Surgery

Just an update for everyone. I am having surgery on the fifth of January at the Mayo clinic in Phoenix. I will be in the hospital for a week with two of the days in ICU. It is a pretty extensive and delicate surgery. I have a two month recov ery. Look for me to be climbing the walls. But after all is said and done I should be able to live my life pretty normally for a few years. I look forward to that.

Feeling Great

Just a quick note. I am feeling great!!! I have met with both the cancer surgeon and the reconstructive surgeon. l The surgery they think will be best for me has quite a long time recovery time. I should know in the next couple of weeks when my surgery is going to be. I am looking forward to a healthy holiday season and all my kids and grandkids coming for Christmas.

PROGRESS

So I went back to work yesterday and it went great. I felt good all day and was really tired last night but it was a good tired. I met with the surgeon on Monday and he wants to do surgery before the end of January.I meet with the Reconstrution surgeon this coming Monday. Then we will decide a date for surgery. They say my bone cancer is in remission and we are going to chop the rest out so I am on the mend. Thanks for all your support.

Been a Long Time

Well it has been a long time since I posted on the blog. I apologize. I really haven't had anything to say that I thought was significant since my last post until my recent hospital stay and then I couldn't post. I did give Tara posting rights so if this happens again she can update. So I will give a quick synopsis of what happened. Ever since my fourth Chemo I just haven't bounce back like normal. I was always tired and on any exertion I was short of breath. It just kept getting worse and worse. Well on the 26 th of October I was so short of breath I called and talked to my oncologist office and they had me come in to be assessed by the nurses because it was my doctors day off. They sent me next door to the hospital to have a CT scan to see if maybe I had a pulmonary embolism. It came back negative so I set an appointment for the next day to see my oncologist. The next morning it took me two and a half hours to get ready for work because I had to keep laying down I was so short of breath (should have been my first clue). Then when I did get to work I had to sit down in the lobby because I was so short of breath (should have been my second clue). Anyway way I stayed till one then went home and then went to my doctors office. When I got there I was coughing really badly and when they took my vitals my O@ sats where 84% ( they should be 100%). I walked around the office and they dropped to 65%. The doctor immediately put me in a wheelchair with oxygen and they took me next door to the ER where I was admitted. I stayed for one week. Had every test known to men. Had a Pulmonologist, Cardiologist, Oncologist, and Hospitalist all trying to figure out what happened but no answers. I got released this last Wednesday. I have to wear oxygen on activity but am fine when I am resting. I won't know the results of one of the tests till next week but not real hopeful it will tell us anything. My Oncologist said I don't have to have last chemo which does not hurt my feelings at all. I meet with the surgeon in two weeks. I think this is as updated as I can do for now. I will try to be better.

Great News

Tara is right we got great news from the doctor yesterday and it couldn't have come at a better time. I have been so sick and we found out yesterday I have pneumonia so that answers that but my doctor called about six last night and was so excited. He said that a lot of the cancer is gone and the other that is still there has shrunk a lot. He said it was better then he ever even imagined. He wants me to meet with the surgeon before I have anymore chemo treatments so I will call him on Monday and get an appointment. So a definite ray of sunshine on a day that was really needed.
Thanks everyone for all your support.

Tara's Post

So there's bad news, good news, and great news. The bad news is that my mom has pneumonia and that's why she's had such a hard time getting better from this chemo. The good news is that this means the next chemo will not be this bad (as long as she doesn't get pneumonia again). The great news is .... her PET scan results are in and the cancer is almost GONE!!! She can give you more details, but the bottom line is that the chemo is kicking cancer's butt!!!! Thank you everyone for all your prayers. Our family appreciates it so much and can feel your love.

Tomorrow will be a better day!

It has been a week since my last Chemo. The new wonderful drug that was supposed to help me only added a symptom but did not take away. I was not able to get out of bed because if I did I fell down. One time I got up to go to the bathroom and ended up on the floor next to the bed. That is where Kay found me. It was several days before I was able to sit upright. I will not do that drug again. I have not been able to go to work and that has been the most frustrating. I have a PET scan today to see what progress I am making. They inject me with a drug and I have to sit for over an hour perfectly still while the drug makes it's way through my system. Then I lay flat in a machine while it does a full body scan. Fun Huh. Sorry this post has been so negative. I am trying but it is getting to me. Tomorrow will be a better day.