Mom handled her treatment very well the second time
around, (not surprising). She scheduled
her treatments in Omaha around her work schedule. She was able to receive treatment every other
Thursday during the duration of her treatment plan. Her plan was to miss as little work as
possible. During the week of treatment
she would work Monday-Wednesday and she and Dad would stay with Ro and Scott in
Gretna on Wednesday night. A new
treatment facility was constructed in Elkhorn near Ro and Scott’s home. Mom was able to see her oncologist and
receive her treatment within minutes of Gretna.
After she completed treatment they would drive back to Indianola and she
would go to work on Fridays.
The hospital was in the process of a major
construction project during her treatment.
Mom was heavily involved in the planning and interior design. The open house was scheduled for January 2011
and Mom was not going to let anything, not even cancer, get in her way of
seeing that phase of the project to the end.
She was also involved in the planning and organization of the open
house.
I remember Mom talking about how bad her joints hurt
her during treatment. When her counts
were low due to the chemo, she was given a shot of Neupogen to help build up
her counts and to allow her to receive the next round of chemo. Neupogen helps make white blood cells which
helps prevents infection during chemotherapy. Mom always made it a goal to stay
on track with her treatments.
Thankfully, she only had to miss one, maybe two treatments throughout
her experiences with chemo. At one point during the construction, the main
hallway by Mom’s office was blocked off and several detours were in place. Despite her pain, she walked back and forth
numerous times a day from her office to the new wing of the hospital to make
sure every last detail was right.
Mom really did not complain about pain and/or
discomfort while undergoing treatment.
She saw the pain as progress and each treatment was one step closer to
being done and moving on. She knew she
needed the lifesaving yet toxic drugs to kill the cancer cells that were living
inside of her. She did say a few times
how much “easier” it was the second time around because she did not have the
pressure of keeping the details of her treatment from us. She was able to openly talk about her
feelings and the next step without the pressure of protecting us from the
details like she did 17 years earlier.
Once again she experienced the side effects of chemo
(hair loss, mouth sores and fatigue).
She also had a metallic taste in her mouth because of the chemo. The only side effect Mom really complained
about was the joint pain from the Neupogen shots. It must have been pretty bad for Mom to
mention it. The chemo really seemed to
make Mom more tired the second time around.
This bummed her out a bit because Mom was a woman on the go. I remember encouraging her by reminding her
she was almost 20 years older than the first go around. I also reminded her that she could actually
allow herself to be tired this time because she didn’t have to worry about her
10 and 12 year old daughters. I think
she found some comfort in this but still, she did not like to be slowed down.
I remember when Mom started losing her hair. One Saturday morning she was getting ready to
go to a bridal shower and she noticed a lot of shedding. She asked Dad to shave her head and he did
just that. I am sure Mom was bothered by
this to a certain extent but Mom was not vain.
A woman’s hair is a big part of her identity so losing it has to be
bothersome but Mom knew in no time she would be done with treatment and her
hair would grow back. She knew the chemo
was doing its job and she was thankful she was given the chance to fight.
Mom completed her last round of chemo at the end of
January 2011 and her oncologist reported that to the touch, the tumor shrunk in
response to the treatment. On February
12, 2011 she underwent a mastectomy.
Just prior to the surgery, Mom was given an injection which would help the doctors during surgery to detect whether or not there was lymph
node involvement. Ro reported that Mom
cried during the procedure. It breaks my
heart to think of all the pain Mom experienced but Mom was a warrior!
Dad and Ro were at the hospital with Mom during her
surgery. Mom politely asked me to stay
home. She knew she was in good hands and
she was thankful Ro could be there with Dad.
Mom always worried about her kids schedules being disrupted because of
her health. We were happy to be there
when we could but Mom wanted normalcy. I
anxiously awaited by the phone during her surgery. Ro did a great job of keeping me in the loop
by periodically sending texts.
The phone rang earlier than I expected so I picked
it up during the middle of the first ring.
Ro was on the other end and she was whispering yet laughing at the same
time. In that moment, I couldn’t imagine
what could possibly be so funny. Poor
Dad had a debacle with his front tooth.
As he was biting down on either gum or food, his front tooth came
out! Ro was calling me to report the
unfortunate event but Dad took it in good stride. It actually provided a good distraction which
made the time go by a little faster.
Following the surgery, the doctor reported that the
surgery went well but the tumor was still present and it was not quite as small
as they initially thought based on the physical exam. They had to wait on the pathology report
regarding the lymph nodes. I cannot
remember what Mom said when she came out of anesthesia but there was Dad,
missing his front tooth. Mom was so
witty. I am sure she had something to
say about it in which they all got a good laugh!
The next course of treatment would
depend on whether or not there was lymph node involvement. Thirteen lymph nodes were taken and 4 of the
13 contained cancer. Due to the amount
of lymph node involvement, it was decided that Mom would undergo
radiation. This was a catch 22
situation. Clearly the best possible
scenario would have been no malignancy found in the lymph nodes. When the doctor reported there was enough
lymph node involvement to warrant radiation, we had mixed emotions—we wanted
the journey to be over but we were thankful radiation was option to get rid of
the cancer once and for all.
Portions of the pathology report are below:
History:
High-risk breast cancer patient. History
of high-risk breast cancer on the left side, status post left modified radical
mastectomy. Now has advanced right-sided
breast cancer. The patient is also
status post chemotherapy.
Final
Diagnosis: 1) Lymph nodes, right axilla; three of eleven lymph
nodes positive for mestastic carcinoma.
Greatest dimension of nodal metastasis: 3.5 mm. 2) mastectomy, right breast. Invasive ductal carcinoma; 3) sentinel lymph
node, right axilla—one lymph node positive for metastic carcinoma.
Diagnosis
Comment: Gross
examination of the right breast demonstrates an area of tumor that
measures 8.5 cm in greatest dimension.
Microscopic examination of this area of tumor demonstrates scattered
patchy areas of malignancy.
Approximately 14 days after her surgery, Mom and Dad
made a special trip to our house so we could go to Missys’ Boutique at the
University of Kansas Hospital. Missys’
Boutique is a specialty store for people with cancer. Their motto is “Changing the Look of
Cancer.” It has a nice variety of hats,
scarves, wigs, bras, prosthetics, jewelry, shirts, bags, etc. The story of the boutique is as follows
(taken from the website):
Missys’
Boutique is named in memory of Melissa Malter Newell and Ann Wilcox O’Neill—both
affectionately known as Missy. These
young Kansas wives and mothers did not meet before they lost their lives to
breast cancer in their early 30s. Yet
their spirits are forever entwined in a legacy to bring hope, dignity and
strength to cancer patients and survivors through this appearance center. Both women had asked family members to
promise to do something to help other cancer patients. Missys’ Boutique fulfills those promises, benefiting
countless patients for years to come.”
Mom was excited to finally get fitted with a bra and
to find prosthetics following her surgery.
Mom was frustrated because her surgical drains were still in place. There was too much drainage for them to be
removed. She had the drains at least
three weeks, maybe even four weeks. She
felt so free once the drains were removed.
After she got the drains removed, she had one pocket of fluid near the
surgery site. She was hopeful it would
go away but it was stubborn. I do not
recall the time frame but I remember Mom telling me that the first time she wore
her new black bra from Missys’ it really rubbed on the fluid filled area and
was quite uncomfortable. She reported
feeling a “pop” and the fluid filled sac disappeared.
Mom received her radiation treatments in Grand
Island for 6 weeks just like she did in 1994.
She was shocked how much things changed from 17 years prior. In 1994 her first appointment was spent
setting blocks. In other words, the
doctors created physical barriers so the targeted area would receive radiation
and the remaining parts of her body would not.
In 2011, things were very different.
Everything was computerized and there were not physical blocks set, only
maps. Mom was somewhat uncomfortable
with this but she always trusted her doctors.
Mom’s radiation treatment went a little longer than expected because she
had to miss a few treatments along the way.
As expected, her skin became very burned and she was forced to skip some
treatments to allow her skin to heal.
Mom finished her treatment just in time for our road
trip to Indiana. Ro was being inducted
into the NAIA Hall of Fame to recognize her for her God given talent, hard work
and success. During her time as a Doane
College track athlete, she was 16 time All-American in track and field.
Josh, Bryson, Holden and I left Olathe and met Mom,
Dad, Scott, Ro, Anisten and Jim and Sandi Swanson in Des Moines, Iowa. We were able to park our vehicle in the
garage at Josh’s grandparents retirement home in Des Moines. We visited with his grandparents while Scott
loaded our bags and car seats into the 12 passenger rose colored van! That van was a riot! We had so much fun and made so many memories
during the many miles between Des Moines and Marion, Indiana. We were not sure how well the three kiddos
(ages 3, 2 and 1) would travel but they did great!
On the way home from Marion, we stopped in
Chicago. We enjoyed Chicago style pizza
and swimming at the hotel. The next
morning we went to the Navy Pier. Now I
understand why they call Chicago “The Windy City.” Based on our experience, “The Windy City”
proved to be just that! The day started
out quite cold, rainy and windy. It
became quite obvious we did not dress for the weather. We traveled to the Navy Pier and had lunch
and went shopping for jackets. We then decided
to take a ferry ride so we could see the historical buildings. It was an amazing tour but unfortunately our
teeth were chattering the entire time.
It was absolutely freezing! Once
we got off the ferry we headed back towards the shopping center on the Navy
Pier. Thankfully we had a good hold on
the umbrella strollers (with the kids buckled in) because the wind “gusts”
literally picked up the strollers off the ground. We were laughing so hard we could barely
catch out breaths! Mom was still wearing
a wig at that time and rather than dealing with the wind, she stuffed her wig
in her purse and wore a baseball hat around.
That was a great choice because I am confident that wig would have blown
for miles!
On our way home from Chicago, we stopped at the
Amana Colonies in Amana, Iowa. Jim and
Sandi had previously toured the colonies and they highly recommended it to
us. We had a wonderful time walking
around and absorbing the culture. Mom
loved the old buildings. We took
several pictures so she could choose her favorites and make canvas prints to
hang in her office. We ate lunch at a
quaint little restaurant and then we loaded up the van and headed towards Des
Moines where we would part ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment