Good News All Around

FINALLY! Good news for Mom AND Jim.

On Wednesday we went to Moffitt for Mom's mid-point check up. Dr. Pan is really happy with how well Mom is holding up during her double treatment. Receiving Chemo and Radiation at the same time can be a tough treatment to handle, but Mom is tolerating it with ease. She is getting out of the house often and feels pretty good for the most part. He also commended her for her upbeat outlook. He told her that his patients that remain positive, fight so much harder than the patients that don't remain positive. Mom needed that pat on the back. I know she tries so hard everyday to find the positives in all of this. His encouragement will help her continue. She has another appointment with Dr. Pan soon. We are looking forward to that appointment because Mom will get an MRI that will tell us how well her brain accepted the treatment.

On Thursday Jim got an excellent prospect on a job. Everything is not 100% final yet so we don't to talk about it too much and jinx it. However, we are ECSTATIC! We can't wait to get him home. Mom really misses him and he misses her. It just doesn't feel right to have her here and not him. I personally can't wait to get him home so we can go have a beer together. Daddy Daughter bonding at its finest :) They are now working on all the moving arrangements to hopefully have him home in the next couple of weeks. Knowing Jim is on his way will help Mom through her last two weeks of this phase of treatments.

Week Three ... Drama Free

Mom had a good week. She started losing hair (see pics below) and spent time with friends and family. She shopped for scarfs and hats but decided to wait until her hair is completely gone to figure out exactly what she wants. We have a big appointment with her main doctor this Wednesday. He will give her a midpoint checkup. Her Radiologist says she is doing great! Pray for good news for Jim. The house has been getting some viewing and we have a couple of things brewing on the job front. We really can't wait to get him home with us. Mom really misses him.




Mom showing how easily her hair comes out ... and how thin it is getting.






Terri, GG, Van, Mom and the boys at Chase's first football game.

No Tears Here ...

Mom called this morning to let me know that she ran her hands through her hair and ended up with a hand full of hair on the right side, but not on the left side. When she showed up today at Owen's first flag football game it was coming out in clumps on the right side and strands on the left. Katie and I were pulling on it and it was coming out very easily. GG kept yelling at us to stop! It was pretty funny. The bad news is ... Mom is losing her hair. The good news ... it looks like she will lose all of it and not just one side of her head (she REALLY didn't want that to happen). However, if you ask my upbeat Mother, she is happy that it is falling out. She feels like it is a sign that the Chemo and Radiation are working. I am so proud of her. She is really doing such a great job maintaining a good spirit through all of this.

I speak for myself when I say "Her hair falling out makes me sad". I could care less about her hair as long as I have her. I just know that when we get caught in conversation or we are laughing together, sometimes I completely forget what we are dealing with. Those moments are so nice. Her balding head though (i feel) will always be a reminder. We'll see. There are always the multiple phone calls during the day that will allow me to forget for a couple of moments just how much I hate Cancer.

Hopefully this is the ONLY thing we have to deal with this week. So far ... so good. She is happy and that makes US happy.

Week Two - Blew

The week started off with a bad start. We celebrated last Sunday night as Mom took her last steroid pill. She really doesn't like the side effects and was just plain happy to be off one of her meds. However, by Tuesday morning Mom became really sick. She had thrown up in the middle of the night a couple of times and had her "broom stick" headache. She says the pain is so bad that it feels like a broom stick is going threw her eye. We immediately got on the phone. The docter told us that Mom's brain was not happy to be off the steroid and was yet AGAIN swollen. They put her back on the steroid and within 12 hours she started feeling better. She will now stay on a low dose of the steroid for the remainder of her treatment.

Katie came home on Thursday from her honeymoon. Mom was so happy to have her home so she could hear all the stories and see pictures from the vacation. They spent the day together on Thursday despite Katie's extreme jet lag from being up for 24 hours. Oh .... and Katie took Mom to the Physical Therapist. Mom is doing well ... but not as good as we would like her to be doing. She just made the cut off for needing a walking device. None the less she is now on a PT schedule that will hopefully help her gain or maintain her strength.

Friday comes around and GG and Mom decide to go grocery shopping. I get a call from a distressed, bruised and embarrassed Mom. She fell in the parking lot of the grocery store. GG and another woman had to help her up. Her shoe got caught on the cart and down she went. She is okay ... had her checked by the doctor and everything. She had a couple of scraps and bruises. It maybe for an interesting afternoon. ;)

Mom went to Chase's football game on Saturday and did really well out in the hot sun. I will upload pictures this week to show them off. Wish us better luck in week three!

Week One - DONE!

We are completely out of week one and Mom is feeling really good. She started her treatment of Chemo and daily Radiation on Monday. Tuesday she was tired and such but that was the only day this week that she really felt bad. Her only complaint right now is that when she gets tired, she has to sleep right there and then. Just ask Jim, she fell asleep while talking to him on the phone this week. Her appetite and taste buds are still doing really well. GG and I (Sandy) got to see how they do her radiation during one of her visits. They have some really high tech machines. Watching the process was really neat and very comforting that they are doing their best to help her fight this. One of the techs pointed out that Mom has the smallest sinus he has ever seen. This might explain why Mom has always had sinus problems. We also got to see where they opened up her skull for the surgery. You could see where the screws are that reattached the piece of skull. Mom had no idea she had screws in her head.... Now we can REALLY tell her that she has a screw loose.
Katie is on her honeymoon and Mom really enjoys getting her daily calls and text messages from Katie and Patrick. They are having a really good time. Mom is so happy that they got to get away, they have had a rough start with all the different things going on.
The upcoming week will be a busy one for Mom. She has her daily radiation appointments, a hair appointment on Monday, blood work on Tuesday and Physical Therapy on Thursday. We took her to her primary doctor last week. Long story short Mom is having an issue with her strength. She is having a hard time getting up from a sitting position while on the floor and the stairs are very challenging. She starts physical therapy this week to keep her muscle moving and challenged. Hopefully all of this will get better soon. They are thinking it is related to her steriod and her last day on the steriod was today. Well, wish us luck on week two .... hopefully it is as uneventful and happy as week one!