Nov 1-30, 2009

Nov 12, 2009
hi! well after waiting two weeks for portage to call and say i could start chemo, and i'd heard nothing i decided to call wpg. and talk to Dr. Harding's nurse Cindy to see what was going on, she had sent things to portage on the 28th of Oct already so she called portage and it was only 15 min later, portage called and i start chemo on tues. Nov 17th. go in for 8:15 to the lab for blood work then on to cancer care and will be there about 8 hrs. Cancer Care portage is in the old maternity ward, so if your coming to portage and don't know what to do, i am allowed "healthy" company. I will get Brenten to pick me up after i'm done and take me home, so that ought to work out good, that'll be around the time he gets off work anyway. That was one long two weeks, but there's many other people who have waited for surgery or even to get into chemo or radiation a lot longer than two weeks, although i was told i'd start in two weeks, but not hearing from them, makes one wonder what's going on, well they did have a mix up, so good thing one calls and checks in on them, doesn't hurt so one gets to where one's suposed to. Another piece of advice i'd say, if your doc tells you a day, week or month for something, then make sure you've heard from them, if not it never hurts to call and check, they are human too, and do forget and make mistakes.
On Tues (10th.) i took Janae to see Dr. Thess ( throat specialist) so he looked and yeppers, those tonsils and adenoids have to come out, so tues. (17th) Janae goes for blood work, that'll be interesting as she's never had a needle, she loves watching me get one we'll see how her getting one goes. So from there we will once again wait for a surgery date, we picked Neepawa as we could get on in two months rather than wait 4 months for an opening in Portage. Its a bit farther to drive, but 4 months pretty much takes us to spring and seeding so its best to get it done earlier. Will will have to be the one to stay night with her, as i'm not allowed with taking chemo but she's daddy's girl anyway, they'll do quite alright. We were telling her foods she would be able to eat then she said she'd eat chips and Jodiene told her no, so she decided she wouldn't have surgery then after all, but Will convinced her when she was up to eating chips she could, so now she's back on for surgery lol.
The last two weeks, have been really really good, i have felt myself improve dramatically, my breathing is excellent, not 100% but excellent, still have a bit of a cough but i can live with that, i have more energy than i've had since i really don't know when, just haven't necessarily been using it, as it seems there's always somewhere to be or something, guess i've used it that way instead. Yesterday i enjoyed going to my sis' and work on a quilt, as much as i'm not a sewing person at all (just ask my family) but enjoyed hanging out, pitching in my 10 cents and of course she had to mix up a batch of donuts (something she always used to do when my oldest two came for the day) so Janae and Jodiene helped with making donuts, and delic. they were.
Sunday we were at my other sis' place for supper (Shirl & Dwayne) another one of her delicious meals, if you get the Kraft cooking book, try the Lazagna noodles with chesses recipe, that's what my sis made along with a pizza roll, hm.... delic. especially if your family is cheese lovers like ours are. Anyway, shall keep this weeks email short, gotta get caught up with baking etc. just in case of not feeling as well next week, gotta think ahead sometimes. My folks came and trimmed up my grape vines and mom cleaned my windows which i was going to do next week, so there's two less jobs. Oh and next week monday (16th) i go see my doc, Dr. Parker, i should go for blood work, but since i will get it done tues anyway i'll just skip it, i know its good by the way i feel, i figure he can get results on tues. why get picked and prodded more than i have to right? anyway, yeppers, definately better call it good, as if you know me, i'd a keep a going lol. Have a great weekend everyone, i'll post next week as how treatment went. Thanks for all your support and prayers, diane Will, Brenten, Jodiene & Janae
p.s. don't forget to write and let me know what's up your way, that's if you have time.
Please continue to keep the following in your prayers, i'd really love to add more, but don't always get permission, but will add them without names. If you have any to share or add just let me know.
My cousin has surgery date on Nov 20th. to remove part of her liver as well as a growth.
another one of My cousin' s husband who has cancer and things aren't looking too good at this moment, is in hosp in Calgary.
Sharon - Josh (son) is a match (donor) for her now waiting for a surgery date on the liver transplant in Toronto
April - recovering with a few bumps in the road, but awesome considering surgery, pray also as she'll be receiving chemo treatments in near future.
Will's cousin Ashley still waiting on results from bioptsy, apt for Jan for results,
Tina - improving very nicely after heart surgery (valve replacement)
"Please pray for Gerry and Debbie's marrige. They are Christians. Debbie is completely decieved and confused, about to leave their marriage for another man, thinking it's God's path for her, very hard for children involved as well.
Isaiah Beatty He is a little 3 year old boy, who has issues with eating....he had the tendancy when eating to choke alot, and has had 4 surgeries in the last year to try and correct the problem. Isaiah is the son of one of the singers of the Palmetto State quartet.
Nov 17, 2009
hi! well this week, well beginning of it anyway has been a busy one, friday the nurse from wpg. called to make sure i knew of my CT scan scheduled for monday, which i'm really glad she let me know about, as i hadn't heard from portage about it, then after that i go see my doc then head back in time for parent teacher interview with Janae's teacher. Think i should maybe explain a bit about chemo, chemo is a liquid which they put through your veins, same type liquid bag type system as anyone having any IV, mine has to be done like IV needles as i have blood clots which are not good if they'd put a port in ( a port is a stationary spot where they just hook up the needles to every time typically done in the arm, so everytime you come so you don't have to get re poked, much better way if one could do it) the first part of my treatment is a flushing of the kidneys which takes 2 - 3 hrs. as the chemo for lymphoma is very hard on kidneys, then they give the one chemo which is for lymphoma, then they'll give the chemo for the lung cancer, then another two to three hour flush of kidneys, all in this time i also should be drinking 8 - 12 glasses of fluids per day to help flush it out and keep myself from getting dehydrated. I am also given lunch in the cancer care at lunch time. But before all this begins, i go for blood work to make sure my counts are where they're suposed to be, platelets, and blood count, and white blood cells, then half hr. before chemo starts they give pills which are to help for any nausia one may have. they also give a prescription for steroids and pills to take home to use for a couple days to help with any nausia one may get. These are expensive little things that thankfully are covered by palative care.
You may ask how does chemo affect a person, well first of all i'd say as well as nurses and doc's say, eat healthy, drink enough fluids and be carefull, don't be a hermit, but choose where you go and when you go out carefully, at this time, chemo takes all your cells wether they are cancerous or not and kills them, and from what my doc tells me, hair cells are one of the fastest growing cells and that's why hair is typically the first to fall out or thin as chemo will attach cells which are growing the fastest, any slow growing cancer cells may not even be affected by chemo, which typically means they didn't get all the cancer and it could grow back, pray that my chemo can kill all the cancer cells, fast and slow growing ones. Chemo also leaves one's immune system to pretty much next to nothing, so it is incredibly easy to catch colds, virus' etc. so it is important that i am not in contact with people who have colds, virus', flu's, fevers, any type of bugs, including chicken pox. Thankfully Janae got over hers before i started chemo treatments, as they would have prolonged treatments or done smaller doses, so if i'm in contact with ill people i could be receiving smaller treatments or have to miss a treatment.
You may wonder what you can do to help, well first of all if you or any family member have any flu or cold symptoms, virus', fevers etc., it is truely in your best interest if you stay at home and get enough rest, to get better faster, also this way, you do not spread your germs to others who are trying to stay healthy especially now with the hype of H1N1 ( which by the way if anyone wants to know the list of ingredients for the shot and what all the big words are for ingredients just let me know, but i'll give you one but here's one eg. of one of the ingredients in the H1N1 shot Polysorbate - has been proven to damage fertility, so i'd encourage every one before taking the H1N1 flu shot, look up the list of ingredients and if you don't know what they mean look them up, do you want yourself or possibly your child to be infertile the rest of yours or their lives??? A word of advice, before taking anything, do a search if your not too computer literate, ask your doc, they have to tell you what the ingredients are and if you ask for them in "english" terms hopefully your doc will take the time to explain it. Check things out before jumping too quickly into anything you do, praying about it, would be a great idea as well, ask God for guidance in helping making the right decision for you and or your family.
One thing i learned this week is people that go to the bathroom and think that instead of washing hands to use hand sanitizers is good enough, think again, bathroom germs, fecies etc. can NOT be killed by the use of hand sanitizers, only by soap and water, new piece of tidbit i thought you may find interesting, which makes one think about hand sanitizers a bit in public places, my advice is carry one individual hand sanitizer in your purse or pocket, one doesn't know who's bathroom hands have touched the hand sanitizer then you've touched it. gross if you ask me.
Well today was my first treatment, i was there for blood work at 8:15 am. then went and sat on a chair in the cancer care while waiting for blood work results to come back and then Debbie (cancer nurse) calls into pharmacy the list of people and which chemo's or meds they need. there are 5 reclining chairs in a room and then we wait for Dr. Kinnear ( he comes to see how each patient who have not had surgery are doing and goes over blood work or results) or Dr. Ross ( he oversees patients who have had surgery and are taking chemo or need their port or stint fixed up) at the beginning all five chairs were filled, but the one man his treatments were over but i heard Dr. Kinnear tell him he'd see him back in 6 months to go another round of treatments. One man ( Ted) finished his treatment at lunch, i didn't ask him what type he had, another lady came in, but her stint (port) was in need of repair so she couldn't get her chemo done today and had to go home, so she's back in tomorro to get a new line put in as well as her chemo treatment. another lady Brenda her blood count was too low so she got two bags of blood instead of her treatment to boost her back up, she was there almost till i left, so we got to chatting, she has liver and stomache cancer, she's had cancer now for two years she told me. I brought many books and magazines, but didn't even get to finishing my seed catalogue, so that tells you even with all the "time" i didn't get to finishing, that's ok, who knows what next week will bring, by the sounds of things new people once again. I also had my sis come to visit me, she made a special trip in, so that was nice, and then my aunt Elvera came, and perfect timing, she could even take me home, but we made a nice pit stop for coffee & donuts and a good visit, always look forward to those. Anyway, so your probably wondering how i'm feeling, well as of yet, i don't feel any different than when i went in for my treatment, i feel perfectly good so far. Praise the Lord. i started around 9:30 and i first got a 2 hr. flush, (because i'm young they speed it up, older folks they let it run for 3 hrs. so its not as hard on their heart) then they gave me three pills to swallow which helps with the nausia which i may get from chemo, then i received a 1/2 hr. treatment of chemo for lymphoma, then i recieved an hr. treatment of chemo for lung cancer, then another 2 hr. flush. I am sent home with a prescription that needs to get filled before i go home for one pill a steroid to take tonight after supper, then a pill that i need to take tomorro morning after breakfast , then second pill after supper, and i can continue these for 3 more days if i need. so by the sounds of things nausia should be pretty much nill, if at all and espcially with all the pills one gets. Sounds perfectly fine by me, i'm not a puke person or an "ill" person, so i'd rather take pills to make sure that doesn't happen, i think anyway. so yep that's my week and my day so far. You may wonder why i had chosen never failing as my subject, well before i started my email, i thought to myself, God is a never failing God, he stands behind us, carries us, he loves us unconditionally, no matter what.
In our mothers class we've been going through a book called "Having a Mary heart in a Martha world". Right now we're going through a part of the book that really rings home to me, so many things i've gone through, had questions about, and one thing we read on sunday that is so true, we quite often bring our troubles and fears and concerns to the Lord, but then we tend to take them back ( maybe not all ( but sometimes at least a little piece) but we tend to want to still be in control of what we're dealing with, but we need to learn to leave absolutely everything we're going through in the Lord's hands, and let him take care of them, at times i must admit i have given my life to the Lord totally, and then times when even now going through cancer, i sometimes keep a part of what i'm dealing with back, as that's i guess part of our nature to want to be in control but we need to realize God knows what's best for our lives and He is in control, and He will take care of us. But we also need to remember when times are tough and things seem to be piling up on us, God does not give us more than we can handle, even though somtimes we go through so many things at one time and if we ask him for help, he is there to carry us through any of those times. He is always there for us, his Love is unfailing.
Another thing that happend today that your all wondering too was, how did Janae make out with her needle? well she did awesome, she said it hurt a bit , but didn't cry, so brave, she ended up having a nurse who this was her first time taking blood and she didn't want to do Janae as she didn't want to make her first time a bad experience as she hadn't done too many children before, but Janae told the nurse "just try" so she did and she did a great job, and Janae gave her a low 5 after they were done. whew... Will took her in just in case she needed a dad back up. thanks for thinking and praying for Janae that the needle work would go well, its absolutely wonderful when you guys pray and you can see how your prayers are answered just so, we have an amazing God no doubt about it. Jodiene took me in for chemo and sat with me for a while. Its great to have backups. I again want to thank you all for your tremendous support and prayers, without those who knows where i'd be, we as a family are so gratefull for all of you. Hugs to everyone, love, diane Will, Brenten, Jodiene & Janae
p.s. a friend asked me a while ago what are my fav. verses, well i figured why overpower everyone with all at one time, i've shared a couple throughout some of my emails, i don't remember if i've added this one yet,but
"Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not on thine own understanding in all thy way acknowledge Him and He shall direct they paths" Prov 3:5 of course you can tell i memorized it KGV version.
p.s. any one with advice you'd like to share, be happy to hear from you as well, as well as any updates family genealogy or what's happening in your lives, i'm always up for a "good" read.
Please continue to remember the people on our prayer list, if you have anything or anyone you'd like to add to it, even if names are kept confidential God knows who we're praying for and that's all that matters.
My cousin has surgery this week friday, Nov 20th. to remove part of her liver as well as a growth.
another one of My cousin' s husband who has cancer and things aren't looking too good at this moment, is in hosp in Calgary.
Sharon - Josh (son) is a match (donor) for her now waiting for a surgery date on the liver transplant in Toronto
April - recovering well, but this week, has a flu bug hitting the rest of her family, pray also as she'll be receiving chemo treatments in near future.
Will's cousin Ashley still waiting on results from bioptsy, apt for Jan for results,
Tina - improving very well after heart surgery (valve replacement)
"Please pray for Gerry and Debbie's marrige. They are Christians. Debbie and Gerry still need a lot of prayer. Debbie is still very deceived and confused and not yet turning back to her husband, though talking to him and telling him how she misses him also very hard for children involved as well.
Isaiah Beatty He is a little 3 year old boy, who has issues with eating....he had the tendancy when eating to choke alot, and has had 4 surgeries in the last year to try and correct the problem. Isaiah is the son of one of the singers of the Palmetto State quartet
another prayer request from a friend came to me this week i'd ask you to add
for M_______, She is struggling intensely, believing there is no hope for her in God, and is suicidal.
Nov 25, 2009
hi! this whole week a song has been in my head " each step i take my savior goes before me, and with love he gently leads the way." To know that he's already been there and is guiding us, no matter what we're going through is just incredible, i hope each one of us will let Him lead us in our lives .
Well today was week two for chemo, ( yes, A. i decided i'm counting up once again, i'm wokin' on makin' my way up with beating this thing so i'm counting up!! :)) my white blood count was too low today, but the red was 125 amazing how it has come from Aug. (87), but so they do this taking red and white and platelets count and figure it all out and if its above a certain number we're still a go, so i could still go ahead and have treatment, so now its making sure rest is top priority, staying extremely healthy, eating well, unfortunately my folks didn't give me a name or middle name with "rest" in it, so its hard not to just bizz around, but i also realize they didn't give me a bizz middle name either, go figure....but hubby tells me you gotta learn just to close your eyes and relax and sleep, well i didn't have a dad who could nicely sit at the kitchen table and snooze and teach his boys the same to just sit there and snooze, hm.... don't know how many days it would take to do that, i'd fall off that chair, takes a very talented person to stay put and snooze.
Well lets see chemo week one, was ok, something that's "new" to my system no doubt, gotta look at positive sides, its suposed to help me, no, its going to help me, so we keep going, nausia i didn't really have that ( but then do you call stomache hickups nausia?? i'm so not into what these terms mean or feel like as i'm typically a healthy person), and i talked to the nurse today i don't have to take all those pills, just take as many as i feel i need, whew, as my head did funny things on the weekend, but they are still somewhat there all the time, but she told me that could also be my white blood count going down, so i guess i got to put up with a funny head (fuzzy) till that goes back up, hm.... but i'm also told one gets a cancer brain, my opinion would be more like a chemo brain. They even have a seminar for cancer brain (the fuzzies) go figure, its in wpg in Jan. Last night Will & I attended a lung cancer seminar, it was via telehealth, got to see my chemo doc, he was the best part of the evening, maybe cause even though he talks fast, he speaks clearly without a strong accent, and is "funny" but very detailed and informative, i did come back with a few things that once i'm done this chemo we'll talk to him about, and i'd read about it as well as done research online on the "new" technology drugs out there, now that's only IF the chemo and radiation didn't finish the job. The trouble with those new drugs they are very expensive, i'm not sure if MB programs would cover something like that yet, they're working on it by the sounds of things. (we're talking a pill $100 / day- yipes)
I'm looking forward to see Dr. Chowdhry ( he's our radiation doc) on the 16th. of Dec. to see what results are in from the new CT scan, ultra sound,and let us know how they thought the radiation treatments worked for me, etc. They should have all the news by then i'd imagine, at least i'm hoping he'll get the results too. Not lookin' forward to an internal ultrasound on the 9th. of Dec. but, hey if its to make sure everything is up and running well and staying healthy that's the main thing, we'll deal with the rest later. On the 8th. of Dec is when i go for my next chemo treatment, so i've got next week to build up.
yipes, then is pretty much Christmas, hm... i've still got a ways to go to get ready, good thing i typically don't bake for Christmas as we're off to both folks, so that's nice, they both tend to have plenty of goodies around to nibble on. Although i've had a brain wave, of inviting both folks over for Christmas this year here, but that'll depend on the energy level and ability to cook, so we'll play things by ear. My sis and family is coming out for an early Christmas, i just can't wait for that, here comes my "singin' crew. Well anyway, i shall see that i get a load of laundry done and then rest, make my man's lunch then rest, then make supper and rest, i guess that'll be my next agenda for a while, well other than all the little other things that come along.
God Bless each one of you, may He wrap his gentle loving arms around you as you go through this week, wether a breeze or difficult. we have been so incredibly blessed to have each and every one of you in our lives during our Journey. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. diane, for Will, Brenten, Jodiene & Janae
Please also remember to keep these people in your prayers as well.
*Mari - my cousin who had surgery on the 20th. only to find out tumor on her liver was too large to remove so they're hoping to start chemo when she's healed up enough, pray for her and her young family
*Doug -( my cousin's husband) recovering from stomach cancer
*Sharon - Josh (son) is a match (donor) for her now waiting for a surgery date on the liver transplant in Toronto, possibly in April if she can stay healthy enough till then, as that's when Josh is done school
*April - recovering well, going to see her chemo doc on Dec. 1.
*Will's cousin Ashley still waiting on results from bioptsy, apt for Jan for results,
*Tina - improving very well after heart surgery (valve replacement)
"Please pray for Gerry and Debbie's marrige. They are Christians. Debbie and Gerry still need a lot of prayer. Debbie is still very deceived and confused and not yet turning back to her husband, though talking to him and telling him how she misses him also very hard for children involved as well.
* Isaiah Beatty He is a little 3 year old boy, who has issues with eating....he had the tendancy when eating to choke alot, and has had 4 surgeries in the last year to try and correct the problem. Isaiah is the son of one of the singers of the Palmetto State quartet
*another prayer request from a friend came to me this week i'd ask you to add
for M_______, She is struggling intensely, believing there is no hope for her in God, and is suicidal.