Well, we spent a week with multiple visits to multiple diagnostic areas at Good Samaritan Hospital this week, and here are the latest findings...
The Pros...
The first news we recieved was last Thursday, which was the blood work. My CEA level has dropped once again and is now at 3.6 down from 4.0. 0 to 3.4 is where I'd like to be/stay. That was great news.
Next was the liver lesions-Dr. Kenyon went over the scans with us, and I'm now down to three lesions from six at the last visit. They look "hypodense" and "may reflect inactive lesions", according to the doctor who read the scans. Yeah!!
Dr. Kenyon also reviewed the brain MRI with us, which was a little difficult, as the lesions there were so hard to even see. We couldn't remember where they had been, and finally Dr. K's trained eye found a tiny circled pinpoint-the radiologist had evidently circled it for us. According to the report, there are still two lesions, but are shrinking still, and there were no new lesions found. This is a huge blessing.
The questionable part of this whole thing (besides the liver being able to carry on and complete it's healing) is the bone involvement at this point. Evidently there was more than we had thought at first, which hadn't shown up in either of the last scans. I had shown 3 vertebrae affected last scan, and they are "lytic sclerotic" which I believe means that the cancer had made a hole in the bone (lytic) but the calcium deposits (sclerosis=hardening) indicated that the lesions were being healed. This is good. On this scan, however, new lesions appeared involving 8 more vertebrae-some are "blastic", meaning they were new, and some mixed. Dr. Kenyon's interpretation was that the chemo, etc, was working on the liver and breast, and it's also working on the bone as well-that's why the scerosis is happening. While I'm quite pleased with the liver/brain reductions, and I'm glad that the calcification is happening to stop the cancer growth, it is admittedly nerve wracking to have the added bone involvement. The report reads "progressive osseous metastatic disease to the spine." I definitely prefer the "hypodense, inactive" conclusion. I have this sense of the chemo and herbs having to chase the cancer around, and it is a cat and mouse thing. This is one area I don't want to be "progressive" in. Please be praying that everything works for good to stop this stuff!! They are giving me an injection of Zometa once a month for the bones, and this is supposed to have an anti-cancer effect on them. I just had the 2nd one this last Thursday, so my hope is that this will be taking effect along with everything else. Dr. Kenyon's attitude has been great, and I go back to the day when I was asking him about expectations re. my first scan after beginning chemo, and he said "there is always hope".
The other area of prayer we could use is for my Dad. He is coming into his last days, and will probably not last for another month or two. He has had prostate cancer for over 14 years, and has done amazingly well with it. His cancer was discovered in his bones in January of this year, and it had spread with a vengeance. We don't know how long it had been there. He has been bed ridden for about 2 months now, and requires more care, but still has a fantastic sense of humor, and his patience and kindness are still very intact. He's a great guy. If you could pray for peace, comfort, and healthy communication for our family, that would be appreciated. It is a hard time for everyone, and an easy time to "short circuit". Dad's walk with the Lord has been varied through his life, so if you could pray for his relationship to grow strong at this time as well, it would help. We will be traveling back and forth to Medford more frequently in this next season, and will need to guard against fatigue and illness (esp. for myself). My brother and his family will be coming from Texas to visit, and Pat's folks from Florida, so June will be a busy time.
All the kids piano and violin recitals/concerts are done now, and Dan's Special Olympic track meets (One left in July) are about done, so that helps a lot. We'll continue with dog 4-H through the summer, and the kids are planning on entering a variety of things in the fair, so we'll still be quite occupied. Hopefully just not on such a crazed level.
Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers,etc.-you are very loved.
Jeanne H.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Friday, May 06, 2005
Next News
It's been a while since we've updated everyone-there hasn't been a whole lot to report on as of late, but we got some good news again.
A dear friend had let Pat and I use her townhouse over at Eagle Crest last weekend--she said she thought we needed a vacation! While we were there, Dr. Kenyon called home and talked to Nicole. The CEA level had fallen to 4.0, so it is still going in the right direction. Yeah!! Now both he and the surgeon in Lake Oswego are thinking that a mastectomy may not be the way to go-it could be unneccessary, and put added stress on my body and weaken it so the immune function isn't as strong as it could be. We are still waiting to make a decision on that. It seems a little premature to be thinking about it, and as I said it the last blog, it is with a definite air of caution that I'm going ahead in my mind to a day where I will be cancer free. (Any surgery would need to be postponed until I am free of cancer cells and could go without the chemo for a period of time.) I believe that a lot of the changes that I've made will need to stay in place to keep this at bay. The next scans of the brain and liver will be on May 31st, and we'll recieve results on the 2nd of June from Dr. K. There were still about 6 lesions left on the liver at the last "scanning", which sounds and looks wonderful compared to the first scans. They looked like the liver shouldn't even have been functional. It's odd to think that 6 lesions would be good. 9 months ago, I would've thought it would be awful and terrifying, which it can be if I let my mind go in that direction. This is the ultimate challenge in "taking every thought captive to the Lord".
Jonathan Treasure, the medical-herbalist in Ashland, has increased some of the supplements that he wants me on-he's been awesome about staying a few steps ahead of where he sees me headed. He now has me on an anti-osteoporosis protocol with herbs and vitamins, and has increased some of the other stuff I was taking so I will still be able to tolerate the chemotherapy. As he said, this is a crucial spot, and I don't want to bottom out and develop a resistance to it, or have my body not be able to tolerate chemo while it looks like we could be in an extremely good place! It has helped tremendously. I have hardly any peripheral neuropathy, (none at present)which people can get easily with these drugs. (Even to the point where their skin peels off of their hands and feet) A lot of the other side effects I've been able to avoid as well, or have experienced a reduced level of discomfort, fatigue, nausea, etc. Many of the herbs have anti-cancer effects, and he knows which ones can work with which chemo drugs. He also is recommending options that I can go to the oncologist with, for instance yesterday I recieved a drug that helps stop bone weakening called Zometa, which I'd requested based on J.T.'s recommendation. Hopefully doing some of this earlier rather than later will prevent some long term problems, as chemo is so toxic to every system of the body! There are still some things that I could do to help this process out for the long run. If I can become free of lesions, etc., then I'll need to be aware of relapses. (It couldn't just be simple!!) I will be on a maintenance plan with Jonathan, and Dr. K. is talking about the chemo going on for a very extended time. We'll need to proceed with a lot of wisdom, so if you could be praying for us, we'd sure appreciate it!! Knowing whether to do a mastectomy, keeping up with the finances of all of this, getting the appropriate therapies at the appropriate times...it's a bit overwhelming sometimes. The Lord has been extremely faithful to bring just the right people with just the right information or encouragement at just the right time, and that has been a huge blessing.
Thanks for staying posted, and for your thoughts and prayers.
Many blessings to you all,
Jeanne H.
A dear friend had let Pat and I use her townhouse over at Eagle Crest last weekend--she said she thought we needed a vacation! While we were there, Dr. Kenyon called home and talked to Nicole. The CEA level had fallen to 4.0, so it is still going in the right direction. Yeah!! Now both he and the surgeon in Lake Oswego are thinking that a mastectomy may not be the way to go-it could be unneccessary, and put added stress on my body and weaken it so the immune function isn't as strong as it could be. We are still waiting to make a decision on that. It seems a little premature to be thinking about it, and as I said it the last blog, it is with a definite air of caution that I'm going ahead in my mind to a day where I will be cancer free. (Any surgery would need to be postponed until I am free of cancer cells and could go without the chemo for a period of time.) I believe that a lot of the changes that I've made will need to stay in place to keep this at bay. The next scans of the brain and liver will be on May 31st, and we'll recieve results on the 2nd of June from Dr. K. There were still about 6 lesions left on the liver at the last "scanning", which sounds and looks wonderful compared to the first scans. They looked like the liver shouldn't even have been functional. It's odd to think that 6 lesions would be good. 9 months ago, I would've thought it would be awful and terrifying, which it can be if I let my mind go in that direction. This is the ultimate challenge in "taking every thought captive to the Lord".
Jonathan Treasure, the medical-herbalist in Ashland, has increased some of the supplements that he wants me on-he's been awesome about staying a few steps ahead of where he sees me headed. He now has me on an anti-osteoporosis protocol with herbs and vitamins, and has increased some of the other stuff I was taking so I will still be able to tolerate the chemotherapy. As he said, this is a crucial spot, and I don't want to bottom out and develop a resistance to it, or have my body not be able to tolerate chemo while it looks like we could be in an extremely good place! It has helped tremendously. I have hardly any peripheral neuropathy, (none at present)which people can get easily with these drugs. (Even to the point where their skin peels off of their hands and feet) A lot of the other side effects I've been able to avoid as well, or have experienced a reduced level of discomfort, fatigue, nausea, etc. Many of the herbs have anti-cancer effects, and he knows which ones can work with which chemo drugs. He also is recommending options that I can go to the oncologist with, for instance yesterday I recieved a drug that helps stop bone weakening called Zometa, which I'd requested based on J.T.'s recommendation. Hopefully doing some of this earlier rather than later will prevent some long term problems, as chemo is so toxic to every system of the body! There are still some things that I could do to help this process out for the long run. If I can become free of lesions, etc., then I'll need to be aware of relapses. (It couldn't just be simple!!) I will be on a maintenance plan with Jonathan, and Dr. K. is talking about the chemo going on for a very extended time. We'll need to proceed with a lot of wisdom, so if you could be praying for us, we'd sure appreciate it!! Knowing whether to do a mastectomy, keeping up with the finances of all of this, getting the appropriate therapies at the appropriate times...it's a bit overwhelming sometimes. The Lord has been extremely faithful to bring just the right people with just the right information or encouragement at just the right time, and that has been a huge blessing.
Thanks for staying posted, and for your thoughts and prayers.
Many blessings to you all,
Jeanne H.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Even MORE Great News!
Sooo...at last count, I was a 4. (More specifically a 4.5) This blood work, what they refer to as "tumor markers", was for the CEA level, a tool they use to track the amount of cancer in the blood. As noted before, normal is 3.4 and I was at a whopping 57 when this whole ordeal began. We just got the second blood test in, which is called a CA 15-3. Probably named after it's founder. (Just kidding. Chemo brain.) Dr. Kenyon said that at the start my counts were at 142, and we knew it could be a long shot to get them to a normal range, which is 35 or under. Praise God-as of last Thursday it is at 23!!!
We have an appointment set up to see Dr Kenyon on the 11th and the 28th, and will be discussing next steps, although I'm not sure at this point anything will be changing. There are still some lesions on the liver and in the bone, and since they need to be gone we will keep at it as long as necessary.
Thanks for sharing in our excitement, but don't stop with the prayers, as we're not out of the woods yet. I'm very pleased with the results, but have an air of caution as well. This has been too much of a roller coaster ride. Besides you guys have us completely spoiled now, and it would be a tough adjustment if ya'll bailed on us !
Love you all,
Jeanne H.
We have an appointment set up to see Dr Kenyon on the 11th and the 28th, and will be discussing next steps, although I'm not sure at this point anything will be changing. There are still some lesions on the liver and in the bone, and since they need to be gone we will keep at it as long as necessary.
Thanks for sharing in our excitement, but don't stop with the prayers, as we're not out of the woods yet. I'm very pleased with the results, but have an air of caution as well. This has been too much of a roller coaster ride. Besides you guys have us completely spoiled now, and it would be a tough adjustment if ya'll bailed on us !
Love you all,
Jeanne H.
Friday, April 01, 2005
More GREAT News
We just found out that one of Jeanne’s tumor markers is practically normal. It was at 57 before she first started chemo, and now it is 4. A normal score is 3!!! This, coupled with the “significant decrease” in size and numbers of the tumors on her liver, is GREAT news!
So, a little explanation. There are many ways that the presence of cancer is determined in a person’s body. Tumors themselves are viewed with CT, MRI, radiology, etc. They are counted and measured according to location and size. As well, blood is analyzed by a variety of tests. One test is called a “tumor marker.” The marker is not cancer itself, but these markers increase or decrease depending upon the cancer type and aggressiveness.
The doctor called us at 9:30 this evening, to deliver us the news about the tumor markers. Any call from a doctor sends chills down our spine. But, we will take more of those kind of calls.
We thought, well I, (Pat) thought, about creating an April Fools Day posting, but this is too good of news to joke about.
We are not out of the woods yet, but we certainly are making great progress.
Thank you all again and again for your faithfulness in prayers, and for meals, cards, gifts, and, and and....
Pat
So, a little explanation. There are many ways that the presence of cancer is determined in a person’s body. Tumors themselves are viewed with CT, MRI, radiology, etc. They are counted and measured according to location and size. As well, blood is analyzed by a variety of tests. One test is called a “tumor marker.” The marker is not cancer itself, but these markers increase or decrease depending upon the cancer type and aggressiveness.
The doctor called us at 9:30 this evening, to deliver us the news about the tumor markers. Any call from a doctor sends chills down our spine. But, we will take more of those kind of calls.
We thought, well I, (Pat) thought, about creating an April Fools Day posting, but this is too good of news to joke about.
We are not out of the woods yet, but we certainly are making great progress.
Thank you all again and again for your faithfulness in prayers, and for meals, cards, gifts, and, and and....
Pat