Direct from Mom

Here is a verbatim quote from mom:


"Well this has been quite a week for me. Monday Emergency room and learning that the new hurt is a broken rib, then into work; Tuesday the Pain Clinic for a nerve block to try and slow down the rib pain then into work; Wednesday work all day; Thursday chemo from 8:00 to 4:30. A long day... My onc is trying to follow what I told him about the chemo I received in Korea (as well as the kind and dosage as provided by Dr. Moon). Boy the hydration sure had me running to the restroom a lot and I think they may have given me more benedryl than perhaps I needed because I nodded off and on for hours. They also gave me a couple of different anti-nausea pills and IV pushes. Today I don't feel so hot, still taking anti-nausea stuff and Tylenol for the headache I woke up with this morning and at work by 7:00".


The good news from this is that the nerve block she got last Tuesday is working and she's feeling much better now.  A broken rib (ouch!).  Also, the good news is that the Tykerb will be here in a couple of weeks.

One of the patients, Dawn, wrote on her CaringBridge, that her new scans show no evidence of cancer.  I asked mom what she thought about this and she said: 

"I did read Dawn's CaringBridge and I do believe it's possible. In other areas of discussion on the internet, I've seen it referred to at NED ( No Evidence of Disease). The trick now is to somehow kill all the little cancer cells floating in her bloodstream that are looking for a home".


I hope that she will continue to update even after she gets home.  She's a nice lady.

So, that's it for now.  Mom should have her scan end of this month/early April.  Will let you know more as it happens.

The Bold and the Beautiful

I just wanted to write a little about Jackie.  She is the one I wrote early on about, who is from Oklahoma and came to Korea with stage IV pancreatic cancer.  She has a rich Southern drawl and is an incredibly devoted Christian woman.  When she meets you, she has a heartful of love for you and a smile that doesn't wane.  She gave me a white blood cell stimulation shot, I put on her pain patch.  She worked on mom's skepticism and everyone's religious persuasion. 

While in Korea, we always wanted to know how she was doing.  She's been through the wringer, emotionally and physically (I don't think ever, spiritually).  After Cyberknife, various chemos, stem cells and gene therapy... her tumor has shrunk from the size of a small mango to the size of a nickel.  I keep up on her (and a couple of other's) updates through CaringBridge every day. 

There is nothing more inspirational than watching someone with a huge and mostly impossible battle before them... and see them do, fight and persevere every step of the way.  What is happening with her, seems to be doing some good.  She'd be quite the miracle if she actually beats her cancer (especially being that it's pancreatic).  I know that Dr. Moon cares a great deal about her and I know that he is doing everything he can pull out of his brain to get her into remission.

Speaking of inspirational... we got to Skype with mom last night.  She looks GREAT.  Really good.  Still struggling with the pain issue, so she's going back to the pain clinic next week... but she just looked like normal mom.  She'll be going in for a chemo treatment at home of Avastin and Cisplatin.  I'm so glad her oncologist is going to continue the plan for her here.  As far as Tykerb, insurance will not pay for it so it seems it will need to be purchased from Canada.  Mom's scan should be in a few months.

Keeping you posted from coast-to-coast.  Signing off (for now)....

A Taste for Mandarin Oranges

They were plentiful at Novotel and now mom is craving them back at home.  Yes, back at home! 

She is feeling okay except for the persistent pain and being tired. She had another nerve block in a different place but it has had no effect thus far.  Mom has seen her oncologist and was very cooperative although a bit tongue-in-cheek about the Korean adventure.  Since Tykerb is not approved for lung cancer here in the States, she may have to order it from Canada.   Now, why would the same drug here in the States be TWICE as much as in Canada?  Yeah, there is nothing wrong with American pharmaceutical companies either.  Alrighty then.

Mom's oncologist has set her up to continue the other Chemo drugs per Dr. Moon's schedule.  It will (unfortunately) be awhile before she does a CT to see if there's any noticeable change.


Welcome back, Mom!

Coming home soon

YES!  Being excited is okay!  This is GREAT stuff, here!  Based on her tumor markers, she has improved a lot. The very bad part is that she just can't get that pain under control.  I'm happy she will be coming home soon.  Hopefully, nerve blockers or SOMETHING can help her. 

She says that if she can figure out how to continue her treatments at home, she should be able to keep the cancer from metastasizing and if the IGRT was successful, the tumors in her lung should shrink like crazy. It takes a long time for adenocarcinoma to react to radiation so it could be months before we can tell if it was successful.


She is flying home next Saturday, February 13th. 

Uwe and Cristal, I think I accidentally deleted your message.  Thank you for your well wishes.  You can read Jackie's posts at:  www.caringbridge.org/visit/jackiewilks. 

Until next time...
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cancer Marker Results

Mom had a tough go of it a few days ago.  She thinks it was probably the result of all the stuff they gave her Monday: "anti-nausea pill, hydration, antibiotic, antihistimine, diuretic, stem cells, cisplatin, allergic reaction test, a new vaccine, the old vaccine, and (as she says) the kitchen sink".


She met with Dr Cho a few days ago and at first he said she should come back and get a CT in 6 months. She asked if getting one in 10 days made any sense (what Dr Moon wants), and he said no it wouldn't show anything for 3 to 6 months. He believes all the pain is being caused by the tumor in the upper lobe pressing on the nerve fibers and it could take up to 6 months to get relief (she had gone to using 2 pain patches, but says it's not nearly enough). Then he came out to where they were sitting and asked how long she'd be in Korea. She said a week or 2 and he said she should stay and have a CT in a month. But mom is ready to come home and told Dr Moon that she wanted to talk to him about next steps. He said he wanted to wait until he sees the cancer markers so he had blood drawn.

Here are the tumor marker results:

CEA before 17 now 7 (normal <5)
CA72-4 was 4 now normal
CA15-3 was 33 now normal
NSE was 32 now normal

Whoa.  I feel... happy.  This is good, yes?  Really good, right?  Can I feel this?  Is it okay to?