I want to start by thanking all of my lovely friends and family for their prayers and support these past several weeks since Don's diagnosis. We have felt your strength and it has been and still is deeply appreciated! Here is the latest update...
Last week we met with Don's Urologist. We both like him very much and he comes highly recommended by both my GP and my oncologist. Because his cancer has been caught very early his Dr gave us several options. The one we have chosen is to aggressively watch it until fall...thus enjoying all that our MN summer has to offer...and then schedule full removal of the prostate in the fall. After running this by my oncologist along with his numbers, he agreed whole heartedly! I ask that you still keep my Donnie in your prayers...please! However, short of them telling us that the test results were incorrect, this was good news.
I had my three month oncology appointment this past Monday. My bloodwork looked stable, but once again, mine always does. :-) The ongoing issue I face as we all know is pain and over the past month it has greatly increased in my spine. When I had my PET scan in January, there were no new lesions, so it's frustrating. Is there progression and it's to small to detect? Is it something other than cancer? Is it scarring? Could it be fractures? The list goes on & on....
Three days ago I had a follow up with my GP (seeing Drs has become a FT job for me) :-( She manages my pain meds as well as any other meds with the exception of my direct cancer drugs. She and my oncologist work together on my care, which I really like. Anyway...for about a year I have been on Percocet for pain and it's no longer effective. So we are now trying a Fentanyl patch. This will give me a constant stream of pain medication 24/7. I change it every 72 hours and then use the Percocet for break-through pain. Fentanyl is comparable to morphine or OxyContin. But this way you don't have to remember to take it. Yesterday it started to kick in and the difference is a Godsend! We will be making adjustments over the next few weeks, but I am so hopeful. The major side effect is currently I cannot drive anywhere outside of Cold Spring. I'm pretty loopy...but hopefully that will even out as my body adjusts! I am tremendously grateful for the excellent care I receive from my medical team!
I have a follow up appointment in several weeks and will be having scans at that time. To be honest, I know that I've been so lucky to go for 1-1/2 years without progression. I'm on borrowed time as far as that goes. Every time I now go in for scans I hold my breath a bit longer, because very soon I'll hear those dreaded words and know that we'll have to change my treatment plan. That's the way it goes with advanced stage BC...nothing works forever. We live from one appointment or one scan to the next. It can drive a person crazy! I'm fortunate because I have such a strong and loving support system...of which all of you are a part of!
Fun things...
Many of you know that I come from Irish roots (maiden name Maroney after all!). So St. Patty's Day has always held special meaning. Today Don and I met my sister Barb and my brother-in-law Tom at The Pearl Lake Lodge for the annual St. Pat's day celebration. We had a great lunch, they drank traditional green beer, and we watched the parade from the warmth of the Lodge! It was awesome and we ALL loved it! Don went out this morning and bought green hats, beads, suspenders etc for all of us to add to the festivities. We saw tons of friends and once again the 4 of us created fantastic memories.
Again, I thank each of you for your friendship, love, support and prayers. We really do feel it and it means so much! As always I ask that you keep Michael and Don in your prayers...this is all so difficult on them.
Blessings...Kathy xoxo
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