Postscript

We had to race from the chemo treatment to the PCP's office to find out how we were going to keep the diabetes under control while taking the Decadron. He was able to add another oral medication to be taken only while on the steroid which seems to be doing a fine job. No insulin necessary! Yippee!

I will have one more round of chemo on December 12th. Then I will have a repeat PET scan on the 22nd, and meet with my oncologist on the 30th. It's a scary wait, but with the blessings of heaven, and the power of the hundreds of prayers from my family and friends, we will pray we have made progress against the disease. That will be my Christmas wish - nevertheless, I leave everything in the hands of Him who knows best and submit my will humbly to His.

3rd Round of Chemo - One More to Go

The chemo drugs really wipe me out and I get pretty chilly and tired. This week we brought my "family" blanket. I received so many compliments on how beautiful and snuggly it was. The normal 4-5 hour infusion took six hours because they were short on chemo nurses. While I would never choose to do this - these chemo treatments with my daughters and sister have been a unique and treasured time together, we've shared something special - their support makes me want to try harder to overcome this disease and to continue to be able to support and care for my family - my greatest joy!

We make quite the scene with five or six of us marching into the chemo room with my chemo bag (comlete with snacks, games and my notebook for keeping track of labs, tests, and appointments), blankets and other paraphenalia necessary for us to have a good time. We enjoy playing games, visiting and getting to meet other cancer patients, and nurse Jennie has come to the rescue more than once!

Glucometer, Lancets, and Test Strips.

I went to see a new PCP - I have been most unhappy with my old one. He will monitor the diabetes and other things not related to my cancer. I was impressed with him - he was very kind and caring and made me feel comfortable that he will take care of this added bonus in my life.
So I will be monitoring my glucose levels twice a day and keeping a record. Then we'll see what happens when I begin the steroid next Thursday. Hopefully I can take the drug (steroid) for a shorter amount of time without having the side effects from the chemo, and the doctor thinks because I am on oral medication for the diabetes, it shouldn't go completely wacko - but if it does, hopefully we'll be prepared with insulin to bring it back into the civilized range.
You can all laugh along with me at my first attempt to take the glucose reading - (I'm pretty shaky so this isn't as easy as you might think). Five finger sticks, three test strips and two lancets later I finally had my first reading! The second time it only took twice and this morning I actually made it on the first try - so hopefully I will get better at this before my fingers are hamburger.
I am so grateful to all of you who have left such wonderful comments and for your constant encouragement. There's no way I'd make it a day without that added strength.

Home Again

If you ever want to fully appreciate and be grateful for your own bed - try spending a few nights in a hospital bed where they won't let you sleep more than an hour at a time, and where the poor patient next to you is hacking up a lung all night. (Most everyone has done that at one time or another!) I'm so greatful to the Lord that these little additional challenges help me keep things in perspective and make me so grateful that I know He is the one watching over me and that every hardship is always answered with additional blessings. They are pretty sure that the diabetes is induced by the steroid - I may have had a tendancy toward it prior, but they do not think I will have it once the chemo treatments are finished. They did the HbA1c test which shows the average over the last three months - but the last three months have been anything BUT normal and the stress levels have been incredible - which may have added to the problem. I'm grateful to be on oral medication for now - although dealing with the insulin injections isn't bad at all - I did it in the hospital a couple of times. I still have to monitor the glucose levels and watch my diet, but all in all I feel incredibly blessed!

Short Update

Just thought I'd let everyone know that Friday, after Mom's 2nd round of chemo (which went really well) the oncologists office called and told her that one of her blood tests had come back showing her blood sugar levels really high. They told her she had to go check into the E.R. asap. Fun fun! Mom's favorite place to be, strapped to a bed and hooked up to an I.V.! So, she's been there since Friday early evening. A couple of us stopped by after trick-or-treating, which is a tradition to go visit Grandma all dressed up. They finally got her out of the E.R. and into an ICU room where she's been until now - they are moving her to a normal room.

So, the diagnosis is diabetes.... because apparently Cancer alone wasn't good enough!!! She's supposed to go to a PCP and get the low down on how to treat and control the diabetes, and she's got to meet with a dietician about it as well, hopefully they'll be able to figure out a way for her to not be too restrictive with her diet so she can keep trying to gain weight AND keep her blood sugar normal.

Paul, Megan, Kaitlyn, Mom, Kathie & Jack

John, Savannah, Sarah, Mom, Abbie & Rebecca