Being as it's the last day of the year, I thought I would post a few thoughts here.
2009 was a bit of a strange year for us. It started off great, with Pam and me celebrating a milestone birthday with a fantastic trip to Europe. Both Pam and her "other family" in Spain were thrilled to be reunited after a long time apart and I also really enjoyed seeing Iratxe again and meeting the rest of her lovely family. We had such a great time in Spain and the UK, it was really a dream vacation.
After that, of course, things went a bit sideways (which is of course the reason for this blog in the first place). You can read all about everything that's happened in the previous posts, so there is no need to go through it all again here ;-)
Anyway, we are very glad to have had some good news recently, and we are thankful for how things are going, and that Pam is feeling mostly better. We know that this thing will always be with us, but we also are grateful for the support, good wishes, thoughts and prayers of all of our friends and family (that's you, readers!) All of your positive waves that you have sent our way have really helped us.
Wishing you all the best of health and happiness for the New Year,
Dallas and Pam
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Some Good News!
Today we had some good news, the results from a brain MRI Pam had last week.
The MRI showed that many of the brain lesions have disappeared, and the few that are left have shrunk!
We are really happy about this. Dr. B. has also suggested that Pam start on Tamoxifen so she will be doing that in the next day or so. It is a pill that is intended to help keep the lung tumours from growing, and is well-tolerated by most people.
We also want to say thanks to everyone for your good thoughts as they appear to be working!
Love, P+D
The MRI showed that many of the brain lesions have disappeared, and the few that are left have shrunk!
We are really happy about this. Dr. B. has also suggested that Pam start on Tamoxifen so she will be doing that in the next day or so. It is a pill that is intended to help keep the lung tumours from growing, and is well-tolerated by most people.
We also want to say thanks to everyone for your good thoughts as they appear to be working!
Love, P+D
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
OK, now we get it!
Dallas here...
So we had the appointment with the oncologist, Dr. B., on Monday.
The short version is that the meeting went well and now we understand the reasons why things have been going as they have been.
Basically Dr. B. explained that there are a finite amount of treatment options, and each treatment may only work for a limited time before it stops working. Since the scans have confirmed that Pam's lung cancer has not been advancing and hasn't been causing symptoms, Dr. B. didn't want to "waste" one of these finite treatment options when it isn't really needed. His advise is to keep all therapies in reserve for when the cancer starts to advance.
His analogy was soldiers in a bunker, surrounded by the enemy, with only a limited supply of ammunition and no chance of resupply. The soldiers would be best off saving their ammo for when the enemy attacks. If the enemy is staying behind cover and not attacking, there's no point wasting ammo shooting at them, when that ammo cannot be replaced.
We think this makes a good deal of sense. Dr. B. assured us that if/when the cancer starts to advance he will treat it every way he can. Pam will have regular scans every 8-10 weeks or so to monitor the situation, and more frequently if symptoms present.
If this had been explained to us earlier it would have saved us alot of anxiety about why treatment had not started. However I think we are all on the same page now and we feel quite a bit better about the whole thing. Next brain scan should be later this month.
So we had the appointment with the oncologist, Dr. B., on Monday.
The short version is that the meeting went well and now we understand the reasons why things have been going as they have been.
Basically Dr. B. explained that there are a finite amount of treatment options, and each treatment may only work for a limited time before it stops working. Since the scans have confirmed that Pam's lung cancer has not been advancing and hasn't been causing symptoms, Dr. B. didn't want to "waste" one of these finite treatment options when it isn't really needed. His advise is to keep all therapies in reserve for when the cancer starts to advance.
His analogy was soldiers in a bunker, surrounded by the enemy, with only a limited supply of ammunition and no chance of resupply. The soldiers would be best off saving their ammo for when the enemy attacks. If the enemy is staying behind cover and not attacking, there's no point wasting ammo shooting at them, when that ammo cannot be replaced.
We think this makes a good deal of sense. Dr. B. assured us that if/when the cancer starts to advance he will treat it every way he can. Pam will have regular scans every 8-10 weeks or so to monitor the situation, and more frequently if symptoms present.
If this had been explained to us earlier it would have saved us alot of anxiety about why treatment had not started. However I think we are all on the same page now and we feel quite a bit better about the whole thing. Next brain scan should be later this month.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Micro-update
Dallas here...
Pam had her scans done a week ago last Wednesday and the results were in on Friday.
Basically the abdomen scan was clear and the upper chest scan showed no changes to the lungs, which we will take as being good. Presumably now the doctor will begin some treatment on the lungs, we're expecting an appointment soon for that.
This weekend we met some friends at the Corn Maze. It was fun but sure got cold towards the end of the day! Of course the "petting zoo" component is always great, there's nothing to match fuzzy lambs and kittens for cuteness!
Pam had her scans done a week ago last Wednesday and the results were in on Friday.
Basically the abdomen scan was clear and the upper chest scan showed no changes to the lungs, which we will take as being good. Presumably now the doctor will begin some treatment on the lungs, we're expecting an appointment soon for that.
This weekend we met some friends at the Corn Maze. It was fun but sure got cold towards the end of the day! Of course the "petting zoo" component is always great, there's nothing to match fuzzy lambs and kittens for cuteness!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Progress
I guess our "assertiveness" with the doc last week has brought some results. Pam has a CT scan scheduled for next Wednesday.
We hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.
Love D. and P.
We hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.
Love D. and P.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Update?
Saw the oncologist today, "Dr. B."
Had anticipated that treatment of some kind would be starting, that was the indication from the radiation oncologist last week, anyway. Either Tamoxifen or chemotherapy, probably Tamoxifen to start and see how that goes.
That's not quite what happened, though. Basically Dr. B. wants to do another scan of the chest before starting the therapy. He seemed to think that this would happen sometime in December... but when we objected to this timeframe (!) he agreed to have it done sooner, like in the next two weeks it seems. Dr. B. did say that Pam was looking very well though.
We're getting a little frustrated with the process. However we are looking forward to the next scan in a short while and starting a treatment.
Love, P.
Had anticipated that treatment of some kind would be starting, that was the indication from the radiation oncologist last week, anyway. Either Tamoxifen or chemotherapy, probably Tamoxifen to start and see how that goes.
That's not quite what happened, though. Basically Dr. B. wants to do another scan of the chest before starting the therapy. He seemed to think that this would happen sometime in December... but when we objected to this timeframe (!) he agreed to have it done sooner, like in the next two weeks it seems. Dr. B. did say that Pam was looking very well though.
We're getting a little frustrated with the process. However we are looking forward to the next scan in a short while and starting a treatment.
Love, P.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
MRI Results
Just got back from the appointment with the radiation oncologist.
He said that the MRI they just did and the previous CT scan can't be directly compared because an MRI gives much better resolution than the CT. However the MRI showed a number of nodules, but they are all very small. So it seems that they are not getting any bigger anyway. I will have another MRI in mid-November to check again.
In the meantime I will see the general oncologist on Monday, and the doctor today said to expect that he will want to start hormone therapy, or chemotherapy, or both, for my lungs.
All in all it was not so bad. We weren't expecting to get great news, and we didn't get great news, but it could've been worse. We will hang in there.
Love, P.
He said that the MRI they just did and the previous CT scan can't be directly compared because an MRI gives much better resolution than the CT. However the MRI showed a number of nodules, but they are all very small. So it seems that they are not getting any bigger anyway. I will have another MRI in mid-November to check again.
In the meantime I will see the general oncologist on Monday, and the doctor today said to expect that he will want to start hormone therapy, or chemotherapy, or both, for my lungs.
All in all it was not so bad. We weren't expecting to get great news, and we didn't get great news, but it could've been worse. We will hang in there.
Love, P.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Update for Friday
Dallas here with a short update.
Starting from back at the last update...
We had a nice weekend away in Fargo a couple weekends ago. We visited the Fargo Zoo (yes, they have a zoo!) and it was pretty good. There was a building with a bunch of lizards and insects (including a very cool chameleon), a donkey and miniature horse, a cow (!), and camels. The highlight was the Chinese red pandas. The zoo has a breeding pair and in June they had triplets... they had not been out "on display" before the day we saw them. Pretty cute! The zoo also had a pack of wolves and we saw "feeding time" which was very intense, to say the least.
Last Friday Pam had her MRI at HSC. Now we are just waiting for the results that will show what effect the radiation treatment had on the brain lesions. It has been a pretty anxious week and Pam has been feeling not so great, the nausea and vomiting that she had before has returned. She's been back at work for a few weeks now, part-time, and that is good. We are trying to keep positive for the appointment next Tuesday when we get the results of the MRI but it is tough.
Anyway we hope everyone has a good weekend and I will post another update next week.
Starting from back at the last update...
We had a nice weekend away in Fargo a couple weekends ago. We visited the Fargo Zoo (yes, they have a zoo!) and it was pretty good. There was a building with a bunch of lizards and insects (including a very cool chameleon), a donkey and miniature horse, a cow (!), and camels. The highlight was the Chinese red pandas. The zoo has a breeding pair and in June they had triplets... they had not been out "on display" before the day we saw them. Pretty cute! The zoo also had a pack of wolves and we saw "feeding time" which was very intense, to say the least.
Last Friday Pam had her MRI at HSC. Now we are just waiting for the results that will show what effect the radiation treatment had on the brain lesions. It has been a pretty anxious week and Pam has been feeling not so great, the nausea and vomiting that she had before has returned. She's been back at work for a few weeks now, part-time, and that is good. We are trying to keep positive for the appointment next Tuesday when we get the results of the MRI but it is tough.
Anyway we hope everyone has a good weekend and I will post another update next week.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Long Weekend
I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather this Labour Day weekend! (sorry if it's not so nice where you are ;-)
A little bit of news - I have my MRI scheduled for September 18 (Friday) in the evening. I should have the results by the end of the next week as I have an appointment with the radiation oncologist the following Thursday.
We were in Elgin yesterday for Dallas' grandmother's funeral. She passed away on Monday night at the age of 98. We happened to be in Brandon on Monday and stopped in to see her. We always stopped in whenever we were in Brandon. We got to Fairview around 3pm or so and she was asleep. So we gently woke her and had a short visit, but she was very tired, so we said our "I love yous" and got our hugs, and let her go back to her nap.
The next morning Dallas got a call from his Dad at the office saying that Grandma Ewen had passed away in her sleep. It is sad but we were glad to have seen her the day before.
The funeral was a graveside service in the Elgin cemetery. It was a lovely warm fall day with a strong breeze. It was good to see some of Dallas' family that we seldom get to see.
Today we've had a pretty quiet day but it has been nice. Went to the used bookstore by Assiniboine Park, got books and read in the park for awhile. Planning on a quiet weekend.
Love, P.
A little bit of news - I have my MRI scheduled for September 18 (Friday) in the evening. I should have the results by the end of the next week as I have an appointment with the radiation oncologist the following Thursday.
We were in Elgin yesterday for Dallas' grandmother's funeral. She passed away on Monday night at the age of 98. We happened to be in Brandon on Monday and stopped in to see her. We always stopped in whenever we were in Brandon. We got to Fairview around 3pm or so and she was asleep. So we gently woke her and had a short visit, but she was very tired, so we said our "I love yous" and got our hugs, and let her go back to her nap.
The next morning Dallas got a call from his Dad at the office saying that Grandma Ewen had passed away in her sleep. It is sad but we were glad to have seen her the day before.
The funeral was a graveside service in the Elgin cemetery. It was a lovely warm fall day with a strong breeze. It was good to see some of Dallas' family that we seldom get to see.
Today we've had a pretty quiet day but it has been nice. Went to the used bookstore by Assiniboine Park, got books and read in the park for awhile. Planning on a quiet weekend.
Love, P.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
What I've been up to
Sorry for the lack of updates, but I really haven't had a lot to report on the health front. Things are much the same as ever. Trying to cut down on some of the meds to reduce side effects, but this causes other symptoms. Still waiting for the CT scan that will show how effective the radiation has been.
It seems we've been doing a lot of social things! We had a lovely breakfast last weekend with K. and J. and family at their place. The boys are great and they really laid out a lovely spread of breakfast, thanks again guys! Dallas' parents visited for the day on Sunday and left a ton of raspberries. We had dinner with S. and some friends at Carlos & Murphy's on Monday, and went for gelati after, that was nice. On Friday my sister spent the afternoon at the house and we turned most of the raspberries into delicious jam! (We were pretty nervous though as it was our first time making jam and the instructions seemed rather.. precise!)
Today (Saturday) J. and M. took me out shopping for yarn so I can start a knitting project to keep myself occupied (I'm doing a scarf). Dallas' sister arrived from Calgary and we went to the zoo in the afternoon, that was fun. We were all tired out so we ordered a pizza for a late supper, played some Rock Band on the Wii and visited. But now it is late and time for bed... Dallas' parents are coming into town tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a nice sunny day as they are headed to a cabin at Hecla for the week.
Anyway I hope everyone is having a good weekend and I will try to update more frequently!
Love, P.
It seems we've been doing a lot of social things! We had a lovely breakfast last weekend with K. and J. and family at their place. The boys are great and they really laid out a lovely spread of breakfast, thanks again guys! Dallas' parents visited for the day on Sunday and left a ton of raspberries. We had dinner with S. and some friends at Carlos & Murphy's on Monday, and went for gelati after, that was nice. On Friday my sister spent the afternoon at the house and we turned most of the raspberries into delicious jam! (We were pretty nervous though as it was our first time making jam and the instructions seemed rather.. precise!)
Today (Saturday) J. and M. took me out shopping for yarn so I can start a knitting project to keep myself occupied (I'm doing a scarf). Dallas' sister arrived from Calgary and we went to the zoo in the afternoon, that was fun. We were all tired out so we ordered a pizza for a late supper, played some Rock Band on the Wii and visited. But now it is late and time for bed... Dallas' parents are coming into town tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a nice sunny day as they are headed to a cabin at Hecla for the week.
Anyway I hope everyone is having a good weekend and I will try to update more frequently!
Love, P.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
A Good Day
Hey all, Dallas here again.
I just wanted to let everyone know that today was a busy and good day.
Still no news yet on the further scans (it wasn't that good a day) but it was a day with several positive things, which we will take whenever we can. Pam has been able to cut back on some of her meds which seems to be helping build her strength.
We took Gillespie to the vet this morning for her checkup which went very well, aside from her puking in the car a bit on the way home (typical Gillespie car sickness). She has had a chronic thyroid condition for a few months that she has been taking medicine for, and the checkup today was good on that score, she hadn't lost any more weight, and her pulse rate and blood pressure were good. (As an aside, they actually put a tiny cuff on G's arm to check her BP, which was pretty cute).
Pam sat outside with the cats for awhile before lunch. It was a hot day here today (first day of summer!)
This afternoon we went to an eye appointment for Pam, she had an eye exam (for free it turns out) and got a new prescription for reading glasses, and picked out a cute pair. They will be done by the weekend so she'll actually be able to read again which should help pass the time. It was a beautiful hot summer day and Pam was feeling pretty well, so I skived off work for an hour and we went for ice cream at Sargent Sundae. That was really nice. I made up for it by working until 7pm, in case any GWL people are reading this ;-)
Tonight we had salads with fresh strawberries for dinner, and shared a huge burger from the barbecue. Watched a movie. It was a good day. Like I said, we will take these wherever we can.
I just wanted to let everyone know that today was a busy and good day.
Still no news yet on the further scans (it wasn't that good a day) but it was a day with several positive things, which we will take whenever we can. Pam has been able to cut back on some of her meds which seems to be helping build her strength.
We took Gillespie to the vet this morning for her checkup which went very well, aside from her puking in the car a bit on the way home (typical Gillespie car sickness). She has had a chronic thyroid condition for a few months that she has been taking medicine for, and the checkup today was good on that score, she hadn't lost any more weight, and her pulse rate and blood pressure were good. (As an aside, they actually put a tiny cuff on G's arm to check her BP, which was pretty cute).
Pam sat outside with the cats for awhile before lunch. It was a hot day here today (first day of summer!)
This afternoon we went to an eye appointment for Pam, she had an eye exam (for free it turns out) and got a new prescription for reading glasses, and picked out a cute pair. They will be done by the weekend so she'll actually be able to read again which should help pass the time. It was a beautiful hot summer day and Pam was feeling pretty well, so I skived off work for an hour and we went for ice cream at Sargent Sundae. That was really nice. I made up for it by working until 7pm, in case any GWL people are reading this ;-)
Tonight we had salads with fresh strawberries for dinner, and shared a huge burger from the barbecue. Watched a movie. It was a good day. Like I said, we will take these wherever we can.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Cautious Optimism
Dallas here with an update.
We had our appointment with the oncologist today and got the results of the CT scan from last Wednesday. The scan showed some smallish spots on Pam's lungs but were otherwise clear. This is obviously not a great result, but could have been much worse, so we will take something positive where we can.
The oncologist explained that the primary treatment for stage IV metastatic brain cancer, which is what Pam has, is the course of radiation she just completed last week. That type of cancer apparently does not really respond well to chemotherapy and the many small tumours were not suitable to remove surgically. So the upshot is that what has been done so far is really the recommended treatment.
This means that the next step is a wait of about six weeks for the radiation to have its full effect, then a re-scan to see what effect the treatments had. If the tumours have shrunk or disappeared,that's great, or if only a few of the larger ones are left they may be candidates for treatment by "gamma knife" (focussed local radiation). Once it's been established that the treatment of the brain cancer was successful, we will re-assess at that point and determine what's to be done about the lung spots. For now the oncologist thinks that they are not a real threat and that the focus should be on the brain. He speculated that the cancer may have been growing there for a long time before any symptoms showed, and the ones Pam had were not really that clearly indicative of metastasis. In essence he seemed to say that if the CT hadn't been done and showed it up there would really be not much indicating it was there. Not surprising because she'd seen a senior neurologist in the week before she was diagnosed and he told her he didn't think there was anything wrong.
Before we left, the oncologist told us that in his long experience, he has seen cases of Pam's type of cancer respond well to radiation and that we should be "cautiously optimistic" of a good result on the re-test. We really have to keep positive.
Otherwise the updates are that Pam's weight has stayed about the same from last week despite McDonalds breakfast again on the weekend ;-) Her hair is really going now and we are off to the hairdresser tomorrow night to get the rest cut off. Pam's eyes have been bothering her a bit with a vision change that is making it difficult for her to read, so we have an appointment for an eye test to get her some new glasses. This will help.
Anyway, keep sending the positive waves and I will update when we have more news.
We had our appointment with the oncologist today and got the results of the CT scan from last Wednesday. The scan showed some smallish spots on Pam's lungs but were otherwise clear. This is obviously not a great result, but could have been much worse, so we will take something positive where we can.
The oncologist explained that the primary treatment for stage IV metastatic brain cancer, which is what Pam has, is the course of radiation she just completed last week. That type of cancer apparently does not really respond well to chemotherapy and the many small tumours were not suitable to remove surgically. So the upshot is that what has been done so far is really the recommended treatment.
This means that the next step is a wait of about six weeks for the radiation to have its full effect, then a re-scan to see what effect the treatments had. If the tumours have shrunk or disappeared,that's great, or if only a few of the larger ones are left they may be candidates for treatment by "gamma knife" (focussed local radiation). Once it's been established that the treatment of the brain cancer was successful, we will re-assess at that point and determine what's to be done about the lung spots. For now the oncologist thinks that they are not a real threat and that the focus should be on the brain. He speculated that the cancer may have been growing there for a long time before any symptoms showed, and the ones Pam had were not really that clearly indicative of metastasis. In essence he seemed to say that if the CT hadn't been done and showed it up there would really be not much indicating it was there. Not surprising because she'd seen a senior neurologist in the week before she was diagnosed and he told her he didn't think there was anything wrong.
Before we left, the oncologist told us that in his long experience, he has seen cases of Pam's type of cancer respond well to radiation and that we should be "cautiously optimistic" of a good result on the re-test. We really have to keep positive.
Otherwise the updates are that Pam's weight has stayed about the same from last week despite McDonalds breakfast again on the weekend ;-) Her hair is really going now and we are off to the hairdresser tomorrow night to get the rest cut off. Pam's eyes have been bothering her a bit with a vision change that is making it difficult for her to read, so we have an appointment for an eye test to get her some new glasses. This will help.
Anyway, keep sending the positive waves and I will update when we have more news.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Weekend Update
Hi everyone, just wanted to let you ll know how things are going.
Radiation is over as of last Thursday, but I'm still feeling the effects. Tired, unsteady on my feet, and sore throat mainly, plus the hair loss. My hair is well on its way out which is a bit depressing, but there's nothing I can do about that. I have some head coverings to wear anyway.
I went out for breakfast today to the Pancake House with Dallas to meet some of my friends. I had no idea, though, that the organizer had called quite so many friends to come out! Although it was tiring to be out it was nice to see everyone. I had a good breakfast too - oatmeal and bananas plus some of Dallas' pancakes. We also had a call this morning from one of our old friends from Dallas' law school days, which was nice.
Next steps are to see the general oncologist on Tuesday. Hopefully he will have the results from the CT I had on Wednesday so we will know what we're facing. I would really rather know; I am a planner and I find the waiting pretty upsetting. I'm trying to keep my strength up by going out for a short walk with Dallas a couple times a day, I hope the weather tomorrow allows us to keep that up.
That's all for now!
Love, P.
Radiation is over as of last Thursday, but I'm still feeling the effects. Tired, unsteady on my feet, and sore throat mainly, plus the hair loss. My hair is well on its way out which is a bit depressing, but there's nothing I can do about that. I have some head coverings to wear anyway.
I went out for breakfast today to the Pancake House with Dallas to meet some of my friends. I had no idea, though, that the organizer had called quite so many friends to come out! Although it was tiring to be out it was nice to see everyone. I had a good breakfast too - oatmeal and bananas plus some of Dallas' pancakes. We also had a call this morning from one of our old friends from Dallas' law school days, which was nice.
Next steps are to see the general oncologist on Tuesday. Hopefully he will have the results from the CT I had on Wednesday so we will know what we're facing. I would really rather know; I am a planner and I find the waiting pretty upsetting. I'm trying to keep my strength up by going out for a short walk with Dallas a couple times a day, I hope the weather tomorrow allows us to keep that up.
That's all for now!
Love, P.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday Update
A few bits of news today...
Had my third-to-last radiation treatment and a doctor visit this afternoon. I was weighed and I've gained a kilo in the last week which is great, up to 47 kilos now, or 103lbs. This is a Good Thing for sure.
Also had the results of the barium swallow test from last Monday which came back clear, which is also good. CT scan tomorrow night, which is an important test for sure. Also my hair has started falling out a bit today. Maybe it won't all go, since I only have two radiation sessions left, but if it does it does, not much I can do about it, except buy a crazy wig ;-)
Love, P.
Had my third-to-last radiation treatment and a doctor visit this afternoon. I was weighed and I've gained a kilo in the last week which is great, up to 47 kilos now, or 103lbs. This is a Good Thing for sure.
Also had the results of the barium swallow test from last Monday which came back clear, which is also good. CT scan tomorrow night, which is an important test for sure. Also my hair has started falling out a bit today. Maybe it won't all go, since I only have two radiation sessions left, but if it does it does, not much I can do about it, except buy a crazy wig ;-)
Love, P.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The Weekend
The weekend... went by fast!
Friday night - Theresa came over for dinner, we went to Wal-Mart on the way to take her home. Nice visit.
Saturday - appointment for haircuts for me and Dallas. I suggested we go to McDonald's for breakfast first... no opposition from him ;-) Egg McMuffin was very tasty and with my weight loss recently, the calories and fat really don't bother me! Got my hair cut quite short and am very pleased with it. In the afternoon a little walk over to the park.
Sunday - breakfast at Stella's with Dallas, Jodi, Dianne and John. Had pancakes, they were good. Nice to see some friends. A short walk around the block in the evening.
I'm sure looking forward to completing radiation. It has really knocked the stuffing out of me this time, but only four treatments left to go.
Love, P.
Friday night - Theresa came over for dinner, we went to Wal-Mart on the way to take her home. Nice visit.
Saturday - appointment for haircuts for me and Dallas. I suggested we go to McDonald's for breakfast first... no opposition from him ;-) Egg McMuffin was very tasty and with my weight loss recently, the calories and fat really don't bother me! Got my hair cut quite short and am very pleased with it. In the afternoon a little walk over to the park.
Sunday - breakfast at Stella's with Dallas, Jodi, Dianne and John. Had pancakes, they were good. Nice to see some friends. A short walk around the block in the evening.
I'm sure looking forward to completing radiation. It has really knocked the stuffing out of me this time, but only four treatments left to go.
Love, P.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Update - Thursday Frustration
So... all week we had been looking forward to further progress in the way of the CT scan scheduled for tonight...
When we got to HSC for the scan I had to fill out a form, as usual. The form asked what tests had been done lately, so I wrote down the "barium swallow" from Monday. This elicited a "hmmmm" from the nurse...
So apparently one cannot have a CT scan within a week of the barium swallow. Both tests use radioactive contrast and the remaining barium in the system might show up on the CT and spoil the results. So we got sent home.
This was actually pretty upsetting since we really felt we were making fairly rapid progress in the diagnosis of my cancer. The stupid thing is that the b-swallow and the CT are done in the exact same room by the exact same people and were scheduled at the exact same time. Obviously the CT is way more important to have done than the b-swallow so they should have known this and scheduled these the other way round. The nurse helpfully pointed out that "next time, we should be sure that the CT comes before the barium test" but it's a bit late now, and I think somewhat unreasonable to expect the patient to know this...
Anyway, new date for the CT is next Wednesday night. Grrr...
At least I got a nice chocolate milkshake out of it because I made Dallas stop at McDonald's on the way home. Plus after tomorrow the radiation will be two-thirds done.
Chin-chin!
Love, P.
When we got to HSC for the scan I had to fill out a form, as usual. The form asked what tests had been done lately, so I wrote down the "barium swallow" from Monday. This elicited a "hmmmm" from the nurse...
So apparently one cannot have a CT scan within a week of the barium swallow. Both tests use radioactive contrast and the remaining barium in the system might show up on the CT and spoil the results. So we got sent home.
This was actually pretty upsetting since we really felt we were making fairly rapid progress in the diagnosis of my cancer. The stupid thing is that the b-swallow and the CT are done in the exact same room by the exact same people and were scheduled at the exact same time. Obviously the CT is way more important to have done than the b-swallow so they should have known this and scheduled these the other way round. The nurse helpfully pointed out that "next time, we should be sure that the CT comes before the barium test" but it's a bit late now, and I think somewhat unreasonable to expect the patient to know this...
Anyway, new date for the CT is next Wednesday night. Grrr...
At least I got a nice chocolate milkshake out of it because I made Dallas stop at McDonald's on the way home. Plus after tomorrow the radiation will be two-thirds done.
Chin-chin!
Love, P.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Update - Wednesday
Just wanted to post a short update.
I'm now half done radiation - 6 down and 6 to go :-)
It's going pretty well I guess but I am feeling some side effects for sure. Very tired, kinda jumpy, still nauseous, etc.
Scheduled for a CT scan tomorrow night (!) that should give us a better picture of what's going on. Anyway that's it for now, off to bed.
Love, P.
I'm now half done radiation - 6 down and 6 to go :-)
It's going pretty well I guess but I am feeling some side effects for sure. Very tired, kinda jumpy, still nauseous, etc.
Scheduled for a CT scan tomorrow night (!) that should give us a better picture of what's going on. Anyway that's it for now, off to bed.
Love, P.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Tests Scheduled
So there are some tests scheduled now...
Barium Swallow Monday at 8am. Full-body CT scan Thursday evening (!)
Still feeling not very good, just really tired, likely a combo effect from radiation and the pharmacopeia of meds. I'm glad that the testing process is moving along relatively quickly, fingers crossed for the results :-)
Love, P.
Barium Swallow Monday at 8am. Full-body CT scan Thursday evening (!)
Still feeling not very good, just really tired, likely a combo effect from radiation and the pharmacopeia of meds. I'm glad that the testing process is moving along relatively quickly, fingers crossed for the results :-)
Love, P.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Some good news
Not feeling that hot tonight but the third radiation treatment is done, I have some new meds and we had some good news today.
The results are back from the bone scan that was done on Friday (June 10), and the results looked good, no masses that they can see in the bones. We were warned that this does not necessarily mean that there's no cancer, but an absence of weirdness in the bone scan is a Good Thing.
No date has been set for the next round of tests, but they will likely be scheduled within the next week or so.
Love, Pam
The results are back from the bone scan that was done on Friday (June 10), and the results looked good, no masses that they can see in the bones. We were warned that this does not necessarily mean that there's no cancer, but an absence of weirdness in the bone scan is a Good Thing.
No date has been set for the next round of tests, but they will likely be scheduled within the next week or so.
Love, Pam
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Man oh man
Dallas here with a mini-update... driving around last night in the flood I had a check-engine light come on in the (normally reliable) GTI... so off to the dealership first thing this morning.
My pleading for a loaner car to take Pam to her radiation today fell on deaf ears. However Gord has come through with wheels for us to borrow today, thanks be to the Gord!
As an aside, where do you think would be a good place to test the 0-60mph, quarter-mile, and top speed of a 260hp Acura CL? ;-)
My pleading for a loaner car to take Pam to her radiation today fell on deaf ears. However Gord has come through with wheels for us to borrow today, thanks be to the Gord!
As an aside, where do you think would be a good place to test the 0-60mph, quarter-mile, and top speed of a 260hp Acura CL? ;-)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Update - July 14, 2009
As you know I'd been feeling poorly for some time, especially since we got back from Europe. My doctor had ordered several tests, including a CT scan of my head.
On Saturday June 11 at around 5 in the afternoon, we got a call from a doctor at Misericordia Hospital asking if the results had been reviewed with me. When I said they hadn't he asked that we come in right away. We had a suspicion that the results were not good...
When we got to the hospital the doctor said he was very sorry to tell us but the scan had showed up multiple masses on the brain, consistent with cancer. This was a shock especially since I had been followed up since my cancer was cleared in 2003 with never an indication of any further problem. The doctor had referred my case to an oncologist who was supposed to call on Monday. The rest of the weekend was not fun :-(
On Monday we had an appointment made for today to get things rolling. We saw the radiation oncologist today at HSC. Although the CT showed many masses on the brain they are small and the doctor thought they will likely respond to radiation treatment.
So I had my first radiation treatment today, out of 12 that I will have. I will go every day (except weekends) until the course is complete. In the meantime they will be running more tests to determine whether it is a return of the breast cancer, or there is cancer somewhere else. It is very hard to take in but now that I know the treatment has started I feel a bit better and more hopeful.
That is the update for now. Dallas has started this blog for me so we can post updates here, it will be alot easier for us to keep you informed of what's going on, and you can send me messages back, too.
Love, Pam
On Saturday June 11 at around 5 in the afternoon, we got a call from a doctor at Misericordia Hospital asking if the results had been reviewed with me. When I said they hadn't he asked that we come in right away. We had a suspicion that the results were not good...
When we got to the hospital the doctor said he was very sorry to tell us but the scan had showed up multiple masses on the brain, consistent with cancer. This was a shock especially since I had been followed up since my cancer was cleared in 2003 with never an indication of any further problem. The doctor had referred my case to an oncologist who was supposed to call on Monday. The rest of the weekend was not fun :-(
On Monday we had an appointment made for today to get things rolling. We saw the radiation oncologist today at HSC. Although the CT showed many masses on the brain they are small and the doctor thought they will likely respond to radiation treatment.
So I had my first radiation treatment today, out of 12 that I will have. I will go every day (except weekends) until the course is complete. In the meantime they will be running more tests to determine whether it is a return of the breast cancer, or there is cancer somewhere else. It is very hard to take in but now that I know the treatment has started I feel a bit better and more hopeful.
That is the update for now. Dallas has started this blog for me so we can post updates here, it will be alot easier for us to keep you informed of what's going on, and you can send me messages back, too.
Love, Pam
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