Today, Donna finished up her second round of chemo... Things have been going really well, and she has been feeling better than expected. There are occasional times where she feels naseous, but they have given her medicine to help combat that.
Her voice has been getting stronger and weaker off and on.
Because she has been doing so well, they have decided to push her schedule up a little bit. Her next round will be in 21 days instead of 25...
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Disability
Some good news:
Donna was approved for full disability... Everything to do with anything that started in her heart and lungs should be covered financially.
If nothing else, Mitch and Donna's checkbook is rejoicing!
Keep up the prayers and encouragement. There are lots of little things (and not so little things, like this) that are going much smoother and quicker than would be expected. Some of the scheduling and timing of treatments have been amazing. Her first chemo treatment, for example, was easily two weeks to a month quicker than typical.
Donna was approved for full disability... Everything to do with anything that started in her heart and lungs should be covered financially.
If nothing else, Mitch and Donna's checkbook is rejoicing!
Keep up the prayers and encouragement. There are lots of little things (and not so little things, like this) that are going much smoother and quicker than would be expected. Some of the scheduling and timing of treatments have been amazing. Her first chemo treatment, for example, was easily two weeks to a month quicker than typical.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Donna's Voice
Well, she saw the ear nose and throat doc last week, and had a follow up visit today.
The issue with her voice looks like its related to the cancer. At first, the doc thought the cancer was attacking her throat, but on close inspection, that doesn't seem to be the case.
Apparently, the problem is that one of the masses in her lungs is pushing against the nerve that controls her vocal chords.
The hope is that if the chemo starts to reduce the mass, the voice will come back.
So hurry up and get your teasing and jabs in now... ;-)
The issue with her voice looks like its related to the cancer. At first, the doc thought the cancer was attacking her throat, but on close inspection, that doesn't seem to be the case.
Apparently, the problem is that one of the masses in her lungs is pushing against the nerve that controls her vocal chords.
The hope is that if the chemo starts to reduce the mass, the voice will come back.
So hurry up and get your teasing and jabs in now... ;-)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Open House
Last Saturday, Donna and Mitch had an open house for all the people that worked with Donna. Lots of people showed up and they had a good time talking and eating and hanging out.
Overall Donna felt pretty well...
They would like to thank everyone that showed up and brought cards, gifts and well wishes.
Overall Donna felt pretty well...
They would like to thank everyone that showed up and brought cards, gifts and well wishes.
Friday, October 31, 2008
What's this Moffit Cancer stuff?
Ok... talked to Donna and Mitch today.
The Moffit Cancer Center in Florida is working on stuff that helps the immune system aid in the fight against cancer.
They have a treatment idea where they take a patient's blood throughout a round of chemo, watch how things change over the month, and then create a custom formula that will allow the body's immune system help the chemo to be more effective.
Moffit did a test group using this idea, and they had about a 50% increase in the effectiveness of the chemo.
They are doing a second round of testing, and they are accepting 100 individuals. 66 will get the custom syrum and 34 will get a placebo.
Donna is a good candidiate for the second round. They have given her initial approval for the program. She will be flying out to Florida for a meeting December 1 to make sure everything looks good and to actually be admitted to the program if they accept her.
Either way, she will finish this 4-6 month batch of chemo treatments. If she is accepted into the program, she will then spend a month in Florida. They will give her a round of chemo, and then check out her blood almost every day for the entire month. They will make up the custom syrum (or a not so custom placebo) give it to Donna before the next batch of chemo. That syrum will be used over an entire batch of 4-6 treatments.
It also appears that this kind of a treatment works kinda like an immunization... If Donna's cancer goes into remmission, and then comes back, the improvements in her immune system should still be in place to make fighting the cancer a second time more effective.
The Moffit Cancer Center in Florida is working on stuff that helps the immune system aid in the fight against cancer.
They have a treatment idea where they take a patient's blood throughout a round of chemo, watch how things change over the month, and then create a custom formula that will allow the body's immune system help the chemo to be more effective.
Moffit did a test group using this idea, and they had about a 50% increase in the effectiveness of the chemo.
They are doing a second round of testing, and they are accepting 100 individuals. 66 will get the custom syrum and 34 will get a placebo.
Donna is a good candidiate for the second round. They have given her initial approval for the program. She will be flying out to Florida for a meeting December 1 to make sure everything looks good and to actually be admitted to the program if they accept her.
Either way, she will finish this 4-6 month batch of chemo treatments. If she is accepted into the program, she will then spend a month in Florida. They will give her a round of chemo, and then check out her blood almost every day for the entire month. They will make up the custom syrum (or a not so custom placebo) give it to Donna before the next batch of chemo. That syrum will be used over an entire batch of 4-6 treatments.
It also appears that this kind of a treatment works kinda like an immunization... If Donna's cancer goes into remmission, and then comes back, the improvements in her immune system should still be in place to make fighting the cancer a second time more effective.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Important Upcoming Dates
November 7th. - Visit to the Ear/Nose/Throat doc. (Donna wants her voice back)
November 24,25,26 - Second round of Chemo
December 1 - Trip to the Moffit Cancer Center in Florida.
November 24,25,26 - Second round of Chemo
December 1 - Trip to the Moffit Cancer Center in Florida.
Chemo - Day 2
Today Donna is doing her second round of chemo.
So far, she has felt pretty well, tho she still doesn't have a voice. Sometimes people get quite sick after the first treatment... They say that it takes some people a couple days to feel sick, and some people don't feel that bad at all...
I am lucky to have a registered nurse for a wife, so I get to ask all the questions and she gets to answer them for me. So... here are the questions I had... Maybe you have them too:
Will she lose her hair? Probably... some people don't but most people do... We'll wait and see.
How do they give her the chemo? They sit her down in a comfy lazy boy recliner, put an IV in her hand, and then start giving her saline... After a bit, they put in the first type of chemo medicine, and then they put in the second one, and then they put in more saline to kinda flush the lines out and make sure it all gets in. This process takes a total of about an hour and a half. Seems like so far, the hardest part for Donna is sitting still... :-)
How long does the chemo last in her body? It has a half life of 5 days. So... if they give her 100 units, then 5 days later there are 50 units... 10 days later there are 25. At 25 days there are only about 3 of the original 100 units... That's when the next round starts, jumping it back up to around 100.
Any other questions or comments? Just post them and I will get them answered.
So far, she has felt pretty well, tho she still doesn't have a voice. Sometimes people get quite sick after the first treatment... They say that it takes some people a couple days to feel sick, and some people don't feel that bad at all...
I am lucky to have a registered nurse for a wife, so I get to ask all the questions and she gets to answer them for me. So... here are the questions I had... Maybe you have them too:
Will she lose her hair? Probably... some people don't but most people do... We'll wait and see.
How do they give her the chemo? They sit her down in a comfy lazy boy recliner, put an IV in her hand, and then start giving her saline... After a bit, they put in the first type of chemo medicine, and then they put in the second one, and then they put in more saline to kinda flush the lines out and make sure it all gets in. This process takes a total of about an hour and a half. Seems like so far, the hardest part for Donna is sitting still... :-)
How long does the chemo last in her body? It has a half life of 5 days. So... if they give her 100 units, then 5 days later there are 50 units... 10 days later there are 25. At 25 days there are only about 3 of the original 100 units... That's when the next round starts, jumping it back up to around 100.
Any other questions or comments? Just post them and I will get them answered.
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