Friday, October 1, 2010

back to updating!

Alright sorry everyone school started and i have been swamped! OK so two weeks ago this saturday mom dad and i went to the ER due to her numbness in her face, mouth, and right arm. They ran an MRI and blood results. he blood was fine but they saw something on the MRI. At first they thought it was a previous stroke, which of course freaked all of us out. so they ended up admitting her. Sunday they ran every test possible! all of her arteries were completely clear, her heart scan was normal, and a second MRI still looked clean. so they came to the conclusion that the spot on the MRI was from past migraines, which we ALL know she is known for. So we were happy to know that it was not a stoke or a tumor!!! Ok so Dr. Bahttia and the Neuro doc couldn't figure it out since all was clear. Monday Dr. B decided there are small tumors down her spine and they are pushing on nerves causing the numbness and the tingling. So in a way that was good news!

OK so she was discharged on Tuesday so they moved her chemo to Friday. On Friday her chemo went well, all counts were normal!!BUT she had to go in on Saturday to get the neulasta shot, which if you haven't heard of, which i hadn't, it is to boost your white blood cell count. it goes into your bone marrow, which is where blood cells are created and it boosts the process! Now she had heard all of this horrible stories about it making you feel flu like, bones sore, achy, and lasts up to 5 days. so knowing mom, she was freaking out. so Saturday we drug her in to get the shot. Sunday she did have some bone pain but some aleve and a heating pad and she was feeling fine..so thank you lord!

Now we are back to our second home, the cancer center, to get only one chemo, the Herceptin. In case you are wondering why, a couple of weeks ago they decided to do three weeks of all 3 chemos and then the fourth week only Herceptin to keep counts up! so we should be out of here in no time! :)

On Monday she gets her scan, to see if all tumors have remained the same size or smaller or larger (better not be)then we will have the results on Wednesday..

Thank you everyone for all fo your prayers, support, meals and more! Also, October 14th is her second fundraiser (ill post the flyer) and October 16th is the American Cancer Society walk "making strides toward a world with more birthdays" we will be there!!!!

http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MSABC_FY11_FindAnEvent

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

chemo here we come!

alright so on August 26th mom got her blood transfusion because her counts were so low! her RBC count was at 7.2 when it need to be 10+. so the blood transfusion went well. she also did not have chemo that week due to such low counts. so friday she felt awesome! with blood in her, she could actually breathe. (the day before and previously that week she was not able to walk from the couch to the kitchen she had to crawl because she would get so winded.)so Friday until that next Wednesday she felt awesome she went to a movie with dad, went shopping, and was just able to go out and remember what it felt like pre-chemo. ok so wednesday sep.1st she went to the cancer center like normal hoping to get chemo and hoping her counts were up! (not really wanting chemo :)) so here RBC count was up! but her WBC count was VERY low, lower than when she was in the hospital! it was at 1.2, where it needs to be 3.5 and higher! so NOOO chemo that week; and in isolation; meaning no raw foods, and trying to avoid crowds and sick people; and of course wash hands alot! well we jsut got here today and her counts are all up!! RBC: 11, WBC: 3.7! so chemo today which she is very excited for, just to get back on it...so they did cut the chemo doses in a fourth, to help with her counts. so hopefully all goes well!

on another note the picture (caricature) of mom above is from her F.C.Tucker office, where they are having an auction this friday for her!

thank you all!!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I wish one post was just good news!

alright! so as you all know mom get blood thinner shots every night call arixtra. due to her blood clot in her right arm. well last tuesday night we gave her her shot in her stomach and she woke up with a bruise the size of a softball on her stomach so we went in on wednesday for the normal chemo and they looked at the bruise and we so sorry but unfortunately she needed to stay on them. we on wednesday they were able to access her port!!! which was so exciting in stead of poking and pricking mom and blowing veins and taking forever! so we were so happy.

now on thursday night mom got the shot in her stomach like normal and it started bleeding? we put a bandaid on and it was soaked in blood well we call the on call doctor and they said if it didnt stop we needed to go to the ER well we thought we got it stopped BUT we didnt! she woke up covered in blood, and for all you weak stomaches ill leave it at it was ALOT of blood. well she immediately went into the doctor fri morning at 7 am. we needless to say we got lectured by the nurses on how were should have gone to the ER, becuase by the time mom got to the doctors office all three towels were soaked through. so they werent happy with us, but we didnt know any better :(

so it took them 4 hours to get it to clot! so Dr. Bhatia decided no more shots for a while.

well today came along and wewent to the cancer center like normal for her chemo treatment; they drewblood and her WBC count and hemoglobin count were low! so no chemo today! she has to get a blood transfusion tomorrow for 6 hrs. and 2 bags of blood. hopefully that helps because she needs the counts to raise for her to be able to handle chemo.

cross our fingers for tomorrow!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

sorry its been so long!

ok im so sorry i haven posted in a while, to say that we have been busy with doctors and appts. is to say the least! alright mom started chemo the first week of July due to her scan in June. Her tumor in her breast had shrunk but her tumor in her liver has grown to 6.9 cm. So she had her port put in on tuesday June 29th and chemo started july 2nd. We were then in the hospital fri night because of her fever and sent home then sunday and sent home. well Tuesday came along and at 5 am mom was hyper ventilating and we had to call 911. she ended up being admitted due to loss of oxygen, dehydration, and fever. She was in the hospital for over 2 weeks being tested for everything because they couldnt find out what was the cause of the fever. finally they realized she had a small form of pneumonia. so she was given antibiotics and she was sent home 2 day later. BUT during that hospital stay she was scaned again to see if it was the cancer causing the fever, and the possibility of it spreading more, but FINALLY good news, the tumor in her liver had shrunk to 5.9cm, just from the first treatment so that was very exciting! (sorry i told the hospital story in short, if i told it in detail we would be here all day!)

So she skipped the next week of chemo, just so she could get her strength back from being in the hospital so long. they decided to not give the chemo every three weeks seeing as that didnt go well, but they decided to giver her smaller portions of it every week. :( so we now go EVERY wednesday for SIX hours!! now if thats not bad enough; her port got infected while she was in the hospital so they had to use her veins for chemo these past 3 weeks. i feel so bad it burns in her hand and it takes double the amount of time becuase they have to pump it in her so much slower! cross our fingers tomorrow they can access her port, i think it look much better! what else am i missing.....

well last weekend was our Gootee family reunion and we went to holiday world thursday and friday, then Steve's saturday and sunday on the lake. mom did pretty well...she road the lazy river at holiday world and was able to eat some at the reunion on sat. We had so much fun and it was nice to see everyone! we have found out that tuesday-friday are "good" days and sunday is the worst for mom!

ooo and she has lost her hair so we buzzed it but we bough a wig that is gorgeous! and she now officially looks like Jenny's sister/mom!

well thats all i can think of now, ill try to update more now that things are settling as much as they are going to!

thanks for all the meals, prayers etc. we appreciate it!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

good and bad news

ok so mom got her cat scan last wednesday and on friday Dr. B gave her the results. her tumors in her breast and lymph nodes are almost gone..but her tumors in her spine and liver have either stayed the same or gotten bigger, meaning the tumors in her liver and spine saw what was happening in her breast and lymph nodes and they mutated and cloned them selves! so we are starting chemo. so yesterday, Tuesday, mom got her port put in. you can google what that means but basically it is a long tube in her artery that gives them easy access for the chemo, instead of ivs every time. so surgery went well yesterday we were home by 2. she is in pain today but what do you expect after surgery.

on friday mom will start chemo. she will go every three weeks for 18 weeks. BUT after 6 weeks (her second treatment) she will get a catscan to see if it is working, instead of having her go through hell for nothing. she will loose her hair..so start sending scarves, hats, etc.! but we are going to get a pretty wig that our friend and hairstylist will make!!


ill update you on friday. the chemo treatment is from 11 to 4 so it will be a long day!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

its been a while!!

ok im so sorry its been a while...i had finals and a have been working soooo much! well mom has been having her once a month appts. where she gets her shot, and infusion (IV) for her bones. it has gone well...her tumor in her breast and lymph node are softer. she is starting to feel much better and able to "live life" more. May 23rd was mom's last appt and like they do every appt they drew blood, to check her liver, kidney function and markers (which is a number that basically represents her cancer summed up). well when they drew blood her markers were up, from 300 to 400 (ideally they should be 70). So Trish, the NP, decided mom should get her cat scan in june, a month sooner to see what is going on in there.

So before her scan we went on our family vacation that we planned in Feb. We drove to myrtle beach, SC on Thurs June 3rd. of course i woke up with a fever before we left so we ran to the minute clinic and i had strept. joy. but i got a presciption and that saved my life. anyways we stopped in Asheville, NC to spend the night before finishing the drive. so we got to SC and the weather was wonderful! very hot but gorgeous, we laid by the pool, on the beach, we all three parasailed!, and of course we went out to dinner and had lots of fish and crab :) i'll post pictures of that later...then on our way back we stopped in Asheville, NC again and went to the Biltmore mansion! it was gorgeous..there are no words to describe it! ill have to post pictures of the mansion it was huge, there were 63 bedrooms and 40 bathrooms!!!!

On Wednesday Mom had her cat scan and she will get her results tomorrow with her normal routine of the shot and the IV. i'll update with you the results tomorrow..


lots of prayers the results show that the tumors have shrunken!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

getting nervous!

ok so mom got back from Evansville, IN and had a blast. she was able to see
Rich, Marshs, Steve, Candy and many more! They were down at the Aztar casino where uncle rich and the band sang, and mom learned hwo to gamble.

This week, Monday and Tuesday mom had horrible virtigo. We called Trish, the nurse practisioner, and she said that was just a late side effect. but as of today mom is feeling good and she is even at the office with me helping dad!! which is much needed for her.

Ok so Friday mom gets her second shot of Lupron and gets blood drawn. we have to wait there for an hour after the blood drawn, so they can read the results of her kidney and liver functions. if these are at the "normal" level, then she will get her infusion, meaning, an IV for 15 mins of Zometia; which will keep her bones strong since the treatment is so hard on her bones and their density. Dr. Bhatia will measure her tumor on her breast so they can keep track and see if it is shrinking, then base those results on her other tumors throughout her body. Until she gets the PET scan in july. so hopefully the tumors is even softer and smaller!

please pray for her blood results to be normal and function to be all ok for her IV! we will keep you updated.

thanks