Mom update

There have been a few new developments with mom this week. First of all, the Oncologist worked out a plan for a second series of treatments. Mom will receive 2 more chemotheraphys, starting with this coming Wednesday, then they will reassess, once more. While the news about the cancer still being present was a hard pill to swallow, there was an encouraging development with her CA125. The last one done with the chemo 6 weeks ago was still hovering around the 70 mark. Last week's sample came back with a result of 54. That is very encouraging news. The goal is 35. We are praying that these next two chemo series really wallop those stubborn cells.

Today, mom found out some very good news for me. She had the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene susceptibility test done. They drew bloodwork about 6 weeks ago and sent it off to some special lab somewhere. It checks those two specific genes, which are mutated IF you are a carrier of the inherited version of Ovarian Cancer.

Mom was negative for both. This is a huge relief for her. It doesn't effect her illness or treatment one bit. But what it means is that she can not "give" me or any of her grand daughters the increased likelihood for getting ovarian cancer. Since my grandmother also had ovarian cancer (her mom) we were really thinking it might be a family thing.

Mom was filled with positive emotion telling me how happy she is that she hasn't messed things up for us. I told her even if she carried it it would be her fault, but I know what she means. She realizes she can't change things for herself, but is so happy to know that she hasn't passed on an illness to me and the 3 grand daughters in our family.

Today was a good day for her. And for me!

Sickos!

Sleeping late, going to bed early, warm cups of tea, naps on the sofa. Sounds good right? But not when its all in the honor of our house guest, Mr. Nasty Virus.

Yuck! This house is full of sickos. With the exception of Abi so far, the rest of us are battling a booger of a germ! It started with Andrew on Sunday and he's had 5 days of very high fever, no appetite, lethargy and a terrible cough. The doc diagnosed him with acute bronchitis. Don started with it on Monday, then me on Tuesday night. I'm in the middle of the worst of it now, while Don and Andrew are in the home stretch. If Abi makes it out of this healthy it truly will be a miracle.

My goal is to get this nastiness out of here by tomorrow around midnight, because Mary Grace will be arriving for Spring Break. And I don't want her precious week here to be filled with ickies! We have things to do and fun to be had! How I'm going to do that is unclear, but I'm going to do my best!

Keep us in your prayers!

Ahhhhh.... fresh air!

Its 7:46am and 60 degrees! In Pennsylvania no less! Weeee! Oh, you just gotta love the early signs of spring. I know this day is a gift, and we have more cold before we get real spring, but whew. What a blessing.

I just opened doors and windows up to air the house out. This is one of my favorite days each year. The day we can turn off the heat for a whole day and let the breeze stir. It does a body good! The crocus bulbs are opening up, the daffodils greens are peeping up an inch or two. Ahhhh indeed!

We will definitely be taking a walk to the park today. Andrew will have that outside kid smell by the time daddy comes home from work. Oh, the scrubbing he'll need tonight. I can't wait to sit Abi on a blanket and put a sun hat on her little head.

Stubborn Cells

Mom has had a not-so-great week. Physically, she's enjoying a break from the chemo and has been doing some fun things, getting out to auctions and listing some things for sale on Ebay. However, on Monday she had the fluid in her chest drawn off, which turned out to be quite a lot. It is an uncomfortable procedure, and tired her out, but afterwards she did notice the ability to breathe a bit better. The fluid had been pressing on her lungs again and they were partially collapsed. Its amazing that a person can walk around and function with over a gallon of fluid pressing on them. But after a lazy day at home, she was feeling ok again.

Yesterday, she got results back from the testing of the fluid. There are still cancer cells. We totally expected that news, since her CA125 level is not reduced as much as he doctors wanted at this point. But its still a big blow. However, we are OF COURSE still praying for a miracle. God is so good and we are just totally giving this over to Him. Mom has a wonderful sense of comfort in God through her journey with this illness. Her sense of calm amazes me.

Next week she will see her Oncologist again to see what the next step in this fight will be. Onward! With weapons drawn! Come on you pray warriors!!!