His treatments are going ok. On Thursday, they did get him started around 1:00 so he was able to finish around 2am. That evening, he started with a headache and his nausea kicked in enough he had to ask for some anti-nausea meds. It took about 3 hours to finally get it all under control. His fatigue is setting in as well. It didn’t help to listen to the jackhammers all night. They have been working on the parking lot outside the building for the past 2 months and Thursday night, they decided to pull an all night work out there with the big lights shining through the windows.
Friday he seemed to do a little better. They started around 1:00 again. He did experience some nausea again, but was able to control it on his own. He really doesn’t like taking the anti-nausea meds as it makes him real loopy.
He’s resting now. The doctor this morning said he would move his treatment up an hour or so to help get us out the door a little earlier tomorrow. One more day to go this round, he’s hoping to keep the side-effects away again.
As always, please continue to keep all those beautiful people, our sarcoma friends and everyone fighting any cancer in your prayers.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
One Year ~ Chemo Treatment ~ The Celebration
Today marks 1 year. One year ago today, I was sitting in a chair (as I do today) next to his bed wondering what was going to happen. Michael unable to walk and the pain he had experienced that week was so excruciating. I will never forget hearing those words; Michael has a tumor located inside his spinal cord. I don’t think I will ever forget that entire week. I remember thinking will they be able to make my husband walk again? Will I lose my husband? So many thoughts ran through my head. We both were so scared.
I remember crying the entire ride home that night (it’s an hour ride) wondering how I was going to tell our children. I don’t really remember how I told them; I do remember asking them both to skip school the next day so they could go to the hospital with me to talk with the team of doctors caring for their dad. I told them they could take me to lunch in the hospital cafeteria for my birthday. Food always work.
Of course once we did get the pathology back on his tumor (which did take a while due to testing and re-testing), it was not what anyone expected.
So much has happened with Michael and me over the past year. Cancer totally changes your life. Within the past year, we have had many low points. We lost our home, Michael lost his job, and many more things, too many to mention. There have been several times Michael wanted to give up, but NEVER did. He has been a true fighter.
There have been good things out of this dreaded disease. Michael and I have grown closer than we could ever imagine. Michael and I have been together 21 years and already had a very strong relationship. We were able to watch our two beautiful children graduate high school and enjoy it. We have watched our son take off to the real world on his own. He will be starting his freshman year of college on Monday at Stephen F. Austin State University in East Texas.
And for me, I am truly amazed everyday at the fight that my husband has put up. To sit here and watch him go through treatment, to see the pain he is in through out the week, to watch him not give up on anything. He has not let cancer get in his way. He may have to use his cane at times just to get around, he may go days with little to no sleep, he may not feel like doing a thing, but he still gets up everyday and pushes on. He will not be stopped by anything. He WILL kick cancer in the butt by the time we are done.
CHEMO TREATMENT SECOND TO LAST ONE!!!
This morning we went to the doctor’s office to get his labs drawn and see the doctor. Our daughter Rebbecca came with us to spend the day with her dad. His labs are OK, not the greatest, but still good enough for treatment. While we were leaving the office to come to the Jackson building to check in, we saw David and Rachel (the young couple we met last time Michael has chemo) waiting to get Rachel’s labs. We stopped to speak with them. What a joy to finally meet Rachel. She looked well. They did say once they were done there, they too where on their way to the Jackson building for her in-patient treatment. We hope to catch up with them while we are here. Michael is in room J229 again. So far, Michael is doing rather well with his treatment. We will update everyone later.
THE CELEBRATION
Today for lunch I asked a few girlfriends from work to come up to the hospital to help me celebrate with Michael his 1 year of being a SURVIVOR. I ordered a few party trays from Jason’s Deli and ordered the most delicious cupcakes from a girl I work with. She has cupcake business and she makes the best cupcakes. I kept it quiet from Michael for the past 3 weeks.
One of them called me when they got here and I told Michael I was going out to the truck to get something to drink. I met them and helped them bring up the goodies. Let’s just way when the 4 of us walked back in he was surprised. He had to wait a few minutes to begin his celebration as the nurses where accessing his port when we walked in. Once he was hooked up, we sat and enjoyed good food and great conversation. Thanks girls for making this a great day for Michael. He had a wonderful time. Becky, Judy and Tish you are the best. Check out Michael’s carepages to see pictures from today.
I remember crying the entire ride home that night (it’s an hour ride) wondering how I was going to tell our children. I don’t really remember how I told them; I do remember asking them both to skip school the next day so they could go to the hospital with me to talk with the team of doctors caring for their dad. I told them they could take me to lunch in the hospital cafeteria for my birthday. Food always work.
Of course once we did get the pathology back on his tumor (which did take a while due to testing and re-testing), it was not what anyone expected.
So much has happened with Michael and me over the past year. Cancer totally changes your life. Within the past year, we have had many low points. We lost our home, Michael lost his job, and many more things, too many to mention. There have been several times Michael wanted to give up, but NEVER did. He has been a true fighter.
There have been good things out of this dreaded disease. Michael and I have grown closer than we could ever imagine. Michael and I have been together 21 years and already had a very strong relationship. We were able to watch our two beautiful children graduate high school and enjoy it. We have watched our son take off to the real world on his own. He will be starting his freshman year of college on Monday at Stephen F. Austin State University in East Texas.
And for me, I am truly amazed everyday at the fight that my husband has put up. To sit here and watch him go through treatment, to see the pain he is in through out the week, to watch him not give up on anything. He has not let cancer get in his way. He may have to use his cane at times just to get around, he may go days with little to no sleep, he may not feel like doing a thing, but he still gets up everyday and pushes on. He will not be stopped by anything. He WILL kick cancer in the butt by the time we are done.
CHEMO TREATMENT SECOND TO LAST ONE!!!
This morning we went to the doctor’s office to get his labs drawn and see the doctor. Our daughter Rebbecca came with us to spend the day with her dad. His labs are OK, not the greatest, but still good enough for treatment. While we were leaving the office to come to the Jackson building to check in, we saw David and Rachel (the young couple we met last time Michael has chemo) waiting to get Rachel’s labs. We stopped to speak with them. What a joy to finally meet Rachel. She looked well. They did say once they were done there, they too where on their way to the Jackson building for her in-patient treatment. We hope to catch up with them while we are here. Michael is in room J229 again. So far, Michael is doing rather well with his treatment. We will update everyone later.
THE CELEBRATION
Today for lunch I asked a few girlfriends from work to come up to the hospital to help me celebrate with Michael his 1 year of being a SURVIVOR. I ordered a few party trays from Jason’s Deli and ordered the most delicious cupcakes from a girl I work with. She has cupcake business and she makes the best cupcakes. I kept it quiet from Michael for the past 3 weeks.
One of them called me when they got here and I told Michael I was going out to the truck to get something to drink. I met them and helped them bring up the goodies. Let’s just way when the 4 of us walked back in he was surprised. He had to wait a few minutes to begin his celebration as the nurses where accessing his port when we walked in. Once he was hooked up, we sat and enjoyed good food and great conversation. Thanks girls for making this a great day for Michael. He had a wonderful time. Becky, Judy and Tish you are the best. Check out Michael’s carepages to see pictures from today.
Please continue to keep those fighting this dreaded disease in your prayers and their families. Also say an extra prayer for those parents who have recently lost their child to this disease. Michael (cp: michaeederer) and Maddeson (cp: MaddesonsFight) earned their wings this week. We need to find a cure for this disease. It’s hard to watch your loved one go through this, but it is not right to have to lose your child like this.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Just a Quick Michael Update ~
Michael did so well during his last treatment, but once I got him home, the fatigue really took over. He was extremely out of it for the first few days. This time, he had a “new” side effect. We are not sure from what, but we will watch it and see. About Monday evening his skin hurt. The slightest pressure anywhere and his skin would hurt all over his body. This lasted until about Wednesday, and then went away. This is the first time he experienced anything like this. We were able to keep the bone pain under control this time. He had some difficulty walking at times, but seems to be coming around.
We went to get his labs yesterday. Can we say YEAH!!! No transfusion!! His hemoglobin is up to 8.7. His platelets are low and of course his white counts are down. After getting is results and speaking with his nurse, we went over to his appointment with his Radiation Oncologist. He said Michael is looking pretty good.
Next Thursday we will go into see the doctor early that morning, get his labs drawn and if all looks good, go over and check in for his second to last chemo treatment. Only 2 more to go!!!
As always, please continue to keep all those beautiful people, our sarcoma friends and everyone fighting any cancer in your prayers. And thanks for encouraging words. Know that Michael really does enjoy every one of them.
We went to get his labs yesterday. Can we say YEAH!!! No transfusion!! His hemoglobin is up to 8.7. His platelets are low and of course his white counts are down. After getting is results and speaking with his nurse, we went over to his appointment with his Radiation Oncologist. He said Michael is looking pretty good.
Next Thursday we will go into see the doctor early that morning, get his labs drawn and if all looks good, go over and check in for his second to last chemo treatment. Only 2 more to go!!!
As always, please continue to keep all those beautiful people, our sarcoma friends and everyone fighting any cancer in your prayers. And thanks for encouraging words. Know that Michael really does enjoy every one of them.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
We are Home ~
Finally, I got Michael home about 3 - 4 hours ago. He is resting comfortably at the moment. Throughout this treatment this time, he looked and felt fairly good. As the afternoon started to turn into evening, you can see the fatigue really begin to set in.
Today, they actually gave Michael 2 shots. He received his normal Nuelasta shot, but he also received a shot of Procuit to help increase his red blood cells. His hemoglobin was down to 8.2 this morning. His white counts still look good right now at 4.1K and his platelets are at 125. I will take him back to the doctor’s office next week to check his blood counts again. We do have a follow up appointment with his radiation oncologist this week. We are going to see if we can get it re-scheduled to the same day as we have to go in for labs. I will keep you posted.
OK, I have a very special request to all the prayer warriors around the world. Michael and I are not ones that will go through the oncology floor and speak with others. We mostly stay to ourselves. But today, Michael and I met a young man, David, whose wife, Rachel Smith, was just diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in her pelvic. From what we understand, they just received her diagnosis last week and already receiving her first round of in-patient chemo this weekend. Please say extra prayers for them this evening. Both are overwhelmed with being recently diagnosed.
You could see the “lost look” in his face, yet at the same time, when I looked at Michael, you could see in his face he was sharing his experience with this man, and it was so amazing. Just to see Michael explain to him what he goes through and what he could possibly expect for his wife. I hope we didn’t scare him more than he was.
As Jessica spoke of in her update (cp: Jill2008) about the “walking around in a fog” when we each first received the news of our loved one, we all can relate to the emotional roller coaster they must be feeling right now. Michael’s and my heart go out to this couple. We gave him our contact information and hope they stay in contact with us and eventually come to the place I referred him to as a truly wonderful support system, the carepages family. I may not comment on everyone’s pages very often, but each of you have helped us in one way or another by sharing your stories. Each of our stories is different, yet are the same and I may not have said it but THANK YOU for being here for us.
As always, please continue to keep all those beautiful people, our sarcoma friends and all the others fighting any cancer in your prayers tonight. We will update you again soon!!
Today, they actually gave Michael 2 shots. He received his normal Nuelasta shot, but he also received a shot of Procuit to help increase his red blood cells. His hemoglobin was down to 8.2 this morning. His white counts still look good right now at 4.1K and his platelets are at 125. I will take him back to the doctor’s office next week to check his blood counts again. We do have a follow up appointment with his radiation oncologist this week. We are going to see if we can get it re-scheduled to the same day as we have to go in for labs. I will keep you posted.
OK, I have a very special request to all the prayer warriors around the world. Michael and I are not ones that will go through the oncology floor and speak with others. We mostly stay to ourselves. But today, Michael and I met a young man, David, whose wife, Rachel Smith, was just diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in her pelvic. From what we understand, they just received her diagnosis last week and already receiving her first round of in-patient chemo this weekend. Please say extra prayers for them this evening. Both are overwhelmed with being recently diagnosed.
You could see the “lost look” in his face, yet at the same time, when I looked at Michael, you could see in his face he was sharing his experience with this man, and it was so amazing. Just to see Michael explain to him what he goes through and what he could possibly expect for his wife. I hope we didn’t scare him more than he was.
As Jessica spoke of in her update (cp: Jill2008) about the “walking around in a fog” when we each first received the news of our loved one, we all can relate to the emotional roller coaster they must be feeling right now. Michael’s and my heart go out to this couple. We gave him our contact information and hope they stay in contact with us and eventually come to the place I referred him to as a truly wonderful support system, the carepages family. I may not comment on everyone’s pages very often, but each of you have helped us in one way or another by sharing your stories. Each of our stories is different, yet are the same and I may not have said it but THANK YOU for being here for us.
As always, please continue to keep all those beautiful people, our sarcoma friends and all the others fighting any cancer in your prayers tonight. We will update you again soon!!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Chemo Update ~
Chemo seems to be going pretty good for Michael this round. We have just started his day 3 pre-meds. The first two days he has had very minimal nausea and no real headaches. Besides the late start on the first day causing each day to be a late night, I would say this is one of the better times he has had. He is just now starting to show signs of fatigue, but that too can be from the late nights.
We did get the results back from his chest x-ray and echocardiogram, ALL LOOKS GOOD. His heart looks great and so does his chest. Doctors say it is just his “chemo cough” and the racing heart feeling when he does do a little bit could just be when his counts are low and is extreme fatigue. We just can’t keep Michael down at all and he needs to learn to rest a little more. Yeah right!
Hopefully tonight will go without any real side-effects as well. Tomorrow he will get his Nuelasta shot, but he will not get that until tomorrow evening, so we will head home after dinner.
We ask that everyone continues to keep all the beautiful people fighting cancer in their prayers.
We did get the results back from his chest x-ray and echocardiogram, ALL LOOKS GOOD. His heart looks great and so does his chest. Doctors say it is just his “chemo cough” and the racing heart feeling when he does do a little bit could just be when his counts are low and is extreme fatigue. We just can’t keep Michael down at all and he needs to learn to rest a little more. Yeah right!
Hopefully tonight will go without any real side-effects as well. Tomorrow he will get his Nuelasta shot, but he will not get that until tomorrow evening, so we will head home after dinner.
We ask that everyone continues to keep all the beautiful people fighting cancer in their prayers.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Update ~
A few months ago, Michael and I designed a wristband to show our support in his journey. We have already given a few out to our closest family and friends. We are going to be selling them for $5.00 each. If anyone is interested, please send me an email. We are still in the process of getting a website set up to sell them on. I will update everyone once we have it up and running.
Michael’s day’s in-between his treatments have been up and down. He has been experiencing shortness of breath and at times he says it feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest. At times he would feel like this just walking up and down the stairs at home. So today the doctor ran the echocardiogram to compare with the one he had last October. The doctor also ordered a chest x-ray to check out his cough. It seems to be getting worse.
On his good days, he would go out to the shop and tinker around with the cars or try to help dad around the house. A few times, our 2 nieces (ages 4 and 2) and nephew (age 2) would talk him into going swimming after dinner. It was nice to see him in the pool. It did do him some good, but he would be tired for a few days.
We have a new nephew (Anthony William) who came into this world two weeks ago. Little guy has pulmonary valve stenosis. He will be having his procedure on Monday to correct it. Please say an extra little prayer for Anthony. I know mommy, daddy, and his big sisters would appreciate them!!
We are coming up on his one year pretty quick. So the plan is to have this in-patient chemo over the weekend and then we will only have 2 more cycles. YEAH… We are happy. We can see the end of treatments. This would have Michael finishing treatments mid to late September He will have all his scans ran again, get those great words that things still look wonderful, no tumor, and be done with treatments. Then we will celebrate!! No big plans yet, I have a few ideas I am tossing around but still need to get with those I am going to be calling on to help.
Day 1 of Chemo~
Again, pretty uneventful. He went down for his x-ray and they came in and ran his echocardiogram. They got his chemo started around 2:00 today. No real nausea today. Just giving the nurses a hard time. He should be finished around 2:30 in the morning.
I will give an update tomorrow. Please continue to keep all those fighting cancer in your prayers.
On his good days, he would go out to the shop and tinker around with the cars or try to help dad around the house. A few times, our 2 nieces (ages 4 and 2) and nephew (age 2) would talk him into going swimming after dinner. It was nice to see him in the pool. It did do him some good, but he would be tired for a few days.
We have a new nephew (Anthony William) who came into this world two weeks ago. Little guy has pulmonary valve stenosis. He will be having his procedure on Monday to correct it. Please say an extra little prayer for Anthony. I know mommy, daddy, and his big sisters would appreciate them!!
We are coming up on his one year pretty quick. So the plan is to have this in-patient chemo over the weekend and then we will only have 2 more cycles. YEAH… We are happy. We can see the end of treatments. This would have Michael finishing treatments mid to late September He will have all his scans ran again, get those great words that things still look wonderful, no tumor, and be done with treatments. Then we will celebrate!! No big plans yet, I have a few ideas I am tossing around but still need to get with those I am going to be calling on to help.
Day 1 of Chemo~
Again, pretty uneventful. He went down for his x-ray and they came in and ran his echocardiogram. They got his chemo started around 2:00 today. No real nausea today. Just giving the nurses a hard time. He should be finished around 2:30 in the morning.
I will give an update tomorrow. Please continue to keep all those fighting cancer in your prayers.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Update and Next Chemo ~
Sorry for not updating in a while, but this is going to be a quick update for right now... It seems we have been busy non-stop since his last treatment. Between our nieces and nephew, a new nephew arriving, swimming, animals, working, keeping an eye on Michael (he’s had his good days and bad), and just trying to get through each day, it seems these last few weeks have flown by.
We did see the doctor this morning and had his labs again. His counts look great so this morning we checked in to the Jackson Building here at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. We are once again in Michael’s room, J229. He will have a few tests today; the doctor wants a chest x-ray and also ordered an echocardiogram. On a good note, the doctor did say that after we complete this chemo, his goal will be to get 2 more in. So we do see an end in sight. Mid-September and Michael will be DONE!!!
I will update everyone again this evening. Please continue to keep these beautiful people fighting cancer in your thoughts and prayers.
We did see the doctor this morning and had his labs again. His counts look great so this morning we checked in to the Jackson Building here at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. We are once again in Michael’s room, J229. He will have a few tests today; the doctor wants a chest x-ray and also ordered an echocardiogram. On a good note, the doctor did say that after we complete this chemo, his goal will be to get 2 more in. So we do see an end in sight. Mid-September and Michael will be DONE!!!
I will update everyone again this evening. Please continue to keep these beautiful people fighting cancer in your thoughts and prayers.
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