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Everyone's happy ... !

4/22/2013

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I spent another day in San Francisco today, scrambling to meet three appointments.

1.  The neurosurgeon appointment went very well.  The doctor is very pleased at how my neck is healing.  The bone in the broken C4 is growing well.  However, I will most likely always have tingling in my right hand due to nerve damage and compression.  The tumor is still present in my bone (but it's dead now) and turning my neck causes the tumor to press on a nerve.  The doctor said that I should only worry if the tingling is constant (it comes and goes) or if it suddenly worsens.  The only way the tumor can be completely removed is through surgery and we are trying to avoid that.  The tumor is expected to get smaller though as time goes on.

2.  There are no new bony lesions!  That was really encouraging.

3.  There is ample evidence of bone healing happening.  The lesion on my left rib is gone!  Additionally, several lesions are smaller than three months ago.

4.  I no longer have to wear my neck brace all the time.  I need to wear it where there is risk of falling and/or harm . . . predominantly, while in a car, while exercising or while walking on uneven ground.

5.  The entire medical team is very encouraged by how rapidly my body is responding to treatment.  Their stated goal remains, "As high a quality of life for as long as possible."  Considering how rapidly the cancer spread in the four months following my last chemotherapy and now, how the cancer has not spread at all and has even backed down a bit during the first four months of treatment, is encouraging.

6.  I was supposed to get blood drawn for the gene mutation test (BRCA), but the paperwork wasn't in place.  I may have to take a special trip to San Francisco to have that done.  My insurance company finally approved paying for it (it's a $4,000 test) and it could be helpful for my siblings and children.

7.  I will continue my current treatment plan, daily Tamoxifen and monthly Xgeva (bone strengthening medication).  I've been given permission to resume my weight loss plan and I've been encouraged to continue my exercising.

8.  I'm to report any negative changes.  My next appointment is May 22.  My next scans won't be until the end of July.

9.  I've been encouraged to return to my regularly-scheduled life!  I'm to listen to my body, rest when needed, not do any heavy lifting and stop doing something if it hurts. I do plan on attending a metastatic breast cancer support group up at Stanford as that will help me with the roller coaster of emotions that can happen and lessen the burden on my family and friends in that area.

10.  God is so incredibly GOOD!  I rejoice at the mighty work that he is doing in my body.  We don't know how long this treatment plan will work, but it's working now . . . today . . . my manna . . . and I'm grateful.
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No New Cancer!

4/20/2013

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Hi Everyone,

I went to San Francisco yesterday for a full day of scans.  I first had an MRI of my entire spine, followed by a PET/CT scan of my body.  The purpose of the MRI was to get a detailed reading of where the cancer was already known to be present and the purpose of the second was to determine if there was any new cancer elsewhere in my body.

The entire medical team at UCSF is amazing.  Not only did a radiologist read the scans yesterday and write an immediate report, but that report was given to my oncologist who gave me the results right away.  Less than 24-hours later, I have a report in hand.

Overall, the news is good.  First of all, no new cancer!  I had gone into the scans feeling two extremes . . . that the discovery would be that all the cancer was completely gone or that the scans would reveal cancer everywhere!  I didn't have a lot of middle ground expectations, but that appears to be what I have received.  

One vertebrae (T12) showed increased metabolic activity, as did my left iliac wing (pelvis).  The oncologist said that this is consistent with the hormone therapy I've been on and to not worry about it.  There was no mention of my left rib, which makes me wonder if that lesion is gone as previously suspected when a biopsy was considered.  I'll ask about it on Monday when I go in for my follow-up appointments.  Additionally, there are no new pathologic fractures, one of the greatest risks of bone metastases.

I must admit a mixed reaction.  I REALLY wanted to hear the cancer was gone.  As I looked at the scans last night (Yes, I get copies of them for my files.), it was clear to me that I still had cancer.  I was disappointed, but clung to the fact that God is writing a good story for my life and cancer is definitely a part of that story. 

I feel a bit like the Israelites in the desert with their daily manna.  God gave them enough manna for each day.  They were not to store manna for the next day, unless it was on the day before the Sabbath.  On that day, they were to gather for the Sabbath as well.

I am being provided for on a daily basis.  Overall, I feel very good!  I have lots of energy and pain wise, I only have a slight dull ache in the small of my back.  I have friends who have significantly more pain due to injuries.

As I taught my students in China, this is the day God has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it. 

Oh, I am glad.  I am very glad!

On Monday, I will see the neurosurgeon to evaluate progress on my neck and to see if I will be able to abandon the neck brace.  I've been wearing it for almost five months and I'm ready to be anonymous again.  It most definitely is a conversation starter!

Our trip to Yosemite went very well.  We enjoyed ourselves quite a bit and we look forward to returning.  

I took a week long break from the Bible project as my fingers were tingling quite a bit (I'll ask about this on Monday as well).  However, I really miss the project when I don't do it, so I started it up again.  I'm in Exodus 24.  God is definitely interested in the details of our lives.

As always, thank you for walking beside us in this journey.  God is so incredibly good in providing such supportive friends and family.

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Post-op visits

4/13/2013

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Just a quick note here.  I had my post-op visit with the doctor yesterday and everything is fine.  I got the explanation as to why my right side hurt more than the left . . . it's because that's the incision that everything was removed through!  The left incision was used for instruments to hold things out of the way (stomach, uterus, bladder, etc.) and the naval incision was for the camera.  The right incision was the work incision.  Makes perfect sense now!

I continue to heal and all three incisions are in the full itchy stage!  They should be past that by mid-week.

The kids and I are going to Yosemite for three days during their spring break next week.  I've never seen the waterfalls of Yosemite and this is supposed to be a good time of year for that.  We're looking forward to seeing God's creation.

I probably won't post anything until after my scans and doctors' visits on the 22nd, so I'll see you then.

As always, thank you for your constant love and friendship.
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Pathology reports

4/9/2013

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Hi Everyone,

It's been a full week since my surgery and I'm happy to say that I'm feeling closer to "normal," whatever that may mean!  I still have an ache (kind of like a pulled muscle feeling) in my right side, but it's lessening with each passing day.  I'll have my post-surgical appointment on Friday, the 12th.

In the meantime, I received a message today that the pathology studies on my now-removed ovaries have been completed and that there were no problems to be found at all.  There were no cancer cells . . . and no pre-cancerous cells.  While we didn't expect them to have any problems, it was still quite nice to hear the report.

Michael has been home sick for two days with a severe cold.  He's heading back to school tomorrow as he's energetic enough now to make me slightly crazy!

I've noticed a return of tingling fingers in my right hand.  Earlier, this was caused by the compression fracture in my C4 vertebrae pressing on a nerve, but the tingling disappeared with the radiation treatments.  I'm not sure what it means now that it has returned considering that my neck is healing well.  There's a possibility of carpal tunnel syndrome as I spend an hour or two a day in my Bible project.  I will start wearing a wrist brace to see if that makes a difference.  I'll also have to make sure I sit at a table and use proper ergonomics for this project.  I'm almost up to the Ten Commandments! 

The kids' spring break is next week.  We'll be spending part of the time in Yosemite and part of the time at home, sleeping in.  We're looking forward to it.

Micheal's being sick has made me tired!  It's 8:30, but I'm heading off to bed! 

As always, thank you for being a part of our story.

In His Grace,
Vickie
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Recovery

4/6/2013

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Hi Everyone,

I've decided that surgery that removes something that is supposed to be removed from your body (i.e. babies born via caesarian section) is  much easier to recover from than surgery that removes something that is designed to stay in your body (i.e. ovaries). 

It's now the fifth day since my surgery.  I feel "okay," but it's a "meh-okay."  My right side hurts more than my left.  The pain level is very manageable with ibuprofen . . . and I've not even taken that for a day or so.  However, I just don't like feeling uncomfortable in my skin.  It hurts when I first stand up or sit down and it hurts when I get out of bed.  If I don't move, everything's fine!  :D

I've been resting a lot.  I'm not a very good "rester," but when my body doesn't have a choice, that's just what it does.  I have gotten together with friends, so I haven't been cooped up in the house, but I've been far more tired than I'm used to.  Thus, I'm posting a picture of Jesse in his curled up resting position . . . nothing shows contentment like that, does it?

I've been continuing in my Bible project and am now midway through Exodus.  So far, I feel like I'm learning a lot about the Hebrew story-telling tradition . . . there's a lot of repetition of details!  I can see why people question some of these details as some of them appear to contradict themselves.  An example of this would be that the fifth plague of Egypt supposedly killed all the livestock of the field (Exodus 9:7), but in the seventh plague, the Egyptians are warned to bring their livestock in from the fields so they wouldn't die in the ensuing hailstorm.  Where did the livestock come from?  Same goes for the horses that pulled the 600+ chariots in Exodus 14:7 . . . where did they come from?  How were those animals spared from the plagues of the land?

I'm not really looking for answers to these questions.  (Perhaps horses aren't considered to be "livestock" so that takes care of that question, anyway!)  The bigger picture is so much more important that being mired down in details.  However, I'm enjoying the details that I'm encountering through this method of study.  I look forward to writing out the Bible each day and if I happen to miss a day, I feel like I have missed out on something.  It truly is a special way to read God's word.

My mind played head games with me this week.  As I sat in our living room, I had an almost blinding realization that I still have cancer.  Yes, I *knew* that, but I think I had slipped into a "surgery-is-used-to-remove-cancer" mentality.  If I had to go through the pain and recovery of surgery, then surely that is because cancer was removed.

No.  Not true in my case.  My ovaries were removed to shut down estrogen production in my body.  My cancer is fueled by estrogen, so the removal of the ovaries is to close off a fuel source.  I am continuing to take an anti-estrogen medication and will most likely switch over to a different kind that will address estrogen produced elsewhere in the body.  The goal of the surgery was not to remove any cancer, although biopsies will be run on the ovaries to see if they had any problems.

I so want this cancer to be gone.  I consider it to be a plague in my body.  I continue to ask God to remove it and I ask you to be faithful in asking the same thing.

The next step is my scans on April 19.  I will have a PET/CT scan of my whole body and I will have an MRI of my neck and spine.  Hopefully, the results will be available for my appointments on April 22.

Rachel asked me if I was anxious about the scans.  Anxious isn't really the word I would use.  More like "impatient."  I want to know what God is doing in a physical way in my body.

Michael is dealing with a sore throat and I have a tight feeling in my chest (been going on for a couple of weeks).  Tis the season for allergies and whatnot.  Rachel and Art are well.

As always, thank you for joining us in our "walk on the Wen side."  I'm not sure how much I will post before the 19th, but we'll see.


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Home from surgery

4/2/2013

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I'm home from surgery.  Thank you for your prayers.  It went well with no complications.  Biopsy results in a week or two, but nothing looked suspicious.

I hurt more than I expected to.  Getting ready to have some noodle soup, take some pain meds and then go to bed.

Art and kids are good.

God is good, all the time.
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    God's Story

    _I believe we all have a story. This blog records my story and how I've lived with breast cancer both as a primary disease and a terminal disease.  I believe this is all a part of God's story for my life. This blog unapologetically includes all areas of my life: my faith, my family and my advocacy for change in the metastatic breast cancer world.

      

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