More good news

We met with the Radiation Oncologist today as just a follow up to the radiation. He had just seen my pathology report and said I had the best news I could hope for. Not only were the margins clear (which we knew) but also, the tumor was "at least 99% necrotic". That means all the cancerous cells in the tumor were dead when they removed it. So the chemo and/or radiation did what it was supposed to do. Since I had not had any shrinkage, I thought the treatments had not had much effect on the tumor. Boy am I glad to be wrong about that! I am not sure what the means with regard to future treatment. They will either say since the chemo worked, lets do some more to be sure it does not come back or the chemo worked and we do not need to do anything else. I am pretty sure it will be the former, but now that I know the treatment worked, I am fine with more if that is their plan. The chemo oncologist will set up an appmt with me in the next couple of weeks, and I will find out then. In the meantime, I see the surgeon on Wednesday. I am having some trouble with the skin tearing with the staple in one place. It is an area that was radiated so the skin is pretty delicate anyway. We are keeping it wrapped in an ace type bandage so it has chance to heal. I am feeling a little stinging from the surgical wound area but it is not that bad. It hurts and drains more when I try to sit so
I am not sitting a lot. But all in all things are going really well. Have a good weekend! Mine just got made for sure!

Ouick note

Just a quick note for some good news. My pathology report came back today and margins are clear. For non medical types, that means the surgeon was able to remove all the cancer and cut beyond cancerous tissue to get to gtood clear non cancerous tissue. If they were not clear, it was possible he would have to go in and do more surgery to cut it out.

This, however does not speak to the likelihood of more chemo. The tumor board, I assume all my docs (surgeon, radiation doc and chemo doc) along with others will make that decision based on other info. No word on that yet but I am about 99% sure there will be more chemo, and I am fine with that.

But my news today is really, really good! Thanks for all your love, prayers, care and support! It works!

Restfull weekend

I think each day I am getting exponentially better. Today I was able to get into my bed without having to use a footstool. All these newer thick mattresses are so much higher off the floor, I could not get in without assistance. I still have to sort of flop on the bed avoiding putting a lot of pressure on my right(sore) side. I am still a bit uncomfortable as the wound stings some as it is healing. I sleep ok for a couple of hours then I need to either lie on my back or try to sleep on another side. When I am switching to the right side it is a bit of a challenge with all the staples etc., but it (my 15 inch zipper) is more tender than anything. I was on a work conference call this morning, we decided that the zipper is just where they put in my new bionic parts. Boy, I can't wait for them to start working!

We had a very low key weekend. I am trying to sit up a little more each day and actually ate dinner downstairs on Saturday night. If it were not so hot I would try to go for a 5 minute walk - but maybe we will do that when it cools off this afternoon.

Lisa leaves tomorrow, and Michelle takes over. It has been great having her here. She loves to organize things so that has been nice. And she has been putting lot of books for me to listen to on my IPOD, so I am really excited about that. I heard her talking to Michelle today (who is also a nurse) giving her an update on my condition and the things I need to work on. I do not think either of them are going to let me off the hook with that breathing thing. Off to take a shower now-- truly the highlight of my day! I can get everything wet now, so I stay in the shower as long as I can stand up comfortably or the water runs out, whichever comes first! I am starting to get really bored so I know I am feeling better!

The week I've been waiting for

Boy am I glad to be home -- especially minus that 10lb bowling ball I have been carrying around. While I have some discomfort, it is not nearly as bad as the discomfort I was having the 3 weeks or so prior to surgery.

My hospital experience overall was pretty good. The nursing staff and techs were all very attentive, and the food was not all that bad. I am not sure what I would have done the first night without Syd there as my aid and advocate in the middle of the night. She would have to help me move and change sides every two hours all night long and of course they came to check vitals, etc on the hours we were not moving. The first two nights I had a million tubes coming out of me. By Wednesday night I was able to move by myself most of the time, although I could not get out of bed without assistance because of these leg massage things I had on. I don't think there has been as much discussion or concern about my "potty" habits and abilities since I was 2 years old. And this time I did not even get gold stars or M & M's. When you call your husband at 10:30pm all excited about what you were able to do on the potty, you know your relationship has reached a new level of intimacy! Ain't no more secrets now!

So I have this incision 15 inch with about 50 outside staples from the back of my knee to beyond the bottom of my right butt cheek. Boy, this is going to be some pretty scar! It is healing really well, and I no longer even have a bandage on it. It is sore, but not as miserble as it could be. I don't sleep all that well, but I get a couple of hours in before I wake and change sides. I am trying to sit in a chair (although I am kind of hanging off it right now) for about 30 minutes a day. I am really good and going up and down the stairs although I have not done it a lot. Sister Lisa is a pretty tough nurse(and is one in real life), and she makes me do all the things I should but don't want to do. Like that breathing thing- I hate that thing and thought once I came home from the hospital I would no longer have to do that. But since I am reclining so much, I am still at risk for pneumonia so she makes me use it. The doc said I would probably sitting comfortably in about 2 weeks and maybe driving in 3. I have my post op appointment Aug 1, so I do not know if I will hear any pathology results before then. After the results come in, then I will come up before the "tumor board", and they will decide if I should have more chemo and what kind. I am not too freaked out about more chemo anymore and almost afraid to not have it. I want to do whatever I have to do to make sure this stuff does not come back.

I have cut back my pain meds by at least 1/3. I was taking my 90 mgs of my heavy pain meds twice a day and now I am down to 60 mg. I am still on the same amount of "break through" pain medicine but I think that will probably ease up in a few days as I heal a bit more. In fact, it is time for some of the heavy duty stuff right now so I am going to sign off for today. Many, many thanks too all of you for the prayers, calls, cards, emails this week. They sure helped my spirits, and I know Bob appreciates them too. More later!

Home Again, Home Again

They removed the IV lines this morning, the last bit of plumbing, so she can move about without having to haul her "buddy" with her. The Physical Therapist came with last minute instructions and to check Geri out simulating getting into and sitting in the car. She had to improvise a footstool (small plastic bowl) for Geri to rest her foot on to keep the pressure off the wound. Geri passed that test, then a couple of Registrars came and gave Geri flight clearance for take-off. As soon as the paperwork was completed we were outta there and sitting in traffic on the downtown connector. Arrived home about 5:45pm, where sister Lisa was fixin' the vittles for supper (very nice too, thank you). Since then Geri has been "resting" and practicing at being a princess again.

Getting there, one tube at a time.

4:30pm. Making progress. Only tubes left in now are an IV for for saline and the moprphine pump. Geri got out of bed and walked twice today, including going up and down some stairs. If she can master the big-girl potty she can come home tomorrow. Crew change on the support team, Syd has gone home (Thank you Syd) and Lisa has taken over. Thats it for now.

The Next Day

Things are progressing well. Geri and Syd had a fairly restful night, apart from a brief spell watching CourtTV at 3:00am. The physical therapist came early this morning and had Geri up and walking again. She will do more later today. The surgeon and his entourage came. He estimated the tumor & surrounding tissue removed weighed about 10 lbs. Geri thinks she now weighs what her driving licence says. Blood work indicated Geri's heamoglobin was low so they are going to give her a couple of units of blood this evening. She still has a cathater and wound drain, as well as an O2 line, morphine IV line and a IV line for saline, antibiotics and potasium. If all goes well she may be coming home Thursday.

Surgery Day

8:00am Geri went for surgery about ten minutes ago. We arrived here at 5:30am (no traffic and choice of parking spot at that time of the morning) and waited in pre-op, where they ask all the same questions they asked in per-op registration last Thursday. Surgery will take about two plus hours.

Update: 11:00pm
Everything went well. The surgeon removed the tumor and surrounding tissue with no problems. The mass will be sent to the lab for analysis but he felt he got good clear margins. The siatic nerve was undamaged. He had to remove some muscle and hamstrings but it should not be a problem. Geri is in recovery now and will be moved to a room shortly. Will post more later.

3:15pm Geri is feeling pretty good and is eating a little late lunch. The surgeon said she will not need to have a brace to keep her leg straight, about which she is pleased. She is on IV fluids and a morphine on-demand pump, about which she is very pleased.

Gladys, Rhoda, Marvin, Michael and Syd were here for moral support this morning and Syd is doing the night shift tonight. The Physiotherapist has just arrived to do some baseline tests and has even had Geri standing up and walking to the door and back, hauling the IV pole, the catheter bag and wound drain behind her. She didn't even use the walker. After all that exercise she is feeling a little tired so is now planning to have a morphine cocktail and a nap
.
Thank you all for your good wishes and support. The day has gone even better than we had expected and hope they continue so.

Pre-op mess

What a mess yesterday was! I knew we were in trouble when we arrived for my Pre-op stuff at 10am and there were 22 people in the waiting area and only a few empty chairs. I had a really had a hard time finding a way to sit halfway comfortably. After about an hour and a half of waiting, I told them my problem and they found me an exam room just to put me in so I could lay down. We did not see anyone for another hour. We were there a total of 4 hours, and when we left the waiting area was even more crowded than it was when we arrived.

There was a bit of a hiccup with my EKG. Let me start by saying, that in the end there was nothing wrong, however it took a while to get there. I am still not real clear on what happend, but evidently on an EKG there is a graph that shows what your heart is doing and there are words along side that interprete the graph. The nurse would not really tell us what the problem was, or that it existed, but I could tell something was going on. After doing my best interrogating, I determined that the words on the EKG did not match the graph. So they were indicating some problem that the graph was not. They kept asking me where I had had other EKG's and we able to get Northside Hospital to fax an old one over from surgery I'd had a couple of years ago, so they could use that as a baseline. The graph from both EKG's looked the same and the anesthegiologist determined everything was fine. I had about 30 minutes of freaking out, and then it was all over and ok. But it made for a mentally and physically exhausting day. I do not generally get that freaked out about things, but this really threw me for a loop.

I am both anxious and excited about Monday. I can't wait for the day to come and get this thing out of me. Of course I am apprehensize about the unknown -- will they see something else or have to cut into something they were not planning on? How bad is the pain and recovery going to be? Intellectually I know better than to worry about that -- they have done MRI's, CT's and are not even pulling any lymph nodes so they should know exactly what they are getting into. And there is alway more pain medicine, so I know I will be comfortable. I just need Monday to come and get this over with!

My brother Michael, Aunt Rhoda, Uncle Marvin and Cousin Gladys are coming in for the surgery and bringing dinner over Sunday night. Sydney will join us on Monday and stay with me overnight in the hospital for the first night or two. Then the sisters and sister in law (Cindy, Lisa and Michelle) start rotating shifts at our house for as long as Bob needs help after I get home from the hospital. I think we have things pretty much under control and work is in good shape. All I need to do is pack a couple of things and rest! And hopefully, soon, I will be good as new!

The next time we blog will probably be on Monday afternoon or evening, with Bob catching you up on surgery, recovery etc. So keep your fingers crossed for me on Monday! Have a good weekend!

The count down starts

Just touching base here. There is nothing new, no changes to speak of and so far everything is still on track for sugery next Monday. I am just counting down the days. With Wimbledon ending in a couple of hours, that will make my wait much longer. I have gotten most of my personal stuff wrapped up, so that I can be out of commission for a couple of weeks if necessary. I have some work related things to keep me busy this week, so I am hoping it will go by quickly. The tumor still seems to be more and more swollen to me from the radiation, but no doctor seems to be concerned about that. I just can't wait for it to be gone. I will have to keep my leg straight and in a brace for about 2 weeks. I am not sure how I am going to get up the stairs when I get home from the hospital, but once I get up here I will not be going back down unless I have to go to the doctor. So if you come by here-- all entertaining will be done in the bedroom! Of course, most of you who have been here know it has been that way most of the time lately anyway. Bob is no longer surprised to find any number of folks proped up on his side of the bed.

Syd and Zola and coming by this afternoon so it will be nice to see them. My siblings are working out an elaborate schedule as to who is coming here and when, during and after surgery to give Bob some relief etc. I will be in the hospital at Crawford Long for 2 to 4 days, and Syd is staying there with me at least the first night. The sisters insist one of them be there all night for for the first couple of days. They have a little more surgical experience than I do, and they assure me that a patient needs more attention than nurses are now able to give. I am just so lucky to have family willing to drop everything going on in there lives and be here with me. Lisa, Cindy and Michelle will be taking shifts after I get out of the hospital, and I know friend imo is coming in early August to do the same. I am hoping I will only need help for a couple of weeks while I am in the brace and that any other visits will be just for fun. I am not sure I am going to be a whole lot of fun the first week or so! Blame it on the drugs!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. It looks like Federer is going to need my full attention if he is going to win this 3rd set!

Same ole, same ole

Had an appmt with Dr. Saba, my chemo doctor today, just to touch base, do blood work etc. My red count is improving - from8 up to 10+ now. If it had been just a little higher at 11 I would not have to have had a Pro Crit (red count booster) shot today. They will look again in 3 weeks and hopefully I will be past the 11 minimum. This shot stings a good bit, and it does make your bones ache for a week or so. I hope I have seen the last of them unless I do have to have more chemo.

The tumor seems a little more swollen to me and Dr. Saba just chalks it up to radiation. No one seems to be worried about it or my discomfort. Their solution is just to take more pain medication so that is what I will do when I need it!

I am not sure how I am going to know that tomorrow is a holiday vs any other day - except my work cell phone will probably not ring -- for work anyway. We will probably just sleep late and watch Wimbledon.

I do not have any more doc appmts till my pre-op appt the July 12. Then I am in for surgery July 16. So I am home till then!

Have a great 4th of July!