The Beach

Mom is doing better.  She has had some bad days/nights and good days/nights.  She was feeling bad and a little better then bad again.  On Tuesday, she had a blood test done and they determined that she was dehydrated so she got two bags of fluids.  By the time she left, she was feeling much better.  We went back to her house and got her packed up for her trip, then spent the night at my house (after eating a piece of fried chicken and cole slaw!).  I dropped her off at the airport on Wednesday morning.

Luckily she was able to use the wheelchair service to help her through the airport.  I got this picture texted to me later that day...

She said that night was a pretty bad one, sick from either chemo, travel or food, but her stomach was pretty upset.  Mom also said that her hair is already starting to fall out. She spent the day watching the huge waves from a Mexican hurricane and resting.

Yesterday mom said she got sick in the afternoon again, but had a better night.  Hopefully the worst is over and she can relax the rest of the vacation.

Next chemo is planned for September 11th I believe.

The Weekend

Mom finished up her first chemo treatment around 2pm or so on Friday afternoon.  While in the treatment, she had a decent sized lunch and said that she felt just fine!  She met a few people around her and that was encouraging to her.  She went home and said she felt just fine.  The rest of us went camping but I checked in on mom several times a day over the weekend and I just kept getting texts back that went like this "feeling fine!", "stay as long as you want, I'm good!", and "I went out to dinner with a friend, feel great".  So when I was leaving Sunday afternoon, I checked in to say we were on our way home and did she want to go out to dinner.  She responded "sick hit".  So we rushed home and she was pretty out of it, tired, nauseated and feeling pretty bad.  I got her a little bit of soup and a nausea med.  She ended up throwing up the soup but she said that it actually made her feel better.  I got her ready for bed and out she went.  

She is still feeling a bit yucky today, hopefully it starts getting better soon.  But crazy how for 48 hours she felt just fine, like pretty much normal, then boom.  So we'll see how long it lasts.  Chemo is a crazy ride!

Keep praying for mom as she tries to get as good as she can before she heads to California on Wednesday morning. 

Finally In

It's been a long road to get to this, but she is finally on her first treatment of chemo as we speak!  Obviously this is a little bit of a good thing and a little bit of a bad thing, but hopefully this is the beginning of the road to complete recovery.

Pray for mom today and for the next several days as she deals with the side effects of a brutal four hour chemo infusion.

This is starting to get frustrating

So mom arrived at the hospital ready to roll, with a chemo appointment and they informed her that she needs to take a med 24 hours before she actually starts.  So they gave her the med, did a few tests and some blood work and are sending her on her way (2 hours later!).

All that and she still hasn't started chemo!  Tomorrow is apparently the day but until it's flowing in her, I won't believe it!

Keep praying for her, it's starting to cut close to her trip...

Today

Good morning,

I hope lots of you are reading this morning!  Mom starts chemo today at 10am Mountain Time and will likely be done around 2pm.  If you think of her during this time, please say a prayer for her.  She has a lot of anxiety about this first treatment, how she will respond to it and the unknowns of her recovery from it.  Please pray that the chemicals kill only the bad stuff and that she feels great afterward!  Pray that her body responds to treatment in the best possible way.

If anyone in Utah area is available the following times to check on mom, please let me know!

Friday from 4-9pm
Saturday from noon on
Sunday morning to mid afternoon

Any part of these times would be much appreciated to help mom through possible sickness.  She may not need someone there at all times, but a call person would be great.

Thanks so much everyone for prayers and thoughts and help, we all really appreciate it!

The Go-ahead

I took mom and Peg down to Salt Lake today.  We all had a great lunch (thanks Peg!) then dropped her off at the airport.  We then headed to mom's surgeon for her 6 week post op.  Good and Bad news.

Bad - her wound is still not completely healed.  It's still been leaking, though not infection, it was kinda gross and making her bandage smell and be unpleasant for her.  This leakage is unfortunately the result of still some unhealed space in her abdomen.  Though remarkably healed from only 2 weeks ago, there is still open space that won't heal on it's own.  So he had to make a small slit in the incision again and pack it with gauze.  She luckily doesn't have to do the vac again, but will need to do packing dressing for quite some more time.  She will have to do this on her own until it's completely healed.  Please pray that happens quickly for her.

Good - she got the "go-ahead" to start chemo on Thursday.  So that'll start on up!  She isn't exactly happy to do it, but she is glad that she can just keep moving forward in treatment rather than waiting for the wound to completely heal.  And it's good that it's not infected again.  She will be on the road to the end of treatment, which she is glad for.

My bro comes into town tomorrow for a few days to see mom.  He'll be able to take her to her first chemo treatment which means a lot to her.  Continue to pray that she handles chemo well enough to head on out of town next Wednesday feeling ok.

Thanks everyone!

Update

Hey there everyone,

Sorry for the long delay in posts.  I went out of town on Wednesday evening and got home late Sunday evening.  A few things have changed that happened while I was away!

First, mom is doing great.  She is feeling good and hitting some awesome landmarks - driving on her own, no more pain meds, gaining some weight back, planned a tentative day back to work.  I'm so proud of her!

When mom went to the chemo appointment on Thursday, they determined that they didn't want to start quite yet, wanted the surgeons clear that she can start.  So she didn't get her treatment on Thursday!  Instead she's been resting, eating food and feeling better each day.  Mom has an appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday (tomorrow) in which we assume he will give the go ahead to start chemo on Thursday.  She will have her big infusion then, and have 5 days to recover before she gets on a plane for California the following Wednesday for a week.  I think that will be a good trip for her to rest, recover and recharge.

So I'll let you know what happens tomorrow after her appointment!

Cheers~