Sorry I haven't been better at keeping up with updates the last couple of weeks. Life is crazy right now. Pete is taking his bar exam this week, and is staying at the hotel so he's just right next door to the testing site.
Mom is in San Antonio right now. Dad needed to work this week actually in the building, rather than on the road. So Granny and PawPaw took her down to San Antonio. She is starting on week 1, just about 3-4 weeks behind everyone else in the trial.
Her first treatment was this morning. Mom called Dad tonight and said that she was feeling really sick to her stomach. That's a pretty normal side effect of ANY chemo, as so many people are able to tell us. It just always seems to hit her SO quickly. I really don't remember if they are coming back tomorrow or Thursday. For some reason I think the doctors needed to check her tomorrow. I do know that they tentatively reserved the hotel room for the whole week, just in case she was feeling too sick to travel.
We are really praying that this works. Everyone is so exhausted, especially Mom. All the back and forth and being sick, well, it's really taking a toll on her.
I'll update again soon. Honestly, though, it will probably be after Thursday. We are just trying to get through this week!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
San Antonio Bound...Part 2
OK. Mom got a phone call last week from CTRC wanting her to come back down for more testing. So after enduring IV's on Thursday and Friday all day, plus on Monday (not to mention some ill-advised steak fingers with french fries from DQ) she headed back down to SA this week with Dad.
Thankfully, SA went well this time. They have done all of her tests, and she's back in the study as of next Tuesday (7/28)!! Now, I don't know if this means that she'll just start here, about 4 weeks late, or if she's starting from the beginning, and will be 4 weeks behind everyone else. I will let everyone know, however, as soon as I know.
So we appear to be on the upswing of the roller coaster. You know, the part where the train clicks into the chain that pulls you upward? Clickety clack, all the way up. We just don't know if we are headed for a plateau or the downswing again.
Pray for Mom as she starts this trial. I know she's excited, but scared too. One of the major side effects of this drug is anorexia, and if there's anything we DON'T need right now, it's anorexia.
Selfishly, I'm going to ask for a lot of prayers for us right now. Besides dealing with all this stuff with Mom, Pete and I have been dealing with a lot. He's taking the bar exam next week, and currently no one seems to want to hire a new attorney who has little experience. He's studying about 15 hours a day right now. We just found out some of our very closest friends are moving 3 weeks after the bar exam - to Nashville!! It has to do with a family situation for her. Also, there is another situation that we are choosing to keep kinda quiet about (no baby, no divorce, no moving, no health issues for either of us) but needs a lot of prayer for us to make the right decision. I'll go into more explanation later, but until the situation is resolved, I really can't. Please just pray that we make the right decision and that God will give us peace. For those of you who do know, please don't say too much. Like I said, we're keeping quiet about it, but we definitely need prayer.
Thankfully, SA went well this time. They have done all of her tests, and she's back in the study as of next Tuesday (7/28)!! Now, I don't know if this means that she'll just start here, about 4 weeks late, or if she's starting from the beginning, and will be 4 weeks behind everyone else. I will let everyone know, however, as soon as I know.
So we appear to be on the upswing of the roller coaster. You know, the part where the train clicks into the chain that pulls you upward? Clickety clack, all the way up. We just don't know if we are headed for a plateau or the downswing again.
Pray for Mom as she starts this trial. I know she's excited, but scared too. One of the major side effects of this drug is anorexia, and if there's anything we DON'T need right now, it's anorexia.
Selfishly, I'm going to ask for a lot of prayers for us right now. Besides dealing with all this stuff with Mom, Pete and I have been dealing with a lot. He's taking the bar exam next week, and currently no one seems to want to hire a new attorney who has little experience. He's studying about 15 hours a day right now. We just found out some of our very closest friends are moving 3 weeks after the bar exam - to Nashville!! It has to do with a family situation for her. Also, there is another situation that we are choosing to keep kinda quiet about (no baby, no divorce, no moving, no health issues for either of us) but needs a lot of prayer for us to make the right decision. I'll go into more explanation later, but until the situation is resolved, I really can't. Please just pray that we make the right decision and that God will give us peace. For those of you who do know, please don't say too much. Like I said, we're keeping quiet about it, but we definitely need prayer.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Living in Limbo
Limbo was one of my favorite games as a kid. I especially loved it at the roller rink, I could bend WAYYYYYY back, I was a flexible little kid. Thank goodness I loved it then, becuase not only am I no longer flexible enough to play it, I currently feel like we live in limbo. And quite frankly, I'm sick of it.
Mom went to the oncologist today for a check, and to talk to him about any new options they might have.
Just as she was walking out the door to go to her appointment, CTRC from San Antonio called. They would like to re-evaluate her to possibly start in the same trial!
Mom talked to her oncologist about it, he's all for it. He wants her to come in for IV's for the rest of the week, and possibly on Monday. It looks like they will be heading to San Antonio on Monday afternoon, so Dr Ruxer wants her in that morning to top off her fluids, especially since she will have just come off the weeknd, and will be making a 5 hour car trip.
They have decided to re-evaluate her pain medicines. A few weeks ago, they weaned her off of the pills, and left her on the patches. She says that her pain has been pretty bad since then, getting worse at night. Sometimes she can't sleep. So today he re-instated the pills, and added another one, I think to alternate.
Mom's doing OK. Every time I talk to her, she is in a lot of pain, sometimes to where she can't talk. We have better days and worse days. Saturday was a really good day, I mean REALLY GOOD. We got our hair cut, she wanted Pei Wei for lunch (she actually told me she was hungry - and ATE!!!), we got pedicures and she got her nails done. She was pretty wiped out by that point, but we had been going since 8:30 that morning, and it was about 3:45 by the time we left the nail salon, and she hasn't had the energy to do all that in months. Sunday, well, not as good. I don't know if she overdid it on Saturday because she felt so good, or if it just wasn't as good of a day.
Tonight I went over to see her after working out, because her friends had a surprise for her. They bought her a recliner!! She was just completely overwhelmed. It is really nice and comfy, and pretty neutral so it goes with their house well. Mom is hoping to sleep in it, since she is more comfortable sleeping propped up, but keeps sliding off the pillows, which makes the pain get worse. In fact, as I type this she is probably sleeping in it now!!
Mom has some really great friends. Some of them she's known since high school. A few she knew when I was in elementary school, but they all went to church together for years at ROBC, and they were the group that ran around together. They have stuck together through divorces, marriages, you name it. I'm really glad that she has such good friends. They are a terrific support system for her, and for all of us. They really let us just lean on them when we need to.
This is the same group of friends who held the prayer service for Mom on Sunday night. It went well, it was just very emotional. We really appreciated it. I think Mom cried the whole way through, I know I cried for most of it. Mom cries a lot lately. I know she's wearing thin with the whole thing.
I'm tired of the whole back and forth thing. I know the rest of the family is too. I completely understand why she got turned down for the treatments last week, especially since she'd been in the hospital for the same thing 2 times in 8 days. And I'm glad they want to re-evaluate her. I just know they are really tired of making that drive, just to be told, sorry, you don't qualify. At this point, I want it to be either yes, or no. That way, if it is a no, we can start looking for something else and stop re-hashing the whole thing.
I'm really tired tonight, so I think this post is kinda all over the place, sorry about that. Please continue to pray for us.
Mom went to the oncologist today for a check, and to talk to him about any new options they might have.
Just as she was walking out the door to go to her appointment, CTRC from San Antonio called. They would like to re-evaluate her to possibly start in the same trial!
Mom talked to her oncologist about it, he's all for it. He wants her to come in for IV's for the rest of the week, and possibly on Monday. It looks like they will be heading to San Antonio on Monday afternoon, so Dr Ruxer wants her in that morning to top off her fluids, especially since she will have just come off the weeknd, and will be making a 5 hour car trip.
They have decided to re-evaluate her pain medicines. A few weeks ago, they weaned her off of the pills, and left her on the patches. She says that her pain has been pretty bad since then, getting worse at night. Sometimes she can't sleep. So today he re-instated the pills, and added another one, I think to alternate.
Mom's doing OK. Every time I talk to her, she is in a lot of pain, sometimes to where she can't talk. We have better days and worse days. Saturday was a really good day, I mean REALLY GOOD. We got our hair cut, she wanted Pei Wei for lunch (she actually told me she was hungry - and ATE!!!), we got pedicures and she got her nails done. She was pretty wiped out by that point, but we had been going since 8:30 that morning, and it was about 3:45 by the time we left the nail salon, and she hasn't had the energy to do all that in months. Sunday, well, not as good. I don't know if she overdid it on Saturday because she felt so good, or if it just wasn't as good of a day.
Tonight I went over to see her after working out, because her friends had a surprise for her. They bought her a recliner!! She was just completely overwhelmed. It is really nice and comfy, and pretty neutral so it goes with their house well. Mom is hoping to sleep in it, since she is more comfortable sleeping propped up, but keeps sliding off the pillows, which makes the pain get worse. In fact, as I type this she is probably sleeping in it now!!
Mom has some really great friends. Some of them she's known since high school. A few she knew when I was in elementary school, but they all went to church together for years at ROBC, and they were the group that ran around together. They have stuck together through divorces, marriages, you name it. I'm really glad that she has such good friends. They are a terrific support system for her, and for all of us. They really let us just lean on them when we need to.
This is the same group of friends who held the prayer service for Mom on Sunday night. It went well, it was just very emotional. We really appreciated it. I think Mom cried the whole way through, I know I cried for most of it. Mom cries a lot lately. I know she's wearing thin with the whole thing.
I'm tired of the whole back and forth thing. I know the rest of the family is too. I completely understand why she got turned down for the treatments last week, especially since she'd been in the hospital for the same thing 2 times in 8 days. And I'm glad they want to re-evaluate her. I just know they are really tired of making that drive, just to be told, sorry, you don't qualify. At this point, I want it to be either yes, or no. That way, if it is a no, we can start looking for something else and stop re-hashing the whole thing.
I'm really tired tonight, so I think this post is kinda all over the place, sorry about that. Please continue to pray for us.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Prayer Service
Tonight we wil be having a prayer service for Mom.
One of my parents' really close friends is our former pastor from the church where I grew up. In light of all the stuff that has happened this week, they have decided that they would like to hold a prayer service for Mom.
The group at my parents' house will only be a few people. Mom isn't feeling well again today. We do ask that everyone pray for her as we are holding this service though.
We will have this service from 5-7 pm tonight. At some point during this two-hour period, please pray for Mom. Pray for her healing, for her strength. Please also pray for our family as we will be discussing more options with her oncologist this week.
As always, your prayers over this situation are much appreciated and needed!!
One of my parents' really close friends is our former pastor from the church where I grew up. In light of all the stuff that has happened this week, they have decided that they would like to hold a prayer service for Mom.
The group at my parents' house will only be a few people. Mom isn't feeling well again today. We do ask that everyone pray for her as we are holding this service though.
We will have this service from 5-7 pm tonight. At some point during this two-hour period, please pray for Mom. Pray for her healing, for her strength. Please also pray for our family as we will be discussing more options with her oncologist this week.
As always, your prayers over this situation are much appreciated and needed!!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
How is this?
Just checking with everyone...
Can you follow this OK?
It's become so difficult for me to remember who all I need to update and include on my posts on facebook, that I finally just gave up and decided to create a blog instead. For anyone who hasn't ever followed a blog before, you can select the RSS button (should be a little orange button on the top of your web browser with a white dot and two semi-circles around it) and select "subscribe to this feed.) Follow the given instructions from your browser, and you should be able to access this blog from your favorites pull-down menu, with a tab that says "feeds". You can also subscribe by the button on the left side of the page, below the archives. Then when you click on the Feeds button, if the name of this page is bolded, it means that I've updated the blog and you can click on it to see the updates.
I know I will get questions about the name of this page. In choir at FBC Lakeside, where Pete and I attended for the past 3 years, one of my favorite songs that we've sung is from The Crabb Family, and is called "Through the Fire." The Chorus says something like: "He never promised that the cross would not get heavy, and the hill would not be hard to climb. He never offered our vict'ry without fighting, but He said help would always come in time. So just remember that when you're standing in the valley of decision and the adversary says give in, just hold on. My Lord will show up, and he will take you through the fire again."
The choir director may not know it, but every time we sang this, God used it to soothe my heart. It's only been recently that I can actually sing it without crying the whole way through. Look it up, it's a powerful song.
Anyway, that's where I got the name for this blog. I felt it appropriate, what with all we've gone through this year.
Can you follow this OK?
It's become so difficult for me to remember who all I need to update and include on my posts on facebook, that I finally just gave up and decided to create a blog instead. For anyone who hasn't ever followed a blog before, you can select the RSS button (should be a little orange button on the top of your web browser with a white dot and two semi-circles around it) and select "subscribe to this feed.) Follow the given instructions from your browser, and you should be able to access this blog from your favorites pull-down menu, with a tab that says "feeds". You can also subscribe by the button on the left side of the page, below the archives. Then when you click on the Feeds button, if the name of this page is bolded, it means that I've updated the blog and you can click on it to see the updates.
I know I will get questions about the name of this page. In choir at FBC Lakeside, where Pete and I attended for the past 3 years, one of my favorite songs that we've sung is from The Crabb Family, and is called "Through the Fire." The Chorus says something like: "He never promised that the cross would not get heavy, and the hill would not be hard to climb. He never offered our vict'ry without fighting, but He said help would always come in time. So just remember that when you're standing in the valley of decision and the adversary says give in, just hold on. My Lord will show up, and he will take you through the fire again."
The choir director may not know it, but every time we sang this, God used it to soothe my heart. It's only been recently that I can actually sing it without crying the whole way through. Look it up, it's a powerful song.
Anyway, that's where I got the name for this blog. I felt it appropriate, what with all we've gone through this year.
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