susanwales's Journal

Hello Everyone!

I have been super busy since I returned to California; working 24/7. I have checked in sporadically to check on your progress so we will know how to pray for each one of you! I hope all of you are doing well.

Yesterday, Mother successfully completed her 3rd chemo treatment . . . only 6 left! For the first time since her treatment has begun (18 previous treatments) that Mother has had to go alone. We had no choice this time since my niece's five-year-old started to kindergarten so she does not have the flexibility she had last year, and I had to return to California to my work.

After 18 chemo treatments, Mother assured us that she was an old pro, and didn't mind going it alone. Yet this is a big concern for us because we had read somewhere to never let the patient go to chemo alone. But Mother loves the chemo nurses, who she says are so kind. She also knows many of the patients in the lab, and visits with them during chemo. And she is able to sleep while she is getting chemo. My sister or my nephew drops Mother off at the lab in the morning, before work, and then come back for her during the lunch hour. Everything seems to be working out well.

Next weekend is the 1st anniversary of my father's death. My sister and our families are going to the wedding of a lifelong childhood friend in Las Vegas. My nephew is taking the day off work and staying with my Mother. I feel badly for Mother that we are all abandoning her. But my nephew is taking the day off from work to be with her. After the wedding, my niece is stopping by Atlanta to be with Mother for chemo treatment #4. I'm hoping to get some of my work out of the way so I can return before chemo has ended, but it's not looking good at the moment. 

Since Mother had 3-4 weeks between her last round of chemo before she began this one, she had regained seven pounds. After two treatments she had lost it all, but this week, she was excited to report that she has regained four pounds! Her next oncology appointment is October 14th, so we are anxiously awaiting his assessment. The oncologist recommended that Mother have 9 more chemo treatments, and then chemo once a month maintenance afterwards, and she has agreed. We are not sure how long the maintenance will continue, but this is a question that we plan to ask when she sees the oncologist on the 14th. He had promised to consider stopping this round of chemo at 6 treatments, but Mother is going to tell him that she is agreeable to take all 9. (She was not very agreeable when he told her he wanted her to have 9 more at her last appointment!) But Mother describes this round as easy. Also, she has had no problem with her blood count, at least not yet, so we are hopeful.

Chemo is never easy but the human spirit is so amazing that the treatments just become a part of the patient's and the patient's family's lives. Mother's greatest difficulty is that she has to be away from home, and she desperately misses her sisters, other family members, and her friends. Because she is somewhat frail she doesn't like to make the trip home . . . it zaps so much of her energy, and also my sister really doesn't like for her to go. If I were there, we would slip away for a weekend, because I could handle everything, but sadly I'm not there! And just being in the comfort of her home is something she longs for . . . sleeping in her own bed, etc. We never dreamed her treatment would last for this long. My sister who was at the first appointment with Mother said the doctor reiterated that he needed a year's commitment from Mother and the family. But when he announced her cancer free after surgery, we erroneously assumed she was well and it would be over after she completed 9 rounds after the surgery, especially since she had 9 chemo round prior to surgery. At the time we had little understanding of this insidious disease. It is amazing at how much we have learned!

The oncologist did assure Mother that if she follows his recommended treatment, he doubts that she will have a recurrence in her lifetime, which he predicts will extend at least 10-15 more years because of her overall excellent health and physical condition. We consider this a miracle!

If one has to experience OVCA, getting it in your old age is truly a blessing, because by the time a recurrence rears its ugly head, you're at an age you're ready to go anyway. Mother considers herself very fortunate in this respect. She always says she wishes she could give away some of her years to some of the younger patients in the chemo lab, because she's had a long wonderful life. Just the same, the chemo is harder on most older women. The doctor marvels at the ease Mother has exhibited during the treatments . . . he says that is why he wants to keep going. And she keeps going like the energizer bunny! She's amazing!

Which brings me to Mother's cancer. I was at a dinner with another lady whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Both our mother's oncologists have said that their cancers are not genetic, but caused the production of cells going awry, which happens in elderly people. Since both our mother's lost their husband's three months prior to their diagnosis, she and I were speculating that perhaps an overwhelming grief can affect the chemical make-up of your body, causing your cell production to go awry. Just a theory, but it does make you wonder??? One day science will unfold many mysteries!

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend filled with boundless energy and hope! Sorry I have been absent so much lately. But our thoughts and prayers have been with all of you!

Love and Blessings!

XOX

Susan Wales