A Good Day!

Well, I have survived the first treatment of my new chemo regimen in pretty good order. Very mild nausea and no vomitting. Based on the prechemo teaching and the number of antinausea med prescriptions they sent me home with yesterday, I'm very pleasantly surprised!

One bad side effect is they gave me over three liters of fluid during the process (I guess it's important to keep your kidney's flushed with this chemo). I have blown up like the Michellan Man! My left arm and leg are three times as big as my right! Unsightly and uncomfortable! Hopefully, some of it will have gone down by tomorrow.

Great news! We got Joey a car! Now, he will be able to get back and forth from Flagstaff around his work schedule much easier. It is a four-door Nissan Sentra and very nice. My first car was a Sentra. It was a great car and I loved it. I think he is in love with his already, too, based on the smile on his face. You can also see how swollen my face is!





It has been great having Joey home this week. He fills the house with his sunny spirit. He works as a cook up in Flagstaff and has been cooking us wonderful dinners each night. It's made for nice evenings around the dinner table. It's also been nice that he's been able to go to a couple of Michael's lacrosse games while he's been here and cheer him on.

Enjoyed the weather today. I actually got out on my bike for a couple of miles. I thought I'd just do a short little stint, but once I got on, it felt great. For some reason right now, riding my bike is easier on my breathing than walking, though I did do a little of that, too.

Well, off to bed for the night. Just touching base with everyone.

Love you all!
Martha

A Change in Focus

Hi, everyone. Sorry for the lag in updates. It's been a very overwhelming week and I've just needed some time to get my mind and emotions wrapped around all the news I have received. As I noted in my last post, the cancer has spread to my bones and a spot on my spinal cord. Dr. Livingston started me on monthly Zometa to help with the bones and I've started radiation treatments to the spot on my spinal cord. I am on treatment 7 out of 20.

Since the tests that showed these results, I had a chest CAT scan that shows some cancer in my lungs and possibly in the space surrounding my lungs, and a spot on my spleen. I don't know about anywhere else because I think that is all they were able to see on this particular scan.

The scan also showed quite a bit of fluid around my lungs and that is partly why I have been having so much trouble breathing. They removed 1200cc of fluid from my left pleural space yesterday and 1100 cc from my right pleural space today. Already, my breathing is somewhat better.

So, we are really truly in fight mode right now, not for a cure, but for a possible remission period and time. Initially, Dr. Livingston was hesitant to treat me concurrently with chemo while recieving my radiation treatments, fearing permanent damage to the spinal cord. Dr. Tannehill, my radiation oncologist was out of town until last night, but got right in touch with me and Dr. Livinston last evening when he got back and we've been able to come up with a plan to start chemo that should be safe tomorrow. I will be going up to Tucson early tomorrow to get started.

It is a very scary time for me right now, but it does feel good to have a plan in place. I'm realistic about my prognosis, but also have hope that some people do attain fairly decent periods of remission. It is all going to depend on how my cancer reacts to the chemo. So far, it has been pretty darn resistant and aggressive.

So, my plan is to continue to use my blog to keep people updated with what is going on medically with me, but to also put the focus on the wonderful things I am finding to celebrate in each day. And, in spite of all the bad news over this last week, there has been plenty to celebrate, too.

Pam is here. She went up to Flagstaff Sunday morning to bring Joey down for a visit. He has to go back up on Saturday to return to work, but it has been wonderful spending time with him. He and Joe are going to look at a car this evening, so that he has a way to get back and forth from Flagstaff without worrying about the bus schedule. This will also help him commute between his job and classes at the community college this fall. He looks great and is such a happy spirit!

Janaya and Andrew came over for Easter breakfast on the patio. We made chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream on top! YUMM!

The weather has been beautiful and I've been spending a lot of time outdoors just enjoying it. I put in new planters at the front entrance and they look really pretty.

And, I actually was able to get on my bike and ride a mile around my neighborhood yesterday. It feels good to be able to do normal things like that.




Michael has decided that spending $12 for a haircut is way overpriced and so enlisted my help the other night in a home do. When Joey arrived from Flagstaff on Sunday, he had done his own, too! I will have to get a picture of them together. They look so much alike!






Easter Morning Pictures


Enjoying the spring weather spending time outdoors planting.

Well, that is it for now. Probably no update tomorrow. This new chemo can be a bit rough and they told me to plan on an eight hour day in Tucson. I have been feeling all of the love and support coming my way and as always it sustains me.

Love you all!
Martha

Kind of a Bummer Day

Hi, everyone. I'm just home from Michael's lacrosse game and my radiation treatment.

Well, we certainly found out why Chapperal is rated #1 in the state. Final score was 13-5. :>( What was even more of a bummer than the loss was for some reason coach didn't play the players who have been first string all season hardly at all, including Michael. Michael has played full minutes except for when they are man-up at every game all season and today got very few minutes. Another starter didn't get any minutes at all. I think coach was feeling a bit panicked about playing Chapperal, who he knew were a high scoring team, and instead of sticking with the kids who have been successful so far this season put in the players that he thought took the most shots. We did take a lot of shots, but obviously not many went in. Obviously Michael was down about the whole thing and so was I.

I forgot about taking a camera to radiation, so no pictures of that.

My CAT scan was canceled today because the machine was down. I will be getting it done tomorrow morning instead. I don't know why, but I am more anxious about this test than almost any I've had in the past. I know my doctors keep telling me they think my breathing problem is related to the lesion on my spine, but I'm so scared that the cancer has spread to my lungs. It's just so very scary to be constantly struggling with my breathing and not being sure what the cause is. I'm thinking because I'm not having the test done until tomorrow, I may not get results until next week. I HATE waiting for test results. Please say lots of prayers and send lots of good thoughts my way tonight and tomorrow. They mean so much to me.

Love you all!
Martha

Tucson Update

Hi, everyone. Joe and I went up to see Dr. Livingston on Monday as planned. We now have a plan in place. We have to take care of the lesion on my spinal cord first. Because of its location, if we don't it could become life-threatening. Dr. Tannehill was so sweet when he called to tell me the results of the scan and that I would need a course of radiation. He called about 2:00 on Friday, as soon as he had the official results of the MRIs that had been done that morning. He explained, "This is not an emergency, but we also don't want to be too casual about it either. Can you be here at 3:30 for your planning session?" He is wonderful!

Dr. Livingston explained to me that I cannot be on chemotherapy for the bone metastasis at the same time as radiation because the chemo potentiates the effect of the radiation, not only to the tissue they are aiming at, but any tissue it travels through which would be my spinal cord. Not a good thing. He did increase my Zometa, the drug which is supposed to strengthen my bones and help prevent bone metastasis, from once every six months to once a month and gave me my first dose while I was up in Tucson.

I go back up to Tucson next Friday to have a new port put in in preparation for when they are able to start the chemo. I am scheduled to start two days after I finish my radiation treatments. At this time, Dr. Livingston wants to put me back on the Abraxane and Avastin that I was on prior to my mastectomy surgery. These drugs did not get rid of the cancer in my lymph nodes, but did completely eradicate it from my breast, so he feels they may be effective. He explained that they are approved as front-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer and if he tries something else first, he won't be able to get these drugs approved again. The good side to this plan is I've been on these drugs before and know what to expect. They decrease my appetite and make me very tired, but other than that I tolerated them pretty well. And, I don't think they will make my hair fall out, a nice benefit since I've just really started to get back to looking somewhat normal! :>)

Dr. Livingston thinks my breathing problem is related to the lesion on my spinal cord and swelling in that area. The radiation treatments will also cause some swelling, so he placed my on high dose steroids. Lots of yucky side effects to this. :>( But, he says they go away pretty quickly as soon as I'm tapered off of them. I'm also going tomorrow for a chest CT scan just to rule out other possible causes.

So, that is what we know for now. It feels good to have a plan in place. It's been a busy and fun weekend, which has been nice because it keeps my mind off of all the cancer stuff.

On Saturday, we drove up to Tucson to watch Michael and the lacrosse team take on the Tucson Sabercats. The Sabercats were undefeated before this game with a 5-0 record. The Tigers beat them 8-4! It was a great game and very worth the drive up there. The Tigers are ranked 5th in the state now! Tomorrow night they take on Chapperal which is ranked #1 in the state. It should be an exciting game!

On Sunday, we went over to Janaya's house to help her do yardwork. She rents a house with her boyfriend, Andrew, and her girlfriend, Kierra. I guess they keep the back blinds closed and don't go out to the backyard very often. Well, Janaya went out for some reason this past week and discovered that the weeds had grown at least knee-high and covered the entire backyard! Believe me, as you will see in the pictures below, it was quite a project!

Today, I went for my first radiation treatment. It is much easier than the treatments they did to my chest after my mastectomy surgery. On Friday, when I went for the planning session. They made a mask that fits over my face and clamps down to the table. They did a Cat scan and placed markers on it. This makes sure my head is in the exact same position each time I'm treated and that the rays go where they're supposed to. Today was just supposed to be a dry run, but once they got me set up and the x-rays done, they decided to go ahead and do my treatment. The actual treatment actually takes less than a minute. They give me a dose from my left side that lasts about 15-20 seconds and then one from the right that lasts about 30 seconds. I go for twenty treatments, Monday through Fridays. That's it! Not too bad as long as you're not claustrophobic. I'm going to take my camera tomorrow and see if they'll take a picture of me in the mask.

My friend, Carol, dropped by last Thursday with dinner and flowers. It was beautiful outside this morning so I took the flowers outside to take pictures of them. Salem, our cat, was out with me and sat next to them sniffing them and it would have made the perfect picture, but by the time I got the camera zoomed in and focused, she had walked away; probably because up to now every time she's gone anywhere near them I've chased her away. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of the flowers (right from Carol's backyard!) and Salem.

Well, that's all for today. If I get a picture of me in the mask, maybe I'll try to post it tomorrow. Hopefully, along with a victory photo from Michal's lacrosse game!

Love you all!
Martha

Hi, everyone. I know by now many of you have heard my most recent news. I had the follow-up MRI that Dr. Livingston told me to get at some point to confirm whether or not the spots on my spine were cancer. Well, they were cancer and in the time that has elapsed from when the Cat scan was done in January and the MRI which was done a week ago, several new spots on other vertabrae have popped up. In addition to that, there is a 7x8mm cancerous lesion on my spinal cord high up in my cervical spine. Obviously, this is not good news. This is when the docs give you that, "We'll do everything we can to extend your life and give you quality of life," discussion. It is pretty sureal sitting there listening to it!


So, just like we've done from the start of this whole journey, we are taking one day at a time.


I went yesterday and had additional MRI's of my brain and cervical spine. The good news was there was no cancer in my brain. :>) I then went for a planning session for radiation treatments to the spot on my spinal cord. Dr. Tannehill says they should be able to zap it and completely get rid of that spot. He says the dose of radiation I'll be recieving and the angle at which they deliver it doesn't involve much risk except for the usual radiation fatigue. I was worried about damage to the spinal cord causing neurological problems, but he didn't seem to think that was anything for me to worry about.


Monday, I go up to Tucson to see Dr. Livingston and we will make a plan as to how to attack the cancer in the bones. There are chemo drugs that have been shown to be effective against triple negative breast cancer that I have not had yet.


My biggest worry right now is I am having a lot of difficulty with my breathing and they aren't sure, yet, why. It could be the lesion putting pressure on my spinal cord effecting the nerves that control my breathing. If that is the case, it should get better as the radiation shrinks that lesion. I also have fluid around my lungs again, so it could be that. And of course, there is always the chance that the cancer has also spread to my lungs. I will probably be getting another chest Cat scan this week to help us figure out what is going on.


Obviously, we are all feeling a bit overwhelmed right now, but we are staying strong. Pam arrived from NJ last night. It feels great to have her here. I know I will feel much better after my visit with Dr. Livingston on Monday and I know what the whole treatment plan is.


Dr. Tannehill told me that once breast cancer has metastasized, they no longer talk of curing it. However, people do live for years with it, keeping it under control with different treatments. So, I am of course very sad and very scared, but I have not given up hope that I still have quite a bit of time here ahead of me. And, I have plans to make the most of it! Is that the margarita express I hear honking? :>)


I met with my friend and principal, Sheila, Thursday, after meeting with Dr. Tannehill and she, Joe, and I came to the decision that it is in the best interest of me, my family, and my students for me to leave teaching again. My students have been absolutely wonderful this year, but they are only ten years old and every time I have to miss a day because of a test or a doctor's appointment they worry. I would have to miss numerous days during this last quarter of school for appointments and procedures and I just don't think it's fair to put them through that. I am devastated by the decision and so wish I could have made it through to the end of the year, but we all agreed it was the best choice. The good side to this is that I will be able to conserve my energy for fighting the cancer and for spending time with my family. Those have to be my priority right now.


And, speaking of spending time with family, we just celebrated Janaya's 22nd birthday a week ago. I can't believe she is 22. She has grown up into such a beautiful young woman and I am so proud to be her mom. Here are a couple of pictures from her birthday.

Janaya and Andrew at the Cheesecake Factory.



Janaya and Michael

Proud mom and dad.

Happy mother and daughter.

A birthday kiss from Brewski!

Lacrosse season has also started and so we are busy going to the games and cheering Michael and the rest of the team on. Most of the varsity team is seniors and they are a great group of boys, many of whom have been playing lacrosse together since junior high. Their record so far is 3 and 1. Their one loss was to Chandler and they only lost by one point. It seems like it's going to be a great season.

Joe bought me a new super zoom lens for Christmas just so I would have it for lacrosse season. I have been practicing trying to get some good shots of Michael playing. I'll post a couple below.

Well, that is it for now. Other than struggling with my breathing and feeling tired because of that, I feel just fine. I feel confident in my doctors and know they will do everything possible to help me fight this and we'll just keep on keeping on, one day at a time!

Love you all!

Martha

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Hi, everyone! Today was the day I went up to Tucson to see Dr. Livingston to find out where I'm at on the cancer front and make a new plan now that I had finished up with my radiation and chemo. I have been trying so hard to be positive over the last couple of weeks, but it was hard and I was an absolute nervous wreck driving up there today.

But . . . GREAT NEWS!!!! My tumor markers are down from 60 to 47. Still a bit above normal, but Dr. Livingston strongly feels they were elevated due to the shots I was getting to keep my blood counts up. He said high white blood cell counts will increase the tumor marker level. (Hmmmm . . . makes me wonder why Dr. Wendt didn't tell me that! He gave Joe and I no other explanation besides it meaning cancer.) Dr. Livingston thinks that now that I am finished with my chemo and no longer on the shots, the markers are on their way down. Phew! And, my alkaline phosphatase was back down to within the normal levels! Phew!! And, when he looked at my Pet/CT scan films, he didn't see anything that looked like cancer to him! Phew!!! He says as far as he can tell, I AM CANCER FREE!!!! He wants me to get an MRI scan of my spine some time in the next several weeks, just to confirm that nothing is going on, but he totally expects it to be negative. He said, "See you in three months!"

Oh my goodness! I tried to be positive and visualize him telling me that news so many times over the last couple of weeks, but every time I did, I couldn't help but also visualize recieving bads news, too. Of course after getting a huge hug from Joe, the first thing I did was call Pam. Poor thing! I was crying so hard with relief I could barely tell her the news. I think I may have panicked her for a few minutes!

I will see Dr. Wendt on Wednesday, get my PICC line taken out, and except for getting the MRI scan done sometime during spring break, I won't have to see or talk to a doctor for three whole months! I have to keep pinching myself!

So, I'm off to bed. Back to school tomorrow. No more excuses for being tired and miserable! :>)

As always, sending all of my love and thanks to all of you!
Martha

An Overdue Update

Hi, everyone! This post is overdue for two, very opposite reasons! First, because I was feeling terrible and just wasn't up to posting, and then second, because I'm now feeling so wonderful and have just been too busy doing other things to take the time to sit down and update!



I finished up my chemo on January 27th and not a moment too soon because it was really catching up with me. I was exhausted and had developed what they call hand and foot syndrome as a side effect of the one chemo drug I was on. The skin on my hands and feet became red and rough and it burned my feet to walk. My fingers and toes were also becoming numb, another side effect of the chemo. So, I was plenty glad to be done with it all!


Only, a week and a half after finishing, I wasn't really feeling any better. I couldn't understand it. Then, two weeks ago from yesterday, the alarm woke me up to get ready for school and I literally couldn't get out of bed. Luckily, for me, there are two wonderful teachers who have retired in the past couple of years from my school and both of them have offered to be on call for me on a moment's notice. I ran a fever all day Friday and then it broke in the middle of the night and I woke up Saturday feeling better. Then, in the middle of the day, my port started to become tender and by eight that night my whole right chest was red and the area over my port was inflamed. UGH! Off to the hospital we went. Joe said to me, "Should we bring a bag?" Me, being naive or just not wanting to acknowledge the seriousness of it said, "No, they'll just give me some antibiotic and send me home." Wrong! Five days in the hospital on IV antibiotics, surgery to remove the port, and then placement of a long term IV line called a PICC line. It is in my upper right arm and goes right into the superior vena cava, just like my port did. The only difference is this line is external and the port was internal.


So, I am home and back to work. Joe helps me administer my antibiotic each evening. He is amazing! First he had to learn to give me the shots to keep my blood counts up and now he is giving me my IV antibiotic each night! I will be on it for a total of two weeks at home, but really started to feel better the day after they removed my infected port. My energy level is almost back to what it was before all of this started. I still tire a little more easily and am in bed most nights by eight, but it is nothing like the exhaustion I was experiencing. I have also have a voracious appetite and am eating all the time.


Joe had wanted to buy me a bike for Christmas and at that time I told him absolutely not. At that point, I was so feeling so bad, I wasn't sure I'd ever have the energy to get back on a bike. Well, last weekend, Joe took me shopping and bought me a beautiful red bike as an early Valentine's Day present. I am up to riding about three miles a day! It feels great to be able to do things again! I went today and restarted my gym membership and signed up for twice a week, half hour personal training sessions. Everything I read stresses the importance of exercise for people with cancer, but up until now I just haven't had any reserve energy.


My family and friends, as always, have been an amazing support through this latest adventure. I was pretty depressed in the hospital and Pam picked up on that when she talked to me on the phone. So, she did what she's done since this whole experience started, jumped on a plane and surprised me with a visit. Her family (and that seems like a weird way to word it because they are my family,too) is just amazing and all pull together and make everything work at home while she is gone. Joey also surprised me by coming down from Flagstaff for a three day weekend when I got discharged from the hospital. Janaya and Michael came and played games and watched TV with me at the hosptal so I didn't get too lonely. Joe's parents were already out here to help him celebrate being installed as the president of Arizona's Builder's Alliance.


So, I am in a really good place right now. I will be having tumor markers drawn next week in preparation for going to see Dr. Livingston in Tucson on the 22nd. It is hard to keep the knowledge that they were elevated in December out of my mind, but I've decided to adopt the attitude of a dear lady, my principal's Aunt Teresa.


Aunt Teresa was diagnosed with breast cancer eleven years ago, had a lumpectomy, and was fine. She was recently diagnosed again with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy at 87 years old. There was no sign her cancer had spread beyond her breast. She called me just a couple of days after her surgery to thank me for a small present I had sent her. During our conversation I told her how glad I was that her surgery had gone so well and that the outcome was so positive. Her response was that she has always been an optimist and that she just knew going into the surgery that everything was going to be ok. I think of those words every day and it really helps me to keep the right attitude. I am usually a very positive, optimistic person, too, but the constant barrage of treatment over the past fourteen months had started to get to me. Aunt Teresa's words to me were a wake-up call. I am going to Tucson on the 22nd with a positive, optimistic attitude that everything is going to be all right. Thank you, Aunt Teresa!


Here are a few pictures taken last weekend.

These top three are of me with my new bike. They only had a black one in the store, but Joe asked and they sent us to their other store so I could get a red one. My favorite color! Joey is in the top picture with me with his long board.

The weekend after I got out of the hospital, we all went out to The House of Tricks for dinner to celebrate my feeling better.

Joe's Mom and Dad.

Janaya and Andrew.

Joe and me.

Pam and me.

Well, that's it for now! Back to watching the Olympics! And, Nascar starts tomorrow! Yippee!

Love you all tons!

Martha