Much better news

After seeing my oncologist I went to see my colon surgeon. He has been the one that has been the point through all of this, finding me the other doctors that I needed since my diagnosis. I told him what the oncologist said and he was shocked. He said he didn't see anything in the report that made him believe I only had two years. So the surgeon, my husband and I agreed what I really needed was a new oncologist. One that was agressive and would fight with me to find the best treatment, and not have his mind made up that I was dead already. How can you have faith in an oncologist that sees you dead? While I was still in his office the surgeon called another oncologist and was able to get him to take my case. I met with him the next day and he was awesome! He also agreed that there was no reason to believe I would be dead in two years. He said I had a lot of work to do and it wouldn't be easy but he believes WE can beat it! He has already spoken with my liver surgeon, my colon surgeon and the radiologist to determine the best course of action for me. Teamwork! What a concept! I am so happy with him already. I have also been told that he is one of the top research oncologists in Charlotte.


So I leave Saturday morning for my Caribbean cruise to celebrate my 50th birthday on Tuesday and then when I come back we start fighting. I'll start with a new regimine of chemo and go from there. The biggest thing is my change in attitude. It's amazing how demoralizing it was to have someone tell me I was going to die. Whole different ballgame to have them tell me with a good fight my time is unlimited!

Bad news

Wish I had happy news to tell you, but unfortunately I don't. The cancer in the liver is growing and has possibly spread. The liver surgeon wanted me to start chemo immediately, but that's not going to happen. I'm going on my cruise for my 50th birthday, and I'm not doing it sick from chemo.


He also wants me to go to a radiation specialist to find out if my insurance company will pay for a specialised radiation to my liver. It will probably take about 3 weeks to set it up and get it approved, so I will probably do that when I get back from the cruise. I've already told the oncologist that I'm not doing chemo again unless it's the only option left to me.

Neither chemo or the radiation are a cure. They are basically tools to prolong life. As of right now there isn't a cure for me.  My onc said 2 years, but why should I take his word for it?  I"m going to fire him and find someone that will work with me, not someone who has written me off already.

Please keep me in your prayers.

Love,
Millie

Great News!

My surgery went very well. I no longer have cancer in my colon! God is good!!! And not only that, I feel great! Very little pain. Haven't had the nausea like I did after the last surgery. It's wonderful. I'm really amazed at how good I feel. I've been walking around with no problem. I get a bit lightheaded, but nothing bad. And there is no cancer in my colon! Woohoo!!!! I love being able to say that. Still have a bit in my liver, but that will be gone in a couple months.
The nurses and other people here at Mercy are awesome! I have been treated so good! Great response out of the, and they really care. They also work great as a team.

Thank you all for your prayers. I believe they really made a difference.
Love you!

Millie

www.milliescancer.blogspot.com

www.mmtarase.blogspot.com

More surgery

I am having surgery on my colon on Tuesday, June 30th! I saw the surgeon this morning and he set everything up. I go tomorrow for all my pre-op blood work and stuff, on Sunday have to drink all the yummy stuff to clean out my colon, have a colonoscopy on Monday and Surgery on Tuesday. Which means no food after midnight on Saturday. :( I gonna starve to death!

The good news is the surgery is at a different hospital than the liver surgery was so I don't have to put up with the terrible nursing staff again! The only way they could be worse is if they didn't show up at all!

I'm so glad this was scheduled so fast. There are still some spots in the liver that will need to be addressed, but I won't see the liver surgeon again until the end of September. It will give my body some time to heal from the 2 surgeries before we start again.

I really appreciate all the cards all y'all have mailed me and all the prayers! Keep them coming!

I love you all!
Millie

LIver surgeon

CT scan was awesome! The tumors he ablated are dead and gone!!! God is good! wonderful! There are a couple tumors left, but he told me to begin with that was to be expected. Now I see the colon surgeon on Thursday and make arrangements to have the colon tumor removed. God is good!!!

Tomorrow

24 hours from now I will see my liver surgeon and find out how successful my surgery was.  I have a CT scan at noon and then go see him.  Woohoo!  Then on Thursday I'll see my colon surgeon and set a date to have my colon resection done - in other words he will cut out the part of the colon with the tumor on it.  If there is anything left in the liver that will probably be cut out at the same time.  Then I should be cancer free!  I'll keep you posted. 

New Anti-depressant

As of my last post I told you I was going to get anti depressants. Found something that works even better. A new puppy. We've had her a little over a week now and she is really sweet. At least she will be when I can convince her she really doesn't need to chew on me all the time. Housebreaking is going well. She is starting to get the idea to go to the back door when she needs to go potty. Unfortunately that's usually right after she piddles on the floor.


The cat finally came out today. He's been hiding upstairs for most of the last week. He wasn't too happy with a new dog, but he's starting to get used to it. He lived with a dog his whole life so it really isn't anything new for him.


Physically I'm doing well after surgery. Still get really tired easily, but the pain seems to be gone and I'm not getting out of breath as bad as I had been. I have an appointment with my oncologist today to see what he thinks the next steps will be. Probably an appointment with the colon surgeon to get that part taken care of. I'll keep you posted.




Here's a picture of the new baby. We finally decided to name her Abby.





And here's Devil Kat.

Hey

It's been a couple weeks since I've posted. Most of you that read this already know that I had my surgery on the 18th and I'm waiting for an appointment to have a new CT scan and see what if anything is left in my liver and how successful the surgery was. I'm still in a bit of pain, more of a discomfort where the drain was, but other than that I seem to be healing nicely.

The worst thing is the depression. I have been fighting it all week, as has my husband. I finally decided I needed help and called my onc yesterday to have him give me anti-depressants even though it's not as bad as it was the beginning of the week. I'm still having trouble getting excited over the grandkids coming in two weeks and I've been looking forward to that for months. I just don't want to do anything. I guess though I've been lucky I haven't been depressed before this.

I'll update you all when I get an appointment for the CT scan. He wanted to see me within 4 weeks and it's been almost 2 already.

Thank you all for your prayers and cards. They help a lot. I don't think I could get through this without them.

New surgery date

My liver ablation will be Monday the 18th of May around 8 am. It's possible that by this time next week I will be cancer free. With God all things are possible!!! Keep those prayers coming.

I love you all!

surgery date!

Hey! Better news than last week! I have a new liver surgeon. He is young and up to date an aggressive. I am having liver surgery on May 20. Woohoo! Finally a plan of action. Actually it is liver ablation meaning he will stick a probe in each of my liver tumors and microwave them. He's going to nuke my tumors! I will have to stay in the hospital overnight. I really liked this new surgeon. I'll let you know how it goes.

I miss her so much

Sassy LOVED going to the beach.  She hated water but she didn't mind running into the ocean if she was chasing birds.

She loved her Daddy.  This is a fountain in Savannah.  She loved going there. 

Sad news and Bad news.

The sad news is we have to put Sassy to sleep today.  She can no longer stand up.  my heart is breaking.

The bad  news is the cancer in my liver is spread too much for surgery to remove it.  I will probably have the tumor in my colon removed and then some kind of radiation.

What a wonderful day....not. 

Sassy

Sassy ate a good bit of steak last night and both yesterday and today ate some treats when she woke up and had drank quite a bit of water both days. Prayers are working! She is feeling much better! Has a ways to go, but considering how she was doing Friday she is much better! Thank you all for your prayer and concern!

My doggie

This is Sassy.  I've had her for 16 and a half years.  Since she was 6 weeks old.  She pretty much was in charge.  Well, she hasn't eaten for days and today stopped drinking.  It's just a matter of time.  She's my baby.  Has been for a long time.  Please pray she isn't in pain......

Still know nothing :(

Surgeon finally called. He still isn't sure if they can operate and remove the lesions on my liver or not. He said there is definately a lot less there than there was, but the 5 or 6 that are left are spread throughout my liver. I have to go see the liver surgeon, probably next week to find out what is going on. My surgeon only does colons.

So again it's wait and see.

Surgeon

I saw the surgeon today.  He's still alive.  Barely.  What a waste of time.  He told me absolutely nothing except that he is going at lunch time to look at my PET scan to see if they can do a liver resection.  Grrrrr...he knew I was coming in this morning, why did he not do it yesterday so he could tell me something today?  He's going to call me at 5:00 tonight and let me know what he found out. 

Nothing like a little stress to start your day.....

End of Chemo Party

What a great time we all had on Saturday.  It was so wonderful to get together with many who have given me great support on this journey.  Thank you all for being my family.  I love you.

My Last Chemo!!!

Woohoo!!! almost at the finish line. 24 more hours, my pump will be removed and I will be done!!! Yeah!!!!! It's been a long six months and I can't thank you enough for all your prayers. It'll be fun trying at the party Saturday.

My friend Denise stopped by the chemo center and brought me flowers yesterday. Aren't they beautiful??

My first trip to the ER.....

Yesterday morning (Friday the 13th!) I was on my way to go to the oncologist for terrible pain in my right arm, and my chest. I was short of breath and taking a deep breath hurts a LOT! I could barely move my right arm without pain shooting down my arm, up my neck and into my jaw.  Owie!  I called the oncologist and they told me to come in at 11.  Mark came home from work and took me.  The onc examined me and was afraid that I had a blood clot in my lung.  Doesn't that sound fun.  So he sent me across the street to the ER to have tests run.  They did an EKG and a heart enzyme test to rule out heart problems.  Those both came back normal.  Although when I checked into the ER my BP was 145/100.  They then did a chest CT scan and took an x-ray to see if there were clots in my lungs. Both showed my lungs were clear!  Yeah! 

The ER doc, who seemed to be very thourough, came to the conclusion that I had pinched a nerve and that was causing my pain.  They gave me really good drugs at the ER and by then I had no pain :)  The only problem was the nausea.  So they gave me nausea medicine that made me throw up twice!  Have to remember that one so they don't give it to me again! 

So they sent me home.  Yeah!  I was sure that morning they would admit me.  That's the last thing I wanted.  Mark made me homemade pizza for dinner.  Yum.  Then I took a hot bath watched the end of Space Chimps (what a funny movie!) and went to bed.  I slept pretty good except for twice when I made the mistake of rolling over on my right arm. 

This morning my chest still hurts when I take a deep breath, but the right arm is doing much better.  I just have to be careful not to overdo it today.  But this cold rainy day is a good day to stay home and not do much of anything.

Thank you to all y'all that prayed for me yesterday!  Prayers are making all the difference in my life! 

11 Down, 1 to go!

God is so good!  Only one more to go.  I'm sitting here in awe over a beautiful card with two beautiful handmade bookmarks today.  I will try to remember to post a picture tomorrow.  My friend does beautiful work. 

I'm sitting here in awe though over the note on the card saying I saved her life.  Wow.  She pushed her doctor for answers and they found the cancer in time because of my story.  That made everything I have gone through worth it.  Praise God!  God is so good to bring something beautiful out of this. 

God is good.  Thank you all for your continuted prayers, cards and email.