Cheryl had a rough morning. Still fighting the nausea and headache, she only had a few bites to eat up through lunch time. They got her on an IV with fluids as the day progressed and this seems to be helping the nausea quite a bit.
They took her down for the lumbar puncture (spinal tap) today but we have not yet received the results of that biopsy. The good news is that she had enough pain meds in her that she barely felt the local anesthetic they gave her before doing the procedure. Cheryl did not have the planned mammogram today so we are expecting that to happen tomorrow.
Dr. Burke came by and spoke with her this morning and explained how rarely he has seen brain metastases with ovarian cancer. He said that she is responding well to the current course of meds and that we will know more about what is going on when we have he other test results. I went to work today so I did not have a chance to ask him any questions.
This evening Cheryl was able to eat part of a serving of mashed potatoes with gravy and about half a chicken tender. It stayed down and the fact that she was finally able to keep something on her stomach did perk her up a bit. I left out a little before 9 PM and she was already drifting off to sleep. I'm so glad that they are finally getting the headaches and nausea under control.
Please be in prayer that this improvement will continue. Also, pray that the results of the lumbar puncture will not show positive for cancer.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Day 2 Current Stay Update
The radiation oncologist came in this morning and told us that the MRI showed five small tumors in Cheryl's brain. There are two at the back, two in the middle and one in the front. He said that the largest is about the size of a Raisenette. The standard treatment is to do two weeks of whole brain radiation. Each daily session will last about 15 minutes. She can expect to lose her hair and may have some nausea and mild confusion. He checked her CT scans from last month and said the goods news is that the chemo appears to be working from the neck down and that her torso and abdomen show no signs of tumor activity.
They gave her the first radiation treatment today and will continue to do so until she gets out of the hospital. Then, she will continue daily (Monday-Friday)on an outpatient basis. Dr. Pederson (Radiation Oncologist) said that they usually have great success using radiation on brain mets and are able to stop the cancer's spread. They will do a follow up MRI in three months to make sure that they've got it all.
Tomorrow, she will be having a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to check for cancer cells in the spinal fluid and a mammogram to make sure that it has not spread that route.
She is still experiencing a lot of nausea and headaches as soon as her meds wear off. I told the nurse that we can almost set a clock by her since she starts asking for the next dose right on schedule. The past several days have been really rough for nausea as she has gotten sick on almost everything she has tried to eat. She was finally able to keep down a bowl of soup at lunch and a little jello this evening.
Please be in prayer that the radiation treatments will be effective at killing the tumors in her brain and that the other tests will be negative and that the meds will keep the headaches and nausea under control.
They gave her the first radiation treatment today and will continue to do so until she gets out of the hospital. Then, she will continue daily (Monday-Friday)on an outpatient basis. Dr. Pederson (Radiation Oncologist) said that they usually have great success using radiation on brain mets and are able to stop the cancer's spread. They will do a follow up MRI in three months to make sure that they've got it all.
Tomorrow, she will be having a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to check for cancer cells in the spinal fluid and a mammogram to make sure that it has not spread that route.
She is still experiencing a lot of nausea and headaches as soon as her meds wear off. I told the nurse that we can almost set a clock by her since she starts asking for the next dose right on schedule. The past several days have been really rough for nausea as she has gotten sick on almost everything she has tried to eat. She was finally able to keep down a bowl of soup at lunch and a little jello this evening.
Please be in prayer that the radiation treatments will be effective at killing the tumors in her brain and that the other tests will be negative and that the meds will keep the headaches and nausea under control.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Headaches and Hospitals
Cheryl went to see her oncologist,Dr. Negrea, this morning with another fierce headache. Along with that she's been having some nausea and even a couple of incidents of double vision. After a couple of hours in the office getting vitals and doing a basic exam, they decided to admit her to the hospital for further tests. Dr. Negrea wanted her to have an MRI and spinal tap along with any other test that these may point to and he has referred her for a neurology consult.
I had a brief conversation with the PA as we were on our way out and asked what they were looking for with these tests. She said that they are looking for brain mets (central nervous system metastases) or an infection.
We got into admissions at Memorial shortly after 1 PM. While there, they gave her some anti-nausea and pain meds. She finally got into a room shortly before 5 PM. The on call neurologist stopped by and did a couple of quick checks and said that the neurologist would review the MRI in the morning. Cheryl finally had her MRI done after 8 PM.
She's had several bouts of nausea today. It seems to be triggered by motion so we had the patient transport techs be very careful when taking her from place to place.
I left the hospital around 10 PM and she was settled in with the football game on. They had given her a dose of anti-nausea and pain meds and she seemed to be relaxing a bit.
Please be in prayer that the radiologist/neurologist/oncologist will be able to figure out the cause of the headaches and be able to find an effective treatment.
She is in room 435. The direct line is 912-350-5435.
I had a brief conversation with the PA as we were on our way out and asked what they were looking for with these tests. She said that they are looking for brain mets (central nervous system metastases) or an infection.
We got into admissions at Memorial shortly after 1 PM. While there, they gave her some anti-nausea and pain meds. She finally got into a room shortly before 5 PM. The on call neurologist stopped by and did a couple of quick checks and said that the neurologist would review the MRI in the morning. Cheryl finally had her MRI done after 8 PM.
She's had several bouts of nausea today. It seems to be triggered by motion so we had the patient transport techs be very careful when taking her from place to place.
I left the hospital around 10 PM and she was settled in with the football game on. They had given her a dose of anti-nausea and pain meds and she seemed to be relaxing a bit.
Please be in prayer that the radiologist/neurologist/oncologist will be able to figure out the cause of the headaches and be able to find an effective treatment.
She is in room 435. The direct line is 912-350-5435.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thanksgiving with a twist
We are most thankful to have another Thanksgiving together and to have been able to see our families during October and November. Over the past several weeks, since Cheryl finished her second course of chemotherapy, we have taken the time to travel and share time with our loved ones. We've visited Michelle, Chris, Jonas, Susannah and Abigail in Owensboro,KY, Jason, Sharon and Dylan in north Georgia, Cheryl's Mom, four sisters and two aunts in Rockingham,NC, and my Mom, four siblings and their families in Thomasville, GA.
Cheryl has been having a problem with headaches for the past couple of weeks and she has also been having intermittent nausea. The pain in her head worsened to the point that she asked me to call Dr. Negrea's office while we were visiting in Thomasville. The doctor's assistant told us to get the emergency room at Memorial Hospital in Savannah and have them do a head workup to rule out inter-cranial metastasis and give her something for her pain and nausea.
We cut our visit short and left Thomasville shortly after lunch and arrived at Savannah around 6PM. We made a couple of brief stops for Cheryl to get out and move around and we stopped by the house to swap out bags in case they decided to admit her.
She received a couple doses of high strength pain reliever and repeated doses of anti-nausea medicine before going down for a CT of her head. Shortly after 11PM, the nurse let us know that her status had been changed to pending discharge since the CT had not shown any visible tumors in her head. The doctor did say that a CT is not the ideal way to check for brain mets (cancer that has spread into the cranium) but that he was sure that Dr. Negrea would order additional tests after her appointment on Tuesday. We were sent home with prescriptions for two types of pain medicine and a relatively high dose of anti-nausea medicine.
After waiting a half an hour at the 24 hour CVS, we finally made it home just before 1 AM. During the night Cheryl took the first dose of one pain med found that it made her nauseous. We are now trying to juggle the combination so she will have a good dose of the anti-nausea meds in her system when she takes her pain pills.
Cheryl is still complaining about intense pain in the back of her head and we are hoping that the medicine that she is taking will hold it to a tolerable level until she gets in to see the oncologist.
Please be praying with us that the pain / nausea meds will work and that these symptoms that she is having are not caused by a recurrence or spread of her cancer.
Cheryl has been having a problem with headaches for the past couple of weeks and she has also been having intermittent nausea. The pain in her head worsened to the point that she asked me to call Dr. Negrea's office while we were visiting in Thomasville. The doctor's assistant told us to get the emergency room at Memorial Hospital in Savannah and have them do a head workup to rule out inter-cranial metastasis and give her something for her pain and nausea.
We cut our visit short and left Thomasville shortly after lunch and arrived at Savannah around 6PM. We made a couple of brief stops for Cheryl to get out and move around and we stopped by the house to swap out bags in case they decided to admit her.
She received a couple doses of high strength pain reliever and repeated doses of anti-nausea medicine before going down for a CT of her head. Shortly after 11PM, the nurse let us know that her status had been changed to pending discharge since the CT had not shown any visible tumors in her head. The doctor did say that a CT is not the ideal way to check for brain mets (cancer that has spread into the cranium) but that he was sure that Dr. Negrea would order additional tests after her appointment on Tuesday. We were sent home with prescriptions for two types of pain medicine and a relatively high dose of anti-nausea medicine.
After waiting a half an hour at the 24 hour CVS, we finally made it home just before 1 AM. During the night Cheryl took the first dose of one pain med found that it made her nauseous. We are now trying to juggle the combination so she will have a good dose of the anti-nausea meds in her system when she takes her pain pills.
Cheryl is still complaining about intense pain in the back of her head and we are hoping that the medicine that she is taking will hold it to a tolerable level until she gets in to see the oncologist.
Please be praying with us that the pain / nausea meds will work and that these symptoms that she is having are not caused by a recurrence or spread of her cancer.
Monday, November 7, 2011
A Change in Chemotherapy
Cheryl got a call from Dr. Negrea, (medical oncologist) last week to let her know that her CA125 marker had effectively doubled in the thirty days since her last round of Doxil/Gemzar. This usually indicates that the cancer is active in the body.
Today, she had an appointment with Dr. Burke,(gynecologic oncologist that did her initial diagnosis and surgery). We discussed what the doubling of her CA125 means. He reviewed her CAT scan from August and said that it showed no evidence of disease progression but since the doubling has occurred since then, he would like for her to have another scan this month to see if anything shows up.
He said that Cheryl will no longer take the Doxil/Gemzar combination since it is not dropping or controlling her count and that he wants to put her on a different regimen of Avastin and a daily oral chemotherapy. This will all need to be coordinated with insurance and she should begin this new treatment after Thanksgiving.
Please keep Cheryl in your prayers as this new drug does have a fairly high potential for side-effects.
Today, she had an appointment with Dr. Burke,(gynecologic oncologist that did her initial diagnosis and surgery). We discussed what the doubling of her CA125 means. He reviewed her CAT scan from August and said that it showed no evidence of disease progression but since the doubling has occurred since then, he would like for her to have another scan this month to see if anything shows up.
He said that Cheryl will no longer take the Doxil/Gemzar combination since it is not dropping or controlling her count and that he wants to put her on a different regimen of Avastin and a daily oral chemotherapy. This will all need to be coordinated with insurance and she should begin this new treatment after Thanksgiving.
Please keep Cheryl in your prayers as this new drug does have a fairly high potential for side-effects.
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