Dear Family,
As you probably remember, Mom had a second round of chemo last week. One kind was administered by an IV drip at the clinic on Monday and Tuesday and the other was in a constant drip in her picc line from a pump that Mom carried around with her in a fanny pack. On Saturday morning, she had the pump disconnected. She still has the picc line (single port) and they expect it to stay in until she is finished with all her rounds of chemo. She has been home all through this treatment and is much happier about that. She met with Dr. Wallentine on Friday and he felt that things were going well but he did expect that Mom's blood levels would drop by the first of the week. Mom went for a blood test this morning and called me a few minutes ago to give me the results--
Hematocrit - 32.6 (normal range 37 and above);
Platelets - 42 (normal range 140 - 440);
Neutrophils - .o [nada, nothing, zip] (they would like these to build back up to 2.0)
We will all be hoping that Mom's neutrophil count will come back up faster than it did last time. She now has no white blood cells to fight infection and is keeping fairly isolated at home. She had been on coumadin to thin her blood, but she stopped that on Friday. On Saturday when she had the pump disconnected, she also received a shot of a drug called Nulasta which is a long lasting drug which stimulates the bone marrow to produce blood cells. Yesterday she was feeling kind of crummy all over and she is feeling about the same today but hasn't run a fever. However, the doctor called in a prescription for Cipro for her so it can start fighting infection immediately. Mom thinks she will feel much better when the Cipro kicks in. She wants everyone to know that she is still on her feet, doing well and taking care of Dad. Food has started to taste bad again. She is thirsty all the time but water tastes metallic and so she is trying to find liquids that taste okay enough. She will go in again on Wednesday for another blood test.
She still enjoys getting emails to keep in touch.
We'll continue to keep everyone posted. Keep praying that her counts will go up quickly.
Love,
Kathie
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Round 2
Lulie went to the hospital today to receive her first injection of chemo, round 2. She will stay at home unless needing to be hospitalized for infection. She will be more comfortable in "isolation" at her own home. We'll keep everyone posted on her progress!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Biopsy Results
I went to the doctor today with Mom and we found out some of the
results of her bone marrow biopsy from last week. The report was
pretty much what was expected. Dr. Wallentine indicated that the
bone marrow was in an early stage of recovery. However, he wasn't
quite able to say that she was in remission because there were still
some cancer cells present. He recommends that Mom start a second
round of chemo therapy on Monday. He was going to talk to one of the
pathologists about mom's situation and then call her on Saturday and
let her know whether he recommends that she have a continuous
infusion of chemo at the hospital for 5 days, or whether she receives
her chemo in 3 doses next week at their lab and goes home each time
with some sort of a "piggy back" pack. More to come tomorrow.
Valerie
results of her bone marrow biopsy from last week. The report was
pretty much what was expected. Dr. Wallentine indicated that the
bone marrow was in an early stage of recovery. However, he wasn't
quite able to say that she was in remission because there were still
some cancer cells present. He recommends that Mom start a second
round of chemo therapy on Monday. He was going to talk to one of the
pathologists about mom's situation and then call her on Saturday and
let her know whether he recommends that she have a continuous
infusion of chemo at the hospital for 5 days, or whether she receives
her chemo in 3 doses next week at their lab and goes home each time
with some sort of a "piggy back" pack. More to come tomorrow.
Valerie
Monday, January 14, 2008
From Lulie
Friday, Jan 11 I went to the doctor's to have a bone marrow biopsy so see what kinds of blood or cells might be growing in the marrow. The results from that will be back by the next Friday. After that, I will know what the next phase of treatment is. I am still feeling great.
A note from Lulie
This is a bit old, but still has good info.
Dear Family and friends,
I guess it is time for another update after being home for 12 days on my own, but being babied and fussed over by Valerie and Kathie every day. I have enjoyed the quiet of my home, and the slow pace of doing what I felt like doing. How many of you would like to be doing that? I am driving the car and getting myself to places that I need to be, like the lab for tests on a regular basis.
I spent a good part of the day Friday (yesterday) in doctors' offices . Dr Wallentine was pleased with the report on my blood. I am climbing in all aspects; platelets and red blood cells are in the normal range and white blood cells continue to climb and are high enough that I can now roam where I want to and have family come by. In other words, I am out of isolation and can go out in public, using caution. Next Friday the doctor will do a bone marrow biopsy to get a look at what is really happening in the blood marrow. Good news.
Today I showed him a sore spot on my arm that looked like a blood clot to me and he decided to have me get an ultra sound of the veins and sure enough there were blood clots but blood was still able to flow through the vein. The final decision was that I needed to be on blood thinners for the next 6 months. So I had a shot in the belly, and then went to the pharmacy to buy some cumedin that I need to take every day. I was sent home with the shots for the belly for Saturday and Sunday that I would self administer and then would have to go back to the office on Monday for a blood test to see if the clotting mechanism was reducing. I also went to the chiropractor to see if I could get some relief from my neck and back pain (probably caused from being in bed too much the past month.)
I thought you might be interested in a "tender mercy" that happened in connection with this experience. When I had finished with the ultra sound, the technition told me it was really a good thing that I had the ultra sound when I did. She called my doctor to give him the results, and he asked that I come right up to his office while he and others decided what would be the best way to treat it. After a while the lab technition came out and called me back into the lab. She told me that the shots I needed were very expensive and not covered by insurance, but that a patient had brought in half a box of the syringes that she hadn't needed and asked that the lab give them to someone who needed them. So I was the lucky recipient. I was told to bring one of the syringes in on Saturday morning and another on Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and they would administer it. I said I didn't think it looked to hard to do, and why couldn't I self administer it. The nurse said if I felt comfortable doing it I could do it that way. So this morning I gave myself the shot, almost perfectly, and tomorrow am confident I will do it perfectly. Wasn't that a "tender mercy" to not have to pay for the shots? I hope that I won't need all of them so that I can turn some back in so someone else can benefit as I did.
I have come to expect that the road ahead for me will be filled with a few bumps so I don't get upset with things like blood clots. I am just glad that we are able to be led to get the bumps addressed before they are major problems.
I feel well, I feel optimistic, I feel loved and supported. Your prayers for me have lifted my spirits and have been answered in a marvelous way. I am so deeply grateful to all of you and for the constant assurance of the Spirit that all is well.
With much love,
Lulie
Dear Family and friends,
I guess it is time for another update after being home for 12 days on my own, but being babied and fussed over by Valerie and Kathie every day. I have enjoyed the quiet of my home, and the slow pace of doing what I felt like doing. How many of you would like to be doing that? I am driving the car and getting myself to places that I need to be, like the lab for tests on a regular basis.
I spent a good part of the day Friday (yesterday) in doctors' offices . Dr Wallentine was pleased with the report on my blood. I am climbing in all aspects; platelets and red blood cells are in the normal range and white blood cells continue to climb and are high enough that I can now roam where I want to and have family come by. In other words, I am out of isolation and can go out in public, using caution. Next Friday the doctor will do a bone marrow biopsy to get a look at what is really happening in the blood marrow. Good news.
Today I showed him a sore spot on my arm that looked like a blood clot to me and he decided to have me get an ultra sound of the veins and sure enough there were blood clots but blood was still able to flow through the vein. The final decision was that I needed to be on blood thinners for the next 6 months. So I had a shot in the belly, and then went to the pharmacy to buy some cumedin that I need to take every day. I was sent home with the shots for the belly for Saturday and Sunday that I would self administer and then would have to go back to the office on Monday for a blood test to see if the clotting mechanism was reducing. I also went to the chiropractor to see if I could get some relief from my neck and back pain (probably caused from being in bed too much the past month.)
I thought you might be interested in a "tender mercy" that happened in connection with this experience. When I had finished with the ultra sound, the technition told me it was really a good thing that I had the ultra sound when I did. She called my doctor to give him the results, and he asked that I come right up to his office while he and others decided what would be the best way to treat it. After a while the lab technition came out and called me back into the lab. She told me that the shots I needed were very expensive and not covered by insurance, but that a patient had brought in half a box of the syringes that she hadn't needed and asked that the lab give them to someone who needed them. So I was the lucky recipient. I was told to bring one of the syringes in on Saturday morning and another on Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and they would administer it. I said I didn't think it looked to hard to do, and why couldn't I self administer it. The nurse said if I felt comfortable doing it I could do it that way. So this morning I gave myself the shot, almost perfectly, and tomorrow am confident I will do it perfectly. Wasn't that a "tender mercy" to not have to pay for the shots? I hope that I won't need all of them so that I can turn some back in so someone else can benefit as I did.
I have come to expect that the road ahead for me will be filled with a few bumps so I don't get upset with things like blood clots. I am just glad that we are able to be led to get the bumps addressed before they are major problems.
I feel well, I feel optimistic, I feel loved and supported. Your prayers for me have lifted my spirits and have been answered in a marvelous way. I am so deeply grateful to all of you and for the constant assurance of the Spirit that all is well.
With much love,
Lulie
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