This was a doctor's appointment and a chemo treatment. It wasn't a good day. Connie couldn't make the walk with her walker from the rig to the truck. It was tough to watch. But, again, she was a trooper and gutted it out. We used the wheelchair the rest of the day.
We met with her Oncologist and I told the story from the 12th. He basically said the brain is starting to shut her body down. On the 12th, it shut it down then restarted. It would continue to happen until it couldn't restart and she'd be gone.
He gave us the option of doing the next two treatments, a week off, then meeting with him on the first Monday of the New Year. However, he said things weren't going to get better. In most cases, they were going to get worse and the shut downs would be more frequent.
The other option was to skip the treatment and consult Hospice. He gave us time to talk and decide.
We talked. We talked about when this all started (back in 2013), we would always opt for quality of life vs. quantity. Right now, her quality was terrible. She doesn't want to go to the beach. She doesn't want to sit out in the sun. She spends 12-16 hours in bed, the rest of the time in the recliner. We decided we're at that point. She simply said, "Let's go home."
With those 3 words, we began the end of our time together.
Life is all about "the stories".
This is ours from our RV somewhere in the U.S.
Showing posts with label Oncologist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oncologist. Show all posts
Monday, December 16, 2019
Friday, October 25, 2019
Update on Connie, part whatever
A week ago Monday (October 14th), Connie had a treatment scheduled along with a visit with the Oncologist to discuss her two scans from the previous week of her full body and her brain.
As we've talked about before, chemo only works on the disease that's below the neck. The scans showed very little progression, not enough to be concerned. So the chemo has been working. In the race for cancer to gain traction on my wife's body, right now the brain has taken the lead again.
The brain scans, however, showed "significant" progression. His opinion was that the brain needed to be evaluated and we needed to go over things with our neuro oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic. We got a "virtual visit" scheduled with them for today, Friday, the 25th. He gave Connie the option of going through with the treatment or waiting till we've heard from the neuro surgeon. She chose to skip the treatment on the 14th and 21st. Basically, while keeping the body under check is necessary, if the brain gets too far ahead, it trumps the body.
It's really no different than the position we were in this past January, or the March the year before.
Met with the Neuro surgeon today via "virtual visit", and, similar to the last time, he can't tell if it's progression of the lesion or if it's radiation necrosis from past treatments. We're going to do a month of steroids to reduce the swelling. After that, around the week of Thanksgiving, we'll shoot new pictures of the brain. We'll send those to Cleveland Clinic for assessment and do another virtual visit probably in the first two weeks of December.
Got Connie back on the chemo schedule a week from Monday, so she'll be resuming those. We appreciate all the love and support. While I don't answer everyone, please know that we're feeling the love.
As we've talked about before, chemo only works on the disease that's below the neck. The scans showed very little progression, not enough to be concerned. So the chemo has been working. In the race for cancer to gain traction on my wife's body, right now the brain has taken the lead again.
The brain scans, however, showed "significant" progression. His opinion was that the brain needed to be evaluated and we needed to go over things with our neuro oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic. We got a "virtual visit" scheduled with them for today, Friday, the 25th. He gave Connie the option of going through with the treatment or waiting till we've heard from the neuro surgeon. She chose to skip the treatment on the 14th and 21st. Basically, while keeping the body under check is necessary, if the brain gets too far ahead, it trumps the body.
It's really no different than the position we were in this past January, or the March the year before.
Met with the Neuro surgeon today via "virtual visit", and, similar to the last time, he can't tell if it's progression of the lesion or if it's radiation necrosis from past treatments. We're going to do a month of steroids to reduce the swelling. After that, around the week of Thanksgiving, we'll shoot new pictures of the brain. We'll send those to Cleveland Clinic for assessment and do another virtual visit probably in the first two weeks of December.
Got Connie back on the chemo schedule a week from Monday, so she'll be resuming those. We appreciate all the love and support. While I don't answer everyone, please know that we're feeling the love.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
December and The Holidays
We've been at Copano Bay RV Resort since December 20th. Had a Happy Hour most afternoons with our friends here.Connie has had two treatments since our last blog. She seems to be tolerating them very well. Her oncologist sees most of the cancer being stable and not worthy of being too aggressive, so that's what we've done.
Christmas Day we had a FaceTime conversation with our daughter, Bethany, and her husband, James (and dogs). With the announcement that she's expecting in June, we'll probably be doing a lot more of this in the coming months and years.We took our Christmas decorations down yesterday, the day after Christmas which is earlier than either of us can remember.. Its amazing how much space we donate to our Christmas decorations, but its something both of us enjoy.
We'll be following the Buckeyes to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. Meeting our daughter at the airport in Houston, then on to Baton Rouge for New Year's Eve, then NOLA for New Year's Day and the game vs. Alabama. Shortly after we return (with Bethany) to Rockport, we'll head back with her to Dallas where she's working the National Championship game (and hopefully to continue to follow the Buckeyes!)
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Time is Flying By
Hard to believe it has been over a week since our last update. Good news it that there has not been a lot to report since then.
The weather here in Rockport has been warm, but overcast. So, not much sitting out in the sun. However, that is good too since I am now supposed to limit my time in the sun. :-( Those that know me well, know that is going to be a challenge. We saw evidence why it is necessary when we were working outside (on an overcast day) and in no time at all, I was getting sunburned on the back of my neck. Sounds like the sensitivity will continue even after the radiation affects are over.
One side effect that no one seems to be able to address is my ears. They said the tops would be sensitive and peeling like a sunburn, but they can't explain why I am having issues with the inner ear. Very annoying!
Today was a visit to the medical oncologist. Sounds like the lab numbers were ok and we can proceed with the next dose of Herceptin in a week.
Since all that has fallen in to place, we have more firm plans for our return to Ohio. Looks like we will be leaving Texas on or around May 4. It will take us at least a week to get all the way back to Ashtabula as we drive only short distances and will spend some time in Wilmington to visit the folks.
Well, that's all I have to report at this time. Thanks for all the love and prayers!
The weather here in Rockport has been warm, but overcast. So, not much sitting out in the sun. However, that is good too since I am now supposed to limit my time in the sun. :-( Those that know me well, know that is going to be a challenge. We saw evidence why it is necessary when we were working outside (on an overcast day) and in no time at all, I was getting sunburned on the back of my neck. Sounds like the sensitivity will continue even after the radiation affects are over.
One side effect that no one seems to be able to address is my ears. They said the tops would be sensitive and peeling like a sunburn, but they can't explain why I am having issues with the inner ear. Very annoying!
Today was a visit to the medical oncologist. Sounds like the lab numbers were ok and we can proceed with the next dose of Herceptin in a week.
Since all that has fallen in to place, we have more firm plans for our return to Ohio. Looks like we will be leaving Texas on or around May 4. It will take us at least a week to get all the way back to Ashtabula as we drive only short distances and will spend some time in Wilmington to visit the folks.
Well, that's all I have to report at this time. Thanks for all the love and prayers!
Friday, February 22, 2013
You need to take your wife to the Emergency Room...
Today, Connie was scheduled to be in Corpus Christi at 8:30a for a brain MRI, a mammogram and a CT chest scan. We have a follow up visit with Dr. Aponte, the oncologist, on Monday (the 25th). The whole process was supposed to take about an hour and a half.
Nothing I could do, so I started driving around Corpus Christi playing Munzee, which is basically a 21st century scavenger hunt with a smart phone. I thought it beat sitting in a waiting area for a couple of hours. Connie had forwarded her cell phone to me, so all the business calls would come my way while she was being tested.
At about 9:45a, I got a call from Dr. Aponte wanting to tell me to take Connie to the Emergency Room at Christus Spohn Shoreline. I was pretty confused. I was only about 10 minutes away from the imaging place. Connie was inside waiting on them to make disks up to give to her and bring with her to the ER. She said something on the brain MRI was troubling to the technician.
We went to the ER. (Funny story, while we're waiting they called for "Guadalupe Something" four different times for four different Guadalupe's.) Connie finally gets taken back, and we agreed that it was time to get the dogs taken care of since the admitting process would take a while.
I came back to Rockport and made arrangements for Carmen and Sloopy to be boarded at the Salty Dog here in Rockport. They weren't quite used to having loose ends, but we got it worked out. Whole process took about 2 hours.
By the time I got back, Connie was in a hallway and about to be transferred to a transitional area. She had met with Dr. Aponte who said there was a mass on her brain that needed immediate treatment. Connie was put on steroids (to shrink the swelling of the brain) and anti seizure meds right away.
We met that night with Dr. Gleason, who was a neurologist. He showed us the pictures that had caused alarm and was going to recommend that Connie undergo Cyber Knife treatment for the large mass, and whole brain radiation for the additional small spots that were apparent.
I went home, and Connie was moved to a permanent room.
Nothing I could do, so I started driving around Corpus Christi playing Munzee, which is basically a 21st century scavenger hunt with a smart phone. I thought it beat sitting in a waiting area for a couple of hours. Connie had forwarded her cell phone to me, so all the business calls would come my way while she was being tested.
At about 9:45a, I got a call from Dr. Aponte wanting to tell me to take Connie to the Emergency Room at Christus Spohn Shoreline. I was pretty confused. I was only about 10 minutes away from the imaging place. Connie was inside waiting on them to make disks up to give to her and bring with her to the ER. She said something on the brain MRI was troubling to the technician.
We went to the ER. (Funny story, while we're waiting they called for "Guadalupe Something" four different times for four different Guadalupe's.) Connie finally gets taken back, and we agreed that it was time to get the dogs taken care of since the admitting process would take a while.
I came back to Rockport and made arrangements for Carmen and Sloopy to be boarded at the Salty Dog here in Rockport. They weren't quite used to having loose ends, but we got it worked out. Whole process took about 2 hours.
By the time I got back, Connie was in a hallway and about to be transferred to a transitional area. She had met with Dr. Aponte who said there was a mass on her brain that needed immediate treatment. Connie was put on steroids (to shrink the swelling of the brain) and anti seizure meds right away.
We met that night with Dr. Gleason, who was a neurologist. He showed us the pictures that had caused alarm and was going to recommend that Connie undergo Cyber Knife treatment for the large mass, and whole brain radiation for the additional small spots that were apparent.
I went home, and Connie was moved to a permanent room.
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