Merry Christmas

Here's Mom and Dad at our house Christmas Morning. They came over to see Benjamin open his presents and have Christmas breakfast.

Afterwards they went home to rest until dinner time which was provided by local family child care providers. It was all wonderful and we want to say THANK YOU to everyone that brought food, cards and anything else. It was very thoughtful and much appreciated.

First Weekend after Chemo

Mom has been extremely tired since Thursday afternoon. This is what happened after the first round of chemo as well, it really drains her out. She is slowly getting some energy back but it's a slow process. I'm sure this time around it could last longer with her have radiation every day this week.

Round 2 of Chemo is offically in the History books...

Mom completed her 3 day of round 2 today around 12:15. She has to go back tomorrow but just for a shot to help keep her white blood count up and then we are back to weekly visits for blood work until January 5 when the 3rd round will start. As of right now Mom is still feeling well.

Radiation started yesterday, she had a treatment today and will go again tomorrow at 10. Radiation will be done every day for 5 weeks. So far that is going well to.

Lunch at Chemo

They have a little patio outside the clinic where you can go out and sit while are taking your Chemo. I meet Mom & Addie at the clinic and we had lunch together on the patio. Mom wasn't taking chemo here this is the 2 bags of anti-nausea meds.

Funny thing about lunch today and Mom had no idea and didn't remember. 3 weeks ago today when Mom received her very first chemo treatment in the Hospital she wanted Chick-fil-A's soup so Dad went and got it and that's what she had that first day taking Chemo. Well today when Addie asked what she wanted for lunch Mom said "You know I would really like some Chicken Noodle Soup from Chick-fil-A" so Addie went and got it. When we sat down to eat outside and I saw the soup and asked who's the soup for and they said Judie. I started laughing and Mom asked why. So I reminded her that her that she ate that same meal on her very first day of Chemo. She laughed and said, well maybe this Chemo is making me crave it...

Round 2 Has Started!

Addie (our friend) got Mom to the Doctors office today at 8:30 for her blood work and the start of her 2nd Round of Chemo. They did the blood work and her blood levels was good to start the Chemo.

They started her with a pill for anti-nausea and then hooked up the bag of fluids. The fluids were to run for almost 3 hours. Once they were done around 12:15 they started the first bag of anti-nausea meds that took 15 - 20 minutes then they started the second bag of anti-nausea meds which also took 15 - 20 minutes. Yes she got 3 different types of anti-nausea meds today plus she got 2 prescriptions

Finally at 1:00 they started her first bag of Chemo. This bag takes 2 hours to run. You will see the bag in the picture it's the one on the right. Once that bag was completed they hooked up the bag on left - another type of Chemo and this bag took 2 hours as well.

So all and All Mom was there from 8:30 until 5:00 today but the 1st day of the 2nd round is in the history books. So far she is feeling good. She has to be back tomorrow at 9:00 to start day 2.

And its Off....

Mom's hair that is.

After having it cut really short last Thursday by Lynn our hair dresser it continued to fall out by the hand fulls.

So on Monday afternoon Mom gave Dad the choice either he take the clippers to get it all off or she will take the clippers and do it herself. I tried to tell her I would do it after work that I always wanted to "play" beauty shop. LOL She thought it was funny but Dad ended up doing it that afternoon and it looks great...

Dad even cut his to look like Mom - Almost anyways I will get a picture this week or weekend of both of them together.

This weeks schedule

Radiation has been post pone until Wednesday, so Mom will get 3 days of radiation this week instead of the 5. They wanted to wait until after Tuesday to start as Tuesday is her LONG day of Chemo.

Thank you to everyone for the cards, phone calls, support and prayers.

Treatment Schedule

Mom is scheduled to start radiation on Monday December 14, 2009. She will do 5 straight days of radiation for 5 straight weeks. She will also be starting her 2nd round of Chemo on Tuesday December 15, 2009 in conjunction with the radiation. The rounds of Chemo is 3 straight days every 3 weeks. During her 5 weeks of radiation she will have her 2nd & 3rd round of chemo in conjunction with her 1st and 4th week of radiation.

Radiation, while it is every day and is 5 full weeks the procedure itself is short. They have told us it will take 20 mins each day from start to finish.

Chemo is much longer. The first day of each round she gets 2 different types of Chemo Meds along with regular fluids. This will put her 1st day in the clinic at around a minimum of 6 hours. The other 2 days are much short and will have her int he clinci for a minimum of 3 hours.

We are all keeping a positive additude and know that Mom is strong and that God will see her and all of us through this battle.

Pet Scan Results

We received the results on Monday from Mom's Pet Scan. They found 2 small cancer spots on her pancreas in addition to the cancer in the right lung. Dr. Patel, Mom's oncologist is still very confident that he will be able to get Mom into remission. He said the Chemo will take care of those 2 spots as well. In fact, on the CT Scans from the Hospital the entire right lung was whited out and all 3 lopes were closed up. Now on the Pet Scan you can clearly see that the top portion and the top lope is opened up. It's amazing how much work the 1 round of Chemo has done.