One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Sunday was a good day, Monday not so much. It was a tough day yesterday. We see Dr. Chen this afternoon and hopefully get some answers to important questions. I hope to have more encouraging words tomorrow.

God bless you and thank you for your support and prayers,
Frank and Harriet

Happy Hair

Yesterday was a big day, first day that Harriet wore a wig.  To be perfectly frank with you, it was kind of difficult to put on and then adjust properly.  I'm sure that with time and practice, it will go better.

Harriet was able to go to church yesterday morning and I must tell you that everybody was very gracious and thoughtful with positive comments concerning the wig and how she looked.  Our son Joseph and Hilda and boys were at church.  It was very nice to be surrounded by so many loving friends.

A week from today Harriet goes in for her second chemo therapy.  I was thinking about it on the way into work.  It's going to be tough because now you know how bad these treatments make you feel.  Yet on the other hand you know that if you persevere for a week, then you start feeling better.

Tomorrow is chemotherapy class and then an appointment with Dr. Chen the oncologist at 12:20 PM.  If I remember correctly then on Wednesday there is an appointment with the hematologist.  One thing that I will say that has held true, that people told us, once you see the oncologist, everything else starts happening in a very timely manner.  It was just waiting three weeks to see him that was tough.  So, if you or any of your loved ones ever  get diagnosed with some type of cancer and they put you off for three weeks or so, go to Member Services right away and complain.  That's the only way you're going to get your appointment moved up.  Every time I went to member services, things happen in a more timely fashion.  Of course this applies to Kaiser health care.  I'm not sure how you would handle it at another facility.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support.

With love,
Frank and Harriet

Bad Hair Day

I received a call from Harriet yesterday morning at about 8:30 AM. She said that her hair is starting to fall out. I tried to find a place that would cut her hair and shave her head, but to no avail. So I called my son Joe and asked if I could borrow his clippers.

Yesterday afternoon I cut Harriet's hair off and shaved her head. This was a 1st for me as it was for her. It actually takes quite a bit of time. Fortunately we planned ahead and had purchased a wig.

Just like the doctor said, her scalp is very sensitive. I should add that all of her senses are heightened. Hopefully, Harriet will feel up to going to church this morning. I hope that you all have a good day today!

Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet

MUGA

Harriet went in for her MUGA yesterday.  She said that they give you this injection and wait for a period of time, approximately half an hour.  Then they put into this cocoon type structure.  But the difference between this and a MRI enclosure is that this one is extremely close to your face and body.  Very claustrophobic situation.  Anyway, it did get done and the technician said that normally they do this at the very beginning before you start your chemotherapy.  They want to establish heart condition so that they will no which chemo drugs to use.  It seems that depending upon the heart condition they will use different chemotherapy.  Again they're trying not to kill the patient, just the cancer.

Another thing that happened yesterday that was unusual is that Harriet realized that she was hungry and had an appetite.  This is not happen for quite a few weeks.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support.  We hope you have a great weekend!

Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet

What Is A MUGA?

That's a good question.  Harriet was scheduled to have her MUGA test yesterday, but they called her and rescheduled for today due to problems with the imaging machine.

The MUGA is: The MUGA scan (MUltiple Gated Acquisition scan) is an often-useful noninvasive tool for assessing the function of the heart. The MUGA scan produces a moving image of the beating heart, and from this image several important features can be determined about the health of the cardiac ventricles (the heart’s major pumping chambers).

I was told they inject her with some type of  solution and she rests for half an hour and then they do the imaging.  It seems that a lot of these tests are to establish "benchmarks", so that as the chemotherapy progresses, they have something to compare it to what is normal.

Yesterday was a pretty good day.  And we are thankful for these good days between the chemotherapy.  I want to thank you for your continued prayers and support.

God bless you my friends,
Frank and Harriet

More Healing Needed

Yesterday went pretty well.  There are still times of pain.  Linette came and cleaned the house.  Harriet said it has not been that clean for two and a half weeks.  Thank you Linette!

This is a learning experience, in many ways.  I'd always heard about people going through chemotherapy and difficulties, but it's different when you experience it.  One of the things I've learned is that in life there are extremely difficult things and then there are the small things.  You know what I'm talking about, like when your spouse miss speaks and you correct her or him.  Things that are actually inconsequential.  Over the past weeks I have learned that dealing with the major problem like cancer is a full-time job and you don't sweat the small stuff (and everything else is small stuff).  And I can guarantee you, everything is a small item compared to cancer.  So, maybe you don't have to go through this experience to learn the lesson.  Give thanks everyday for your spouse and the good health that you have.

God bless you all,

Frank and Harriet

Blood Test

Harriet is doing better and we're so thankful.  I must tell you though that the pain of the tumor still exists and when she's getting close to the end of the medication cycle, she has to endure the pain until she takes the new medication.  I took her to Kaiser yesterday and had a blood test done.  I'm sure they're going to be doing a lot of these.

Harriet has all the chemotherapy sessions already set up for the rest of this year.  The last one being on December 28 and that would make five sessions.  Originally the doctor said 6 to 8 sessions, but I guess we'll have to see.  I'm sure that they continue to do testing and monitoring to make sure that they're getting all the cancer.

Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.

Frank and Harriet

Thank You!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  Harriet is doing better and we are very thankful.  She  is still dealing with pain.  We're trying to adjust the pain medication, so that she's taking the minimal amount and not "zoned out" all the time.

Today I'm going to take her down and have a blood test done.  I know that they have to have these blood test done all the time, so they can monitor the white blood cell count.

Her feet and legs are still swollen.  So her body is not working as normal.  It is not getting rid of fluids.  Hopefully after the second chemotherapy, the tumors will start to shrink and the process will reverse and Harriet will start feeling better.

God bless you and I hope you have a great day!
Frank and Harriet

One Week Later, Starting to Get Better

Saturday night/Sunday morning was very difficult, but it may have been the darkest before we had a glimmer of light.  When I got home from church on Sunday morning, I microwaved a burrito for lunch.  Harriet Told me that she looked over at my burrito and for the first time in a week, food looked good.  This is a big deal!

On Saturday I told Harriet  That I wanted to put her in our car and take her for a ride either on Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon, to give her a chance to get out of the house and into the light as it were.  She had eaten the rest of the watermelon and I suggested that we go to Sprouts and buy a full-size watermelon.  So, we went for a short ride and Harriet was actually hungry and suggested we stop off at In-N-Out for a hamburger.  The mere fact that she was suggesting to eat was a big deal.  For the past week she is had zero appetite and no desire to eat.  Harriet was only able to eat about a third of our hamburger and she was full.  Then we drove around a little bit more and went home.  The unfortunate part about it is that Harriet system is not used to eating food anymore and it went right through her like Grant went through Richmond.  So this means that she's can have to take it easy getting back into eating food.

On the good side that it was a definite indicator that the worst effects of the chemotherapy will last about one week and then a semblance of recovery will start.  I spoke with our good friend Mary Carol yesterday morning at church and told her that the cycle of chemotherapy is 21 days apart.  She explained that the dosage then was very high in the amount of drugs given to Harriet.  Then it all clicked in my brain.  I've been reading a lot about chemotherapy and it stated that sometimes people get chemotherapy multiple times in one week.  I realize that there are obviously different types of cancer and different types of treatment for those cancers.  But, it seems that the dosage varies with the type of cancer and the approach taken.  If the chemotherapy is taken on consecutive days in a week, the dosage is less and they spread it over many days.  In Harriet's case, they drop the atomic bomb on her.  Big dosage and that's why it is really put her on the brink of death.

It is good to see that she's doing a little better and I'm hoping of course that today will be better yet.  Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  We are blessed indeed to have so many good friends!

Frank and Harriet

Sunday Morning

It was a rough night last night. I am not sure what sparked the problem. I make sure that Harriet gets her pain medications on time. We can only hope for the best.

I know the Dr. said that after a couple of Cemo treatments that Harriet should see some relief, I just hope that her body can endure the punishment that it is taking from the drugs.

Thank you for your continued intersession on her behalf.

Best wishes to you all,
Frank and Harriet

Saturday Morning

Yesterday was another hard day.  Thinking that things will go better, but not sure how long the downward spiral of energy and feeling bad lasts.  I'm hoping that today things will get better even if it's just slightly.  I will let you know tomorrow.

We started the Book of Jude last night in Bible class.  That's such a great book with so many amazing topics that it covers for only one chapter, 25 verses.
I hope you have a great weekend,

Frank and Harriet

How Do You Kill the Cancer, without Killing the Patient?

How do you kill the cancer, without killing the patient?  I've been doing a lot of reading about chemotherapy and people's experiences.  I've learned that the experiences are different because of the different types of diseases which are treated, thus the treatment is varied.   I read yesterday of a man's experience and he said, sort of tongue-in-cheek, "The doctors figure out how much chemotherapy will kill up person, then they give slightly less than that to the patient."  I'm sure that that's how it feels.

In my reading I learned that watermelon is something that is palatable by many.  So I purchased some cut up watermelon and took it home to give it a try.  She was able to eat some, not much. Harriet was so weak yesterday that she could not go to her test that was to be performed in the afternoon and I had to call and cancel it.  

Thank you for all the encouragement and the life experiences that you have shared with us.  I'm looking forward to a turn in Harriet's health to the upside today or tomorrow.  Hopefully slowly regained her strength.

I must mention again that she is unable to speak on the telephone, or respond to emails.  It is hard to imagine that you can be so weak, so much loss of energy that is too difficult to do the simple tasks.  Again her sense of hearing has been greatly increased.  It's the sensitivity to sound, vibration, and light, so I try to protect her from these things.

Hopefully I will have some good news in the next couple of days that Harriet will be doing slightly better.

God bless you are friends,

Frank and Harriet

Good Morning!

Yesterday was even more difficult than the previous day, I'm sorry to say.  Harriet asked me this morning, "Am I ever going to feel better?"  I try to give an encouraging word.  It is tough to know how long the effects of the chemotherapy will last until she starts feeling her strength coming back.

Eating is almost nonexistent.  She's trying to drink some chicken soup, when she can.  But she said that it's almost easier not to eat because of the difficulties of nausea afterward.  It's a dichotomy.  If you don't eat, you don't regain your strength, but if you eat then you have the consequences of nausea, even more so than if you don't eat.

I'm hoping that by the end of this week, things will be better.  Harriet mentioned to me yesterday afternoon did that she is sensitive to smells and to sounds.  So that every smell and sound is amplified.  We do have an another test this afternoon, to check her heart rhythm.  The use it as a baseline to make sure that the chemotherapies are not jeopardizing the hearts function.

Thank you again for the great cards and emails in support.  I read the newest ones to Harriet this morning before I went to work.  It is very difficult to not be able to do anything to make her feel better.  I try make sure that we have all the medication, especially for pain available to her.

I hope your day goes well and let us all pause to give thanks for the good health that we do have.

Frank and Harriet

DAY 2

The  day started off very rough.  Harriet was very nauseated accompanied by vomiting.  You would think that there's nothing left to throw up, but a person's body still has that nauseated feeling to the extreme.  The Best Way, Harriet could describe it is that she feels wipe out, energy wise.  And you add to that the nausea and feeling like your body has a bad case of flu.  It makes a person feel like they have no energy to do anything.

Harriet is taking medications every four, six and eight hours around the clock.  So as you can see the most time interval is four hours.

I really would like to thank everyone for your continued prayer support, notes via email and cards.  Harriet does not have the strength to respond to emails or via telephone.  So, I read all the emails and cards to her.  Thank you so much, it is really great to see the love that is represented by those emails and cards.  Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, by your love toward one another".

Maranatha,

Frank & Harriet

We Have Some Great News!

We had a bit of a change in plans yesterday.  I won't go into details except that Harriet wanted me to take her down to check her in at Kaiser for her first chemo therapy.  Everything went  as well as can be expected.  I met with Hans and Sarah for lunch and then they went down and stayed with Harriet.  Later on in the afternoon I went down to check in on Harriet and see how she's doing.  The nurse told us that only one person can be with her at a time, those are the rules.  She had given us some slack because it was Harriet's first time.  So the nurse kicked Hans and I out.  Sarah and Hans left San Diego yesterday evening and Sarah wanted to spend as much time as she could with her mom.   Harriet said that they had a really nice time talking together.

I picked up Harriet at 4 PM.  We wished Sarah and Hans a safe journey home to Ohio.  When Harriet got in the car she had some good news.  The oncologist, Dr. Chen, visited her twice yesterday once in the morning and then he came in later on in the afternoon.  Dr. Chen told Harriet that the results for the bone morrow test were back and he said that there is no cancer in the bone morrow!  This is a really big deal.  Because I know that when I was in the doctors office on September 10 and looked at the charts, the difference between a stage III and a stage IV cancer is the fact that stage IV has cancer in the bone morrow.  Of course blood cells are produced in the bone morrow and they are then circulated to the entire body.  Then Dr. Chen told Harriet, "We can beat this".  This was the first solid good news that we've received in the past month.  I did want to share that with you and thank each and everyone of you for praying for Harriet's healing.  This is really a big deal.

I'm going to attach one more picture that I took Sunday morning at church.  It's a little bit closer up shot and I cut Hans out of the picture on the left side unfortunately.  From left to right you have Joe, Harriet, Sarah, Ethan and of course Hilda.

Thank you so much and God bless you,

Frank and Harriet

Day One Of Chemotherapy

Today will be a long day.  From what I understand the chemotherapy is the longest on the first day, approximately eight hours.  Sarah will take Harriet to Kaiser and check her in.  I will go down there later on to see how it's going.  You know you hear all the stories, but when you go through the ordeal, it becomes personal having to live through all the painful and difficult situations that you come up against.

I've attached a picture taken yesterday morning at church.  From left to right, we have Timothy, Hans, Samuel sitting on my lap, our son Joe, Harriet and behind Joe and Harriet is Joseph and little Matthew, then you have Sarah, Ethan and Hilda.  All the kids are Joe and Hilda's.  Sarah and Hans left their kids in Ohio.

Thank you again for your prayers and well wishes,
Frank and Harriet