March Madness!

First of all, I want to apologize for not updating this blog before now.  Last week was pretty eventful with Spring Break and the start of the NCAA basketball tournament and I did not get around to it.

(For those of you wondering, Mike is currently leading the Baker family pool, followed by little Allen in second and Big Al in third.  For a while on Saturday, Kathryn was leading but, alas, her faith in the University of "Hannah" Montana was her undoing.  Score totals below.)



 Overall, Mom didn't feel great last week and spent a good bit of time in bed.  She was able to go on a field trip with Peggy one day, which was a nice change.  Though she wasn't feeling well, you could tell that she was more herself, most notably through her voice.  For lack of a better description, she "sounded" healthier.  That, to me, was one of the most encouraging signs I have seen thus far.

Yesterday (3/25/13), Mom went back to see Dr. Cantrell.  As was expected, she is still experiencing some diminished liver function, but it was encouraging to see that all of the protein powder that Dad has been sneaking into Mom's food and drink has helped to rebuild some of the damage caused by the tumors.  Though still low, Mom's "liver numbers" have improved.  (I don't know what "liver numbers" mean.  In my defense, I am receiving this information filtered through my lawyer father, who is one of the best at keeping explanations simple.  Bottom line, I think improved "liver numbers" are a good sign.)  Mom's job between now and her next appointment is to continue consuming calories, especially protein.  Dr. Cantrell told her that her consumption of protein is so important that she should consider bacon as medicine! 

After her appointment with Dr. Cantrell, she received her second dose of chemotherapy, which lasted around 3-4 hours.  Because of complications Mom experienced from the first chemo, Dr. Cantrell altered the chemo cocktail to one that is less taxing on the liver.  The hope is that she will be able to tolerate this concoction of drugs better than the original, thereby allowing her to stay on a once-every-three-weeks schedule.  I spoke with Mom this morning on the way into work and she claimed that she felt pretty good, so maybe these drugs will do the trick.  Most importantly to Mom, though, was that she was able to go home after the chemo and was not readmitted to the hospital.  That had been a fear of both Mom and Dad and they were very relieved that her readmission was not necessary.

As always, thank you for your prayers, your kind notes, your phone calls (even the unanswered ones) and the overall care you have shown for both of my parents since we learned of this awful disease.  The past month has been a really rough one, and we are all aware that there will be rough days ahead, but at this moment, I am hopeful.  I know that my hope (and that of my family) would not be possible without the unwavering dedication and love of friends like you and so I thank you.  Moreover, I pray that each of you has a wonderful Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.

Monday Update

Mom met with Dr. Cantrell today and seems to be trending very well. Her energy and appetite are slightly improved, and the doc wants to give her another week to recuperate before her next chemo treatment. If she is able to keep up her energy, she will start back with a new type of chemo (CMF + Herceptin) next Monday morning that will be much easier on her liver. Our goal for this week is to increase her appetite, maintain her protein intake, reduce her swelling and treat some of her bumps and bruises so that she can feel more like herself. Thank you all for the prayers!

Homecoming

Mom made it home on Friday and was grateful to be in her own bed. Also to her surprise all the kids were there as well. It was really great to get everyone together in the same room. At times perhaps it wasn't as great for Mom because she had 5 people telling her what she needed to eat and drink instead of one but she was a trooper putting up with us. Dad has turned into super nurse and has a very impressive system of organizing the medicines and logging all the activity and diet.

As we've stated before nutrition is still critical right now. Our goal is 50 grams of protein a day.  Saturday we were able to hit that mark. It's a challenge each day because Mom is still feeling the effects of the chemo and medicines in her stomach and rarely does she feel like eating. Please continue to pray for her liver/stomach and subsequent appetite each day.

This morning she is returning to see Dr. Cantrell and will perhaps take her first Herceptin treatment. We hope to get her back on a regular chemo schedule as well, perhaps as early as next week. We will update you on today's report later tonight.

One More Night...

Well Mom is still at the hospital but is looking to be discharged tomorrow.  She has seen some gradual progress this week but has still struggled in getting the necessary nutrients to help regenerate her liver cells damaged by the chemo.  The past few days she has been snacking on Muscle Milk drinks that appear to be a good solution thus far. Dad is worried she might beat him in arm wrestling if she continues this diet so look for him to find alternative protein–rich snacks to stock the house. 

As for the medical specifics, we discovered today that her breast cancer is HER2/Neu positive.  HER2/Neu is an acronym for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.  HER2 is a gene that sends control signals to your cells, telling them to grow, divide, and make repairs. Typically breast cells have two copies of this gene.  What they find in cancer patients is that this gene has over-produced the HER2 protein, which creates more cancer cells.  While this is an aggressive form of cancer, it also opens up the opportunity for a very specific and effective type of treatment.

Herceptin is part of a new class of drugs that are called targeted (biologic) therapies. This drug works by hunting down only those cancer cells that have HER2/Neu receptors on their outer surface. When there is too much HER2 in breast cancer tissue, cell division goes out of control, growing much too quickly. Herceptin attaches to the HER2 receptors and blocks the growth signal, preventing more cell division, and slowing the progress of the cancer.  Mom had a heart scan today that showed she was strong enough to undergo this treatment.  At this point we do not know exactly when that will start but will let you know as soon as we know.  The originally scheduled chemo treatment for the 18th has been postponed for now.

Thank you all for your support and prayers.  The visits, calls, and emails have truly lifted her spirits and helped her realize she is not fighting this disease alone.  We know we have a God that is into the details so we’d like to ask you to continue to pray for these specifics:

·         Effective and pain-free Herceptin therapy

·         Strong liver cell growth

·         Increased appetite

·         Strength to get around once she’s home          

·         Continued wisdom for Dr. Cantrell

The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. (Psalm 29:11)

Still in the hospital...

Thank you all for checking in and my apologies for not updating the blog since Thursday.  Mom is still in the hospital, though we hope that she will be discharged later in the week.  The chemotherapy that she received two weeks ago is doing its job and has greatly reduced the size of the tumors in and on her liver, but it has also made her sick.  We are relieved that the tumors have shrunk and that she is not experiencing the same pain that she was just a few weeks ago.  However, I think we are all ready for her to head home.

At this point, there is not much more to update.  Mom is ready to come home, but she needs to demonstrate to the doctors that she is capable of leaving the hospital.  I hope to be able to update this blog later in the week announcing that she is at home.  Stay tuned.

Thursday Update

Well, we had hoped that Mom would be discharged from the hospital today, but it appears that she will likely remain there until at least Saturday.  The hang-up is Mom's ability to eat: she's not getting enough nutrition because of how difficult and painful it is for her to eat.  She is eating only soft foods such as Jello, yogurt, & chicken broth, but not in the amounts necessary to help her body heal itself.  Dr. Cantrell is not comfortable discharging her until he knows that she can eat enough to receive adequate nutrition at home.  Also, she's had fever off and on during her stay and he wants to get that under control before discharging her.

Despite all of this, there is good news!!  Her white cell blood count is way up and her liver size is greatly reduced already.  This is a good indication that the chemo is helping to reduce the size of the tumors.  Hopefully, this trend will continue and she can regain some liver function.  This is important because of the increased ammonia levels within her body.  Essentially, her liver cannot remove the ammonia fast enough and this causes some problems for her.  Hopefully, the diminished tumors on and in her liver will not impede its function as greatly and she can more easily excrete the ammonia from her body.

We thank you for your continued concern and ask that you pray specifically for Mom's ability to eat so that she can come home.  Also, please pray that her liver is able to process the ammonia and remove it from her body.

Update from St. Vincent's

To begin with the good news, Patty had an ultrasound today that showed one of the larger tumors in her liver is already shrinking. It gives us great comfort to know that the chemo is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

The not so great news is that she is still struggling with quite a few side effects and will remain in the hospital until Thursday at the earliest. Though the tumors are getting smaller, her liver is still not functioning properly which was causing her to not act like herself. She is also still fighting a mouth infection that makes eating extremely challenging. The doctors are addressing each of her symptoms and trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

Her Neulasta shot from last week should kick in tomorrow or Thursday, which will help to increase her white blood cell count and flush out the dead cancer cells. Our prayer is that her infection will disappear so that she can eat again - and that she can rest peacefully in the hospital tonight.

Back to the Hospital

For the third Monday in a row, Mom will be watching "The Bachelor" from St. Vincent's Hospital (and she doesn't really even like the show!) Earlier today, Mom had a scheduled check-up with Dr. Cantrell to check her progress with the chemotherapy. She hasn't been feeling very well, and Dr. Cantrell was a little concerned about the effects the chemo treatments have had on her. So now she is back at St. Vincent's for monitoring....

She has experienced some fever, dehydration, infection and other uncomfortable side effects from the chemotherapy. Please pray that her white blood cell count will rise and that she will regain her appetite, which will help to fight all of these side effects. We will continue to keep everyone posted with her progress.Thank you again for your support and prayer.

No News is Good News

Just a little update to let everyone know that Patty is resting at home and happy to be back in her own bed. Her appetite is slowly returning (with the help of a few meds) and she will return to St. Vincent's on Monday for blood work. She certainly has a long road ahead of her, but it means so much to know that she won't be fighting this alone. Thank you so much for all of your support!