Valley Medical recently changed how they release test results.  They used to go to the Dr. first and then the Dr. would release them.  They now release them to us both at the same time. 

After my bone scan,  I had the radiologist’s results within a few hours.  The results are like a foreign language sometimes and we Google a lot of words to figure out test results. Then the oncologist clarifies things we can’t figure out.

The bone scan shows a lot of cancer spots in the spine, pelvis and hips which we knew about, for the most part.  It also showed a few spots on my skull and knees. The CT scans we do only scan from my neck to my pelvis, so these spots are new to us.

We will use this bone scan as a baseline to compare future scans to. My next CT is February 1st, right after my chemo infusion that day. This scan will tell us if this chemo is still working.

Not to be a downer, but I’m guessing my next scan will come back showing some growth.  My pain level is going up slowly and I’m having to take more pain meds regularly and looking at how much we drain from my lung, the amount is slowly increasing. I’m not worried about it, just letting you know what I’m thinking.

This week I had a tele-helth appt. with my palative care Dr. We spent most of our time talking about Hospice.  Last time I talked with my counselor she encouraged me to get answers to some questions I had about it because the only knowledge I had was from when my Mom was in Hospice for a very short time.

To sum it up, Hospice would likely start when I stop active treatment. 2 Dr’s. would sign off on my case, agreeing that I had about 6 months or less to live and then my care comes to me and the Hospice doctors and nurses manage my pain and comfort from them on. Hospice takes care of any extra things I might need…bed side commode, hospital bed, oxygen, etc.

She said most people call in Hospice later than they should. She said she could arrange a Hospice visit where someone would come and talk to us and give us more information. For now I’m going to wait till after my next scan, and if it shows that the chemo is not working and we have to move to a new medicine again, I think we will have that meeting, just so we have all of the information when we need it.

My entire body has been in pain the past couple days. It’s probably from the zometa infusion I had on Monday with my chemo. If that’s the case, it should be better in a few days. I hate taking extra pain meds, but I also hate being in pain all the time.

Another new side effect that has recently shown up is neuropathy in my toes. I’m actually thankful that it has taken this long for this side effect to appear. There’s no pain or tingling, but the toes on both my feet are now pretty numb. And there are parts of my left leg that feel a little numb. It’s hard to go down stairs into the garage or into the front yard as I feel pretty unstable. I am probably going to need to take my cane most places just for stability

Not much else is new. Tom is still working away and the girls are still doing school at home. Oliver has cuddly moments and crazy hyper moments. He is so fun to have in our home.

We put up some new days on our meal calendar. If anyone is able to help with that, here is the link. https://takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=QDGP7397&v=2853c09852

As you pray for family, please pray for wisdom for Tom and I as we parent during this difficult time. Please pray that we will all stay healthy and that COVID would stay away from our home.

Thanks! ❤

PS: Thank you to the friends from church who sent our family a very fun care pack from Amazon today. That was a great surprise today!