Positive things this afternoon. Anne completed walking 1/14 of a mile, one lap around the 5th floor of the Gibson Pavillion. And,,,, the diahrea is no more, a wonderful thing according to Anne.
She slept a bit this afternoon, and is doing alot better. Food is still limited. Anne had trouble digesting her lunch. She has a good attitude. Lucky for me we didn't play cribbage yet.
She is having some vanilla soy milk for supper.
Tomorrow is Sunday and she'll be flying around here. I'm sure she'll go home on Monday.
We thank Laurie and Dana for caring for Dixie and Beasley (our pets) a couple times a day all this week, for turning the lights on for me in the evening, Laurie for organizing and cleaning the house, you guys for all kinds of things that helped, and just for you're love and concern. We love you.
Thank you everybody, your prayers help !!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Day 17, 10:30am
Hello friends, happy Saturday,
Anne has been sitting up in a recliner for the past couple hours.
She ate an entire order of scramblers (and ketchup), a great accomplishment, and it isn't causing her to run anywhere. She says she finally got some sleep around 5am.
She feels much better today. She has a concentrated potassium drip going because that count needs to go up. It is painful at the site of the IV, so she has a warm pack on her arm which helps.
I brought the cribbage board in for the weekend, and she is eager to put me to shame, as usual. Anne is also ordering me around pretty good, so things are definately looking up today.
A Dr Weisenberg is 'on this weekend' and she already visited Anne early in the morning. She stopped the Immodium and super Immodium (imodil), because of positive changes that happened overnight. She encourages us to walk more today, and she says to think of the diet as if Anne is lactose intolerant, temporarily.
At this rate, Anne will be able to restart treatments on Monday. Not that that is something to look forward to, but it is what Anne wants. Ironic that cancer requires treatment that makes folks so sick. When one comes available, a way to prevent the cancer will surely be a worthwhile thing, so that so many won't have to go thru this.
Anne is snoozing in the recliner as I type, and that is a wonderful thing. More later......Your prayers help !!
Anne has been sitting up in a recliner for the past couple hours.
She ate an entire order of scramblers (and ketchup), a great accomplishment, and it isn't causing her to run anywhere. She says she finally got some sleep around 5am.
She feels much better today. She has a concentrated potassium drip going because that count needs to go up. It is painful at the site of the IV, so she has a warm pack on her arm which helps.
I brought the cribbage board in for the weekend, and she is eager to put me to shame, as usual. Anne is also ordering me around pretty good, so things are definately looking up today.
A Dr Weisenberg is 'on this weekend' and she already visited Anne early in the morning. She stopped the Immodium and super Immodium (imodil), because of positive changes that happened overnight. She encourages us to walk more today, and she says to think of the diet as if Anne is lactose intolerant, temporarily.
At this rate, Anne will be able to restart treatments on Monday. Not that that is something to look forward to, but it is what Anne wants. Ironic that cancer requires treatment that makes folks so sick. When one comes available, a way to prevent the cancer will surely be a worthwhile thing, so that so many won't have to go thru this.
Anne is snoozing in the recliner as I type, and that is a wonderful thing. More later......Your prayers help !!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Day 16, 04:00pm
Dr. Ebrahim thinks Anne will be here for the weekend, and if she is better Monday that the R/T may be restarted. He definately will change the chemo program. There are alternatives, however they all have an effect on the lower GI.
If Anne could handle meals, she would be out of here. She tried a few different things to eat today, none of which was her digestive tract able to handle. She does feel better tho. She had cornflakes and milk this morning, big mistake, so no more dairy products till her belly has a chance to heal.
We took a walk in the hallway today, first time out of the room, so a milestone. Nothing really new today. This chemo (and radiation) have really done a job on Anne. It's tough stuff as we have all heard. It will be out of her system soon. There are other patients here with similar issues, and some are worse off than Anne.
Your prayers help !!
If Anne could handle meals, she would be out of here. She tried a few different things to eat today, none of which was her digestive tract able to handle. She does feel better tho. She had cornflakes and milk this morning, big mistake, so no more dairy products till her belly has a chance to heal.
We took a walk in the hallway today, first time out of the room, so a milestone. Nothing really new today. This chemo (and radiation) have really done a job on Anne. It's tough stuff as we have all heard. It will be out of her system soon. There are other patients here with similar issues, and some are worse off than Anne.
Your prayers help !!
Day 16, 10:00am
Anne ordered dinner last night and ate a little of it, some pasta, squash, and cheese cake. She is tolerating the Octreotide shots OK, and she was sitting up in the chair when I arrived this morning !! Her 'runs' have slowed down to once every 2hours, so 'things' are getting better, and she is doing alot better.
This morning her IV became infused (blew up) so a new one has been started in her right forearm.
We look forward to seeing Dr. Ebrahim later on today.
Anne just asked me to relay a message on to everyone, "No visitors please." She knows you'll understand. She sends her love and is grateful for all of your thoughts and prayers. It's funny, but we almost forgot about the cancer this week with all the hooplah. We'll get back to that, with a new treatment program, when she is back on her feet. the goal for that is Monday.
Your prayers help !!
This morning her IV became infused (blew up) so a new one has been started in her right forearm.
We look forward to seeing Dr. Ebrahim later on today.
Anne just asked me to relay a message on to everyone, "No visitors please." She knows you'll understand. She sends her love and is grateful for all of your thoughts and prayers. It's funny, but we almost forgot about the cancer this week with all the hooplah. We'll get back to that, with a new treatment program, when she is back on her feet. the goal for that is Monday.
Your prayers help !!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Day 15, 03:00pm
At 2pm we got this place into a bit of an uproar. Anne had heart attack like symptoms, intense stabbing chest pains all of a sudden. Dr. Ebrahim just happened to come in at that time. To ease the pain they tried oxygen, then nitroglycerin under Anne's tonge. That didn't help so they called for a dose of hydro-morphone which didn't do anything right away. The Dr. requested an EKG to rule out a heart attack, and it came back normal. The hydro-morphone finally cleared the pain after a half hour.
This was determined to have been a spasm of the esophagus, brought about by the radiation treatment.
Anne rests comfortably now, however she wants to go home and won't be allowed to until she can handle some food. The Dr. has called for a new med to be given by a shot (Octreotide) every 8 hours to dry things up(all secretions). We're told that once the chemo is out of Anne's system, the situation will improve. Anne feels better now, and is looking at the menu again. I hope the Octreotide shot doesn't cause any problems for her. Wish her luck !!
She is saying 'no visitors please', and thank you everybody for your thoughts and prayers.
Your prayers help !!
This was determined to have been a spasm of the esophagus, brought about by the radiation treatment.
Anne rests comfortably now, however she wants to go home and won't be allowed to until she can handle some food. The Dr. has called for a new med to be given by a shot (Octreotide) every 8 hours to dry things up(all secretions). We're told that once the chemo is out of Anne's system, the situation will improve. Anne feels better now, and is looking at the menu again. I hope the Octreotide shot doesn't cause any problems for her. Wish her luck !!
She is saying 'no visitors please', and thank you everybody for your thoughts and prayers.
Your prayers help !!
Day 15, 01:00pm
Anne has had some chicken soup this afternoon, and some milk. It's encouraging and she wants to go home, however she still isn't handling the food she eats. It seems it will continue until the chemo is flushed completely from her system. Patience is a virtue. We hope to see Dr. Ebrahim around 4pm.
Your prayers help !!
Your prayers help !!
First 14 Days of Treatment
Our appts for R/T are at 7:30am at Scarborough, weekdays. First day of treatment is Thursday Jan 14, 2010. Treatment takes 15 minutes. Most of that time is used to position Anne for treatment and aim the radiation machine. The actual radiation is only turned on for 2 minutes each time.
Friday Jan 15, immediately following R/T Anne is scheduled for the first round of chemo therapy. This is of 2 types: CPT-11 Sysplatin, and Iranetecan. At 9:30am she starts the 5 hour IV (eye vee). They say Anne will loose her hair after her second treatment. The facility is very nice, seems busy like grand central station, they have 16 busy chemo stations, and the people working here are real nice. Anne survives the first treatment, and she sleeps and watches the football playoffs over the weekend. She isn't feeling well tho, and not able to find anything she wants to eat.
Mon, Tues, and Weds we have snow storms, but we make it in for R/T each day. On Tuesday she feels so sick (light headed) that we stay all morning getting a hydration IV, which makes her feel better. She has some real bad stomach cramps. Anne has 7 prescriptions now, just in case the side effects bother her. She is using most of these. Anne is having trouble finding anything she can eat and keep down. She can't sleep flat, so she goes to the lazy boy and doesn't get very much sleep overnight.
New week: Anne gets her C/T this week on Thursday Jan 21 immediately following R/T. Half way thru the C/T she is very sick as she sits in the cubicle. We aren't sure whether it's the C/T making her sick because she tolerated it last week. The C/T drip is turned off before she can finish the dose, and she is given more hydration and pain meds to try to make her feel better. We decide to turn the chemo on briefly to see if that is what made her sick. It did. She is having bad stomach pain and doesn't finish her C/T this day, maybe 80% of it. We drop off 2 more scripts at the pharmacy on the way home at 6:30pm, and I pick those up at 8pm. These are to try to constipate her, as she has started having uncontrollable diahrea. She starts using these medications, but they do nothing for her. What ever she eats or drinks is going straight thru her system. She feels wiped out overnight.
Friday Jan 22 we have R/T on schedule and Anne is miserable sick. She is given another hydration IV for the remainder of the morning. They give Anne 2 weekend appt's for 11:30am Saturday and Sunday for hydration (at Maine Med) if she needs it. She doesn't feel she needs it on Saturday, but she is very sick on Sunday morning so we go in at 9am. She takes 2 hydration treatments between 9am and 3pm. Anne is totally miserable on Sunday night at home. She can't keep any food or drink down and can't sleep. She is exhausted and weak.
Monday Jan 25, Anne is able to take R/T, but after that is so miserable that we need hydration again. Then we huddle with Dr. Ebrahim and decide to admit Anne to the hospital. He explains that the Iranetecan (AKA 'I ran to the can') chemo causes the diahrea. They don't have a bed at the hospital at the moment, so they ask us to head home and wait for a phone call. It's raining cats and dogs, but we head home. Around noon on the way home the cell phone rings and a bed is ready for Anne at Maine Medical Center's Gibson Pavillion. This seems to be a new section of the hospital, dedicated to cancer treatments.
They tell us Anne's situation is not unusual, lots of folks come here to get tuned up when they have difficulty with their treatments. This is 'what they do'. She ends up in a private room with special care. They are testing her for an infection known as C-dif. Those tests are negative the first 2 days. She will be cleared of that with 3 negative tests. She can't control her bowells, can't eat, sleep, and is very sick.
Tues, Jan 26: Dr confirms that Anne will not continue R/T until she is back on her feet.
Weds, Jan 27: An xray was ordered today so Dr. Ebrahim can look at her digestive tract. We'll find out more tomorrow.
For the past 2 days nothing has changed. Anne is miserable and she states that she doesn't want any more morphine, which has been ussed for the cramping. So, that drug is changed for one called hydro-morphone which helps out, this being Weds afternoon Jan 27. Things begin to settle down a bit. Anne is asking for food. She tolerated a couple spoonfuls of cream of wheat, however the diahrea has continued. She ordered rice w/salt tonight, and finished about half of it, same results, but she does feel better than the past 2 days. She wants chocolate pudding and tries some, she gets bad acid reflux and takes some malox for it.
Anne can have visitors here, but she doesn't want to see anyone now. She is able to sleep some now. She has some pain when she tries to eat anything, even the very soft plain stuff. We are not so discouraged tonight, finally.
Thurs am Jan 28: Anne is somewhat discouraged that the diahrea continues on the hour. She feels better but would like to go home. We hope for improvements today.
Your prayers help !!
Friday Jan 15, immediately following R/T Anne is scheduled for the first round of chemo therapy. This is of 2 types: CPT-11 Sysplatin, and Iranetecan. At 9:30am she starts the 5 hour IV (eye vee). They say Anne will loose her hair after her second treatment. The facility is very nice, seems busy like grand central station, they have 16 busy chemo stations, and the people working here are real nice. Anne survives the first treatment, and she sleeps and watches the football playoffs over the weekend. She isn't feeling well tho, and not able to find anything she wants to eat.
Mon, Tues, and Weds we have snow storms, but we make it in for R/T each day. On Tuesday she feels so sick (light headed) that we stay all morning getting a hydration IV, which makes her feel better. She has some real bad stomach cramps. Anne has 7 prescriptions now, just in case the side effects bother her. She is using most of these. Anne is having trouble finding anything she can eat and keep down. She can't sleep flat, so she goes to the lazy boy and doesn't get very much sleep overnight.
New week: Anne gets her C/T this week on Thursday Jan 21 immediately following R/T. Half way thru the C/T she is very sick as she sits in the cubicle. We aren't sure whether it's the C/T making her sick because she tolerated it last week. The C/T drip is turned off before she can finish the dose, and she is given more hydration and pain meds to try to make her feel better. We decide to turn the chemo on briefly to see if that is what made her sick. It did. She is having bad stomach pain and doesn't finish her C/T this day, maybe 80% of it. We drop off 2 more scripts at the pharmacy on the way home at 6:30pm, and I pick those up at 8pm. These are to try to constipate her, as she has started having uncontrollable diahrea. She starts using these medications, but they do nothing for her. What ever she eats or drinks is going straight thru her system. She feels wiped out overnight.
Friday Jan 22 we have R/T on schedule and Anne is miserable sick. She is given another hydration IV for the remainder of the morning. They give Anne 2 weekend appt's for 11:30am Saturday and Sunday for hydration (at Maine Med) if she needs it. She doesn't feel she needs it on Saturday, but she is very sick on Sunday morning so we go in at 9am. She takes 2 hydration treatments between 9am and 3pm. Anne is totally miserable on Sunday night at home. She can't keep any food or drink down and can't sleep. She is exhausted and weak.
Monday Jan 25, Anne is able to take R/T, but after that is so miserable that we need hydration again. Then we huddle with Dr. Ebrahim and decide to admit Anne to the hospital. He explains that the Iranetecan (AKA 'I ran to the can') chemo causes the diahrea. They don't have a bed at the hospital at the moment, so they ask us to head home and wait for a phone call. It's raining cats and dogs, but we head home. Around noon on the way home the cell phone rings and a bed is ready for Anne at Maine Medical Center's Gibson Pavillion. This seems to be a new section of the hospital, dedicated to cancer treatments.
They tell us Anne's situation is not unusual, lots of folks come here to get tuned up when they have difficulty with their treatments. This is 'what they do'. She ends up in a private room with special care. They are testing her for an infection known as C-dif. Those tests are negative the first 2 days. She will be cleared of that with 3 negative tests. She can't control her bowells, can't eat, sleep, and is very sick.
Tues, Jan 26: Dr confirms that Anne will not continue R/T until she is back on her feet.
Weds, Jan 27: An xray was ordered today so Dr. Ebrahim can look at her digestive tract. We'll find out more tomorrow.
For the past 2 days nothing has changed. Anne is miserable and she states that she doesn't want any more morphine, which has been ussed for the cramping. So, that drug is changed for one called hydro-morphone which helps out, this being Weds afternoon Jan 27. Things begin to settle down a bit. Anne is asking for food. She tolerated a couple spoonfuls of cream of wheat, however the diahrea has continued. She ordered rice w/salt tonight, and finished about half of it, same results, but she does feel better than the past 2 days. She wants chocolate pudding and tries some, she gets bad acid reflux and takes some malox for it.
Anne can have visitors here, but she doesn't want to see anyone now. She is able to sleep some now. She has some pain when she tries to eat anything, even the very soft plain stuff. We are not so discouraged tonight, finally.
Thurs am Jan 28: Anne is somewhat discouraged that the diahrea continues on the hour. She feels better but would like to go home. We hope for improvements today.
Your prayers help !!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Anne's Diagnosis/Treatment
Hello Friends (of Anne and Dave),
We create this blog today, Wednesday Jan 27, 2010 so you may keep up to date with Anne as she undergoes treatment for esophageal cancer, diagnosed Dec 22, 2009, graded (T3N1M0), Stage 3.
On New Year's Eve, at Maine Medical Center Encology Unit, Dr. Millspaugh viewed the tumor with a better scope (nickel sized compared to the one used Dec 22 which was dime sized). He got a better look and he down graded the tumor (yeah!!) to (T2N1M0), Stage 2.
On Jan 4, 2010 Anne and I traveled to Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute to get a second opinion. We met with oncologist Dr. Brian Wolpin, and radiation oncologist Dr. Lee. They agreed with the local doctors as far as the plan of care, and they will collaborate going forward as Anne receives treatment in Scarborough at MCCM (Maine Centers for Cancer Medicine). The place of her choice.
Anne's doctors in Maine include oncologist Dr. Kurt Ebrahim, radiation oncologist Dr. Rodger Pryzant, and surgeon Dr. Doug McGillvary. We met with these doctors and Anne is comfortable and happy with these excellent people.
Her treatment program was set as follows:
1.) Radiation therapy (R/T), 28 treatments daily (Monday thru Friday), starting Thursday Jan 14, till done.
2.) Chemo therapy (C/T) , 4 treatments weekly (Thursday or Friday), starting Friday Jan 15, with a break from C/T during week 3.
3.) Six weeks of rest.
4.) Surgery to remove Annes esophagus, reconstruct the top of Anne's stomach, and then connect her stomach to her throat.
Your prayers help !!
We create this blog today, Wednesday Jan 27, 2010 so you may keep up to date with Anne as she undergoes treatment for esophageal cancer, diagnosed Dec 22, 2009, graded (T3N1M0), Stage 3.
On New Year's Eve, at Maine Medical Center Encology Unit, Dr. Millspaugh viewed the tumor with a better scope (nickel sized compared to the one used Dec 22 which was dime sized). He got a better look and he down graded the tumor (yeah!!) to (T2N1M0), Stage 2.
On Jan 4, 2010 Anne and I traveled to Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute to get a second opinion. We met with oncologist Dr. Brian Wolpin, and radiation oncologist Dr. Lee. They agreed with the local doctors as far as the plan of care, and they will collaborate going forward as Anne receives treatment in Scarborough at MCCM (Maine Centers for Cancer Medicine). The place of her choice.
Anne's doctors in Maine include oncologist Dr. Kurt Ebrahim, radiation oncologist Dr. Rodger Pryzant, and surgeon Dr. Doug McGillvary. We met with these doctors and Anne is comfortable and happy with these excellent people.
Her treatment program was set as follows:
1.) Radiation therapy (R/T), 28 treatments daily (Monday thru Friday), starting Thursday Jan 14, till done.
2.) Chemo therapy (C/T) , 4 treatments weekly (Thursday or Friday), starting Friday Jan 15, with a break from C/T during week 3.
3.) Six weeks of rest.
4.) Surgery to remove Annes esophagus, reconstruct the top of Anne's stomach, and then connect her stomach to her throat.
Your prayers help !!
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