It is now week two since the surgery and things are going well. We got the final pathology at the end of the week and everything was completely clear. What that means is that they tested all the tissue that was removed and did not find any trace of cancer. We have a follow up appointment with the surgeon on Friday and meet with the oncologist the following week. Holly is getting better every day, she feels fine and her strength is slowly coming back, she still gets tired easily. Had a good day because the Seahawks won!

John

So far, so good...

Just got off the phone with the surgeons office and I am happy to report that the final pathology on the two removed lymph nodes is done and there is no trace of any cancer in them! This is great news as it confirms that the cancer has not spread beyond the tumor. The initial pathology on the breast tissue is also negative for any signs of cancer which means the chemotherapy did an good job of eradicating the tumor. The nurse said the lab was going to continue to take additional slices of the removed breast tissue and that the final report would be ready on Tuesday.

Holly has been resting well and feeling a bit tired and sore but is actually managing to work from home a bit today. She needs some rest from time to time and is moving a bit slow but, in general, feeling better. Holly stopped taking her pain medications yesterday and it has not been a problem today.

John

Surgery complete

Surgery is complete and Holly is in the recovery room. I had a chat with the surgeon after the surgery was completed and she said that they removed two sentinel lymph nodes, some tissue about the size of a small egg and the port. The surgery went well and there were no apparent signs of any residual cancer. The removed tissue and lymph nodes have been sent to the lab and the final pathology will be available on Friday. This is the result we were looking for so I am very pleased with the outcome. Holly is resting in recovery and I am sitting in the waiting room so I will post again when I get home this evening.

John

Surgery is scheduled

It has been a while since my last post, not much to report as we have just been waiting for Holly to regain her strength so we can move on the the next phase of her treatment, surgery. We pulled our trailer down to Seaside Oregon for a nice little vacation with Holly's siblings and had a nice relaxing time. The only real excitement was a blow out on the trailer on the drive home, no damage done except to the tire. The day after returning from vacation we had an appointment with the surgeon to discuss and schedule Holly's surgery. The meeting went well and we now have the following schedule:
Monday, August 30, Injection of a radioactive tracer to identify lymph nodes associated with tumor area
Tuesday, August 31 at 7:00am
Report to Virgina Mason hospital and have wires placed to identify and guide the surgeon then report to surgery waiting area
Actual surgery to take place where:
1) The port which was used for chemotherapy will be removed,
2) A small incision will be made under the arm and the two or so lymph nodes associated with the tumor area will be removed.
3) The area where the tumor was will be examined and a portion of the area will be removed.
4) Pathology will take place in the operation room on both the removed lymph nodes and tissue removed from the tumor area. If all goes well that will be the end of it and nothing further will need to be done and Holly will be able to go home the same day. If anything is found during the pathology additional lymph nodes and or tissue may need to be removed which will mean an over night stay in the hospital and a longer recovery period.

The optimum outcome would be for nothing to be found, for Holly to be sent home on Tuesday which would mean about a week of recovery. More extensive surgery would result in an over night stay in the hospital, a two to three week recovery period and possibly more surgery down the road. There is currently no reason to expect anything other than the simple surgery so we will keep our fingers crossed for that option.

Chemo, we don't need no stinkin chemo...

We just had our doctors appointment and are sitting here in the infusion center, Holly says hi to everyone. Todays news is that Holly's feet are not getting any better and she is now experiencing a little neuropathy in two fingers on her right hand. As a result of this the doctor decided to proceed with todays treatment and then call it done. We are now at the stage where we set up a pre-surgical consult and schedule the surgery. Holly is a bit happy, but scared, to be done with chemotherapy, she likes the idea of not coming here anymore but is afraid of not actively and aggressively treating this thing.

The current plan is to get the surgery done in mid to late August, take three to four weeks to heal, then proceed with six weeks of Monday to Friday radiation treatments. Every day for six weeks will suck but at least we can schedule that for close to home, no more regular visits to capitol hill.

John

Three more to go...

Well, nine down and now we are thinking three more to go. We met with the Doctor on Friday, prior to treatment, and discussed how Holly handled the last treatment. We decided that Holly's neuropathy stayed about the same, no better, no worse. Since the neuropathy has not progressed, the doctor decided that the potential benefits of finishing all 12 treatments out weighs the neuropathy threat at this point. Dr. Dahbi is going to continue to monitor the feeling in Holly's hands and feet and as long as it does not get any worse, we will continue with a 70% dose for the next three weeks. Holly just told me her feet are feeling a little funny but not moving into her ankles yet, so we shall see.

Holly is feeling tired and a bit anxious but hanging in there. She is getting a bit apprehensive about finishing this treatment and moving on to the next step but she is getting used to the idea. I am looking forward to moving on to the next step and am working on getting Holly excited also.

Almost there

Friday, we met with the doctor prior to treatment and the doctor asked the usual questions about how Holly was feeling. Holly told the doctor about the funny feeling she has been having in her feet and how it had moved from the front of her foot to the entire foot. The feeling she is experiencing is called neuropathy and is a typical side effect. Once neuropathy sets in, you have to be careful that you don't lose all the feeling in your feet because it can affect the way you walk and drive. Another problem with neuropathy is that there is no way of telling if the condition is permanent or not. The doctor performed a thorough exam, and decided that we need to keep a close eye on her condition. If the neuropathy stays the same or gets worse, then it has been decided that Holly would get a half dose next Friday and another half dose the following week, and that would be the end of the Taxol. Dr. Dabhi explained that a typical round of chemotherapy consists of three infusions and most people get one infusion every three weeks. Due to Holly's age, condition and generally good health, the doctor decide to give Holly an infusion every week, apparently there is a slight statistical benefit to getting infused every week. If Holly gets two more half treatments, that would be a total of nine full infusions or three rounds of Taxol. Dr. Dabhi says that we have achieved the desired result of shrinking the tumor so there was no problem in finishing her treatment a bit early.

Once we figured that treatment was probably going to end in two weeks, we started talking about what was next. Holly admitted to the doctor that she was very nervous about the upcoming surgery and that Dan told her that she had done the hard part, and surgery would be a breeze. The doctor told her that Dan was right on the money, she has done the hard part and the surgery should not be that bad. The current plan is to most likely get two more half treatments of Taxol over the next two weeks, take three to four weeks to get stronger, then get surgery. Once surgery is complete, there will be a month or so to heal up, then six weeks of radiation therapy which will be administered 5 days a week.

On a funner note, the doctor showed up on a cool, bright read scooter, apparently he broke his foot in a biking accident. Dr. Dabhi was very excited about his cool scooter and told us he was planning on tricking it out.

John

Seven down, five to go...

Another Friday has come and gone, another treatment under the belt. Holly has a little "funny feeling" in her feet that the doctor wants to watch out for. This seems to be the beginning of the neuropathy that the doctor warned us about. Apparently, almost all patients on Taxol chemotherapy develop neuropathy, which involves numbness and tingling of fingers and toes. Holly started to feel something a little off in her feet last week, and it has continued on to this week. The doctor said if this funny feeling spreads to the entire foot, he may either scale back the amount of Taxol drug, or we may have to stop the chemo treatments early. It is still too early to make that call, so we are just continuing to monitor the feet.

Today is Holly's birthday so after treatment, she wanted to see Toy Story 3, so off we went. Holly had a good time and felt well enough to grab some Chinese take-out for dinner. We spent a nice quite evening at home and Holly is tired but doing well.

John

Oh where, oh where has my tumor gone....

Okay, way back in March when this whole thing started, Holly had this little alien with measurements of 3.7cm, 3.4cm, 2.7cm. After a few months of chemotherapy, this curvaceous little bugger was an anorexic 1.6cm, 1.7cm, 1.1cm. Well as of yesterday, the little bugger could not be found with the ultrasound. What this means is the thing is so small, it is too hard to see via ultrasound. We will plow ahead with the next six treatments and, hopefully, the surgery will not be that evasive. Just wanted to share the good news.

John

We have hair!

Number five out of twelve treatments down, thats 42% done with this round! We met with the doctor this afternoon and he said Holly's white blood count went from 700,000 to 200,000 which means it is back to booster shots twice a week. That was not really that unexpected but is still kind of a bummer. On a positive note, Holly is sprouting some new hair which the doc said would probably grow, very, very slowly and should stay put. Holly has some nice fuzz growing that appears to be a bit darker than before, it will be interesting to see how it comes in. The other good thing that came out of today was that the doctor had a hard time feeling the tumor so he is ordering an ultrasound after next weeks treatment, heres hoping the thing shrinks even more! Dr. Dobhi did get a little mad at Holly for her big concert weekend but she promised to behave this week so he let her off the hook.

All in all, things are going well, besides the fatigue, Holly's other biggest side effect is restless sleep but drugs can help that. Holly has been able to work all week yet agai,n but she is working at a much slower pace, finding it hard to keep her train of thought and has to stop to rest occasionally.

Thanks to everybody for the continued good wishes, talk to you all later.

John

The concert was a success but wore Holly out...

Treatment number four went off without a hitch, Holly's blood work came back with such good numbers she was able to forgo taking her white blood cell boosters yet again. Part of the current treatment is a regiment of steroids designed to alleviate some of the Taxol side affects, the steroids have a list of side effects also so it is a juggling act to balance the amount steroid Holly takes. The steroid was causing some restless sleep, increased appetite and other things I don't recall. The doctor slightly decreased her steroid dose which means Holly is experiencing some muscle fatigue and muscle soreness which the steroid was preventing. All in all we seem to have achieved a nice balance that allows Holly to function at a fairly normal level.

Holly felt well enough to actually participate in her choir's final concert of the season. I had asked her to please just watch the dress rehearsal on Friday night to rest but she cheated and sang along with the choir. At the end of Friday night Holly's voice was a bit weak and she was tired. Saturday rolled around and Holly was able to bring a stool to sit on and perform in both shows. By the time Holly got home on Saturday she was wiped out and she spent most of the day recovering. Holly is still feeling the effects of the weekend today and has required a couple of rest breaks but is managing to get a full days work in.

Thanks to Holly's choir buddies for watching out for her this weekend, she loves to participate in the performances and I appreciate having people who care for her watching out for her.

John

25 percent done with this round!

Today was treatment number 3 of 12; after a few simple computations we figured out that that equates to 25%, not bad :) We arrived downtown a little early, Holly's port continued to cause some problems with the blood draws but worked like a champ for the infusion. Holly's blood counts were perfectly normal, which is outstanding considering the crap they are pumping into her. The result is that she just got her normal treatment and does not have to give herself injections to boost the white blood cells.

Holly thought it would be nice to show you all what it looks like when she is getting her treatment so I posted a picture:


The other good thing is Holly is a bit tired but managed to come watch my hockey team, the Swarm, get our first victory of the summer session, yahoo!

John

Follow The Yellow Brick Road...

Sorry I did not post after the last treatment, we actually managed an attempt at camping then I just got lazy. Last Friday Holly had her second treatment, it was fairly uneventful, the only complication was a small problem with her port. We hooked up the RV Thursday night in anticipation of Holly feeling well enough for a camping trip during the holiday weekend and she did not disappoint. Unfortunately the weather was another matter, rain, rain and more rain along with a problem with a leak in our roof caused us to call a premature end to the weekend. Holly held up very well, the fatigue hit her Sunday afternoon but she has managed to work all three days this week. Holly called me in the afternoon on Tuesday for a ride home, ran out of gas in the afternoon but has managed to get full days in working at home with a little rest along the way.

The next treatment is a nearly upon us and I think we are both getting used to the new schedule. I went a good five nights without sleep but finally managed a good night sleep. Holly had one bad night but had a good drug induced sleep the next night.

Holly's next big goal is to attempt to perform in the Sno King Community Choral presentation of Follow the Yellow Brick Road which is a compilation of music from the Wizard of Oz, The Wiz and Wicked. She is looking forward to it, I have put her on observation only restriction during the rehearsals and am counting on Kit and Abby to keep a close eye on Holly making sure she does not get worn out. Kit and Abby, you also need to make sure she remains on her stool while practicing please. :) I hope Kit can find time in her busy Munchkin filled schedule to help me out with this, even though you are playing a character small in stature I am sure you are up to large job.

John

Sorry I did not post yesterday after the kind of gloomy Sunday post but it was my turn to get sick. I had a touch of a stomach bug and spent most of yesterday asleep on the couch, I digress, this is not about me :)

Monday was a much better day for Holly, she got an okay night sleep and was able to put in a full days work at home. The nausea seemed to subside and other than being tired Holly had a pretty good day. I drove her to work today and we are hopping she is on the mend, we are actually planning on taking the RV out this weekend depending on how Holly feels after this Friday's treatment.

John

Sunday, Sunday...

Well, Saturday went fairly well, Holly was a little tired at the end of the day but it otherwise it went well. Today started out about the same, we helped Brenda out this morning, went grocery shopping then headed home. Our little morning outing tired Holly out so we crashed on the couch and turned on the TV. Dinner rolled around and thats when Holly started to feel a bit "off". She only managed a few bites then it was pajamas and back to the couch. Feels a bit nauseous and tired but is upright now. Hopefully a good night sleep will make a difference and she will be able to get a little work in tomorrow, it helps make the days go by faster.

I will report back tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

John

Bring it on...

It is Friday night, the M's won big but the Sharks lost in over time, one for two, not bad. Last night was a long one for Holly and I. We were both a little nervous about the new treatment that started today. I was up half the night with my acid reflux and Holly had a nervous night sleep. Today rolled around and Holly scrambled at work to get ready for this afternoon. We got to the infusion center and had a little problem with her port, it seems it scabbed over a bit at the end of the catheter so the nurse had to put a drug in the port to dissolve the blockage. After a bit of a delay and a goofy doctor filling in for our regular doc, who is in Australia visiting the in laws, Holly got plugged in. The gave her the pre-chemotherapy drugs and let them absorb for about 30 minutes. Once the drugs were absorbed the Taxol was hung and started. They let the Taxol run for about 15 minutes, checked Holly's vitals and any signs of an allergic reaction. Holly tolerated the initial infusion well so they turned the tap back on and got down to business.

We are now sitting here at 10:45pm watching the Deadliest Catch and Holly seems to be doing well. The nurses told us she would feel really tired for a few days, which seems to be the case. Hopefully she will be well enough for work on Monday, we will just have to wait and see.

We are both a bit tired but feeling very relieved to have this first treatment behind us. Thanks for tuning in to the blog, we will let you know how the weekend goes.

John

Dear Abby...

This post is dedicated to Holly's dear friend from choir, Abby. It has been brought to my attention that I have been derelict in my duties as information provider so I will attempt to rectify that starting now :)

I will start with a quick review of what has happened since the last treatment, and what is to come. Week one following the last treatment was a bit rough, but week two and three were progressively better. Holly was able to put in a full work week last week and is on track to repeat that feat again this week. Holly was able to attend choir the past two weeks and last Saturday we actually ventured out to see a friend's daughter perform in a school play. Both of us have been enjoying a few days of semi normalcy, which has been quite nice.

Now on to what is to come, I think we are both getting a bit curious and perhaps nervous about what is to come. Holly is scheduled to have one treatment every Friday for the next twelve weeks, and we have been told it will feel like having the flu for that period but, hopefully, the nausea will be less with the Taxol. We are cautiously optimistic about what is to come and are looking forward to getting this behind us.

Sorry Abby for keeping you in the dark for so long, I guess I figured no news was good news. Thanks to those of you who follow the blog, it means a lot to both of us.

John

Sometimes shrinkage is a good thing :)

Last week was full of up and downs. Friday's treatment and the few days following, were nasty as usual, Wednesday and Thursday morning got a little better, then Thursday night was nasty. By Saturday things got better and Holly has been on the mend since.

We had an ultrasound today to measure the tumor and decide on how to proceed. The deal is if the tumor stays the same size or gets smaller, we would start with the Taxol chemotherapy drug; if the tumor got bigger, we would go straight to surgery. Well, as you may have figured out from the title of this post, the tumor has shrunk by around 50%! This is great new! This means we get to continue with the the pre-surgery treatment which will commence one week from this Friday. The new treatment of chemo will take place every Friday and last for twelve weeks. The Oncologist says the side effects from the Taxol drug will be like having the flu for twelve weeks but hopefully the nausea will be mild. I will provide more Taxol related details as the first treatment gets closer.

This was a good birthday for me, the best present I could get is news that my wifes health is headed in the right direction!

John

Back in the chemo saddle again

Well, I am sitting here, at the infusion sweet, watching Holly rest while getting her fix. The extra week off was very nice, gave Holly and the family a bonus semi normal week. Holly spent the week enjoying being normal and I spent the week working on a used hot tub procured via Craig's list. Last night we both noticed that neither one of us was feeling quite normal and today at lunch the feeling intensified. I finally figured out that mental toll this process takes also takes a physical toll, but we will suck it up and get through this.

Doctor Dahbi told us that in two weeks, Holly will need an ultrasound to determine what the tumor is doing. If the tumor is the same size, or smaller, Holly will commence with the Taxol the following week. If the tumor has grown then it is straight to surgery. That means if all goes well she will begin the taxol in 3 weeks.

We met with nurse Julina today, whom I would like to personally nominate for nurse of the year, she is very patient, kind and helpful. She speaks normal English, not that medial dialect that doctors talk in and is always in a good mood. She gave us the lowdown on what to expect with what I refer to as phase two, Taxol. The good news is that nausea is less common and not as severe a side affect with Taxol. The pre treatment drugs they give Holly, prior to the actual Taxol, ar administrated to avoid allergic reactions to the Taxol and will cause fatigue, which will probably put her to sleep while they give her the Taxol. The Taxol takes about the same amount of time as the round one combination of drugs takes, so time wise it will be the same as round one. According to Julina, Holly will feel flu like, with not as much nausea, and be pretty wiped out for the first couple of days after treatment. She will be getting treatment every week, for 12 weeks, so by the end of round two she will be pretty wiped out. This means her pre surgical treatment is going to last pretty much the entire summer followed by surgery, followed by five weeks, of five times a week, radiation treatment. With any luck we should be finished before the Christmas holidays.

John

Getting ready for Friday

Holly here - thought I would post the blog this time.

I have had a wonderful week off from chemo. Feeling normal for 2 weeks in a row was amazing! I did such things as shopping at Costco, cooking dinner, took a short walk, and did some laundry. I know those things don't sound that wonderful, but believe me - it's so much better than sitting around feeling sick. Seriously!

I'm a little nervous for Friday, but the good thing is it will be the last treatment with the yucky chemo drugs that make me feel sick. Next week, we are supposed to switch it up to Taxol, so hopefully, that won't make me as sick.

I know most of you already know this, but I just want to say how much I love my choir. The people there truly treat me as family. All of the hugs, smiles, kind words, and teasing (yes, teasing) is just amazing. And there's music too! It's just the best way to spend a Tuesday night. If anyone from my choir reads this, I love you all!

Thats it for now. Thanks to everyone for caring about me.
Holly

Time for a little break...

Holly is doing much better, she has gone to work downtown for the last two days and seems to be getting some of her strength back. We were scheduled for another treatment on Friday but Holly decided to put it off one more week so she could have a week of feeling better. Since it is the last treatment using these chemotherapy drugs, the doctor agreed. Holly will have to have her white blood cell count checked on Friday but we are not expecting any problems. One more to go, then we can move on to the next round.

John

Back to work

The week has been getting slowly better. Holly has been able to work at home with a few nap breaks here and there. Her energy level is still quite low and she feels "a little off" but overall making slow progress. She went into the office today and put in a pretty good day, came home, crashed on the couch and is looking a little more alive this evening.

Holly is a bit apprehensive about her next treatment, talking about delaying it for a week but we will figure that out next week. She is very slowly regaining her strength.

Chemo, round three

Sorry it has been a while since my last post, things were rolling along nicely during the second week after the last chemotherapy session. I will do my best to get you all caught up and tell you how Holly is feeling today.

Last Friday was treatment number three of four in round one of Holly's chemotherapy treatment. Following a less than pleasant second treatment, Holly was bit apprehensive about this one. We had a good visit with the Oncologist prior to the infusion and he changed the medications up once again. For this round her infused anti nausea medications were doubled, Emends, another oral anti nausea medication, was added along with a steroid. The doctors goal was to get her through this round without throwing up and he seems to have succeeded. The other change to this treatment was a change in the white blood cell booster, the long lasting one Holly had been taking was working a bit too well so it has been replaced with a shorter lasting version, the down side is it must be injected three times instead of just once.

Friday night Holly was a bit tired but managed to actually have a meal and generally felt okay. Saturday and Sunday were about the same. Sunday night she started to feel nasty and by Monday morning she was crashed on the couch. She has been able to continue to eat in small amounts but generally feels lousy and tired. Holly did not work on Monday and I am not sure she will be up for much today. My plan is to keep a close eye on her for the next couple of days and spoil her as best I can.

I will do a better job keeping the blog updated from now on and apologize for my lack of posts or the last week.

John

Wednesday night post.

Holly here again. My next chemo treatment is this Friday, and I'm not really looking forward to it. After the 1st treatment, I felt sick for 3 or 4 days after. After the 2nd treatment, I felt sick for 6 or 7 days. I sure hope this isn't the trend. I'm sorta hoping my body will just realize this is the norm, so perhaps, I can bounce back a little quicker. Maybe I'm dreaming, but dreaming is good, right?

My hair is definitely falling out like crazy. I can't seem to bring myself to shave the head clean, so I'm letting it fall out as it will.

Now for some very exciting news! As most of you know, I sing in a choir called Sno-King Community Chorale. Last year, our choir performed a concert with the Brothers Four as our guests. I just found out that the Brothers Four is putting out a new CD and guess who their guest artist is on the CD? You know it - my choir! How cool is that? I'm pretty excited about it (just ask John), and available to give autographs.

That's all for now. I am appreciating the continued thoughts & prayers.
Holly

Time for me to update my own blog (this is Holly, by the way :)

So no posts for the last few days because there wasn’t any fun way to describe me throwing up. For some reason, this 2nd chemo treatment knocked me for a loop. Beginning on Friday night, I got sick, and pretty much stayed sick until yesterday. Today, I am feeling slightly better, but still not much appetite. Let’s hope for some weight loss :)

Today, I was chatting with Dan, and happened to pull at my hair, and out came a handful. It is really starting to come out. Get ready; I think I will be bald before you know it.

I want to try and say thanks for everything you all have done for me. I’m sure I won’t do it justice, but thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, snacks, goodies, chemo bags, dinner, cards, trip to Phoenix, and most of all, for being yourselves. This is easier on me when I know that I can be myself around everyone.

Holly

Chemo, the sequel

Well sequels are rarely as good as the original and in the case of Holly's chemotherapy, that sad fact has nfortunately proven itself true. Friday was the second session of the first round of chemotherapy. We reported to the treatment room for a blood draw and quick white blood cell count at noon. While waiting for the lab, we wandered down to Subway for a light bite to eat before our 1:00 appointment. Met with the doctor at one for a quick exam and Q&A about round one. The doctor decided to replace one of her anti nausea medications, compazine with a fancier medication called kytril, which is a pill form of the stuff she gets in her IV. The kytril turned out to be a challenge to find, after visiting two pharmacies and calling another seven or eight I was able to find the kytril near our home. After the exam it was time to plug in and get treatment, the treatment went well, was uneventful and we both wound up catching a short nap.

We got home around 5 and shortly after, my sisters Debbie and Laurie showed up with dinner. It was a nice surprise, they stayed for about half an hour getting dinner ready, then were off. We had a nice quite dinner and Holly was feeling tired but not bad. About 7:00 Holly started to feel a little off, nausea set in and after a couple of hours she lost her dinner. We had a quick conversation with the oncologist on call, adjusted her medications and she had a good night sleep. She is pretty wiped out today but actually held down some soup and is in good spirits.

John

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, things have been going well.

Holly, her sister Brenda, and good friend Lynn, had planned a trip to Phoenix for Mariners Spring Training. It turned out that the trip dates fit perfectly into her chemotherapy schedule so last Sunday she set off for Phoenix with her Oncologist's blessing. The only restrictions the Oncologist placed on her were that she ware plenty of sun screen, a hat and that she wear a mask on the plane.


I want to thank Brenda and Lynn for taking exceptional care of Holly on there little road trip. They are due to arrive this evening and I am waiting anxiously for there return. It was a little hard for me having her that far away but it helped knowing she was in good hands.

Tomorrow is treatment number two of the fist course of chemotherapy and hopefully it will be easier now that we have an idea of how Holly is likely to respond.

I would like to give a special thanks to my niece Staci, she volunteered to come get the house in shape so to make this next round easier.

Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers.

John

My little mutant

We had a visit with the genetic counselor today and it took her 20 minutes to say what I am about to say in a single sentance. About two weeks ago Holly had some blood drawn, the blood was sent to the only labratory in the country capable of screening for gene mutations in the BRACA1 and BRACA2 genes. There are known mutations in these genes that, if present, increase a womans chance of getting ovarian or breast cancer to 80%. Since there is only one laboratory in the country capable of isolating and evaluating these genes, the test is pricey and the doctors have to convince the insurance to pay for them. Because Holly's mom had ovarian cancer and she has breast cancer at a young age it was recomended that the test be adiminstrated. The idea is that the results may affect our decision as to further treatment and surgery. Okay, the ground work has been laid now for the results. A normal woman who contracts breast cancer at Holly's age has a 4% chance of another breast cancer or a reoccurance of the same one. If you add the fact that Holly's mother had ovarian cancer, the number climbs from 4% to 16%. According to the test results, Holly does not have either of the known BRACA1 or BRACA2 mutations that increase her cancer risk. There was a different anomaly in her BRACA1 gene that two other people, of 100,000++ people tested, share with Holly. Due to the small statistical sample, it is not known what the anomaly means. In other words, prior to the test results, she had a 16% chance of a reocurrance; after the test, she has a 16% chance of the reocurrance. So all we know is that she is a little mutant, but it does not affect cancer chances.

Okay, so that was a little more than one sentence, but I had to give you some history. Thanks for listening.

John

Chatty Holly

Today was a very good day, Holly is getting her appetite back and acting a little more lively. Yesterday we went to watch Holly's choir practice and visit with some of here friends. It was nice to see Holly perk up around her buddies even though she did tire pretty fast. Today she was chatting up a storm, driving me nuts so I could tell she is feeling better. We even managed a quick trip to the mall to return a hat. All in all a very good day. :)

John

We have appetite!

Much better day today, Holly is very tired but actually got hungry this afternoon. Eating small, slow meals but doing it without the aid of drugs and not feeling any nausea. The nurse said it would take a couple of days for the fog from the drugs to lift and Holly is a little tired of being tired but in much better spirits. Thanks for all the positive thoughts, they mean a lot.

John

A little better

Last night Holly finally ate a something small in the evening. She was pretty wiped out all day and spent most of it sleeping on the couch. The nausea seemed to be going away by bed time and we are hopeful it will vanish completely today. Thanks for all the good thoughts and wishes.

John

Not a great day

Well, Saturday was a good day, Holly said she felt a little off but was able to eat and for the most part felt well. Sunday rolled around and the nausea kicked in full force. Holly has been living on fishy crackers, water and juice since. I called the Chemotherapy nurse today and she adjusted Holly's medications, hopefully one more day of this and she will turn the corner.

This stuff is harsh and I hate seeing her like this, makes it hard for me to focus when I am worried about her. Hoping she is on her feet soon and just want her to feel better.


John

Commence with the Chemo

Yesterday was the first chemotherapy appointment. We arrived at the Pacific Medical building, Holly got examined by the doctor, then we spent an hour with the nurse going over the possible side effects of the treatment. Once all the administrative stuff was done, it was off to the chemotherapy suite and time to plug-in. The nurses had a bit of trouble plugging into the new port, there was still some swelling from the surgery that complicated the procedure. Once they got plugged in they started the drugs. First up is anti nausea medication mixed with saline which takes about 40 minutes, then the "red" chemotherapy drug (made Holly pee red :) ) which takes another 40 minutes, followed by a clear colored second drug that runs for about an hour followed by a quick 15 minute flush with saline.

Holly is doing well so far, her tummy feels a little off but the medications seem to be helping. We are spending a quiet weekend at home curled up on the couch watching movies. Holly is having an interesting time trying to decide how she is feeling, just sort of sitting around waiting for something to happen.

Today Holly is supposed to give herself an injection to boost production of white blood cells. First time she has to shoot up, I will let you all know how it goes later.

I would like to thank everybody again for the outpouring of support with the head shaving. A special thanks to Monty, Fred and Tom who went ahead and shaved on their own! I added their pictures to the web page.

John

Hair today... wait, what, where the hell did my hair go?

Last night, a few family and close friends showed up to support Holly and her head shaving. Our good friend Casey, who is an aspiring hair stylist, was kind enough to put her shaver to the test. She wound up giving around a dozen shaves including Holly, Jeremy, Danny, myself, her sister Brenda, and assorted nephews and friends. The mood was festive and it made it a lot easier for Holly when she was ready to take a seat and get buzzed. Thanks to everybody who came by to keep us company, it meant a lot.

If you would like to check out the results you can visit the following links:
Quick before/after of a few of us
All the pictures fit to post :)

TAS is pretty in pink!

Holly's office is "Pretty In Pink", click here to see the picture.
Thought it was time for me (Holly) to post a blog. Today was a perfect day for it. I went to work like every other normal Thursday. Upon arriving in the office, I noticed an abundance of pink among my co-workers. Turns out, they planned a surprise for me. Apparently, an E-mail was sent to the entire office (except for me), asking anyone who wanted to, to wear pink as a show of support for my first chemo treatment tomorrow.
What a wonderful surprise! I couldn't quite believe it, but there it was - right before my very eyes. You can see for yourself - check out the picture!

To all my amazing co-workers - you guys rock! That was so awesome; I am lucky to be surrounded by all of you, every day. Thank you for being you!

Holly

Comments revisited

It appears that you had to be a follower or have a GMail account to create a comment. I have changed the comment settings to allow anyone to post comments. Please let me know if you are still having trouble posting comments.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Yesterday Holly had her pre-chemotherapy EKG and it went well. Her heart is in good shape and ready to get going. We went from the EKG appointment to the Brest imaging center to have the tumor markers placed, but there was a scheduling mix up so now we have to go back today; kind of sucks but what are you going to do.

Chemotherapy is due to start on Friday, with hair loss anticipated for a week down the road. It was suggested that we take the proactive approach, and cut Holly's hair, so she can be in control and not have to deal with leaving clumps of hair everywhere. With that in mind, our good friend Casey is bringing her clippers over Thursday and we are turning our weekly survivor party into a head shaving event. Holly, Jeremy, Danny, Myself and a few others will all be getting buzzed. I will post some pictures on Friday if Holly wants me to.

John

Hat Shopping

We have been enjoying a nice quite weekend at home. Holly and I went out yesterday with the plan of getting a few hats and possibly a wig. We went into a wig shop and it kind of freaked Holly out, so we left right away. I don't think we are quite ready to go there. We were successful in getting a few hats, actually had a bit of fun picking them out. Brenda actually crocheted holly a hat so now she thinks she is all gangster because she has two beanies :) For those of you who are fans of the television show Friends (Holly is a Friends freak) I tried to get her to say "That Play Station is whack" while she had the beanie on but she refused.

Holly is recovering nicely from the port placement surgery but she has been tiring easily and we are chalking it up to Vicodin and surgery hang over. The incision has been waking her at night but other than that she is sleeping well. I envy her good night sleep but I am sure I have one coming soon. Don't like the drug induced sleep, gives me strange dreams.

I would like to throw a shout out to our good friend Lynn, she has been living with Crohn's disease for quite awhile and wound up in the hospital this last week with a flare up. You are in our thoughts a prayers and we are glad to hear you are feeling a little better.

Comment Confusion

There has been some confusion about how to post a comment to this blog. If you look directly below this post you will see a link to "Comments". A number may appear before the word comments that identifies how many comments are currently posted. To post a comment just click on "Comments" and a edit box will appear at the bottom of the comments section, type your message and press the "Post Comment" button. I hope this is helpful.

Port City

The port is in! They surgery went without a hitch, there is a 2 inch or so scar. Holly will be sore for a couple of days and is not allowed to vacuum, that's convenient! Holly is pretty groggy from the anesthesia and does not like the foggy feeling but it is wearing off.

Should I change the title?

Yesterday was a hard day and basically sucked. Thanks for the calls, they helped a lot and thanks big sis for dropping by, I needed that.

Okay, the serious stuff is done, time for a little fun. It has been brought to my attention that the blog title is a little "boring" (Brenda). Brenda sent a list of suggestions so I am going to leave it up to our followers to decide so go ahead and comment to this post to cast your vote. Following is a list of suggestions edited by Holly and I:

1) Holly’s Latest
2) Holly’s Happenings
3) Gone With the Wind and Why Holly Has Never Seen It (Holly has never seen this movie and people always give her a hard time)
4) Holly’s Undertaking
5) Holly’s Escapade
6) Holly’s Trip
7) Holly’s Words – “Why you should never put down pink”
There is a story with this one, if you did not know, Holly is quite the Seahawk's fan. Last season we were watching a game in October and Holly blurts out "I'm getting so sick of the guys wearing pink, what about the other types of cancer?" I guess karma is a bitch! ;)
8) Holly & John’s Not so Excellent Adventure
9) Today with Holly & John
10)Tomorrow with Holly & John

Cast your vote or suggestions welcome.

We have a plan!

Okay, the original title was going to be "Appointments effing appointments" but I figured you all would be more interested in the plan, than our long, long, long, long.... well you get the idea, day. We woke up this morning, birds chirping, sun shining and a full schedule of 3 appointments today. Before our first appointment we got a call from the surgeon, who consulted with the oncologist and to recommend chemotherapy prior to surgery. As a result we squeezed in a pre surgical consultation appointment and a scheduling meeting which brought our appointment schedule to five.

Enough complaining and more information on the plan. The plan is this:
1) Surgical procedure to install a port, which will be used to administer drugs; no track marks for my girl!
2) EKG needed prior to chemotherapy.
3) Four chemotherapy treatments consisting of a 2 drug cocktail, administered in a 4 hour session every 2 weeks, for a total of 8 weeks. This is scheduled to March 12,
2a) Hair shaving party since Holly WILL lose her hair,
4) Twelve Taxol treatments administered once a week for 12 weeks,
5) Recover from 3 and 4 above, for a couple of weeks
6) Surgery
7) Possible radiation treatment depending on type of surgery and surgical findings

And I thought 5 appointments in one day was bad! I think reality hit us hard when we scheduled this stuff but we are trying to get ready to kick this P.O.S. tumor in the butt!

Ultrasound Done

After spending a good two and a half hours with malfunctioning ultrasound equipment we discovered that Holly has two boobs and a tumor in one of them! Other than that there was nothing "remarkable" found. The first time I can remember unremarkable sounding good :)

There is some cool technology that allows the ultrasound technician to synchronize the ultrasound with the PET scan image that was very impressive. The problem we encountered was that there was a faulty sensor it took awhile to discover. Once over that hurdle the doctor came in and said the areas of possible concern identified by the PET scan were "unremarkable".

Today is going to be one for the record books, four appointments in one day. First up the big one with the Oncologist where we will get the lowdown on chemotherapy. Next up, the genetic counselor to discuss the cancer gene screening. The last appointment of the day is with the Radiologist Oncologist who will discuss the possible, post operative radiation that will be required. Somewhere in those appointment we will squeeze in a visit to the surgeon for paperwork and a preoperative visit regarding Thursdays procedure.

After last night Holly was a little grumpy and I was wore out, we got home, had a nice dinner, curled up on the couch with a good book and felt much better.

John

Chemo Time

We got a call from the surgeon today; the surgeon talked to the oncologist and agreed that we should proceed with chemotherapy prior to surgery. What this means is that we are going to try to shrink the tumor prior to surgery. Chemotherapy is administered via a port which is surgically implanted under the collar bone. The port procedure is an outpatient surgery and is scheduled for Thursday, March 4th.

We will discuss when exactly chemotherapy will commence and if Holly will be up for Spring Training in our appointment with the oncologist tomorrow.

More to follow on Tuesday.

John

PET is done!

PET scan is done and the results are in! There was one slight abnormality in a lymph node under Holly's right arm. The doctor is pretty sure this is just inflammation brought about by the test Holly has been undergoing but you can never be to sure so now we need another ultrasound on Monday. Should not be a big deal and we are still on track for making some decisions on Tuesday.

Thats all for now, have a good weekend everybody.

John

Last big test

We think we are down to the PET test http://www.petscaninfo.com/zportal/portals/pat/ which is in process as I am writing this. I just got a call from the surgeons office and they said to expect a call this afternoon to go over the last two days test results.

The Oncologist office called yesterday and we now have an additional appointment with them on Tuesday morning to go over all the data and come up with a game plan. Hopefully we will come away form Tuesday's meeting with a plan of action and appointments scheduled after that will be for treatment.

I just want to thank everybody for your thoughts and prayers, it has been very appreciated and heart warming.

John

Tests Suck

Sitting at Virgina Mason waiting for Holly to work up a good glow. Bone scan today, PET scan tomorrow. Holly had a bit of a rough morning, kind of lost it a little, getting tired of being poked and prodded. Got injected with a radioactive tracer and have to wait for it to circulate before the scan. Will pst again when done.

John

Meeting with the surgeon

Well, we met with the surgeon and now have two more test scheduled, a PET scan on Thursday and a Bone Scan on Friday. We got a lot of information which was all documented in a nice white binder with a pink breast cancer ribbon on the front and are in the process of digesting everything. What we do know right now is that we don't have enough information to make an informed decision on the exact course of action surgically. The surgeon will be consulting with the oncologist and come up with a recommendation soon. The three scenarios are:

1) Surgery now followed by chemotherapy and radiation.
2) Wait for genetic testing then decide on surgery option based on testing followed by chemotherapy.
3) Chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, genetic testing, decide on surgery option then do surgery.

I may not have these quite right, the doctor recorded our conversation be we forgot the CD at the office. I will correct the above options when I listen to the tape again.

Bottom line, not sure when surgery is going to happen, don't want to wait any longer than necessary but there is not reason to proceed until we have all the data we can get. We will make an informed decistion when we have all the facts.

MRI Is Done!

Had the MRI this afternoon results should be at the surgeon in time for the morning appointment. Nothing else to really, Holly did not enjoy the awkward position :) and they didn't really tell us anything yet.

John

Thanks for the thoughts and calls

We just want to say thanks for all the phone calls, thoughts and prayers. This has all been a bit overwhelming and we appreciate all the support from family and friends.

There is nothing new to report, we are just sort of hanging around waiting for the MRI appointment on Monday and then the big appointment with the surgeon on Monday. Holly is sleeping like a baby while I am looking for that allusive good night of sleep but it will come.

John

First appointment out of the way. Good news bad news kind of a deal. The good news is right now this is beatable; bad news is it is an aggressive form of cancer. The Oncologist said they rate the type of tumor between 1 and 3 with one being least aggressive and 3 being the most aggressive. Unfortunately he rates this one a three. On the positive side the tumor has not taken hold of anything, has not metastasized and there is no evidence of it spreading to any lymph nodes. Due to the aggressive nature of the cancer Holly will most likely need chemotherapy as a preventative treatment.

The next action is on Monday and includes MRI studies which will help the surgeon decide on a course of action. Tuesday is the big day, we meet the surgeon and decide what to do and when. According to the Oncologist it is possible that some chemotherapy may occur prior to surgery if the surgeon wants to attempt to shrink the tumor or see how it responds to the treatment.

We should defiantly have more definitive information after our meeting on Tuesday.

Thanks to everybody for your thoughts and prayers, it means a lot to Holly and me.

John