Day of Surgery, 4pm

YEAH !! The good news came at 12:30pm when Dr. McGillvary came to the waiting room looking for Anne's family. He took us aside into a private room and explained that he was extremely pleased with how the surgery went, and with how Anne was doing.

He stated the tumor was small and that he had removed it. He explained that he removed the 2 lymphnodes that previously had been detected with cancer, and all other lymphnodes in the general area anywhere near those. He said he completed the planned work of removing Anne's esophagus, some of the stomach, reconstructed and moved the stomach, and connected it to her throat. It took 5 hours to do so.

The surgeon explained that Anne may only have to eat thru a feeding tube while she is in the hospital, in other words, she may be eating somewhat normally when she get's to go home. I'm relieved with that news as I wasn't looking forward to that training class or the process. By the way, the insurance company has authorized 9 days in here, but I don't think Anne will stay 'in' that long.

Paul, the excellent facilitator of the waiting room informed us that Anne wouldn't actually be going to ICU from Recovery as we expected. Rather, she'll be going directly from the Recovery area to the Richard's wing room 326.

About an hour after talking with Dr. McGillvary in the waiting area we were allowed to go in and see Anne in the recovery area. Anne had her eyes open and felt well enough to talk and try to crack some 'funnies', as usual. Don't get me wrong, she was extremely drugged and groggy, but using her thumb and index finger she grabbed a couple short hairs on top of her head before anouncing to the nurse that she'd like her to 'pull her puppet string' to raise her head a little bit. I just tried to encourage her, and let her know how well she did, how well Dr. McGillvary had done, and let her know that she was 'all fixed'.

Anne was moved up to the Richard's wing room 326 around 4pm. This is one of a number of COR rooms here (continual observation room). She'll be closely monitored here until she is moved again.

At this point, 6pm, Anne isn't having alot to say. She is trying to rest, and the nurses are just trying to make Anne more comfortable. Anne has alot of pain in one side of her neck where there is a large incision. For this pain she can push a morphine button every 10 minutes in order to get 2mgs pumped in. There is another large incision across her stomach. Anne has an epidural form of anesthesia in place which is there to take care of her lower torso including the stomach area. I think that is pumped into here lower back, but I don't know how long she'll have that installed. She hasn't complained about her stomach yet.

All in all, we're just so pleased with how the day went, how Anne is doing, and especially with the comments made by Dr. McGillvary. He gave us the report we had hoped for. The cancer 'mind game' is over now and I can tell that Anne is very much relieved. She can now focus solely on getting better.

Thanks to all again and again for your well wishes, thoughts, cards, and prayers.

Day of Surgery, 11am

We arose today at 4:30am which enabled us to get to Maine Medical Center ASU at 6.

Anne slept well overnight and was very relaxed and ready this morning.

By 7:15am I was saying good-bye to Anne as the doctors took her into another room for anesthesia. She was ready. She is expected to be in the OR for up to 6 hours, and in recovery for up to 5-6 hours as well. I may get in to see her during recovery for 5 minutes or so, but that's it.

It will be a long day of waiting, but I am encouraged (now 11am) since 'no news is good news' at this point in time. Wouldn't want the surgeon to give up early, so I'm relieved to know Dr. McGillvary is still in there doing his job, taking care of Anne.

We look forward to some good news today around 1pm.

Thanks for reading, praying, etc. Anne is comforted to know that you are all concerned for her, and (again) knowing there's an army of folks praying for her is very good medicine. It really helps. Thank you for being there.

More to come...........

Surgery Rescheduled

Hi All,

Thank you all for you continued love.

My surgery has been pushed back 1 day (yeah!). The doctor has another major surgery to do and didn't want to do 2 in one day. So now my surgery will be May 24th at 7:30am.

My oncologist has given me the name of an individual who has had the same surgery. She is willing the talk with me and answer all my questions about the surgery. I hope she likes talking because I have at least 100 questions.

For a good laugh my hair continues to grow in every direction. It reminds me of those babies with the wild hair. Mine is very thin, very grey and very wild. It makes me smile when I walk past a mirror. I got a sunburn on my scalp, that's a first for me.

God Bless you all and have a wonderful day!

Surgery is Planned

Hi all,

Thank you for all your continued support, positive thoughts, prayers, calls, notes and cards.

My surgery has been planned for May 25th. The surgeon will be removing my esophagus and 1/3 of my stomach. He will then reshape the remaining stomach move it up thru my chest and attach it to my throat. I will be in the hospital for 9 days. I'm not sure on the length of time for recovery. I'll be having a feeding tube place during surgery and I don't know how long it will be there.

This waiting period is called my healing period. The doctor said the time was needed to heal my inside from the radiation. He explained to us that the radiation made my tissues like raw hamburg and the surgeon can't operate under those conditions.

I've been exercising daily to get my strength back. But I still seem to get tired easily, nothing a little rest or nap can't take care of. I find the pain in my stomach is getting better needing less pain medicine. My hair is growing, it's about 1/2 inch long now. I was hoping it would come back in curly but it is straight as a board. Just call me spike!

3/31/10, Endoscopy

Hi all this is Anne. I'm working on my first posting. I wanted to give you good news.

Dr. Millspaugh did a follow-up endoscope yesterday. He viewed the esophagus and stomach only. He could not view the infected nodes.

Findings: There was a smooth circumferential, superficial unceration in the distal esophasgus, extending from 29 cm to 31 cm. The gstroesophageal juntion apeared to be located at 31 cm. There was a cm hiatial hernia present extending from 31-35cm. The remainder of the stomach and duodenum were normal. Biopsies were taken within the ulcerated segment of the the distal esophagus.

Bottom line: tumor no longer appearing in the esophagus!!!

Impressions: Smooth, circumferential, ulceration in the distal 2 cm of the esphagus, Likely radiation injury. Biopsies taken to rule out neoplasm.

Dr. Millspaugh wished me luck with my upcoming surgery.

We take the these results to our visit with the surgereon Dr. McGillvary next Wednesday for more interpretation.

Praise the Lord and thank you for all of you prayers, positive thoughts.

Sunday March 21, 2001

Last week we got good reports regarding Anne's blood counts, yeah !!!

Anne has been sleeping and resting an awful lot since she finished her treatments. It's real important, and she definately needs it because she still feels really worn out most of the time. She sleeps morning, afternoon, evening, and overnight. As of late tho I've noticed her trying to do more and more things around the house.

This morning Anne was a little worried and emotional so we decided to take a ride in the car with Dixie. We took off for the White Mountains and went over to Rumney N.H. to see if we could visit my Aunt and Uncle at Stinson Lake. We weren't sure anyone would be home today because they winter in Florida. Well, they were not home, and I'm sure we were the first ones there this Spring. We walked the property and spent time enjoying the wonder of sitting there in the sun. It's just a beautiful place, especially when no one else is around. It was 48 degrees, much cooler than home. The ice was out about 10 feet on the lake, then frozen solid all the way across. We didn't see a sole anywhere around the lake the whole time we were there. It was neat!! The only other life was 2 creatures, otter or beaver(?), in the distance showing themselves three quarters of the way across the cove, coming out onto the ice from their holes a couple of times, perhaps to see about the noise we made. I've never been there on a day like today, so quiet. It's a good size lake, however so abandoned and serene on this day. Anne and Dixie really enjoyed it. We wrote a note for our relatives, and slid it through the crack under the porch door.

Last Thursday we had to head into Brighton Medical to have an ultrasound done on Anne's right leg. She had pain, checked with Dr. Ebrahim, and he ordered this to determine whether maybe a blood clot was causing the pain. There was no clot and we just went home. Anne's leg is feeling better day by day.

This week on Wednesday the 24th Anne has an appointment in the morning for a cat scan, at Scarborough. Then on the 31st we have an appointment to have another endoscope with Dr. Milspaugh in Portland, the same Dr who did this for Anne on New Year's Eve. On April 7th we'll see the surgeon in Portland, Dr. McGillvary, for the first time since the first week of January I think. We'll review with him these tests and images. We look forward to having Dr. McGillvary schedule Anne's surgery for later in April.

On April 9th we have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Ebrahim. Anne will remain in his care even after he 'hands off' to the surgeon to do his work.

Please keep Anne in your prayers such that this plan will proceed on schedule, and pray for her strangth, peace, and courage. She still has so much work ahead of her, and it really is alot for her to wait for and to think about. Thank you so very much friends!!! We love you and appreciate you and you're prayers.

Day 56, Weds., 12:30pm

We're home !

Anne was released by Dr. Ebrahim today. Her blood counts were not ideal, but Anne was dressed and ready to go, and he allowed it.

We'll check the blood counts next week on Monday in Scarborough. Anne was instructed not to get into any close contact with the public at this time. In the meantime we'll continue to check Anne's temperature, and report anything unusual to the doctor because her immune system is weak at this time. We're thinking it will be ok to do things like walking on the beach.

When we got home we made calls to Anne's PCP to check into her medical records because Anne is alergic to 90% of the known pill-form anti-biotics, and we want to know what has been used safely in her past. We found that she used Augmentin and Erythromycin in 1997 without incident. Anne is alergic to Penecillin, Tegratol, anything that ends in 'quin' i.e. Leviquin, and any sulfers/sulfates.

To all readers, your thoughts and prayers are so much appreciated. Thank you again for that and for your cards and calls too.

We'll continue to pray that the treatments were successful such that when we see the surgeon in a month or so that he will see what he wants to see, and be eager to do the rest of the work necessary to finish the job in this war on cancer.

Day 55, Tuesday, 4:20pm

Dr. Ebrahim had decided to keep Anne here at least one more night. Her count of Neutrophils wasn't as high as he would like. He explained the white blood cells help prevent infection, and the neutrophils in the blood help prevent bacterial infection. He said now that these counts are rising, nothing will stop them. He will keep Anne on the anti-biotics, and he expects to send Anne home tomorrow. He'll be back in the morning tomorrow.

That's when we'll talk more about the 'rest' period. He said in 4-6 weeks we'll have a Catscan and a scope to check on the tumor and lymphnode where the cancer was last seen. Then he'll arrange meetings where we'll meet with the surgeon (Dr. Doug McGillvary). Anne will work to get in better shape during and after resting so she'll be better fit and able to recover from surgery.

He said they wait the 3-4 weeks to do the Catscan and scope because if done now it would actually 'look like raw meat in there'. Hence, the reason for the nausea and pain meds. He said in a couple of weeks that Anne would feel alot better than she does now.

Anne just got herself cleaned up, and she's exhausted, not from the laps we took around the floor, but from getting cleaned up. She has alot of work ahead of her to lick this disease, but there's no doubt that she is better now, and that she is going to succeed.

Day 55, Tuesday, 2:50pm

Celebration day !!

It's for Anne who has completed her cancer treatments !! Yes, she had R/T here at Maine Med today, and that's all there is. I hope I'm not jinxing her because we haven't actually seen Dr. Ebrahim yet today, but as far as we know there's no more C/T or R/T.

We just learned that Anne's white blood count is 1900 today. That is up from 1100. We're told a decent low number would be 4000. Regarding the immune system tho, I have learned there is at least one other factor (and probably others). It's the count of neutropils in the blood. We don't have that number for today. Depending on that as well as the white blood count, the Dr. will decide if it's ok for Anne to go home, whether she can have any company, go out in public, under what conditions, etc, etc...

I think she'll be dissappointed if she has to spend another night here. She's been feeling good since last night, considering that she has pain and nausea all the time. I've seen her ask for pain and nausea meds twice today but never complain about either one. She's a strong girl, sometimes a little strong for her own good as we've discussed. However, we definately don't want to go home to soon and risk having to be admitted again any time soon.

Dr. Ebrahim is on the floor now so we'll see him pretty soon. What happens next is up to him. Anne wants to ask him what he thinks about the disruption in her R/T schedule. I want to ask him about the impending 'rest' period, how long it might be before we'll want to see the surgeon, when we might have another scope done to check on the tumor that was found in December, etc...

I beat Anne at cribbage today and yesterday. Only one game each day tho. If we had played best of 5 she would have cleaned my clock as usual.

Day 54, Monday, 7:40pm

Anne had R/T here today at around 3:30pm. They interrupted our cribbage game for that.

She has been feeling better. Her blood pressure is up and down, and we don't know about the blood counts until tomorrow mid-morning. Today her white blood count was up slightly, but no where near where it needs to be for her immune system to be sufficient. Because of that, whenever she leaves her room she needs to wear a mask.

Anne is feeling herself tonight, and so we hope the white blood count is up tomorrow.

Anne will have her last R/T tomorrow wither here or in Scarboro. Both computers are set up for her now.

Day 54, Monday, 10:25am

Hello friends,

I hope you enjoyed a good weekend. Anne has had a long one. She feels as though she doesn't want to be here, but her blood counts are still low, i.e. she still has neutropenia, still highly suseptible to infections, etc... this is critical because such infections can become life threatening for a cancer patient with this condition. Even with this going on, we still hope to get Anne's final 2 R/T's done, one today and one tomorrow if there is any way possible. All we can do is wait for the anti-biotics to kick in, clear up any infection, and cause the white blood count to rise. I read where this condition is chemo induced, and Neutropenia usually shows up up to 7 days after chemo is finished. In Anne's case it took longer.

I don't think I mentioned that Anne has been constipated. This started last Thursday and ran through today. Her tummy was aching when I left and went home last night around 8:30, and the poor girl was super miserable this morning when I called in here early. She is better now, and finally getting thru that, but she has had 'that' feeling mounting all weekend too. I believe they started to give her the softeners on Saturday.

Dr. Ebrahim beat me in here this morning (he was in at 7am, me at 8:30), so I don't know exactly where we stand as far as blood counts, plans for R/T, going home, or any of that. Anne doesn't know whether he will visit her again today or not. It's 'hurry up and wait' time.

Glad Anne is feeling better now since the constipation is clearing up. The nurse just told me that Anne is going to have R/T here today, and that the Dr. mentioned that she may go home today, but that he is gone now and did not leave any orders for her to be released. Think positive!!

Day 52, Saturday, noon

Anne called me at home around 8am, and she was sounding better. I was fixing to get chores done, pets etc., and head back into Maine Med. She asked for her cleanin stuff, some clothing, and a bagel. Did you notice she didn't ask for her toothbrush, we'll neither did I, oh well....

Too bad I didn't bring the cribbage board in today....

Anne is being given 2 anti-biotics today, Vancomycin and Aztreonam. She actually wants to come home (doesn't want to be here), but she can't because her white count is only up to 1100. It is rising, but...... The on-call oncologist today is Dr. Dugan. He says best case Anne could be released tomorrow (Sunday), and maybe Monday. Anne is discouraged with this news having to hang here for awhile, but we'll just try and make the best ot this day day that we can.

Dr. Dugan also informed us that Anne may have a urinary or bladder infection. We just need to treat with anti-biotics and wait for blood counts to come up.

It's a beautiful day today. Looking and thinking back, we've been blessed to have had zero ice and snow storms during late Jan, Feb and March so far (knock on wood) considering all the driving we have had to do so far this year. I too am looking forward to the rest period that lies ahead before surgery.

I want to thank and recognize Laurie, Adam, and Dana for helping so much with Dixie and Beasley while I've been spending so much time with Anne in Portland these days. It helps so much to know that these guys will work together to help us out. Takes a load off of our minds to know they are there. Thanks you guys, and we love you very much.

Day 51, Friday, 9pm

Ready for this ?

At 3pm I was trying to convince that we should be out taking a walk. She was wiped out however and not up to it. I put Dixie's leash on and Anne was considering going with us after all.

But wait,,,,,,,
About 3:30 now Anne began to shiver, and couldn't stop. She asked me for pain and nausea meds. At about 4pm I asked Anne to call the CMMC emergency number and she did. They advised that we take Anne's temperature, and it was 101.2. The emergency folks said it was critical, could be an infection, and we must rush into Emergency at Maine Medical. The girl on the phone (Tammy) would let the on-call oncology doctor (Dr. Devon Evans) know. She also said that Anne would probably be admitted to the Gibson Pavillion. Anne was able to get up and move around just fine, so we didn't need the ambulance this time.

At 5:30 we were being admitted to a room in the new Emergency area at Maine Medical. At 7:30 they took blood and told us it could be tested in a half hour. they told us how important it is for Anne to get some anti-biotics, but they didn't know what kind to use since Anne has so many alergys.

At 9:30 the supervisor of ER doctors came to our room and told us Anne's white blood count was low, that it was 800 and it should be 10,000, and that her immune system was compromized. He said this is when we don't even think, rather we just give anti-biotics thru the IV. That's when I lost it. I blew up because had been being told startin starting at 4pm about the possible infection, and the need for anti-biotics, and none were forth coming. This is when this supervisor (Tamas) turned the case over to the oncology Dr on-call to determine which anti-biotic would be safe to give to Anne. Dr. Evans was on his way in from home to do this, and to admit Anne to the Gibson Pavillion (cancer wing) once again. Soon Dr Evans was with us and he quickly prescribed Vancomycin. He said the condition with the low white blood count is called a "neutropenic" condition. It's scary because Anne's body cannot defend itself right now. I asked if he thought Anne would be able to have her final 2 R/T's on Monday and Tuesday and he said 'yes'. He is a good doctor, I can tell. All of the oncology staff here has always been fantastic.

Shortly Anne was feeling somewhat better and she was taken to room 565 at Gibson. I headed home after midnight.

Day 51, Friday, Noon

Tough morning today for Anne!

At 3:00am she woke me asking for pain and nausea meds, and the bucket. She was coughing and did so for a miserable half hour, spitting clear stuff and finally ending with some yellow stuff. Anyway, at 3:45am after some tending I was able to calm Anne down and we fell back asleep.

After Anne finished R/T this morning we explained what had happened to a nurse who said it wasn't out of the ordinary. She said the yellow was probably the end of the spitting up, and we said "yes". She said is a sign that the stomach was approaching empty. OK, makes sense I guess.

We took Dixie girl (our dog) with us into R/T this morning. Plan was to go to Pine Point and run on the beach after R/T. We did that. Anne did quite a bit of walking this morning, it was low tide and the walking was good. We picked up 2 sand dollars. It was a beautiful, sunny, cold, windy day on the ocean. Almost too windy so we didn't stay too long. The weather man had said today would "look" like a nice day, and tomorrow will "be" a nice day, so we look forward to less wind and more warmth tomorrow.

Anne was exhausted when we got home, but she put together a casserole, felt quite accomplished, and we had a good lunch.