Ok, now to play ketchup.

Wow.  I’m thinking that I have some work to do here.  My last entry was on June 29, and it is now July 29.  So, let’s begin.

Disclaimer:  If you don’t have lots of time, please don’t start reading this.  Put it off until later.  Even if the kids are on the computer, kick them off and come back to read this.  It might be a bit wordy.  /end disclaimer.

Good afternoon, dear reader.  Welcome back to my blog.  Although, it should be me who is welcomed back, as I’m the one who disappeared.  So, welcome back, dear writer!!  Ok…deep breath.  Where am I at?  I left you last with 6 chemo’s done and a rough plan of what lies ahead for my dear wife.  That was the end of June.  Amazingly enough, things have changed.

Between the 29th of June and the 17th of July, not much happened.  Our holiday plans were changed.  Originally, the kids were going to go camping with my family for 4 days, after which I would join them for 4 days.  We changed that.  We decided that the kids and I would go camping for 8 days, and Dianne would have a holiday at home…no kids, no hubby, no worries.  We did this because during the time we wanted to be camping, she had to have a consultation and possibly a chemo treatment.  We figured that this would work out well.  So, on Monday the 13th, the kids and I headed off to Coaldale, and then to Kikomun Creek Provincial Park (Surveyors Lake) in BC on Tuesday.  We enjoyed our time their immensely, although I can honestly say that Dianne was sorely missed by the kids and by me (being Mom and Dad on a camping trip is not all it’s cracked up to be.)  I actually forgot to feed the kids lunch on the first two days.  And this whole changing of clothes thing is hogwash.  But hey, it saves on laundry when we got home, right?

So, all this begs the question:  What did Dianne do whilst we were camping?  Well, she rested.  From everything she’s told me, she enjoyed it quite a bit.  On Thursday, July 16, Dianne went in to the CCI for her consultation.  Her blood counts were up!!  The good Dr. measured the tumor (which in his estimation used to be the size of a watermelon (and anyone who knows Dianne will laugh hysterically at that), and decided that it now measured 4cm x 4cm.  This down from 5cm x 3cm from the last measurement.  Excellent!!!  (/insert Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure guitar riff).  He also said that the tumor is softer and seems to be caving in on itself (I call it an implosion).  This too is very good news.  This means that the tumor is shrinking in size from outward edge to inward edge (nipple to chest), and is breaking up slightly.  Chemo on the 18th is a go!!!!

As a side note, Dr. Joy’s new intern apparently has warm hands (which makes Dianne very happy) and he likes the Calgary Flames (which automatically adds to the respect level I have for him).

Dianne emailed me at 3:10PM on Friday, July 17 to let me know that the chemo treatment went well.  (Thank you Henrietta for taking Dianne to the consultation on Thursday and to the chemo appointment of Friday!!)  She had a good nurse, which always makes the process better.  She also had a guy eating ice beside her for the last half hour.  Just so you know….when Dianne sees ice, hears ice tinkle in a glass, thinks of ice or eats ice, it brings back nasty chemo memories.  It is not pleasant for her.  So that last 1/2 hour must have been real crappy for her.  (not to mention that it is now very hard for me to make a Mojito, margurita or daquiri without making her sick).  Only 1 chemo left!!!!

ONLY ONE CHEMO LEFT!!!!  For me, it seems not too long ago that we were facing the daunting journey of 8 chemo treatments and all the hellish side effects thereof.  (For Dianne, it seems a long time ago, but time is moving different for her.)  And now, she has one left.  Wow.  We are both really looking forward to the end of the leg of the trip.

On July 20th, Dianne received a phone call from the surgeons office requesting that she come in at 10:15 the next morning.  This is an important meeting we figured, because this is where the mastectomy decision is most likely to be made (single or double).  Thank you Andy for driving Dianne to this appointment.

What transpired at the meeting with the surgeon?  Well, it has been decided that surgery will take place at the end of August or beginning of September (usually  or 4 weeks after the last chemo).  Dianne’s blood counts have to be up before surgery can proceed.  The surgeon prefers to do a single mastectomy now, and if Dianne would like to, the second one can be removed in a years time.  The surgeon feels this reduces the risk of infection.  However, Dianne has the final say as to what happens.  She has signed a consent form for both a single and a double….now she needs to make that decision.  Dianne and I have talked about it, and are still gathering some more information before we decide.  We have to let the surgeon know at the beginning of August what will happen.  Dianne will need to stay in the hospital for one night after surgery, and if there are no complications, she can go home the next day.  I will be home for 2 weeks following the surgery in order to do everything that Dianne would normally do (feeding kids is an important one, as I learned on the camping trip!!).

And that, dear reader, brings you up to date.  Dianne’s next consultation is next Thursday (a week from tomorrow).  The final chemo is approaching!!  The tune to The Final Countdown by Europe suddenly popped into my head for some reason.  Ah, this is going to be an important landmark in this journey.  I am looking forward to being able to tell you that chemo is done.  And, the Lord willing, I will be able to do that next weekend.

Again, I must thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers, and for all the other support given.  Thanks again Henrietta for being such an awesome sister!!  And Andy, thanks for being a great brother-in-law!!  And Laura, many thanks for once again injecting the Neulasta into Dianne on the Saturday after chemo (can we call you one more time next weekend?).

Dear reader…..cheers.

RK

8 is enough

Hello again, dear reader.  Again, it is time for an update on Dianne.  So without further ado, let’s go.  And I promise I will not make any ‘Michael Jackson is dead!!’ references.  You’d probably tell me to beat it.  Or start calling me Billie Jean.  Or tell me to mind my own ABC’s.  Well I tell you, I’m struggling with the man in the mirror, and not everything is black or white.  Ok, enough of that…it’s been a real thriller.

Now, for the update.  This past Thursday, Dianne had her consultation with the oncologist.  He was thrilled because the tumors have shrunk to 5 x 4 cm.  Based on that, he is going to go ahead with the full run of chemotherapy, meaning that Dianne had 3 left as of Thursday.  Also, her blood counts came back to normal, which meant that chemo was a go for the next day.

And with that, the chemo was administered, along with all the steroids that come with it.  The steroids cause insomnia, so Dianne did not get much sleep over the weekend.  The administration of the chemo went real well.  This is the 2nd round of the 2nd type of chemo, and with this one comes a drug called Herceptin.  The Herceptin is used because Dianne is HER2 positive.  With the first dose of Herceptin, it took 90 minutes to IV it into her, and with the second one it was 60 minutes.  I believe that 3 and 4 will take only 30 minutes to get it in.  The actual chemo (Taxetere) is administered after the Herceptin.  So, we were at the CCI for about 3 1/2 hours this time around.

The side effects of the Taxetere don’t kick in usually until Monday.  These effects consist of muscle pain, joint pain and bone pain.  Thankfully there has been no nausea associated with the chemo so far.  The pain can be controlled with Tylenol, although there are risks with that too (it masks fever).  Is this all repeat?  Have I mentioned any of this before?  If I have, please accept my apologies.  If I haven’t then there is no need for apologies LOL.

So, where are we and what is ahead?  Right now, Dianne is done 6 out of 8 chemo treatments.  Following chemo is surgery, followed by radiation followed by more surgery (reconstructive).  And today is Monday, tomorrow is Tuesday….we’ll deal with Tuesday when it comes.  That’s how we live…day by day.

This week, Dianne and the kids are at her mom and dad’s in Camp Creek.  Hopefully they have a great time there, and hopefully Dianne feels well enough to enjoy it.

A very special thanks goes to Laura P. for injecting the Neulasta into Dianne on Saturday.   And thanks to Rita G. for being available if Laura couldn’t do it.  Thanks also to everyone who’s supporting us through prayers and good wishes.  We appreciate it all!!!

Cheers,

RK

The Latest…..

Dear Reader

Really, truly and honestly…..there is nothing new.  Everything is good right now.  Thursday will be another consultation to find out how Dianne’s blood counts are, when the next chemo will be and if there has been any change in the tumours. 

So, check up here again on Thursday or Friday.

Until then….cheers.

RK

Finally…an update

Greetings, dear reader.  Finally I am getting around to publishing an update.  Again, laziness has struck, and I find myself sitting on the couch not blogging more often than not.  My evenings are spent with Dianne, with the kids…and once they’re in bed I sit here with a glass of wine and play some video games.  Really, I need to make time to keep all of you updated.

 At last update, we discussed how Dianne’s 5th treatment was delayed.  Well, a one week reprieve is all she needed for her blood counts to come back to normal.  And so, the treatment was administered.  During the week off, we had visits from our Pastor and his intern, plus a visit from two elders from our church.  These evenings were very enjoyable…it was more proof that there is a tremendous amount of support for us.

 So.  The treatment.  It went well.  I wasn’t present for this one…I went to David’s sports day in Neerlandia (Rebecca came along as well), and so Henrietta went to ‘chemo day’ with Dianne.  For those of you who followed along with my Facebook status updates, you’ll kind of have an idea how the weekend went.  Dianne has been able to eat and drink with no repercussions at all.  This is really a ‘new’ experience for us…the past treatments have drastically her ability to keep food and drink in for about 3 days following.

 Now, don’t get me wrong.  She has not felt all that great following the treatment, but it could have been so much worse.  The muscle aches and pains showed up on Monday evening.  Thankfully, by then the insomnia was starting to disappear (she was done taking the round of steroids).  As of this writing, the aches and pains are still there, and we’re unsure of how long this lasts.

 On Monday, Dianne and I went for a consultation with the radiologist.  We discussed the pro’s and con’s of radiation.  You’re probably wondering why we would have this consultation now.  After all, radiation won’t happen until after surgery.  Well, the radiologist needs time to plan out the treatments, and also needs to get herself familiar with Dianne and her situation.  It was a very good consult, and we feel very comfortable with radiation as another treatment.   Radiation will take place at least 4 weeks after surgery, depending on how well Dianne is healing.  She will go for at least 20 treatments….5 per week for 4 weeks.

 Dear reader, I think that brings you up to date.  I might have forgotten something, but that should not surprise anyone who knows me.    I know it’s been said before, but I must say it again…thank you all very much for your thoughts and prayers, and for every other form of support you’ve given.  Words cannot express how deeply we appreciate it.

 A quick shout out to Dana….you go girl!!!  Only one chemo left for you!!!  God bless, my friend!!!!

 Cheers.

 RK

Not quite what we wanted to hear.

Dear reader,
The following post is a direct copy and paste from the email I sent to my family.  This is the latest:

Dianne had her consultation this morning, and it didn’t go quite as expected.  One piece of good news is that her heart is in good shape, and thus is able to receive the 2^nd type of chemo.

However, she will NOT be receiving that chemo tomorrow as scheduled.  Her blood counts are low, and they need to be back to normal before they can administer the chemo.  This is a disappointment, but in light of how all things have gone to date, we have no reason to complain.

The other not so good thing is that the tumor(s) are NOT shrinking.  The ultrasound shows that it / they are actually growing slightly, but the oncologist doesn’t quite agree by his manual measurements.  In either case, this is not cool at all.  Dr Joy now says that he wants to try for sure 2 more rounds of chemo, but if there is no change after that, he will discontinue the chemo treatments and Dianne will at that point head off into surgery.

Obviously, we are a little bit disappointed.  We had hoped that everything would stay on schedule and go smoothly.  And based on how things have gone, I don’t think this was unrealistic.  However, as I mentioned, we can’t really complain about this.  So far, Dianne has done wonderfully, and she continues to do wonderfully in her battle.  This is just a wee hiccup in the treatment schedule.  No big deal.  She will go next week Thursday for another consultation / blood test to see if she is able to receive the treatment next Friday.

In all of this, we do realize that everything is in God’s hands, and that nothing happens by chance.  We know that He, in his infinite grace and mercy, is holding Dianne and I and our family in His hands, and He will continue to give us everything that we need.

Cheers,

RK