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