Saturday, February 18, 2012

The cross, Diane and cement surgery

One week ago on Monday, February 13th, I was released from the hospital and went on to my radiation treatment at CARTI about 11:30 am. All was well, got home fine and rested all afternoon. We carefully stayed on schedule with nausea and pain meds so that I felt pretty stable. Tuesday and Wednesday were about the same.

My sister Diane arrived Wednesday afternoon (hooray) from Tennessee, which was wonderful. We had already planned for her to lead a devotional for my girls' Bible Study at 7. I was able to sit in the living room in my cushy new recliner and take in all the sweet voices and singing and words that the LORD was pouring into the room. The girls were blessed to hear Diane and I think she was blessed to hear them as well.

Thursday am. I arrived for treatment not feeling so well...not sure why. (Just the radiation treatments themselves I suppose.) Diane got to come in and see the big giant room and machine. I showed her the cross on the ceiling that I always look up at when I am getting treated. (I don't think I've described it to you all.)

The whole room is filled up with this high tech, very expensive massive machine that does the serious work of killing cancer cells. The very first time I ever had radiation treatment was in April 2007 and I noticed on the ceiling there was this simplistic cross up on the particle board ceiling that looked like it had been cut out with a kitchen knife, real rustic. Five years later, on my first treatment day this time around I looked all around on the ceiling trying to find that cross. I knew they had done a MAJOR remodel and added this spectacular machine to our facility, so I wondered if the simple cross was still around.

They settled me onto the table, moving me a little here and there until these precious radiation specialists got me situated perfectly. Then....I looked up. There it was! Made my heart fill up with joy. A cut out cross. Tipped to the right, so the top shorter part is to the right and the longer part of the cross is toward the left. There are 4 red laser beam dots at the edge of each of the cross pieces. But if you look further into the ceiling, way up into the cross, you can see a bright red beam. I asked Dr. P what the medical purpose is for the cross... "because, quite frankly ladies, I'm looking all over the room for Jesus and I think that's a good place for Him to hang out :-)". She smiled and said..."That's the laser beam, the light source. It comes down into the room from behind the cross and goes into the massive machine."

WOW...Light Source?! Oh course. A Light Source. THE Light Source, beaming down to destroy the cancer. Why not? Sounds like Jesus to me!

I know radiation does good things and that it does bad. Yes, the potential is there to do damage to healthy cells as well as to damage the ones we want to get destroyed. But in my simple, non-scientific heart of hearts...I am trusting that my God is using this for good, not for harm. Yes...healing.

Friday morning was surgery day. Tom took me to LR to have vertebroplasty surgery on my L-5. We didn't understand that it was a bigger deal than we had thought originally. We knew it was outpatient, but it was still a full day of surgery. I had general anesthesia, one hour of surgery and about 4 or 5 hours of recovery. Needless to say, I did not get back for the "last" radiation treatment.) We got to Baptist about 7 am and left that afternoon about 5:30 pm. The surgeon did an excellent job and all our supporting staff was very wonderful. We were just glad to get home. I pretty much spent the whole weekend recovering, sleeping, resting, staying on top of pain and nausea.

I woke up this Monday morning feeling really well! YAY GOD!!! I even walked from the edge of my bed into the living room all the way to my cozy new recliner. PRAISE GOD!!! QUITE a GREAT start for the new day!

Today I went to radiation treatment and Mary and Tom were with me. She did not have school today so she got to go see the big machine, the cross on the ceiling and met our Dr. as well.

SOOOO...tomorrow is a big day... treatment #13...the last one! Hooray!!! Very excited to reach this first milestone in the race. About 3 weeks from now we will return to Nashville to talk to our Vanderbilt doctor about the next step in the plan. I have 3 weeks to get stronger and stronger with the Strength of the Lord.


Wow, Lord, You've faithfully carried me through the past few weeks! Some moments were extreme, some quietly calm...all of them covered by Your Hand of Love. Thank You. That's all I know to say...thank You, O God. I cannot see what tomorrow holds, but I'm certain of one thing...You will be there again.
To Your glory and Praise and honor,
I give this day
and I give this night... to You.
With all my love,
Your child forever,
Lisa

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Quite a Ride

This has been quite a week.

I started the week just moving along fine. We were getting into a routine that was good. I had 3 time slots scheduled in the day time where friends came to sit with me and help me with some of my needs. Tom was able to go off to work while my friends stayed with me. Then Tom would come home at 11 and picked me up to take me to radiation treatment. We'd get home about 12, eat a little lunch and then he'd go on back to work and I stayed and rested with my friends there. We were staying on top of the pain and the nausea with a tight routine of meds.

Tuesday night there was a wonderful gathering of women at Downtown church that prayed for my healing and for the healing of many others that are dealing with cancer. I was not there...wish SO much I could have been, but I just quietly sat in my new recliner and prayed and worshiped in my heart while they were all at the building. I then received a little bit of texting from 2 friends that were telling me what songs were being sung and scriptures read. It was so touching. I heard many people say that they could feel the Presence of the Lord in the room, just a sweet love and unity in the prayers of the sisters there. What a honor and a gift! Thank you to all who attended and prayed with one heart for strength, healing and peace of those of us that are fighting this battle.

Wednesday I went to treatment again, but on Wednesday afternoon I noticed I wasn't feeling too well. I just kind of took it easy all afternoon, didn't eat much food, felt some nausea. I wondered if this was coming on me because of the treatments. My Tulip Street Bible Study girls showed up about 7 for Bible study in the living room. I had told them to come but that I would stay back in my bedroom. I just listened to their singing and rested while they were there. Some of them came back to my room to greet me and some of them prayed with me...so sweet.

The next morning I woke up feeling renewed. The nausea was better. We went to the treatment at 11, got back at 12, and right away I started feeling nauseated. My friend Liz brought me a little lunch, but I couldn't eat anything and I began feeling some pain in the middle of my abdomen, where I am receiving my radiation treatments. Very suddenly, within about a 30 min period, the pain and the nausea began to escalate out of control. I was feeling waves about every five minutes of extreme pain and nausea. We quickly called Tom and Kari (a young friend of ours who is an RN), and and they all came to see about me. Around the same time another RN friend, Patty, was driving down our street and felt like God prompted her to stop at our house. She walked in during all the chaos. God had sent in His troops. We made phone calls to the doctors and the decision was quickly made to send me to the hospital to stop the pain. An ambulance came to the house and transported me to our local hospital.(My first ambulance ride for myself). They administered Demarol and Zofran by IV and were able to stop the pain cycle immediately. It was around 4:30 pm, Thursday afternoon that I was finally stable again.

My radiology doctor came to our hospital and said she believed the sudden onset of pain was a violent response from the radiation treatment. She said that, for my next treatment, they would try to pre-medicate me with stronger pain and nausea meds to determine if a lack of medication was what had caused the pain to escalate.

So, Friday morning we took all the pre-medications and at 11 am I went to treatment. He took me straight back to the hospital and I rested all afternoon. No violent response. We decided it was the treatment that had caused the response.

I've been at White County over the weekend. Resting and still trying to get the nausea controlled.

Specific prayers...to get the pain and nausea meds just right; I have to get an IV redone today and that is always a challenge with my veins; and please pray for this coming week. I have 5 or 6 treatments to finish and I am not looking forward to it, but I need to do it. Also...continue to pray for all my precious family.

O God,
What can I say? I do not understand all that is unfolding but I hold my ground that this is NOT your will but You have allowed it so that redemption can come from the suffering. I look at the story of Abraham and Isaac, dear Father, and how he carried tools straight up the mountain, prepared to do the unthinkable, to kill his precious one. He did not know how You would come to his rescue but He chose to obey and see what You had planned. That is what I want to do. To obey, to walk forward and wait on You, O God, to rescue me from the this fire. I trust You. I trust You. I trust You. I will not turn away from Your eyes but will keep my eyes focused on You. You are the Only, the Faithful One, the Holy Redeemer and Comforter. You are my Life. I love You.
Your daughter forever,
Lisa

Monday, February 6, 2012

The new plan

Dear friends,

Two weeks ago I told you our sad news that the scans had found six new spots on my bones. A lot has happened in the last two weeks. I would really like to tell you all the details that have happened over the past two weeks, but tonight I want to give a 2 week update. The reason I haven't posted in the last two weeks is that I have been really busy and haven't felt that well. (Even tonight, Mary is serving as my secretary to help me post this entry.)

After we found out the news, that following week we had to make some decisions about what cancer center we would go to for a new plan. Thursday, January 26th, Tom and I decided to go to Vanderbilt Cancer Center in Nashville. So my oncologist in Little Rock contacted them and made an appointment for the following week with a medical oncologist at Vanderbilt who specializes in breast cancer. (The cancer on my bone is breast cancer cells that have moved to the bone.)

That weekend our children all came home, and we had a good family together time and were able to process the new news together. My health and strength declined a lot that weekend, because I was very nauseous. That Monday the doctors decided to change some of my medicines. I got off of pain patches and got on oral pain medicines. I was also given new anti-nausea medicine which began helping me a lot. I also became less mobile, unable to put much weight on my lower back. I got to the point where I could not walk. (Lord willing, that should be reversed when the pain in my lower back is stopped.)

This past Wednesday Tom and I drove to Tennessee for our doctor's appointment at Vanderbilt. We met with the doctor early Thursday morning. We were thoroughly impressed. We felt like God had led us to just the right person for this new game plan. He said I needed to start radiation immediately on my lower spine to relieve the pain. He also put me on an anti-estrogen pill called Femara. He said he wanted our main goals for the next few weeks to be for the pain to be relieved in my back, to be able to ease off on the pain medications, and for restoration in the strengthening of my general health. After 4-6 weeks I will go back to Vanderbilt to see him, and we will discuss the next step, which is systemically attacking the cancer cells in the rest of my body. Chemotherapy is a possibility, but there are other options that he is considering as well.

When we were leaving, the Vanderbilt oncologist's nurse told us more about him and how he has played a significant role in the fight against breast cancer. We were so thankful to God that He had matched us up with such an incredible doctor. I have great doctors! My Little Rock oncologist, my Searcy radiologist, our local family doctor and now the Vanderbilt doctor are all a team. We think they all are exceptional physicians!

We left Nashville about one hour after our appointment and went straight home that afternoon because we had another radiology appt Friday morning at 9.

The next morning, we went to see our doctor at CARTI in Searcy. (She was the same doctor that treated me five years ago when I had my radiation treatments for breast cancer.) She decided to start me on steroids and Zantac to take down inflammation and to begin my radiation immediately on Friday afternoon. I had my first radiation treatment Friday at 1:00. My doctor went "beyond the call of duty" and opened up the clinic on Saturday...just for me to receive a second treatment that morning. Incredible.

Today, I went for my third radiation treatment. She discussed with us a procedure where they put a needle in my vertebrae and insert a cement-like substance on the inside of the vertebrae to strengthen the bone. I will probably find out tomorrow if I am a candidate. If so, then they will do it this week.

My pain level and nausea have stabilized with the medicines. I still am not walking. But I can tell my strength is a little bit renewed, because I am eating better.

I will write a whole new post to tell you about all the ways that God has sent his sustaining love to me, day by day. I am being loved, supported, fed, encouraged, and blessed beyond belief. God is here, walking with us, hour by hour. Our family is covered up with His goodness and love.

Thank you SO much... SO much... for all of your prayers and your concern and your love. Our whole family literally can feel and witness with our eyes and our hearts the answers to your prayers.

Lord willing, I will try to keep this updated more often, but if you don't hear from me, please continue praying fervently for victory in this battle against cancer.

I love you all,
Lisa