MK Update 2/11/2008

Just wanted to keep you posted following my appointments today. I saw Dr. Hagans first. He said I was healing nicely and looking great. Then, he sent me on to meet with Dr. Harrington, the oncologist. She was very nice--I really like her and all of the staff. She gave me the results of the testing done on the tumor removed. She said it was estrogen and progesterone fed--which is great. She also listed three other things which sound like a foreign language but she said all of those were excellent--and certainly what we wanted to hear. I'll take her word on that! She said the cancer in the lymph node was only 2 mm and she couldn't believe they even found it! She said that was good as well. But, because of my age and because the cancer did make it to one lymph node, I do have to have chemotherapy--which I already knew. I will start the chemotherapy on Monday, March 10th. I will be receiving three different types of chemo (Taxotere, Cytoxan, and Adriamycin) every three weeks for six sessions! I think that is great--in my mind I was thinking it would be much more! She said it would last about 4 1/2 months and barring nothing crazy I should be finished by the end of July. She said it would take about 2-3 hours each time and they would start by giving me lots of anti-nausea meds before they started the chemo. She said the Adriamycin was the worst one and used to be called "The Red Devil" (isn't that nice) because it used to make people so sick. But, she said there were many, many meds to help control this now. She gave me three prescriptions for nausea meds to get filled before starting. She said the key was to take the meds often to prevent getting sick--I have no problems doing that! My Dad passed along this terrible gene to me (I will say it is the only bad thing he passed along--again, Ronnie Brogdon, Jr. I am!) and when I get sick--it lasts along time and is terrible! I will go back to her office the following day and get some kind of shot to prevent my blood cell counts from going too low. I will lose my hair, which is not thrilling. She said there were many, many side effects and we would just have to play it one thing at a time. She said I may not even experience any of them. I will be going Wednesday morning, February 20th for Dr. Hagans to place a port in my chest for the chemo treatments. It will be an outpatient surgery that should not take long. The only thing I have some concern with is that she wants to do a PET scan to make sure that the spots that showed up on my ribs on the bone scan are not cancer. She said Dr. Hagans was certain it was not and she was pretty certain, but wants to make certain. She said if that comes back good--and she thinks it will--then my prognosis will be excellent! If the areas in the ribs are cancer, then the treatment would not change at all--but the prognosis would change. She said the prognosis would go from curable to treatable, but not curable. I will be going Wednesday or Thursday of this week to do the PET scan and to complete some scan on my heart which she said she orders for all of her patients to make sure the heart is healthy before I start the chemo. So, today was pretty good and pretty yucky at times. I have been dreading this chemo and this appointment--so at least now I have that part behind me and I can get going with the treatments. I mean six treatments--that is just all the fingers (and the thumb) on one hand plus one finger from my other hand. That will be easy to count down! As I type this, David wanted me to pass along a specific message to each of you. Remember, he has appointed himself the "Party Planner" for my beating cancer party. He said he expects every person that receives or reads this e-mail to shave their heads prior to March 10th. He said it is a requirement to attend the party! I say--please, please, please don't do that! One bald woman running around will be enough! I don't even want to see David bald! I still need your prayers--I humbly ask that you please pray for the following.1. Please pray that the PET scan will come back with no cancer and that I will be able to keep that dreaded Fear Monster from coming back and attacking me this week! 2. Please continue to pray that my nephews (Zac and Alex) will continue to be "okay" with what is going on--I fear that when I lose my hair that will scare them--not at how I look, but why it is happening. 3. Please pray (and bless God) for my Chris--he is the best spouse in the universe (and was before this) and is doing the best job ever in taking care of me!4. Please pray for the rest of my family--they all have such important roles in this battle and I know it is trying and exhausting for them--but they never let on or complain--I have been blessed with the best family in the universe too!5. Finally, please pray for the doctors and staff who will be caring for me--that they will be guided by God when providing me with the best care. 6. And, continue to pray for my friends and "extended family" in Sharp county as they rebuild from the tornado! I so appreciate all of the cards, flowers, gifts, cards, phone calls, food, etc.--but make no mistake, it is the prayers that are sustaining me and my family! I would like to share with you an e-mail my younger brother, Jay, sent to the family Sunday night as we all prepared for this week. He wrote: Things have been pretty crazy for the past several weeks, huh? From cancer to tornadoes and everything in between, we have been dealing (and continue to deal) with some pretty tough stuff. Heading into this new week, some difficult decisions and potentially daunting details are staring us right in the face.As we search for answers, my prayer is that we ask the right questions. You know, the best book in the Bible is James (of course), and James starts off in chapter one and verse two like this:"2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him…12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."Hebrews chapter 12 has a similar text: "1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart… 7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13"Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."I pray that we might each come across a sense of peace and clarity this week…that we may be genuinely courageous and even excited about the "race marked out for us by the author and perfecter of our faith." I love you all so much! See, I told you my family is awesome! I think Jay's e-mail pretty much sums up the strength of my family as guided by "the author and perfecter of our faith" (and my parents of course). Know that I love each of you, even those of you for whom I have never met. I need you at all times and I will hold each of you in a special place in my heart forever! Thanks for allowing me to lean on you during my battle! God bless you all! Much love!! MK