there during the appointment. Hopefully we can have this thing closed up again by end of week.
She is pretty low in how she is feeling right now. She has to take pain meds to deal with the messing around in her belly and that makes her feel nauseous and tired. Hopefully once the wound vac gets put back on, she'll feel a little better and not have to take too many pain meds. And then hopefully things can be healed up enough to be closed.
I'm in need of a few things from the community. Mom gets the port put in on Friday and we have some obligations to attend to in the evening. She needs to be attended to for 24 hours after the placement. If anyone is willing and able to come over on Friday night to watch mom, make her dinner and generally care for her, that would be great. I need from about 4:30 to about 9pm.
Also, I'm pretty tired and getting a bit overwhelmed. If anyone is willing to do a meal or just come hang with mom so we can go out, that would be amazing. Thank you!
Sunday, July 27, 2014
A Little Bump
So I'm not so good at posting when mom is doing great. She has been doing so great! This past week she did a long outing to doctors and other errands on Monday, she did a long outing on Wednesday evening, did the parade on Thursday morning, and went to dinner and a movie with friends on Saturday afternoon. She has been moving a lot, eating well and generally feeling really good. She has been doing great managing pain and taking her meds. I will do a better job of updating everyone on the mundane, like when she is doing exactly what she is supposed to be doing and more!
Unfortunately, my post today is to update you on a little bump she had yesterday. Mom was about to leave for her movie and had a little bit of moisture in her bandage. By the time the movie was over and she finished up dinner, it became a drip. Fortunately she felt ok, but when she got home, I immediately saw that it was another infection. I called the surgeons office and they told us to go back down to Salt Lake City to the same hospital and go to the ER. Mom felt a lot of anxiety about having to possibly open the wound, yet again, so I encouraged her to take a lot of her pain meds to help with that. I figured the worst case scenario is that she would be sleepy! We drove down at 8pm last night and checked in. We had to go through the ER system, which took a bit of time. The ER doc finally came in and immediately said - yep infection, I'll call your surgeon personally. We waited a bit longer and eventually, one of the surgeons residents came specifically to see mom. She unfortunately determined that mom would need to be reopened and cleaned out. They did some local pain killing and gave her a very strong anxiety med to help with the procedure. They determined that it wasn't very bad and good that we caught it so early. They were able to clean it out and pack it without too much discomfort for mom. We were able to leave late last night and we were home by 1am.
The cleaning/changing of the dressing is definitely my least favorite thing so far. We both got through the change this morning ok. We will go back to the surgeon Monday afternoon to get it closed up - again. And hopefully for the last time!
Monday is busy! We will be visiting with the surgeon locally to talk about the port cath placement in the morning. We also will need to schedule a CT scan for as soon this week as possible so that can be done before they actually place the port, which I'm guessing will be either Tuesday or Wednesday (but I don't really know). The port needs one full week before she can start chemo, so I think the doc is anxious to get that going soon.
Please pray for mom as she has quite some outings tomorrow and without a doubt some discomfort with moving around with her open(ish) wound. Pray that they will be able to close it again tomorrow afternoon, rather than putting in another wound vac. Pray especially for mom's anxiety about any procedures she will have, that seems to be one of her biggest hurdles right now.
Thank you to Elaine and Anne Rene who were able to come spend the afternoon with mom, take care of her, entertain her, feed her and give me a break for a few hours to spend with my family. What a blessing all of you people are to us!
I'll let you know what happens tomorrow evening from the day. Prayers all day!
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Chemo Plan
Well, we've had a busy day so far. First of all, mom was out and about for a LONG time today and was doing great all the way to the end. She may crash fast and early tonight though!
We ran a couple of errands before her appointment. The appointment was quite an ordeal, a lot of doctors, waiting, questions, answers and more waiting. BUT, we both really LOVED that doctor. He seems to be so genuine and knowledgeable. We were able to ask a ton of questions regarding the treatments and schedule.
First, they are going to put a port in her chest for the treatments. That way she won't have to be poked each time she has chemo and it's safer than hoping that a vein doesn't have trouble during a four hour treatment. They will be scheduling a consult for either later this week or early next week and likely be putting it in sometime next week, a 45 minute procedure. She will need to wait a week for that to heal before it can be used. Right before she has her first treatment, which will likely be the first or second week of August, they will do another CT scan to see if there are any other remaining tumors that the surgeon missed (hopefully not) and get a baseline. They will also do a blood draw to check for the cancer markers to see how she is starting.
She will go to treatment every week for three weeks then have a week off. For two of those three weeks she will likely feel fine as the meds aren't too hard to manage. The third week will be the kicker and then she'll have some extra time to heal before she starts the next round. She will lose her hair and I'm sure battle feeling sick. The office seemed like a happy and inviting place, the kind of place that mom wants to be. They see the infusion room as a family, and patients in there were already so friendly to her.
She is hoping to be able to work a little through the chemo time, once she's recovered a little from the surgery a little more.
I may need some help in the coming weeks and months with rides to and from the hospital, and people who are willing to be with her both while she is being treated and when she is home afterwards. I'll try to set up a schedule when I have a bit more exact timing info.
Thanks again for all the prayers. There are so many other hardships happening both in our local community and around the world for so many people. Please continue to pray for all of those around you, it would mean a lot to mom and to the community. Thank you all for the physical help too, it means a lot to us.
Till I have more info!
We ran a couple of errands before her appointment. The appointment was quite an ordeal, a lot of doctors, waiting, questions, answers and more waiting. BUT, we both really LOVED that doctor. He seems to be so genuine and knowledgeable. We were able to ask a ton of questions regarding the treatments and schedule.
First, they are going to put a port in her chest for the treatments. That way she won't have to be poked each time she has chemo and it's safer than hoping that a vein doesn't have trouble during a four hour treatment. They will be scheduling a consult for either later this week or early next week and likely be putting it in sometime next week, a 45 minute procedure. She will need to wait a week for that to heal before it can be used. Right before she has her first treatment, which will likely be the first or second week of August, they will do another CT scan to see if there are any other remaining tumors that the surgeon missed (hopefully not) and get a baseline. They will also do a blood draw to check for the cancer markers to see how she is starting.
She will go to treatment every week for three weeks then have a week off. For two of those three weeks she will likely feel fine as the meds aren't too hard to manage. The third week will be the kicker and then she'll have some extra time to heal before she starts the next round. She will lose her hair and I'm sure battle feeling sick. The office seemed like a happy and inviting place, the kind of place that mom wants to be. They see the infusion room as a family, and patients in there were already so friendly to her.
She is hoping to be able to work a little through the chemo time, once she's recovered a little from the surgery a little more.
I may need some help in the coming weeks and months with rides to and from the hospital, and people who are willing to be with her both while she is being treated and when she is home afterwards. I'll try to set up a schedule when I have a bit more exact timing info.
Thanks again for all the prayers. There are so many other hardships happening both in our local community and around the world for so many people. Please continue to pray for all of those around you, it would mean a lot to mom and to the community. Thank you all for the physical help too, it means a lot to us.
Till I have more info!
Friday, July 18, 2014
Errands
Mom has been doing great and better each day. Though she is still feeling tired and worn out from little activities, she is making strides each day. She walks more and more each day, sleeping a little less each day, helping do a few things around the house. She battled a little upset stomach the past few days but seems to be better now. She is also eating more and more at each meal which is great.
Today, mom wanted to run a few errands with me. We first dropped off my kids at school, then went to her house to pick up a few things. We then went to the bank and then to Costco, where she walked around the entire place on her own! She didn't even get out of breath. Then we went for a little brunch. She did great will all of the errands today, I'm so proud of her!
Thank you to Jerriann for bringing lunch over for mom yesterday and for all of those that have offered to help. If anyone is around tomorrow and would like to swing by to check on mom mid morning or lunch, you are welcome to do so - we'll be out doing a few things.
Prayers for her doctor appointment on Monday for her chemo plan. We hope to get some answers and a plan for the coming weeks/months.
Today, mom wanted to run a few errands with me. We first dropped off my kids at school, then went to her house to pick up a few things. We then went to the bank and then to Costco, where she walked around the entire place on her own! She didn't even get out of breath. Then we went for a little brunch. She did great will all of the errands today, I'm so proud of her!
Thank you to Jerriann for bringing lunch over for mom yesterday and for all of those that have offered to help. If anyone is around tomorrow and would like to swing by to check on mom mid morning or lunch, you are welcome to do so - we'll be out doing a few things.
Prayers for her doctor appointment on Monday for her chemo plan. We hope to get some answers and a plan for the coming weeks/months.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Doctor Appointment
Mom had a follow up appointment with her surgeon yesterday and to hopefully remove the wound vac. He was quite busy (sad!) and running late. When they did come in, they attempted to remove the vac and mom is such a great healer that she actually started to attach to the sponge that was in the wound. She was in quite a bit of pain as they removed that. It took about an hour to get it all out and ready to be closed. She did great though and made it through! They were able to close the rest of the wound with steri-strips and a fabric sticker basically. And they removed the remaining staples. She is thankful for not having any staples left in and no more wound vac - so freeing!
The doctor told us that he discussed mom's case with other doctors at a tumor conference. He told us that the group was split as to what kind of cancer it was but the treatment would still be the same. He said that we will likely never really know exactly what kind, but he is calling it as he did after surgery - Uterine stage 1A and Ovarian stage 3C. The other option was Epithelial stage 4 and we don't like that one. But again, either way, it's treated the same - surgery and chemo.
We go see the chemo doctor here in Ogden on Monday to find out her treatment plan for that. I will update you when we have more updates on when that will be for anyone hoping to come help.
Thank you to Jan for coming to pick up mom yesterday afternoon after her appointment, it was a huge help!
Please continue to keep mom in your prayers and thoughts. She is doing great at recovery so far, making all milestones and walking a ton! She walked down and around the corner at my house this morning already. She is eating better and better too. Her struggle right now is that she is feeling sad about being "sick" and still in recovery. You don't have to know mom for long to know that she is a mover, so all this sitting around and not feeling well is getting her down a little. Once she recovers from this, she will be hit with round after round of chemo and it will certainly test her strength.
Thank you everyone!
The doctor told us that he discussed mom's case with other doctors at a tumor conference. He told us that the group was split as to what kind of cancer it was but the treatment would still be the same. He said that we will likely never really know exactly what kind, but he is calling it as he did after surgery - Uterine stage 1A and Ovarian stage 3C. The other option was Epithelial stage 4 and we don't like that one. But again, either way, it's treated the same - surgery and chemo.
We go see the chemo doctor here in Ogden on Monday to find out her treatment plan for that. I will update you when we have more updates on when that will be for anyone hoping to come help.
Thank you to Jan for coming to pick up mom yesterday afternoon after her appointment, it was a huge help!
Please continue to keep mom in your prayers and thoughts. She is doing great at recovery so far, making all milestones and walking a ton! She walked down and around the corner at my house this morning already. She is eating better and better too. Her struggle right now is that she is feeling sad about being "sick" and still in recovery. You don't have to know mom for long to know that she is a mover, so all this sitting around and not feeling well is getting her down a little. Once she recovers from this, she will be hit with round after round of chemo and it will certainly test her strength.
Thank you everyone!
Monday, July 14, 2014
The Weekend
Mom had a friend in town for the weekend and she was able to go home for a few days. They mostly laid low, just watching TV, talking and napping. Mom had Tammy drive around town and she showed her some things. After two hours, mom said that she was beat!
Overall, mom is making great strides and hitting milestones. This morning, she already walked to the end of my street and back (which is actually a decent hill!). She is learning how to deal with not doing the level of activity that she is used to.
I have a favor to ask of the community. Mom has an appointment in Salt Lake tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon, which should end around 1. I need to be in SLC later in the day so I'd rather not drive down, back up, then back down, then back up. Is there anyone that would be willing to pick up mom around 1 in North Salt Lake and bring her back to my house? That would be a huge help.
Thanks everyone!
Overall, mom is making great strides and hitting milestones. This morning, she already walked to the end of my street and back (which is actually a decent hill!). She is learning how to deal with not doing the level of activity that she is used to.
I have a favor to ask of the community. Mom has an appointment in Salt Lake tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon, which should end around 1. I need to be in SLC later in the day so I'd rather not drive down, back up, then back down, then back up. Is there anyone that would be willing to pick up mom around 1 in North Salt Lake and bring her back to my house? That would be a huge help.
Thanks everyone!
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