6 More Days..........

Mom went to see Dr. Simon yesterday; her final visit with her prior to surgery. I think that Dr. Simon helped to ease Mom's mind a bit. She told her that this surgery would be much easier than going through the chemo.

Your thoughts and prayers are needed more than ever for Mom. I truly believe that she doesn't realize just how strong she really is, but she still needs our prayers to get her through this. She has received so many cards and well wishes, as well as prayers. She is overwhelmed by all of the wonderful support she has received thus far. Keep it coming; it brightens her day so much.

Either myself or Brittany will post after surgery to let you know how everything went.

Maureen

11 Days Until Surgery

As of today, Mom has 11 days until surgery. She is very anxious about it, to say the least. Her last chemo treatment went well. She & Dad bought May's Donuts for the girls at Dr. Simon's office that day. On Saturday the 11th, Dad & I had run to the grocery store for a few things and when we got home, I gave Mom a hug and she was burning up. I insisted she take her temperature and it was 101.4, which is not a good thing for a chemo patient. I immediately called the Dr. They advised me to take her to the emergency room. Mom did not want to hear of it. She started crying and saying she wouldn't go. No way no how. I called my brother in Florida to talk to her and help coax her into going. She absolutely hates Jameson Hospital, so I told her I would take her to any hospital she wanted to go to, but she was GOING! Well, we ended up riding to Jameson "just to see if they were buys" as Mom put it. There were only a few cars there, so we ended up going in. They took her right away and when they found out she was a cancer patient who had just had chemo earlier in the week treated her like gold. Too bad you have to have cancer for them to treat you that good!

They put her into a room by herself to avoid germs as much as possible. Dr. Gero came in and examined her. He orderd a chest x-ray, bloodwork and a urine sample. Her chest x-ray was good, her blood work was good, but she ended up having a urinary tract infection. They gave her a prescription for Cipro and gave her the 1st dose before we left. Dr. Gero is by far the most genuine, caring doctor I have met in that emergency room. He took such wonderful care of Mom, and explained everything to us in detail. Plus, I had him on my side, as I got him to tell her that she was right to listen to me and go to the ER. he told us if we had waited until the next day, she probably would have been admitted, as the infection would have been that much worse and her blood counts would have been affected.

I exclaimed a great big "I TOLD YOU SO" to Mom. I loved it, as I heard that so many times as a child. ha ha

One thing about my mama is that she has maintained her sense of humor throughout this whole ordeal. Let's hope that continues when it is time for surgery.

She is scheduled for November 4th, but we won't know what time until Monday Nov. 3rd. I will have that entire week of work, so that I can help take care of her. She will come home with 2 drains that we will have to empty and measure. She will also have to have sponge baths, as she won't be able to get her incisions wet. We watched an online movie describing the procedure. She cried after watching it. Losing a breast is a very difficult thing for a woman to experience. I don't care what age you are, it is a traumatic event. She is NOT looking forward to it.

We were looking at fake boobs in magazines the other night..........I was trying to make her laugh, as some come with nipples and some don't. She said she wants the "Cadillac" of fake boobs!

First we will get through her surgery; then we will search high and low for a "cadillac boob". Only the best for my mom. :)

Still don't know if my brother is coming up from Florida for the surgery or not. Britt will be coming up from Pitt to Cranberry, so it will be Dad, Britt & I at least. WE are going to load Dad up with crossword puzzles that day while Mom is in surgery. It can be anywhere from 2 hours +. Hopefully it will be the shorter of the time frames.

Thank you again for the prayers. Mom appreciates it more than you know. We love all of you.

Maureen

Mom only has 1 more chemo treatment to go! Tuesday October 7th is the last one. Yipee! Next is strenthening her for surgery. I moved in with Mom & Dad............financial issues and to help out them through the war, as we call it.

Mom's spirits have been low. She has been content to basically lounge all day long. She gets worn out just going to the store these days. She is extremely nervous about surgery, as I have stated before.

She is constantly worrying about that day and how quickly she will recover. Dad is showing the signs of worry, as well. My brother & I were talking when he was up for a visit and said that Dad has seemed to age more during this process than Mom.

Mom doesn't have to see the surgeon prior to surgery, so I guess we just wait for the phone call to let us know what time to show up at the hospital on November 4th. While this country awaits the news of who the next President will be, Mom will be fighting with everything ounce of energy she has. And we will be right by her side.

It is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One of my co-workers brought me in a bagel for my mom yesterday. It was shaped like a pink ribbon. :)

Please purchase items that give proceeds to breast cancer research! It seems as if there is pink everywhere! It is great to see, but it would be so much nicer if a cure could be found.

There really isn't much else to report. Mom keeps going each day and tries to remain positive. The "why me?" question pops up quite frequently, but she has resolved to fight the fight.

Thanks for all of your prayers.

Mo

Again, I have failed at posting on a regular basis. Mom's 2nd round of chemo has affected her much differently than the 1st round. She has almost no energy and rarely wants to leave the house. She has had an array of side affects from this medication, but the lack of energy is the worst. She is very depressed. I am concerned about that. I have appt. to take her to her PCP tomorrow to see about a higher dose of her anti-depressant. My brother was in from Florida this past weekend, and Mom slept most of the day on Saturday, which she would never do under normal circumstances. She doesn't get to see Rob very often and makes sure she enjoys each and every moment with him. She broke out in hives Saturday afternoon; she is a nervous wreck. Ever since we saw the surgeon, she has been down emotionally. We had to call Dr. Simon to see if she was allowed Benadryl. When you are getting chemo you can't just take anything.

She went for her bloodwork today at Dr. Simon's and everything looked good. She told them about being extremely lightheaded, so they took her blood pressure, but it was good, as well. She is frustrated, tired, sick depressed and all I want to do is press the "Easy Button" and make things good again for her...................................

Date for Surgery

We saw Dr. Malay today. She was thrilled with Mom's progress and said how good Mom looks. We absolutely love Dr. Malay. If every doctor had her bedside manner, we would all be so very lucky. She and her staff are very professional, as well as compassionate. They have numerous hugs to give out and are so good at lifting your spirits.

We have a surgery date of November 4th tentatively scheduled, pending no complications with the rest of Mom's chemo sessions. If everything goes as planned, her last chemo treatment will be the 1st week of October. We have to wait 3 weeks before surgery; Dr. Malay is on vacation the last week of October, so 1st week of November it is.

After surgery Mom will have 6 1/2 weeks of radiation. That is 5 days a week for 6 1/2 weeks. We are looking at early 2009 before this whole process is overwith. And even then it isn't over.....Mom will have to take meds for 5 years to help prevent the cancer from occuring in the right breast. Mom would like Dr. Malay to just take them both at once, but Dr. doesn't think that is necessary.

Mom will only stay overnight 1 evening, then come home with 2 drains. They will arrange for a visiting nurse to help us take care of her. All of her stitches will be on the inside. Which makes me very happy. I am going to take that week of work, so that I can be there to take care of her. Dad gets so nervous that he simply cannot do it all be himself. And it will take two of us to hold her down when she tries to do too much too fast! She is a stubborn one.

Dad & I took Mom to lunch after the Dr. visit. Brittany wanted them to see her apartment today, as we were already 1/2 way to Pitt, but Mom was exhausted. Her back was hurting, too. When we arrived home, she immediately put her comfies on and reclined her chair with a blanket over her. She was out of energy for the day.

It is amazing how worn out she gets now. All of her energy was spent on the Dr. visit. That was it. Done.

She goes to Dr. Simon's office for her weekly bloodwork. Hopefully her counts will be o.k.

Thanks for listening. and praying.

Maureen

Bad Day

Mom & Dad's anniversary was yesterday. Mom was having one of her worst days ever, though. She had bad back pain and was the MOST tired she has ever been. I had to go to Pittsburgh last night to help my daughter in her new apartment and Mom & Dad were going to come with me. Mom called me at work crying...........she was having a "bad day" she said. I told her she is most certainly allowed to have a bad day.

I went home from work changed my clothes, packed up Britt's things and stopped at Mom's. This was a low point. I haven't seen her this upset and depressed since the whole "C" word was uttered to us. I cannot explain how difficult it is to see someone you love suffering.

She dozed most of the night and went to bed early. She was still sleeping at 10:00 AM today when I called to check on her.

I have to work 12-8 today, so I will be checking on her by phone as often as I can. I have only two words:

CANCER SUCKS!

New Chemo Treatment

I stopped to see Mom after work today. She is trying to sound strong, but I can tell that she is not feeling great. She had no adverse reactions to the new chemo, Taxotere, but she is absolutely worn out. It is so difficult to see her like this.

I wanted to go with her today, but my boss had other plans for me. What else is new? I took a vacation day August 11th so I could go to the surgeon with her.

I despise the fact that they have to literally put poison into your body to kill the cancer; it has such negative affects on your body and spirit.

Mom was NOT herself today. AT ALL. I worry so much about her. Please continue praying.

Britt & I are going over there tomorrow for dinner. She insists she is cooking; stubborn as she is. I know it is good for her to do things and be active, but she just looks so damn tired.

Another update will come tomorrow evening........