Small Update...

Mom was able to go home today! She called me and I must say, it was so nice to talk with her...which I hadn't done since Tuesday afternoon. She sounded well and was very happy to be home in her own bed. She's still experiencing pain due to what Dr. O'Brien believes are the tumors pressing against the rib cage but if she lays down she's alright. Tomorrow she will begin chemo again, Dr. O'Brien wants to start shrinking those tumors so that Mom's pain will go away. Again, I ask that you all keep praying for her and our family and I will keep everyone updated as often as possible.
~Wendy

It's been a while...

Hello everyone, I’ll start by apologizing for the lack of updates. Kami (this is Wendy) has been very busy and a lot has happened over the past few months. After Mom finished her first 6 rounds of chemo her scan showed that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes of her spleen. With this discovery came the news we really didn’t want to hear, the cancer is terminal. Some know this and some may not. With that, surgery is no longer in the cards so we continued with chemo. My Mom did amazingly well throughout her treatment, however, she did suffer some pain due to an ulcer caused by one of the chemo drugs that they eventually stopped giving her and she also had neuropathy of the hands and feet which she still has now although not as bad. She made it through 6 more rounds of chemo amazingly well but not long after she started experiencing some pain in her chest. Luckily her Oncologist is very proactive and had Mom go to the ER where they discovered she had blood clots in her lungs. She was admitted to the hospital the weekend of February 22nd where they began treatment and after a couple days she was able to go home. A couple weeks later she was still experiencing pain in her chest so during one of her regular scans her P.C. had them check for clots once again, the test came back negative so it was assumed that she was just experiencing residual pain from the original clots. By this time the pain was so severe that her pain medication dose was increased per her request so that she could make it to her niece Stephanie’s wedding, which was this past Saturday. She was able to watch 3 of her grandchildren (Jake, Carter and Maggie) walk down the aisle as well as her 2 beautiful nieces Stephanie and Emily. It was a great weekend for all of us especially since we now realize how precious each moment we have together is. Most of the weekend Mom was pretty tired and still experiencing pain but by Sunday she couldn’t walk on her own, was extremely pale and barely able to talk. This, of course, worried all of us so Kami drove Mom back home and stopped off at the ER in McMinnville just in case. There we learned that Mom was over medicated as well as dehydrated and had high pro time levels (which meant that her once thick blood was too thin). The Doctor then read her latest scan, which revealed some bad news concerning the cancer. The tumors in her liver and lungs have doubled in size and all of the pain she’s been experiencing is related to them pressing against nerves. We really didn’t want to hear this and after such a joyous weekend we were all in a state of great sadness. Monday morning Mom’s color was back and she was up talking with us, which was so nice after the scare we had Sunday. In the afternoon Dr. O’Brien came to see Mom and discussed a new round of chemo treatment with different drugs of which she will hopefully begin by the end of the week. She also started Mom on a new pain regimen and some vitamin k to bring her pro time back down. This morning she looked even better, was continuing to eat well, gain more strength and had a normal pro time. With this new round of chemo she will definitely lose her hair but she shouldn’t experience any neuropathy or ulcers. Even during hard times we still experience lots of love and laughter in our family. While Mom was out of it Sunday night Kami fed her mashed potatoes and applesauce…together…on the same spoon, in the same bite. Anyone who knows my Mom knows how crazy she is about her food being mixed or touching so when Kami told her about this Monday morning she was so disgusted of which we found very funny. Carter, all on his own, found a bandaid and when he went to see his Nana Sunday evening he placed it on her bed to make her all better. There is no better medicine then the love of a child and Mom is blessed with 5 beautiful grandchildren who all love her very much. Some more healing came in the form of Garrett learning a new word, “Nana” of which he hollered out as he strained to get to her. The joy on her face was so refreshing to see. I also failed to mention before that Nathan, Kami and the boys have moved back to Oregon for a while. I am so thankful for them and their commitment to Mom and our time as a family. Our focus now is to make as many memories as we can. I ask that everyone keep Mom in your prayers as she continues her journey and I thank all of you for caring so much about her. She is such a special person and we are all so lucky to have her. ~Wendy