August 24, 2011

No new news. Just an update on Ruth/Mom/Grammy's condition. Mom continues to heal from the effects of the radiation. The wound on the outside of her neck gets smaller and smaller each day and is hardly noticeable unless you know it is there. The wound on the inside is what continues to give her fits. It continues to produce excess phlegm and mucus which makes it hard for her to swallow effectively. She can still swallow her daily pills, but she has a really hard time with all kinds of food. Because of this, she takes all of her nutrition through her feeding tube. We know this will end and eventually she will be able to eat again, but as she endures this time of her treatment, she still needs your prayers. Prayers that the cancer continues to shrink. Prayers that the excess phlegm and mucus dissipate. Prayers that her ability to swallow returns soon. Only a few more weeks until we return to Dr. Barker for an update and I will let you know what he says and when her CT scan and/or PET scan will be.

Thanks again for your prayers!

August 8, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy finished 13 chemotherapy treatments on Wed. Aug. 3rd and 35 radiation treatments on Fri. Aug. 5th!!  We are so glad the 7 weeks/35 days of radiation are over! Mom has lost a little more weight as it is now almost impossible for her to swallow. She is still above 100 pounds (which is okay since she is only 4'11" tall) and keeping her above 100 pounds has been my goal in helping her through the treatments. She drinks most of her nutrition through her feeding tube, but occassionally she can swallow a small amount of something and any amount is good as it keeps her ability to swallow in practice. The outside of her neck is healing and scabbing over and not causing her as much trouble although it is still tender and annoying. Her voice comes and goes but most of the time it is gone or so soft it is hard to hear her. She has one more day of labwork and an appointment with Dr. Nugent, the chemo doctor, this week. In early September she has an appointment with Dr. Barker, the radiation doctor. At that time, he will schedule a follow-up CT scan to compare to the first CT scan she had before she started treatments.  This will be followed by a PET scan to compare to the first PET scan she also had before she started treatments. Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers, phone calls, and cards during mom's treatments. Keep praying that the radiation and chemotherapy have completed eradicated the cancer! I will continue to keep the blog updated when we have more news!

THANK YOU!

July 29,2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy saw both of her oncologists this week. Her radiation oncologist, Dr. Barker, continues to be impressed/amazed with her lack of complaining about the side effects she is enduring. Her neck and throat are raw, yet when asked how she is doing, she says "okay." She uses no painkillers as she says the pain and discomfort are bearable. Dr. Barker has a doctor from UT Southwestern in Dallas working with him this month, and he too is impressed with mom.

Mom also saw her chemotherapy oncologist, Dr. Nugent, this week. You remember him? The one who didn't think she could endure the treatments at her age?  His comments to Mom this week were "you're amazing" and "you're incredible." He also said "I (meaning himself, Dr. Nugent) worry too much" but I know now that although he is much different than Dr. Barker in his "bedsid manner", he too has mom's best interests at heart. I think he learned a valuable lesson, though, to not just look at the person's chronological age on paper as that is not a true indicator as to how someone will tolerate treatment.

Now for the slightly negative aspects of her treatment. Mom continues to lose weight, but she and I are working on a plan to keep it at its current level or, God willing, to gain back a few pounds. Her biggest trouble swallowing is the excess mucus brought about by the radiation treatments which makes it difficult for her to swallow some foods and liquids. Yes, we have started using her feeding tube, but she also continues to eat soft foods and drink milk shakes to make sure her throat remembers how to swallow after the treatments are over.

The other negative is the burn on the side of her neck from the radiation. It is getting very ugly, raw, and painful. She puts her radiation cream on it, but even the act of touching the cream to the burn is painful. With that said, she doesn't complain about it. She just endures it.

So, with the posting of this blog, Mom has 7 more radiation treatments and 1 more chemotherapy treatment left!  Woo hoo! 

KEEP PRAYING!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

July 16, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy is now halfway through her 35 radiation treatments and she continues to receive chemotherapy once a week. She is doing great and she continues to amaze the doctors. Dr. Barker called her his "Poster Child" this week for how she is enduring radiation. Her throat is red, but she doesn't complain about it, and she continues to gargle/swish with a prescription mouthwash to help with the radiation side effects. Food has either lost its tastes or tastes wrong, but she continues to make herself eat and she has only lost a pound or two depending on which office is weighing her. Her skin on the outside of her throat is not bothering her, but she has lotion from the doctor if it does. When Susan, Dr. Nugent's PA, looked over her lab report this week, she said that over time, her lab results have improved instead of worsening.

I hope all of you out there who are reading this and praying for Ruth/Mom/Grammy understand the power of prayer and how your prayers are helping her endure the treatements and holding her up throughout them.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE KEEP PRAYING, especially as we get into the second half of of her radiation treatments! 

July 7, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy has now had 12 radiation treatments with 23 to go.  She is tolerating the radiation well, and Dr. Barker is amazed at how well she is doing. The worst part for her is the small ache the radiation table sometimes causes in her back. Her weight is staying fairly consistent, and she continues to eat normally and does not use her feeding tube for nutrition. She cleans it with water every 3 days, and it is ready if she needs it. Dr. Nugent decided to continue her chemotherapy regimen since she is doing so well, and of course the tumor will shrink more quickly if she can tolerate and continue the chemo at the same time she has radiation. She goes once a week for infusion and the worst part is sitting in the waiting room for long stretches waiting to be called back for labwork or to see the PA or doctor. The chemotherapy has caused a sore in Mom's mouth that annoys her but doesn't keep her from eating. Mom said the reason she is doing so well is because of all your prayers, and I agree. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued prayers.

June 21, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had her last radiation"fitting" and check last Friday and everything was "good to go." She started radiation yesterday, Monday, June 20th, and she was a little apprehensive as anyone would be at the beginning of 35 radiation treatments. Her weight continues to hold steady. Her blood pressure was a little elevated, but I attribute that to the beginning of radiation and not knowing what to expect. I (Carolyn) finally met Dr. Nugent for the first time last week and, although he is definitely not as personable as Dr. Barker, I feel Dr. Nugent also has mom's best interests in hand.  He mentioned the radiosensitizer drug she took twice a day for awhile in pill form. It is a drug intended to improve the radiation therapy she is now receiving by enhancing tumor cell killing while the radiation hopefully has much less effect on normal tissue. The drug she received through her port was given to shrink the tumor and has been successful. It is still there but smaller, and he said he would probably continue her on the IV/ port drug in hopes of continuing to shrink the tumor. I thought he meant after we finished the 35 radiation treatments, but Ruth/Mom/Grammy received a call to set up the chemotherapy appointment and Dr. Nugent wants to start back up this week. We haven't talked to Dr. Nugent about this yet, as to why we are now going with concurrent instead of sequential treatment as we thought we were doing. I'm assuming it is because she did so well during the first 3 rounds of chemotherapy.

I know I keep thanking you for all the prayers, but God hears your requests. Sometimes He answers the way we want Him to, and this is one of those times, so keep praying please that Ruth/Mom/Grammy will be able to tolerate the radiation and chemotherapy at the same time!!

 

June 10, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had another CT scan on June 7th. Today, June 10th, we went to see Dr. Barker to hear the results. Dr. Barker used the word "favorable" in talking about the CT scan results. He said the tumor had gotten smaller (he didn't say how much smaller). He did another scope through mom's nose to look at the tumor directly. He said, "The tumor is definitely smaller and the voicebox is wide open. Let's start radiation to see if we can get rid of the tumor altogether." Dr. Barker has already done the prep work for the radiation and almost all of the technology has been set up. He wants one more appointment to take a "safety set of x-rays" to be sure everything is set up perfectly. That appointment is scheduled for late next week with radiation to begin sometime the week of June 20. Ruth/Mom/Grammy will receive 35 doses of radiation 5 days a week with the 4th of July off. She should finish up this round of radiation in early August, right before her 86th birthday, and then I'm sure it will be time for another CT scan.

As always, thank you so much for your prayers. I will update the blog to let you know how Mom handles the radiation so keep on praying that she does not have too bad of a reaction to the radiation and that she, at the age of 85, can tolerate it. She's pretty tough and has impressed both doctors with her strength and stamina so I think she will tolerate it just fine as long as we are all lifting her up in prayer!