Thursday, February 24, 2011

Life After Radiation

Mom finished her radiation on February 7th.  For that last week and the week following she was pretty exhausted.  In fact, the week after it finished, she said she did a lot more sleeping.  She is starting to see her energy level return, but slowly.  I can see it returning also.

Now she is taking the pill that will block her hormones.  She takes that once a day, for 5 years.  There are some worrisome side effects such as muscle pain.  She has been experience an increase in muscle pain over the last few days, but the Dr. would like to see if she can push through for a month.  He says after the first month, some of the side effects, like the muscle pain will go away.  Another side effect that we are not as worried about, is bone loss.  Mom went in a few months back and had a bone density scan and they told her that she had the bones of a 25 year old.  How great is that?  The Radiologist says that because Mom's bones are so healthy to begin with that any bone loss she has will be minimal and not cause Osteoporosis.  This is still causing her some worry though.

She has a follow up with the Radiologist on the 3rd of March and with her surgeon on the 7th.  She will be due for a new mammogram in about 5 or 6 months.  She will now have one on a yearly basis.

When we meet with her surgeon on the 7th, we will talk to him about removing the Port-a-Cath that she doesn't need.  Hopefully, we can get that scheduled quickly.

Thank you all for the love and support you have shown us through all of this.  We wouldn't have handled things nearly as well without the Lord to hold us in His arms and your prayers covering us.
Standing on the promises of God, Dori

Friday, January 21, 2011

12 left

Things are going well.  Mom is starting to get a little more tender now, but it's still not unbearable.  They gave her some cream with a numbing agent in it, and it does help a bit and it hasn't made her itch so far.  We are down to our last 12 visits; 7 more at the regular strenth and then the last 5 are boosted.  It's that last week where we will see a large increase in redness, pain and tiredness.

We saw the Dr. on Wednesday and asked him about some swelling that Mom had noticed on her left arm.  He says he thinks it is lymphedema.  He is recommending some massage therapy to treat it.  We are waiting on a call from the therapist to find out when and where this treatment will happen.  Please pray that this is not a permanent condition and that we can get it under control with the massage.  I do not know how often she will go for treatment, or how long the treatment will go on.  The Dr. did tell us that even though she has good range of movement with her arm, she does need to keep doing the arm exercises they gave her at the beginning of her treatment, because that will help force the fluid away from her hand and back through her body as it should be.

On a side note, Mom's car is having some major problems.  I don't get it all, but I think basically, the engine is shot.  It should be covered under her warranty, except, when Dad bought the car, he put it in only his name.  We spoke with the Attorney General for Idaho, and it sounds like they think KIA should be covering this.  We will have to take Mom's car to Boise on our flat bed trailer, and have them do a diagnostic, which will cost about $150.  In the meantime, she is without a car and Jeff and I are trying to accumulate documentation that will help support our claim that KIA should cover this.  Please pray that we can get this issue resolved quickly and with little to no cost to Mom. 

God keeps giving us opportunities to trust in Him, rely on His provision and rest in His timing.  May we bring glory to Him in each and every situation, giving thanks to Him in the good and the bad.

Standing on the promises of God,
Dori

Saturday, January 15, 2011

A New Year

We had a wonderful time over Christmas, with a large chunk of our family coming to visit.  It was crowded, and loud, and tiring and crazy and all together WONDERFUL!

Mom started her radiation the Tuesday before Christmas and is now in her 3rd week of treatments.  We go everyday, 5 days a week, at the same time every day.  The people there are so kind, it makes it easy to go.  the therapy takes about 15 minutes from the time we walk in the door until we walk out again.  Once a week we visit with Mom's Medical Oncologist.

So far, the reactions Mom is experiencing is minimal.  What a huge "Praise the Lord!"  She is just now beginning to have some redness and it is a very small amount and is causing her little to no discomfort.  Even her Dr seemed surprised by how little of a reaction she is having.  It was our joy to tell him that it was because of the faithful prayers our family and friends! 

This next week will see us cross over the "half way through" mark.  I can't wait!  I think we'll celebrate with a Dairy Queen Blizzard.

I have begun memorizing the book of Colossians and am struck by Paul's greeting to the church at Colossae--in chapter 1, verse 2, he calls them "the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ" and then in verses 3 and 4 he says, "we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God's people."  I have witnessed modern-day faithful brothers and sisters in Christ and basked in the love YOU ALL have for God's people.  I cannot tell you how you have touched my heart.

Thank you all, for being so patient with my hit and miss updates and for continuing to pray even when you didn't know what was going on.

We love each and every one of you!

Standing on the promises of God, Dori