25 Sept - Treatment Week

Quick update - Sarah recovered from her cold just in time to get chemo this past Thursday as scheduled. Due to an allergic reaction to the Carboplatin she's getting Taxotere alone now. She feeling a little queasy but not too bad so far. Just the fatigue that comes along with chemo so far. She also got tumor markers pulled on Thursday and we'll get the results next week. Other than that, we're just making it through one treatment at a time. Laying low this weekend, of course.

21 Sept - Delaying Stent Procedure

Ok, well Sarah didn't get her bile duct stent procedure (called "ERCP") done today. She got a cold that's had her running a mild fever for a few days - and it's making its way around the family. Started with Sam, went to Sarah and now I'm getting it.
Anyway, the policy is not to do the ERCP if you're sick and have any level of fever - that's because they can't tell if you develop an infection and fever from anything related to the procedure if you already have one.
So, we're on hold and will have to reschedule the ERCP for after Sarah's treatment this Thursday - that bumps it out a few weeks. Not a huge deal but the stent is called temporary for a reason and we're at the far end of the window with it so we don't want to delay any more than necessary.

19 Sept - Stent Replacement

An update on Sarah - she got the ultrasound of her port and blood clot. The determination was that although it was still there, it wasn't getting worse right now and we can defer the port removal surgery for now. That's a big relief for Sarah because the surgery is fairly painful to recover from since they cut through muscle. She'll stay on Coumadin for now.
Sarah also got a CT scan which was mostly good. It showed no indication of the liver and lymph node tumors visible on the last PET scan. But we're not sure if that's a limitation of CT scanning or whether there really isn't anything. The scan did show something in her lungs but we're not sure yet whether that is mets or something else so we're trying not to freak out until we can talk to the doc about it. Our plan is to push for a PET scan to investigate these questions.
The next thing on the agenda is Sarah's bile duct stent replacement (or just removal). That's happening this coming Monday. It is supposed to be a day surgery so we plan to go in in the morning and return home by the afternoon. If the CT is to be believed, she may not need a new stent placed for now. She then has treatment again next Thursday.

31 Aug - First Day Of School

Ben and Sam love school. Ben got a fresh and short haircut which he likes and Sam is now really liking Kindergarden, although he wasn't at all sure about that on his first day as you can see here. We're still not quite sure what was bothering him but after a few days he was fully in the swing of things. :)

25 Aug - Vacation to St. Joseph

We all had a great time in St. Joseph, which is on the eastern coast of Lake Michigan. It took us just around 2 hrs to get there by car and we did quite a bit! Here you can see pics of a windy day that made some great waves, a nice pic of Sarah and the boys on a cooler day, a fun peach-picking day, burying the kids in the sand (with friends Tyler and Reece) and finally one of the great sunsets we saw.

9 Sept - Tests

Sarah has made it through another treatment. She had chemo last Thursday and is now mostly recovered. She had an ultrasound of her medi-port to see if the blood clot there has reduced in size - we'll find out tomorrow whether the clot is clearing or whether she needs to have the port pulled out and replaced (on the other side). Also next week she will get a PET scan which will help decide whether she'll continue on Taxotere or whether we need to look at other options. As if this wasn't all complicated enough, Sarah is scheduled to have her bile duct stent replaced in less than two weeks! When you pile on the start of school and some upcoming travel of mine, it's making for a very busy time ahead of us in Oct and Nov.

14 Aug - Another Round

Sarah just got another round of Carboplatin and Taxotere chemo. This was a scary one because she stared getting an allergic reaction to the Carboplatin. But luckily she got a nurse as soon as she noticed being itchy all over and getting red spots. They loaded her up with Benadryl and then dripped the carbo slower and everything was fine again.
Right now, Sarah's feeling ok - a little bit queasy - and is resting a lot.

9 Aug - The 3-Day Walk For Breast Cancer

We spent most of the weekend cheering on Nicole, who was walking in the Breast Cancer 3-Day. Here are some pics. Thank you, Nicole! We had a great time hanging out with Brian, Maddie and Cloe as well.

5 August Update

Quick update - Sarah's feeling much better, although her neck is still a little swollen from the blood clot. It hasn't done anything and she's taking the Coumadin. We're looking forward to the arrival of our friends Nicole and Brian + kids tomorrow.
Nicole will be marching in the 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer here in Chicago this weekend. (Her fund-raising site is at: http://www.the3day.org/goto/Nicole.Smith)

30 July - Update on Chemo and Bloodclot

Well, Sarah's made it through another round of Taxotere-Carboplatin chemo. She was pretty fatigued for the past week after treatment and had some mild nausea. Today her week-1 blood test showed zero white blood cells again, which was not unexpected. So, I'll be giving her two shots at home to kick-start her immune system and she's going to lay low and stay away from public places.
We got a curveball today when Sarah learned she has a bloodclot at the point where her mediport enters the vein in her chest. We were both initially pretty freaked out, but the docs don't seem to think that it is an immediate risk for her. The plan is for her to take Coumadin, a blood thinner, for 6 weeks and then get another ultrasound to determine if the clot is gone. The Coumadin should dissolve the clot over time but we're keeping an eye out for any unusual feeling or swelling on the side of her neck. If it doesn't take care of the problem, then Sarah will have to have her port removed and have another one put in on the other side of her chest. Ouch.

19 July - Sarah's Hair Is Gone

Here's a before and after shot of Sarah. Her hair started coming out in big clumps yesterday after our blueberry picking excursion and was getting pretty patchy by the end of today, so she had me cut it short with clippers. This is the fourth time that we've done this...
Sarah's taking it in stride, but you can't escape the fact that losing your hair is a very visible and constant reminder that you are in cancer treatment. Having said that, this is week 3 in the cycle and she's been feeling pretty good this week. Also, we learned last Thursday that her liver function is solidly back in the normal range. Doc said, "so now we can hit you with the full dose of Taxotere." Sarah's first thought was, "what? that wasn't a full dose last time!?" She was feeling crappy for almost two weeks straight after the last treatment. Well, the next treatment is on the coming Thursday... so we'll just have to wait and see how it affects her. We won't really know if the chemo is cleaning up the lymph and liver tumors until the PET scan next month.

18 July - Blueberry Picking

Went to a blueberry farm this weekend - we all enjoyed it and ended up picking 12 pounds of blueberries! The bushes were much bigger than I remembered from when I was a kid, and there were big juicy berries as far as the eye could see. Have to admit, I ate quite a few while we were picking. :)

15 July Update - Sarah Feeling Better

Sarah's immune system is back up and operating and she's feeling much better. Just learned today that her liver numbers are back in the normal range! Her hair is starting to come out a little, but there's no way to tell whether it's just thinning or whether it will all come out. We'll just have to wait and see. It's week three and she gets to enjoy a few days of feeling good and strong before the next round on coming Thursday. We are planning a full weekend - blueberry picking, a bar-b-que and maybe a family bike ride...

10 July Update

Ben finished his summer classes - he took a science challenge class and a mission impossible math class. He loved both and here he is showing us his final science experiment presentation on the last day of classes. He determined that cotton balls can be shot through a tube when a fan is blown on one end and land in a fairly consistent spot. :)
Sarah's had a rough go after this last chemo round. Just as she was recovering from the fatigue and mild nausea, her weekly blood test showed that her white blood cells were wiped out to zero (not the first time we've been through this). So, she's getting shots to boost her whites production but as we wait for her counts to bounce back she's fighting off a moderate fever which makes her feel pretty crappy. We should be ok but we're watching her temp closely to make sure her weakened immune system doesn't become overwhelmed and require action. The doc gave us a few shots for the road which I'm giving her every day for the next few days (goes in the arm). Having zero white blood cells is pretty dicey so she's pretty much staying home and avoiding as much contact with others as she can - getting any kind of serious virus or infection right now could be a problem and we're keeping a close eye on it.

2 July - More Chemo for Sarah

Sarah has recovered very well from the gallbladder removal and she's now able to eat just about anything. She even threw a football with me for a while during Sam's t-ball practice yesterday! But today it's back to chemo again and a few rough days ahead.
Since Sarah's liver function test values are just about normal again, her doc has kept the Carboplatin dose at the same level but added Taxotere on top of that. She spent all afternoon today at the clinic getting treatment - takes a long time to administer all those drugs (chemo, herceptin, anti-nausea and sometimes the bone strengthener Zometa) since they can't go too fast. Each one has a target rate.
Sarah feels ok but tired right now. The steroid Decadron kept her up last night so the chemo plus low sleep from last night made her crash on the couch at 8:30 tonight. We're not sure if she'll lose her hair with the Taxotere. It doesn't always happen with that drug, but these are some fairly high doses so we figure there's a good chance it'll go this time. Sarah doesn't care as long as it fights the cancer, but it does annoy her not to know whether it's going to happen or not.
Well, for now we are just getting her treatments in and waiting for the next PET scan in Aug to see if this chemo is shrinking the new tumors around her liver and at the supraclavicular. She'll have two more treatments before we find out.
Ben had his last baseball game today. He really seems to like the game - we'll definitely get him back on a team next year. Sam is doing fine and enjoying his summer camp. Kindergarten will be a big first step for him at the end of the summer!

20 June - Stent Went Fine

Still in the hospital with Sarah but the docs say she can go home so we're going through the release process. The stent went in fine yesterday although Sarah says the procedure was very uncomfortable (she woke up in the middle of it twice). It's a temporary stent which should last around 3-6 months, so it will be either replaced or potentially removed before long (if chemo shrinks the lymph node pressing on the duct then then stent may not be needed anymore).
After two back-to-back anesthesias, Sarah has bounced back remarkably well and is eager to get back home. She's was also happy to hear that her liver numbers have already significantly improved and are almost back in normal range! So, the gall bladder removal and stent placement were well worth it and definitely needed.

18 June - Gall Bladder Removal Went OK

Posting from the hospital room - Sarah's gall bladder removal went fine and she's recovering well. Already off all pain and nausea meds. The doc recommended also having a stent placed in her bile duct so a GastroEnterologist will be doing that on Friday while she's still in the hospital. That doesn't involve any incisions -- they go on through the mouth/throat with a very thin endoscope.
Sarah's in good spirits but tired from the anesthesia recovery. She's hopeful that she can put the constant worrying about gall bladder attacks behind her and that's a real relief! She's lost over 10 lbs since this all started because she was avoiding so many foods for fear of an attack.

14 June - Day 4 of 2nd Chemo Round

Sarah got her 2nd round of Carboplatin chemo last Thursday and it seems to be going like last time. She is doing relatively ok overall, but definitely has some fatigue and queasiness. No sign of hair loss, so the jury's still out on that. She should start feeling better over the next day or two. But, this is going to be a different "week 2" than the last round of chemo: her surgeon and oncologist agree that her gall bladder should be removed, so that is scheduled for this coming Thursday (laproscopic procedure). There's a good chance that her liver function tests are staying high-out-of-range due to the gall bladder issue and she continues to have problems with it. She is being very conservative with her eating in order to hopefully prevent another gall bladder attack - but she feels like she's walking on egg shells and it could happen again regardless of being cautious. It will be a relief for her to have the gall bladder procedure - we hope the attacks will stop and her liver numbers we come down so we can open up more chemo treatment options (although the carboplatin may be working well - we won't know until we have some test results on that front).

Ben At Baseball Game

Ben seems to really enjoy baseball. We were at one of his games today and took a few action pics. :) One as catcher (every kid seems to love wearing the special gear) and one taking practice swings while On Deck.

6 June - The Problem With Gall Bladders

The problem with gall bladders is similar to all those other things we take for granted like electricity or water -- you never think of them when all is running fine, but when something goes wrong... you really notice it and it becomes a big problem. Sarah has been getting gall bladder attacks periodically which are very painful. We even ended up taking her to the emergency room late at night last week because the pain was so severe (she said childbirth was preferable - and she did childbirth with no drugs!). Turns out the attack ended about 1 hr after we go there and she was fine afterwards (thank you to our neighbor Pat for staying at the house with the kids!), but we don't want to let things go on like this... so she'll be meeting up with a surgeon next week to discuss removing her gall bladder. We're not sure if this is related to her breast cancer or not. All we know is that an ultrasound shows "sludge" but no stones in her gall bladder. Typically, the best medical solution to a problem like this is removal and a modified diet afterwards.
Other than that, Sarah is doing fairly well. Her hair did not fall out this week - turns out that Carboplatin doesn't make everyone's hair fall out and when it does, the time can vary quite a bit. So, next week will be eventful and mostly not-fun: talk to surgeon, go out for a birthday dinner with hubby (for salad?) on day b4 birthday, get chemo on birthday (or get surgery instead and delay chemo 10dys). Well, you do what you have to, right? We're keeping our fingers crossed for no more gall bladder attacks.