Round 2 Dose 2

Yesterday morning Mom went in to the infusion center to have her second dose of this second round of chemotherapy. She was rather anxious after her experience three weeks ago of becoming violently ill after her initial dose of this new chemo. The Thursday before she and Dad met with Dr Kenyon, the oncologist, to discuss if Mom would go ahead with this course of treatment. Dr. Kenyon asked her, "What do I have to say to convince you to go ahead?" The three of them then proceeded to have a conversation about all the very convincing reasons Mom needs to do this second round of chemo. Most important, is that the survival statistics are better for women with inflammatory breast cancer who follow this specific course of treatment. They also discussed how the medications could be adjusted to hopefully reduce the nausea and other ill effects.





This brings us back to yesterday. I understand that Mom was pretty anxious during the infusion process. When she came home she was able to sleep. Around 3:30 she started to feel sick. Dad applied some of the "magic 4" topical anti-nausea medication. This medication instead of making her feel less noxious, caused her to have hallucinations and become rather paranoid and out of her head. She also developed a rash on her face. Dad called the doctor and struggled with their slow response. Three hours later he was able to talk to an on call doctor who recommended a course of action using some of the medications on hand.





The report I have from Dad this morning is that the night went pretty well. Mom's nausea has stayed at a 3 or a 4 on scale of 1 to 10. Dad says that she is also no longer out of her head, though she is still anxious and troubled.





Aside from all of this, today is my daughter Maya's 8th birthday. Steve, the kids, and I are traveling up to Portland to go to the zoo. We had our family celebrations earlier knowing that today would not be a great day around the house because of the chemo schedule. We are going to try to have a special day out and about. But, because I will be away most of today, I wanted to get the word out to our community about Mom's second dose.





I hope that this day is not too hard on her. I hope that the medications are able to keep the nausea at a low level, while not making her feel like she is going crazy.

Let me explain the pictures before I end this posting. Two of them are from our Sunday school Da Vinci days art project. We made super heroes. Elias is in the "courage" super hero and Maya is in the "love" super hero. Then there is a picture of Elias as the Mona Lisa. The last picture is of Maya's little birthday tea party.

More later,


Emily

Positive Picture Post

Hello Everyone,

Here I am as promised bringing you good news and good pictures. I know some of you were a bit anxious for the good news to arrive earlier, but I do lead a busy, exciting life on Buchanan St. and my blogging time is limited.

To review, last week on Tuesday Mom became quite ill after her new dose of chemo. Tuesday evening new anti-nausea drugs were prescribed. Wednesday Mom continued to stay in her bed and was still very noxious. The three anti-nausea medications together were only able to make her less ill and did not hold it back entirely. Thursday, upon advice from a local nurse friend, my Dad petitioned the doctor for another anti-nausea medication called "magic 4". This medication is made by the compounding pharmacy and is applied topically. Dad brought it home Thursday around dinner time and Mom added it to her regime. Around this same time Mom was able to rise up from her bed and take to the chair for the first time since chemo. Thursday evening Steve and Dad went to a special choir practice where a choir director candidate was to work with the choir as part of his hiring process. I brought the kids in to see Mom before they went to bed and offered them a creamsicle as an evening snack. As I was pulling the creamsicles out of the freezer Mom called out that she would like to try one too. I passed out the snack and was happy to see Mom actually take a few calories in. I left her there as I helped the kids with their shower and jammies and bedtime story. As I was reading to the kids in a different room I heard Mom up and about. Soon she came to find us and was eating a piece of toast. It seemed truly miraculous to have her up and about and interacting with us again. I call it the miracle of the creamsicle.

Mom continued to improve that night. The next morning she got herself up and eating a bit. She was determined to go downtown to the annual summer shoe sale at the local Birkenstock store. This is now called the miracle of the shoe sale. After the shoe sale Dad took her through the drive-thru at Burger King to get an ice cream cone as she was suddenly hungry again after several days of not eating and then the energy expenditure of shopping. In the drive-thru she made the sudden decision that a whopper jr. was what was needed instead of an ice cream cone. This, of course, is now documented as the miracle of the whopper jr.

I might be a little exuberant with my miracle classification, but Mom's resurrection was miraculous to me. Since she has gotten up and about she has struggled with heart burn, shakiness, dizziness, and fatigue. She wants to have more energy. But, she also recognizes that once again she is doing pretty good. She does not look forward to the next round of this chemo, which will be July 29.

Before July 29 we have more exciting times to come. Steve's birthday is July 20 and he will be turning 35 years old. Maya's birthday is July 30, but we will celebrate it early so that Mom can be a happy participant instead of a sick one. Maya will be 8 years old.

On a completely different note, I feel like I need to say a word about a dear friend of my brother. My brother's long time friend and neighbor was found on Tuesday morning in his hotel room in a coma. He also had a broken wrist and they suspect the coma is caused by some trauma to the head. This friend is currently up at OHSU where they will soon try to bring him back to consciousness. The friend is the father of two young children. Jeremiah and the friend's wife have been with him in the hospital since he arrived. I would ask that all your prayers and good thoughts be turned to this man, his family, and my brother as he deals with another trauma in his life.

Love, Emily

The New Stuff

I am blogging away from home so I am not able to attach any great new photos of beautiful baby Sam or any terrific action photos of my kids on their new play structure. Instead I will write about the rotten new chemotherapy that Mom took on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning at 8 am Mom went in for her new chemotherapy. This chemotherapy is one that she will have four times with three weeks in between the doses. We had gotten some information that lead us to believe that this chemo might have more side effects, but others had told us that there was no reason to believe that it would be any harder than the last stuff. Mom and Dad were at the infusion center a bit longer than normal, but arrived home in a very good mood around 1:00 pm. Mom said that in some ways the infusion of this chemo was easier. They did not give her the massive dose of benedryl with this cocktail and thus she was not as sleepy and groggy. She said that she felt fine!

At around 4:00 pm that all changed. Mom made a move from the warm living room to the cool basement as nausea began to take hold of her. She then proceeded to get rather violently ill. Dad called the doctor and his nurse called in two new anti-nausea prescriptions to add to the one very expensive anti-nausea that she was already taking. I stayed downstairs with Mom as Dad ran to the pharmacy. When Dad returned Mom tried one of the new medicines. This was not enough and she continued to be overpowered by sickness and nausea. She then tried the third medicine and this combination was able to slow the vomiting. I believe Mom and Dad were able to go to sleep at around 11 pm.

Yesterday Mom continued to take all three anti-nausea medications. She told me that with all three of these she still feels like she has the very worst morning sickness. The medications are able to keep her from vomiting, most of the time. She is still caught in the grip of the nausea all the time and sometimes she cannot help but completely loose it. She is also, obviously, in the woozy haze of all those medications. Mostly she is in bed or on the couch in the basement. Mostly she keeps her eyes closed and lays very still.

I think that I have heard from several sources that this might last about three days. Part of me wanted to wait to post this blog until she was through it and I could report the good news of her recovery as well as the rotten news about what she has to endure with this new chemo. But, perhaps the good news will get it's own posting with the cute pictures of all her lovely grandchildren to match.

Love, Emily

Celebrations

Life here on Buchanan street has been punctuated by celebrations and it is time I shared a few of them with you. 

Saturday May 24 Mom and Dad accepted an offer on their house on Division street. We were all very timid to become excited about this piece of news because we had experienced one deal falling though and this one initially seemed a bit shaky. But, the potential buyers persevered through their own issues and Mom and Dad did their best to deal with the repair issues that arose during the inspection process. The end result is that yesterday Mom and Dad officially sold their house and received the money from the sale. We all went out to dinner and gelato to celebrate the conclusion of the final house deal in this three house process! We are all so pleased and proud that we were able to sell two houses and buy a new one in just about three months. We had lots of contingency plans if this process were to have taken longer, but we are happy that we never had to use them.  

Wednesday June 18 Mom had an appointment with her oncologist Dr. Kenyon. At this appointment Mom, Dad, and Dr. Kenyon decided on the path forward for Mom's treatment. First Dr. Kenyon examined Mom and told her that he can no longer feel the cancer in her breast. What a wonderful thing to hear! He then told them that this is the point in treatment where the decisions become a bit experimental. He said that some doctors would proceed right to surgery at this point. But, there is data coming out of research in Texas where if one does another round of a different chemotherapy before going to surgery, then the survival statistics are even better. Dr. Kenyon gave Mom the choice of being done with chemo (for now) and doing the surgery, or having four more doses of chemo, three weeks apart, and then moving on to surgery. Mom decided to do the additional round of chemo in pursuit of those better numbers. 

Tuesday June 24 Mom had her last chemotherapy session of this first round of 12 weekly doses. This was a reason to celebrate too! Even though Mom will be continuing with chemo, coming to the end of the 12 felt like a big deal. At this final chemo the nurse took the time to explain the new chemo regime to Mom. One of the best things that Mom heard is that because her blood count numbers have stayed so high during this first round, she is going into the second round in very good shape. The new chemo is an unknown and thus causes Mom anxiety, but there is no reason to believe that it will necessarily be worse or harder. We will all just have to wait and see. 

Here are a few other reasons to celebrate:

Mom gets a week off chemo  before she starts the new stuff!

Jeremiah, Nan, and Sam are coming for the Fourth of July! Baby Sam has been to our house once already on June 9 and this was his very first long distance outing.

It is summer vacation! Steve and the kids are home and that makes for a much fuller, activity filled household.

Once again thank you to everyone who reads this and follows our family's story. We appreciate all your interest, support, and good vibes.

Love, Emily

 

All Together Now

This blog will be mostly a listing of events with a few details here and there. From reading the list I think that you will understand that we have all been very busy this past week. Great events have taken place.

Last Thursday at around 6:00 pm we entered our new house on Buchanan Ave. for the first time as new residents. Paul and Dave Boling and Bill Meier were there ushering in the first of many moving van and truck loads of stuff.

Friday night we all slept in the house for the first time. It was a very hot night in Corvallis. The Evans's slept on their newly filled water bed and the Herbs slept in the cool, cool basement.

Saturday morning was moving day. We were overwhelmed with the amazing turn out for our moving party. Snacks and lunch were provided by church folks. Moving and cleaning help was provided by a great gathering of church community from near and far, family from various branches, and friends of all sorts. A HUGE amount of work was accomplished. Most everything was moved from both houses. A stunning accomplishment. It was also about the hottest day we have had all spring. What a sweat bath.

Sunday after church more moving took place. There were a few big items that needed to come over while we still had the moving van and utility dolly. The Boling brothers were there with us again helping us with these last big items. This was also the day that I took an initial try at organizing the kitchen. I started at 10:30 am and finished at 5:30 pm. I had cleared enough away that I was able to wipe the counters!

Monday was another big day of slowly chipping away at the mountains of boxes and furniture surrounding us. It seemed insurmountable. Jeremiah and Nan also had a visit to the doctor this day. He decided that they should go into the hospital at midnight to begin induction.

Tuesday was yet ANOTHER huge day of unpacking, box organizing and furniture moving. It was also chemo day for Mom. Jeremiah and Nan gave us regular reports from the hospital where different induction methods were being used. By dinner time it was obvious that baby Sam would be entering the world soon. Mom and Dad took off to Portland to lend their support to Jeremiah and Nan and to welcome their new grandson into the world.

Wednesday morning at around 2:15 am Sam Tanner Evans was born. He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 21 & 1/4 inches long. Nan had to have a c-section after quite a few complications arose. Mom and Dad were able to greet Sam at around 4:00 am and made it back home at 5:45 am.

Of course more unpacking occurred on Wednesday too.

Also on Wednesday Mom had a doctor's appointment that went very well. The chemotherapy seems to be working and the inflammation in her breast is down even more from last month's check-in.

Thursday, yes, more unpacking. Thursday night Steve had his Spring music concert at school. He is always quite relieved when his programs are done. Soon the school year will be done too!

Friday was a busy fun day. Steve took the day off work to split all the wood from the huge tree we had to have taken down. This was at our house we are selling on Dixon St. because it came up negatively in the inspection as it was cracking the foundation! The tree was removed last week Thursday and the gigantic rounds of wood have been on our front lawn ever since. We have to clear out of the house next weekend, so it was time to get the wood split. Steve and Dad rented a splitter and the whole family took turns running the machine, hauling wood, and stacking wood. It was a pin oak tree and we will use the wood at our new house in the wood stove and fireplace.

Saturday (today) Steve and I woke up at 4:30 am to get ready for our garage sale. We also had to take care of this project this weekend in order to be out of our house on time. We had a great time practically giving away all sorts of stuff. It was a great relief to see other people carting away our junk.

Tomorrow we will all travel up to Portland after church to see Jeremiah and Nan and new baby Sam. Mom is in the kitchen cooking right now so we can take some dinner to them.

Here we sit in our new house. We are all together in this place and that feels so good. The house is still a wreck with boxes needing to be unpacked, furniture needing to be placed, and all the regular chores of life like laundry and meal prep hardly being adequately taken care of. But, we are doing our best and this is our life!

It is 8:00 pm and I am very ready for bed.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Love, Emily

Let's Move!

Yes, I have been avoiding the blog. I have been avoiding it because my real estate life has been so painful that I did not want to commit it to written words. Actually, I still don't feel like chronicling it, so I might start elsewhere.

How about here...Mom lost her hair this last week. It was starting to fall out last time I wrote and it continued at a pretty steady pace. Mom and Dad spent some time online and found great hats and scarfs, many of them free trade. On Wednesday last week my Dad cut Mom's hair really short for her. It looked good that way, quite butch. Also, it made less of a mess coming out. Then on Thursday her hats arrived in the mail. Friday Dad shaved her head and she has been seen styling her cool hats and scarfs ever since. I doubt that we will ever see her in a wig.

On Saturday we all went up to Portland to see my brother Jeremiah and sister in-law Nan and deliver them a truck load of hand me down toys. Nan is due TODAY and we all eagerly await the arrival of baby Sam. We were happy to see them and happy to pass along all these baby and toddler toys that were hanging out in our attics, but now need a new home since we are leaving our attics. It is nice when people accept your stuff!

Today was a big day in our real estate life. The first big thing is that Steve and I decided to give the people buying our house everything they wanted from us just so that we could have peace of mind and get on with our deal. Some people might think this stupid of us, but really we did not have the heart or the energy for the real estate game. We just want to move on and little bits of money are not worth our energy! We will have more than enough money to do what we want to do and we are lucky to be able to say that. The second big thing is that Mom, Dad, Steve, Maya, Elias, and I all spent an hour and a half down at the title company making our ownership of the Buchanan St. house official. We did it!

So. let's talk about moving. We will have a pre moving party this Thursday afternoon in order to get some of the large items onto a truck and get a head start on moving day. If you are strong and able to help us lift some of our largest items on this day please let someone in the family know. Then this Saturday May 17 we will do our very best to move two households into one. Everyone that wants to help out is invited. The moving will start at 9:00 am and continue into the afternoon. Show up at 1555 NW Buchanan Ave or 1415 NW Dixon St or 1835 NW Division Pl and there will be something you can do. Like I said before, some light cleaning of Division Pl would be very helpful in order to get it ready for an open house that Sunday.

That is all for now. Real estate has worn me out for today and it is time for me to go to bed. Thank you again to all the people who are helping us at this time in our lives. Thank you for all the food and boxes and offers of help. Thank you in advance to all the people who are going to help us move.

Good Night,
Emily

A Week's Worth of News

It has been a little more than a week since my last blog posting. What has happened this past week? What in our crazy life are people interested in? What do we have to share?

Last week on Tuesday April 22 Mom had another round of chemo. This was her third treatment and the first one without other health issues bogging her down. We are able to notice a pattern now in her week. We are starting to be able to predict what days will be harder and easier. There is some comfort in a routine.

Last week Saturday April 26 Steve and I accepted an offer on our house. There was much relief and rejoicing. We went to Maya and Elias' soccer games with big smiles on our faces. Packing felt more exciting. We had a celebration dinner.

Last week Sunday April 27 my Grandma was out alone on her evening walk and fell. My Dad and Granddaddy took her to the emergency room. She was admitted to the hospital and stayed the night. The next day she learned that her pelvis cracked in two places. She is home now and using a wheelchair and walker to get around. She is doing really well. She is such a strong woman.

Today April 29 Mom had her fourth dose of chemo. She thinks her hair might be beginning to come out. She had an appointment with her oncologist after completing her chemo. He said that he can see and feel that the chemo is working!

Today we had our home inspection. I nervously wait for the results. When the inspection results are negotiated then we are another big step forward in completing this sale.

We are still following the schedule of closing on our Buchanan St house Thursday May 15 and moving Saturday May 17. Thank you to everyone who is writing me to let me know that we can use their pick-ups and their person power on this big day. I really believe that we can use everyone who can come. For just a short list of big items we have to move consider these things: 3 water beds, 2 freezers, a greenhouse, a kiln, 2 pottery wheels, over 20 outdoor whisky barrel planters, couches, loves seats, 6 chests of drawers, a loft bed, desks, hutches, and boxes and boxes of toys, books, and dishes. We are getting rid of lots of stuff, but there is a ton to move and we can use all of your help.

We have added another event into the agenda and that is an open house at my parent's place on Sunday May 18. Yes, this is the day after we move. Unfortunately it is really the best day to do it. So, in addition to moving on May 17 we also need to clean house! Please help!

Then the next weekend May 24 we will be having a garage sale.

Our house on Dixon st. is scheduled at this point to close on May 30.

Yes, we are involved in many stressful things. Possibly some of you think we are completely out of our minds. Sometimes we are! But, we continue to believe that Mom's cancer has provided us with an awakening and opportunity to live our lives in a way that strongly supports our beliefs and values. Thank you for all of you who are loving and supporting us on this journey.

Love, Emily