We had a much anticipated appointment with the oncologist this afternoon. Was a pretty long one actually and a lot of information was passed along-so will pass it along to anyone who is interested as well. There is a pretty long road ahead-but its good to be getting going with this part of the recovery.
Janis is getting the chemo cocktail of TCH The T stands for Taxotere, the C for Carboplatin and the H for Herceptin. Its interesting how the drugs are administered and the time for each. T takes 1 hour, C takes 20 min and H takes 90 mins the first time. Each have their various possible reactions.
Janis will start receiving her chemo Dec 7th. The initial treatment is expected to take around 3 hours starting around 8:30am. The Dec 7th treatment will be the first of 6 of these treatments spaced 3 weeks apart. The H treatment will continue for a years' time.
If you are interested in some much more detailed chemo info, check this site out:
http://www.chemocare.com/ You can bet we will be spending a bit more time here at this site and other resources getting smarted on this stuff.
Some interesting facts: Taxotere is a plant alkoloid, Carboplatin is made from a metal.
Janis will be taking a treatment to build her white blood cells (neulasta) at this time too. This is a one-time treatment (she won't have to come back each day to get a booster).
The TC treatment will make Janis lose her hair in approximate 2.5 weeks after first treatment. Nausea is also a possible affect...severity should depend on a lot of factors.
Good to know; The BRAC analysis came back and Janis does _NOT_ have any genetic mutations detected...
Will add more info later if I find that I left something out.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Drains are gone!
Janis had a follow-up appointment with the surgeon this afternoon. Everything is looking good. And if you have seen her, she is looking great. Recovery is coming along as it should.
She was really stressing out about the drains. She wanted them out soooo bad, but was dreading the pain of having it removed. The Dr. checked it out, the flow was low enough to be able to take it out. Turns out, Janis didn't need to worry. It didn't hurt near as much as she had anticipated. She's pretty tough, didn't even get any anesthetic.
Janis has been a real trooper, yet the removal of the 2nd drain really lifted her spirits.
We are done with the surgeon for the time being. Follow-up will be only if there are complications with the recover, and well down the line if reconstruction is considered we would be consulting with him and others most likely....but that's well down the road. Next is the chemo path and the next appointment with the oncologist is Friday afternoon. It will be an exam and consultation, expecting to have the plan laid out and have some more good info available then.
She was really stressing out about the drains. She wanted them out soooo bad, but was dreading the pain of having it removed. The Dr. checked it out, the flow was low enough to be able to take it out. Turns out, Janis didn't need to worry. It didn't hurt near as much as she had anticipated. She's pretty tough, didn't even get any anesthetic.
Janis has been a real trooper, yet the removal of the 2nd drain really lifted her spirits.
We are done with the surgeon for the time being. Follow-up will be only if there are complications with the recover, and well down the line if reconstruction is considered we would be consulting with him and others most likely....but that's well down the road. Next is the chemo path and the next appointment with the oncologist is Friday afternoon. It will be an exam and consultation, expecting to have the plan laid out and have some more good info available then.
Show and Tell
Funny stuff...Our youngest son Bryce, 2nd grader, asked Janis recently if he could take her to show and tell to show off her surgery scars and drain tubes....After approximately no consideration, Janis politely declined the invite.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Drains
A while back, I mentioned that Janis had 1 of the drains removed...well of course, that means that there is still one in there. We are hoping that this one stops draining enough to take out. Yours truly has had the privilege and honor of being the main drain emptier for the last couple weeks. Last night was a real treat. I think the medical term for it might be "sediment" but I like to use a much more technical term(s) "chunk" or "chunkage". I went to empty the drain last night and squeeze the light orange/yellowish liquid into the cup to measure, there was some, uhhh, chunkage....so I squeezed a little more and it was still in the neck of the drain....a little more...nope.....ok, a little more-then bam-the sweet release of the redish/pinkish chunk into the cup. Gross!!!
Let's hope that this remaining drain will be slow down enough so that it can be removed at this Wednesday's surgical follow-up appointment....you know, so Janis doesn't have to deal with it anymore (not for me, no, not looking for any pity here).
Let's hope that this remaining drain will be slow down enough so that it can be removed at this Wednesday's surgical follow-up appointment....you know, so Janis doesn't have to deal with it anymore (not for me, no, not looking for any pity here).
It Only Takes a Minute
Was reading thru some Bible illustrations and came across this one. We wanted to pass it along.
Charles Dickens once wrote: "Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
It only takes a minute to begin reflecting on our present blessings: the gift of life itself, the warmth of friendships, the riches of good health, the power of love, the glory of a sunrise, the privilege of prayer, the joys of music, the satisfactions of work, the treasures of books, the beauty of art, the miracle of spring, and the grace of God. Be more grateful and you will become more joyful!
Charles Dickens once wrote: "Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
It only takes a minute to begin reflecting on our present blessings: the gift of life itself, the warmth of friendships, the riches of good health, the power of love, the glory of a sunrise, the privilege of prayer, the joys of music, the satisfactions of work, the treasures of books, the beauty of art, the miracle of spring, and the grace of God. Be more grateful and you will become more joyful!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Review-Whistle Down the Wind
We had been planning on this for some time now. Whistle Down the Wind at the 5th avenue Theater with some family. Good show. Some great music...very compelling story. We took Hayden to the show too...he really enjoyed it.
Its an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical placed in the south in the late 50's based on a movie from 1961. A Man escapes from prison, ends up in a barn where some kids discover him...thru a little miscommunication, the kids think he is Jesus Christ and try to protect him.
Oh yeah, guess what?!?!?...that's right, the kids only have a father as he is a widower. This was no where near the disaster that Dan in Real Life was as this focused on the kids and the relationship with the Man...but it hurt a bit too.
Apparently, every bit of entertainment that I go to these days will have a prominent widower in the plot line.
Hey, if anyone out there has recorded any of those testing patterns that used to run on TV after the station went off the air, please send them over my way as I am looking for some alternate programming. As for now, I am just going to stick to sportscenter, the food network, and yeah, that's about it.
Its an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical placed in the south in the late 50's based on a movie from 1961. A Man escapes from prison, ends up in a barn where some kids discover him...thru a little miscommunication, the kids think he is Jesus Christ and try to protect him.
Oh yeah, guess what?!?!?...that's right, the kids only have a father as he is a widower. This was no where near the disaster that Dan in Real Life was as this focused on the kids and the relationship with the Man...but it hurt a bit too.
Apparently, every bit of entertainment that I go to these days will have a prominent widower in the plot line.
Hey, if anyone out there has recorded any of those testing patterns that used to run on TV after the station went off the air, please send them over my way as I am looking for some alternate programming. As for now, I am just going to stick to sportscenter, the food network, and yeah, that's about it.
Apple Cup
No Dobyns blog would be complete without reference to this year's Apple Cup. Going in, I had pretty low expectations....pretty much just hoping for a silent ending with basketball ramping up.
Turned out to be a a lot better game than anyone expected - and of course, the outcome was great.
I was discussing this Sunday, but why didn't the Husky's keep running Locker? I know he needed oxygen at one point, but I was sitting there watching the game thinking -"Come on Ty, call in another pass play-or hand it off...but whatever you do, don't call Locker's number."
Go Cougs!
Turned out to be a a lot better game than anyone expected - and of course, the outcome was great.
I was discussing this Sunday, but why didn't the Husky's keep running Locker? I know he needed oxygen at one point, but I was sitting there watching the game thinking -"Come on Ty, call in another pass play-or hand it off...but whatever you do, don't call Locker's number."
Go Cougs!
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