Home, Week 31

Mom's CA-125 has gone back up some. It went from 401 to 474, which shows that while the one drug may be keeping her numbers from skyrocketing back up, it's certainly not keeping the cancer at bay, so we'll be seeing the doctor to figure out what the new plan of attack will be.

Home, Week 30.5

It's the week off of chemo, and Mom needs platelets. We've talked to her doctor, and have decided to stay the current course for now, with just the one chemo drug, as adding any of the other possibilities would have side effects that Mom isn't ready to deal with right now.

So as long as the one drug is effective, that's what she'll be doing, unless she decides she wants potentially faster progress, and is willing to deal with the side effects (hair loss, nausea, blood counts going down more than they are now).

Home, Week 29.5

Second dose of this round, still the milder drug only, but we've been doing some research as to what other chemo drugs would be viable options given her situation. The double drug treatments really work well to confuse the cancer cells, because while they're trying to build an immunity to one drug, the other one comes in and kills them off. We just need to find another drug that can work as the second drug.

Thank you for all the continuing thoughts and prayers, Mom really appreciates them, and enjoys the cards and phone calls. God Bless.

Home, Week 28.5, Chemo Round 6

Nothing eventful, just the start of a new round of chemo. She's not doing two drugs for at least this round, until we can figure out what other chemo drug would work well.

Home, Week 28

Mom's CA-125 dropped down to 401. She only had 1/3 of a bag of the one drug that she had reactions to, so her numbers didn't drop as much as she would have liked, but 65 points is 65 points. =)

She'll only be doing the one chemo drug for a couple rounds (starting Monday), but we're figuring out some other chemo drugs she could take along with her current one in the interim.

She lost more weight, so she was down 70 pounds total, but she's gained 2 pounds recently! Never thought that would be a happy thing, but life is funny like that.

The next few weeks should be relatively calm, since she is only having the milder chemo drug, but we do have a couple doctor appointments that may turn up some interesting ideas, so we'll keep you updated.

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers, and God Bless.

Home, Week 27.5

Week off of chemo. We talked to the doctor last week, and have a game plan for getting Mom back to a two-drug regimen, which seems to keep the cancer confused enough that it can't build up a resistance to just one drug. If that game plan doesn't work, there are a TON of other chemo drugs out there, it'll just be a matter of figuring out which ones would be the best options for Mom and her specific situation. Her platelets are low, as well as her white count (one of the many fluctuations), but that'll be taken care of today.

She had a Silpada event she went to Friday night, and had a great time. In case you haven't seen the new catalog, you can go to her Silpada website and check the new jewelry out: http://www.mysilpada.com/pat.mensing . She's still working on doing catalog parties, or even individual orders, and when she gets enough energy, she'll be out doing home parties, with a little assistance from either myself or another Silpada representative in her group. She also has some retired jewelry that she's selling from her inventory at 30% off, so if there's something that you had your eye on from the last catalog, and don't see it in this catalog, you may still be able to get it. Just give her a buzz or an e-mail and ask her. =)

The room is still available for rent, and we've advertised it on CraigsList for a few weeks now, so if you hear of anyone, even if it's just a temporary situation, let her know. =)

Thank you and God bless.

Home, Week 26.5

Chemo day again. Just the single, non-reactive drug today, so nothing exciting going on. She bounced back after her reaction the next day, and was good all week. She's also been keeping her nutrients in her body, so when she does get hydration, it's just saline most of the time. =) Her red and white blood counts fluctuate, so she gets shots to help keep those numbers up.