Bronchoscopy Wednesday

On Monday afternoon, after reviewing Cheryl's x-rays and CT scan and listening to her breathing, Dr. Wumi determined that she has fluid infiltration of the alveoli. He heard some crackling in her inhalation and noted that her lungs are not filling completely with air. In English, that's fluid buildup around the air sacs in the lung. This can be caused by a reaction to the chemotherapy or by an opportunistic infection. If this is a reaction to the chemo, she can be given steroids to reduce the inflammation but if it is an infection, steroids are contraindicated and she would need to be given targeted antibiotics.

Dr. Wumi had planned to do a bronchoscopy with several biopsies but after consultation with Dr. Horesh, Cheryl's vascular doctor, they have decided to pass on performing the biopsies since this would require Cheryl to be off her Lovenox (blood thinner) for half a day and would require placement of another venous filter before proceeding.

Instead, Dr. Wumi will do the bronchoscopy coupled with a wash of her lung to get samples for culture to determine the cause of the inflammation.

The procedure will involve twilight sedation and should take about half an hour. If all goes well, we should have Cheryl home by mid-afternoon. She will be a bit loopy for several hours but should have no ill-effects from the scope.

No Chemo Today

Cheryl was scheduled to start her fourth round of chemo today but that has been put on hold for a bit. She started running a fever last Saturday of around 102. The fever would drop after taking a full dose of Tylenol bu as soon as it wore off, the fever would return. The doctor called in a prescription for Augmentin (antibiotic) which she has been taking twice daily since Saturday evening and her fever continues to return when the Tylenol wears off. She has also been having a dry cough when talking or during mild exertion.

When we arrived for her chemo appointment this morning, the PA took her back to an exam room and updated her vitals. She seemed to think that there is something going on with the pleural effusion in Cheryl's right lung cavity so she had a chest x-ray done at the Lewis Cancer Pavilion. Those results were inconclusive so they sent her over to the hospital for a CT scan of her chest and have scheduled her an appointment on Monday 7/25 with Dr. Wumi. He is the pulmonologist that gave Cheryl her initial diagnosis last summer. She was given a prescription for another antibiotic to take in the meantime.

After Dr. Wumi figures out what is causing the persistent fever and gets it under control Cheryl will be put back on the chemo schedule.

Please be in prayer that this problem can be resolved quickly and that it will not delay further treatment.

Celebrate the 4th with a 44.2

We got Cheryl's latest CA125 today. She has dropped from 89.6 on the test she had on 12 June to 44.2 on the test that was done on 1 July. We are very glad to see that she is responding quickly to the chemo and are encouraged that it has dropped so much after each round.

Overall, she is feeling pretty good and is able to get quite a bit accomplished around the house. Sundays after chemo are usually a down day for her, but by midday Monday, she is generally back to feeling normal.

Continue to pray that her count will keep dropping and that we eventually get a pronouncement of remission.

A Year Ago Today ...

A year ago today, June 29th, we were told that Cheryl has cancer. In the ensuing twelve months, she has endured major surgery, hospitalizations for blood clots and lung drains, a complete course of chemotherapy, what we thought was remission, relapse and now she is two rounds into another course of chemotherapy. What a year this has been but we're still here.

We had a great visit with Michelle, Jonas and Susannah this past weekend. Cheryl was able to get down on the floor and play games with both kids. I got to pick and share fresh garden produce with Susannah and Jonas had his private time with Grandmama in the Thomas the Tank Engine tent. We both immensely enjoyed Michelle's company over their three day stay.

Today, Cheryl had her follow up with the pulmonologist, Dr. Jones. They reviewed her latest chest CT scan and said that her lungs look good and that overall she is doing great. The pleurodesis procedure on her left chest cavity has had the desired result and she is no longer building up fluid there. Her coughing has cleared up and she appears to have normal lung function. Dr. Jones said that she should not have to see him again unless something else comes up later or the oncologist requests it.

On Friday, she will be going in to begin her third round of chemotherapy. At that time her CA125 and other blood counts will be taken to monitor the effectiveness of the treatment. If appearance and feeling good are reliable measures then she is definitely better off today than she was a year ago when this all started.

Please continue to pray that this chemotherapy will push the cancer into long-term remission.

A New Day and A New (lower) Number

Cheryl called in to Dr. Negrea's office today to see if her CA125 results had been posted yet. She was very pleasantly surprised to be told that the new reading is 89.6, almost 200 points below the reading they took before she began this new chemotherapy.

After Cheryl's relapse, Dr. Burke told us that his goal is to push the cancer back into remission. We are praying that this good start will carry through and that each subsequent reading will be lower yet.

Cheryl will have her second session of this second round this coming Friday then she will get two weeks off before repeating the process.

Celebrated #54

Cheryl had a great celebration of her birthday on Tuesday. The day started out with phone calls from her mom, followed by the grandkids and many friends. Noontime brought a group of ladies from the church who brought lunch and a cake. Later in the afternoon, she had more visits and calls from friends and neighbors. We wrapped up the day with a steak dinner and a box of Godiva chocolates. It was a day she will long remember. She is thankful to be here to celebrate another birthday.

Friday was round two of chemo. Her CBC still shows red and white cell counts in the normal range and she is experiencing no side effects from the chemo so far. They drew her CA125 but we will not have those results until some time next week.

Continue to pray that the chemo will be effective and that the side effects stay minimal.

A Good Week

This week has been uneventful for Cheryl. Other than trips to town for an echo-cardiogram and some blood work, she has not had to see any medical professionals. She is a bit tired and has been having some morning nausea but overall is feeling well.

We had an early celebration of her birthday when Jason, Sharon and Dylan visited back in May and we plan to invite folks from church, neighbors and area friends to drop in on her this coming Tuesday. I'm picking up cupcakes so there will not be a lot of overhead to get things ready.

Be in prayer that the echo-cardiogram and blood work were within normal range and that neither will interfere with her next chemotherapy on the 10th.