The Eyes Have It

Mom's vision was a little better this morning! Hooray! That probably means the tumor is shrinking. The alternating overnight plan worked beautifully the first go round. Natalie drove her in today. They should be getting home soon. And then... (drumroll) a weekend off to recover! More hooray!

Thanks for checking in. We'll keep you posted.

Much love,
jk

Good Days

Mom has had a couple of good days. She was up and talkative before setting out for Cincinnati yesterday. She ate well. My in-laws are in town, and she had a good visit with them. They are trying out a new schedule of radiation in the afternoon one day, stay overnight, radiation in the morning, then home. That minimizes the driving time (which seems to wear her out-- as it would me or any healthy person!). So we'll see how it goes.

Also, more good news: Dr. (Tom) Lisle checked her eyes this week and even though her vision is still limited, the eyes seem to be in good shape. So we are hoping it is just pressure from the tumor that is causing temporary loss of vision and not permanent damage. That seems to be the case.

Stay tuned and thanks again for all the good energy. It must be working!

Cheers,
jk

Recap

Just to review what we know so far (in case some of you are just joining us): on June 24th, we learned that my mom had a tumor in her sinus. After the biopsy, she was officially diagnosed with SNUC (Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma), which is a rare, aggressive tumor. It is not unknown, however; Dr. Zimmer, Mom's otolaryngologist at UC, said that he sees about five cases a year. Even though the odds aren't exactly in our favor, he feels that this cancer can be beat. The goal of radiation and chemo is to shrink the tumor off of any surrounding structures so that they can operate. That's what we're pulling for! Since treatment has started, we are all feeling much better about things. As Sonny said, "I hope they do a good job zapping!" Amen to that.

Round One of Chemo Done

Just got home from Cincinnati after tucking Mom in at the Templeton's. She finished her last dose of chemo around 9:00 tonight and decided not to stay over in the hospital. She and dad both thought she would sleep better that way. She was tired for sure but had enough energy to hug everyone and be amused about the granddaughters who just wanted to bounce on her bed.

Dr. Ricks said she was doing great! She didn't throw up at all (which is rare). They will relax in Cincinnati in the morning and go for her radiation treatment tomorrow afternoon.

Please keep up all the good thoughts. We appreciate everything that everyone is doing to support our family through this.

Much love,
jk

Port is In!

They put the port in this morning, and mom said it wasn't bad. She feels a tiny bit sore, but nothing major. They decided to hold off on the PET scan since she is already doing so much today. They will start the first dose soon.

Dad is doing well as Support #1. As he said, "We're getting Cadillac treatment at full speed on pretty smooth roads." :)

More soon,
jk

Healing Rays

Yesterday, as she was getting ready to go to Cincinnati for her first session of radiation, my mom said, "Today is my first day of healing rays." I loved that image and plan to keep it in mind throughout this marathon of treatment.

Speaking of which, the first round of radiation went quite well. Sister Natalie reported that the whole thing was over in about fifteen minutes. To our surprise, they decided to admit mom a day earlier than we had expected to hydrate her before her chemo treatment which will begin today. She will stay in the hospital tonight, tomorrow night, and possibly Sunday evening, depending on how things go.

We are all encouraged by the swift response of the medical team to her waning vision. It seemed to light a fire under everyone.

Also, Mom gets her PET scan today, as well as radiation session #2. We'll keep you posted. Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers. They seem to be working!!

Much love,
jk