5/6/16 - Some optimism for your Friday

Jan had a chance to meet with her oncologist at Utah Cancer Center and have a lot of things clarified and lots of questions answered.

It was all good news.

First of all, it was the head nurse at IMC that gave Jan a stern talking to and confiscated her flowers, not an oncologist like I originally thought.

Also, it turns out that same head nurse was incredibly wrong on a lot of things:

1st - Jan was told that she wasn't tolerating chemo.  This is incorrect.  What happened was, Jan's cancer was advanced and going into chemo she was already a very sick woman with tumors pressing up against her organs.  Keeping that in mind, the first round of chemo is always the hardest and with the amount of cancer she has to fight - it made her incredibly ill.

Her oncologist was surprised the hospital hadn't gone over her latest scan with her, because it turns out - it had good news.

Yes - you read that right - good news.

This 3rd CT scan was compared to her first at her initial diagnosis done on March 31st, normally it is way to soon to see any changes but, her tumors are already shrinking.  This is very unusual.  Her largest tumor was 20 mm and it is now 10 mm.  Several others have decreased in size while others haven't changed, but the fact that they are already seeing progress is unusual and very good.

Since Jan had been told that she hadn't been tolerating the chemo and she had been so incredibly sick and in so much pain, she was considering discontinuing the chemo and spending whatever time she had left with family.  Her oncologist, Dr. Gregg reassured her that she has now been through the hardest part and while she wanted Jan to go back in this Sunday for another round of chemo, Jan bargained for a few more days to recover before she has to go back in. She just wants to be able to stand for 10 minutes without shaking from exhaustion, to be able to shower without requiring a 20 minute nap to recover, etc.

Round 2 will start May 16th with outpatient chemo at Utah Cancer Specialists where she'll get 4-6 hours of Retuxin, which really isn't chemo but it's how all chemo starts. Retuxin, as it was explained to us, can isolate cancer cells and kill them.  In simple terms, when cancer cells are killed off, it gives off a poisonous gas that can hurt the liver and kidneys and really make you sick.  So it is only done one day where nurses can monitor you.  Then after that, days 2-6 she gets the dreaded Pink Chemo in the hospital, which is called E-POX.  Most people get a variation of chemo called R-CHOP which is a one day regime, but since Jan's is double hit - she gets 5 days of the big guns.

Jan will get out of the hospital May 21st.  Dr. Gregg said she wanted someone to stay with Jan for the following 8-10 days depending on how she's doing.  Days 10-14 are when her blood counts are the worst and she'll be the sickest, during those days Jan's sister-in-law, sister and daughter Kaitlyn will help, and she will have friends fill in as needed.

Jan was told that if she does well with round 2, that round 3 might be able to be done as out-patient and she'd be able to avoid the hospital and go home every night and sleep in her own bed.  So Jan is holding onto the hope that this next round will be her last hospital stay.  So she's asking for prayers because she hates the hospital.

Here are some other questions she had answered:

1.  Some people asked if she could be prescribed medical marijuana.  She can't.  It is illegal in the state of Utah.  However, there are plenty of legal meds that will work better for Jan's case.
2.  The tingling in her fingertips is called Neuropathy.  They always hope to give just enough chemo to avoid it so they'll adjust her chemo to see if they can avoid it in the future.  So she should be getting feeling back in her fingertips soon.
3.  The tumors pressing on her stomach and intestines were the culprits behind her last 4 day hospital stay.  Now that they've shrunk, there isn't as much pressure and she should do much better.  As long as she's following the instruction of eating 6-8 small half-cup meals a day to keep her stomach from getting pressure.
4.  Her trembling hands are a result of being weak so she needs to work on getting better and stronger.
5.  Dr. Gregg said that she could have had flowers and visitors and was incredulous at what Jan had been told by the nursing staff.  We had all questioned the flowers but figured they knew what they were talking about.  It turns out, they don't.  She'll get her blood taken once a week and as long as her blood counts are normal, she can have visitors - within reason - *SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS!!
6.  Other mis-information she got was that she would have to wash her clothes in boiling water because chemo would come out in her sweat.  Dr. Gregg said she had never heard that...ever.  And in so many kind words said that was...dumb.
7.  She is not cleared to go back to work until after she sails through round 2 and does well.  Once she's cleared by her doctor, she can begin to work half-days - so she is asking for prayers that round 2 goes well so she can return to Keller Williams.
8.  She still can't attend church because too many sick people attend church.


**DETAILS ON VISITORS:

Now that Jan has been told she can have visitors this does not mean party at Jan's house.  She is still really weak and really needs to build up her endurance, her strength and her ability to fight again.  She gets exhausted after sitting up for a while - she gets tired after doing small tasks.  So her main focus up until she starts her next round is to focus on recovery.

So while we are still astounded by people's generosity and offers of visits and help - we're asking that you call before you make plans to see her.

Also if you have been sick, or have been around sick people to hold off making plans to visit.  For example - Jan's son Brandon has been in town but he and his family have been sick so he hasn't been able to go see her and their kids haven't been able to see Grandma.  It's heartbreaking and all parties wanna bend the rules a little, but they simply can't because a small cold isn't going to help Jan recover.  So please keep this in mind if you want to make plans to visit.

Also, please don't be offended if you try to make plans to see Jan and she says its not a good time or a good day.  She is recovering from being seriously ill and tires incredibly easily.  Her goals are to climb her stairs without needing a break before taking on the last two steps and to not need a nap after she showers.  So again we'll stress that drop-ins aren't really encouraged and hope that you'll understand!

She has some physical therapy appointments coming up and has some homework of taking small walks to build her strength.  She does miss her work friends and might make plans to have some people come walk with her so she can catch up on what she's missing.

Once again we can't begin to tell you how grateful we are for everyone's continued prayers. We can all definitely see the effect!