Tuesday June 3rd 2014

Nancy finished her radiation treatments yesterday. There were a total 15 treatments that she has been receiving daily with the exception of weekends. The treatments seem to working as she is much less pain that when she began treatments.

She still is not pain free and the radiologist told her to keep taking the pain medication for a while longer. It has been another daily grind for her to head to the hospital each day, but she has handled it with great strength once again. We are grateful to all who have provided rides and kept her company.

She will still receive hormone treatments and an IV medicine to strengthen the bone once per month. In addition she is still taking Arimidex another cancer medication designed to keep the cancer at bay.

Her spirits are good, especially considering all she has been through.  We've been busy flower shopping and planting flowers in the back yard and getting it in shape. She also has been able to get out to dinner with friends. There have been a number of occasions where is very nauseous; likely caused by the radiation or the medications.

From this point we wait to make sure she has no pain develop anywhere else. The are no plans to do any more scans or tests if she remains pain free.

Thanks for all the support, prayers and cards.

Bob

Wednesday May 14th, 2014

Nancy has finally begun her radiation treatments for the pain in her back and side. The first treatment was on Monday May 12th. The waiting seemed like forever after we initially saw the radiologist a few weeks ago. The doctor first  recommended about 10 treatments, however on the lumbar area the doctor determined she was going to do 15 treatments.

 These are given daily with the exception of weekends. The treatments are at Christ Hospital and so far it had been very tolerable for her in terms of the amount of time it takes for the treatment.....roughly one hour from the time she gets signed in to the time she is finished.

The radiologist told us it may take up to eight treatments before the pain begins to subside; so almost two more weeks. The pain medication she is on doesn't relieve all of her pain, but without it she would be miserable. She is able to get out on rare occasions but for now is basically content to be at home to rest and is hopeful the radiation does its job.

All things considered Nancy's spirits are good. We're had the pleasure of seeing all five grandchildren over the last few weeks and that is always an energizer for us. Obviously Nancy can't pick them up but they are able to get up in her chair for some much needed hugs.

Once again we are blessed with a great family. Nancy's' sister has been coming over in the mornings and her mom in the afternoon...cooking diner for us almost every night! Our kids are pitching in as well and we are thankful for all they do. This disease affects everyone in the family.

We are thankful for all of the prayers and cards and well wishes, it all means so much in this time of need. We pray each morning that the Good Lord put his healing touch on Nancy that He may ease her pain and she may live a long and healthy life.

Thanks again for your support.

Bob

April 30th, 2014

I obviously have not updated Nancy's blog since November 2013. Nancy was finishing up radiation treatments and we thought all was well with nothing new to report.

Following the radiation we took a trip to Florida before Christmas for some much needed R&R. For the next several months Nancy was fighting fatigue from the radiation which is fairly common given the amount of radiation she had been given. The only other issue was some nagging lower back pain for which she typically used a heating pad to help. We took another trip to Florida with friends in March and all seemed to be getting better.

During early April Nancy noticed a very sharp pain under her arm that was concerning. She notified the doctor and after a blood test revealed her cancer marker trending up he ordered a bone scan. This revealed numerous "areas of concern" so he ordered a PET scan. The PET scan revealed cancer in the bone in numerous areas.

There are many areas down her spine and ribs, lumbar area and a few spots on the skull. For this reason he ordered a brain scan. The good news is there is no indication of cancer in the brain, liver or lungs, so we now just have to concentrate on the bone cancer.

This is now considered stage four cancer so the plan is to put the cancer into remission. If successful she can live many more years as the bone cancer in and of itself is not life threatening. So the plan is to receive hormone shots and also an medicine that will strengthen the bones. Both will be given once per month.  No chemo is planned at this time.

In addition, to treat the severe pain she will receive ten radiation treatments.  This will hopefully kill the cancer in that area. The are too many spots on the bones to treat them all with radiation so this treatment will only be given when she has pain. The doctor said the pain is caused by the muscles pulling at bone where there is cancer.

Today she is meeting with the radiologist to have the area "mapped out" and will likely start next week with the radiation treatments for ten days in a row excluding the weekend.

Nancy knew the next place breast cancer spreads is typically the bone, but we were optimistic this would not be the case with her. Unfortunately we were wrong.

Here spirits are okay; certainly affected by the pain in her lumbar area where it is hard to get comfortable. She is very relieved it has not spread to the organs.

Please keep the prayers coming and I will try to keep the blog updated as things progress.

Bob