Round One Down

Cheryl had the second session of this round of her chemotherapy today. This went quicker than her previous session since she only received the anti-nausea drug and Gemzar. Other than being a bit tired this afternoon, she is feeling well.

They checked her CBC (Complete Blood Count) before beginning her chemo and all of her red and white cells are still in normal range. The nurse also gave her the CA125 result from the test which was performed before they began chemo last week. The count was 282.3, a rise of 78.3 from April test. This will be the baseline that Dr. Negrea and Dr.Burke will use to determine if this chemotherapy mix is working.

Cheryl's next chemotherapy will be on June 10th and that is also when she will have her next CA125 count done. We are praying that the numbers will begin to drop after this first round of chemo but it may take up to two rounds to see if it is working.

We appreciate the notes, cards, letters, calls and rides to Savannah. We ask for your continued prayers for Cheryl's recovery.

Good Weekend Visit and Clots Are Cleared

So far, Cheryl is handling the chemo well. Other than a mildly elevated temperature and some fatigue, she is pretty well her usual self.

We had a great time this weekend when Jason, Sharon and Dylan came to visit. Cheryl was able to spend quality time with each of them. We did up an oven full of ribs on Saturday and Jason prepared a roast for Sunday lunch. We celebrated Cheryl's birthday a few days early with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Jason and Sharon helped get the house back in order before leaving Sunday afternoon. All they left behind were some pleasant memories.

Today, Dr. Horesh, the vascular surgeon, checked to make sure that the clots in Cheryl's pelvis have cleared/absorbed. Since they were no longer visible, he went ahead and removed the filter from her abdomen. She was given Benadryl and twilight sedation. They went in through her jugular vein (just above her collarbone) to pull it out past the line of her IV port. As you can see by the picture, the filter was about two inches long.

The side of Cheryl's neck is a bit tender and she is still somewhat groggy from the medication they gave her this afternoon. With this out of the way, she is on track for her next session of chemotherapy on Thursday. Continue to pray that it will be effective in fighting her cancer into remission.

First Day Report

Cheryl's chemotherapy session at the Lewis Cancer Center went well. Everything went according to plan, even though it was a little behind on the time. She began with an anti-nausea drug and then went on to receive Doxil and Gemzar. Her CBC (complete blood count) results were good and should help make any blood related problems such as low white or red cell counts from occurring too soon.

While there, she had the nurse/PA and doctor check out the wound from her pleurodesis procedure two weeks ago that has not finished healing. They consulted with Dr. Jones, the thoracic surgeon for his recommendation. They then cleaned it up a bit and prescribed an antibiotic and offered suggestions on care. If it hasn't finished healing by next week, Cheryl will need to go back to Dr. Jones for follow-up.

She returns for her next session of Gemzar next Thursday and at that appointment should receive her CA125 results from today.

And It's Back To Chemo...

Insurance and scheduling have all come together and Cheryl will be starting back in chemotherapy at 11 AM Thursday at the Lewis Cancer Center at Candler Hospital in Savannah.. She will be under the care of Dr. Negrea, a general oncologist for this course.

According to the plan, she will be given anti-nausea medication and will then get a dose of Doxil followed by Gemzar. This will be followed in eight days by a repeat of the Gemzar. There will be a test of Cheryl's CA-125 level at the start of each 21 day cycle to verify the effectiveness of treatment.
http://www.doxil.com/
http://www.gemzar.com/Pages/index.aspx

On another note, the vascular surgeon's office called today and has scheduled Cheryl for an appointment next Tuesday to remove the venous filter they placed in her abdomen during her last hospital stay due to the clots in her pelvis.

Please be in prayer with us for the effectiveness of the drugs and Cheryl's safety and health through all of this.

Home At Last

We finally got Cheryl home shortly before lunch today. She rested well overnight and after we saw Dr. Horesh (vascular surgeon),she was cleared for release from the hospital and normal activity.

Next week brings another round of appointments and follow ups from this stay. She will also be seeing Dr. Negrea (oncologist) about getting her chemotherapy started as quickly as possible.

They will not be doing anything at this time to treat the large hernia in Cheryl's abdomen since getting back in to chemotherapy is the priority.

We want to thank everyone for the calls, cards, visits and prayers during this past week and we continue to covet your prayers in the weeks to come. As soon as we see how well the chemo is working, I'll make a new post.

We Thought Cheryl Was Coming Home

Cheryl called me this morning while I was at work and let me know that Dr. Jones removed her drains and that she was being cleared to check out this afternoon. They removed her IV and said that they would be working on her paperwork. When I got to the hospital around 4:30, I stopped by the nurse's station to let them know that I'd arrived. At that point, they were still working on getting her chart closed out.

I carried Cheryl a set of clean clothes to the hospital so she quickly got cleaned up and changed and we sat on the bed, watching TV and waited for her discharge. During the evening news, the vascular surgeon walks in and asks us where Cheryl is going. Of course, we replied that we were waiting for her discharge paperwork.

He said that he was glad that he caught us before she checked out because in going over her abdominal and pelvic CAT scans, he discovered two blood clots in her pelvic area. He said that Cheryl needed to have a filter inserted to keep these clots from migrating to her heart. He further explained that she was in grave danger without the filter and than almost any sort of movement could dislodge them.

A few minutes later, a couple of nurses from the vascular surgery department came to Cheryl's room and whisked her down to their department to get the filter inserted. Since she is allergic to iodine contrast, they gave her a full dose of Prednisone, Benadryl and her painkiller at the same time. The filter was inserted through her right groin and she had to remain still and lie flat for two hours after it was over. After the procedure she stayed pretty loopy for over an hour.

The plan is now to release her tomorrow if nothing else shows up and have her return for a follow-up in a week and then in two weeks have the filter removed.

Please be praying that she has no further complications or events to disrupt her treatment.

Still in the Hospital

Cheryl has had another good day at Memorial. Both of her chest drains continue to produce fluid but as the day progressed they have begun to taper off some. It will be up to Dr. Jones as to when the tube(s) come out. He told us before the procedure that she may go home with the smaller tube still in place.

One of the interns came in early and gave her the good news that her abdominal swelling is not due to a tumor but is a hernia. Dr. Burke came by later in the day to follow up on that info and to let her know that since her cancer activity is in her chest/lung area that she will not be a candidate for one of the clinical trials.

As soon as Dr. Jones (thoracic surgeon) clears her, Dr. Burke wants to get her started on chemotherapy. At this point he wants to try her on Gemzar and Doxil in an every 21 day regimen. She will go through a couple of rounds of these drugs and they will continue to monitor her CA125. It it drops, they will continue with these drugs until they get her into normal range and if it doesn't work, they will try different drugs to see if they can find something that will slow/stop it.

Continue to pray for healing from this procedure and for effectiveness in the chemo once it begins.