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Update Chemo Cycle #5

 

It is so exciting to type Chemo Cycle #5!

That means only ONE MORE!

Anna had a rough day today.

Because of nausea.

When they had so much trouble accessing her port

a few treatments back,

they ended up having to flush the IV line to the port

really fast 4 or 5 times in a row.

The sudden rush of all of the saline and the preservative in it 

caused such a strong taste

(yes, you can taste it as it goes in the line)

that it overcame her and started the vomiting.

Since then, every time she gets a taste of the saline preservative 

when an IV line is flushed,

she vomits or almost vomits.

They had trouble getting access to the port this morning.

Had to get a second person to try.

That nurse got the access but the saline taste at the flushing

made Anna vomit.

And the nausea just never went away.

Even after IV doses and oral doses of anti-nausea medicine.

Thankfully, some of the medicine made her sleepy today

so she was able to sleep for a good portion of the chemotherapy

but each time she awoke, she would start gagging.

She had wonderful nurses all day today.

But it was a rough day.

We were thankful when it was over.

We both noticed the beautiful spring blooms and flowers

as we drove away from the hospital.

Such a sign of hope.

For the new season in the year.

And for the new season of healing for Anna that is so close

we can almost taste the goodness of it!

Anna was somewhat hungry by the time we got home

and requested mashed potatoes.

So far, she has held that down.

Like every time, she is totally exhausted.

She fell asleep after she ate and has been sleeping since.

I pray she stays asleep all night.

Thank you so much for all of the prayers for my girl!

Please pray that she will rest well and that 

her nausea will subside!

Love,

Anna's mama

Anna's Chemo # 5

 

Anna will have her 5th chemotherapy treatment tomorrow.

I am SO excited that she only has 2 left!

And I am SO thankful it is working!

She had a rough few days of nausea after the last treatment

but turned a corner on the Monday afterward

and was eating normal food by that Tuesday.

After that, she was exhausted but slowly regained strength

until this past week, she said she felt almost like normal.

We were even able to go to an outdoor wedding

where I took this photo of my Anna girl.

Please pray that this treatment will go smoothly

and that her side effects 

during and after 

will be none to minimal!

Thank you all so very much for all of your prayers

and support in every way!

We love you all!

Anna's mama

Update Chemo Cycle # 4

 

Overall, Anna's 4th round of chemo today went well!

They were able to get her blood drawn on the very first attempt!

Her appointment with the oncologist confirmed again that the cancer is shrinking 

and is on track to be resolved completely!  Anna was able to get some answers 

to some questions she has had. It was a good appointment. 

And, even though she was nauseated a few times 

during the process today, her chemotherapy went well.

She did not have any major reactions 

and she had wonderful nurse!

We even started discussing when she gets to 

"ring the bell" of chemo completion.

She cannot wait!

She is now wiped out and exhausted from the chemotherapy itself

so after coming home and eating a sandwich, she is

snuggled in her bed resting.

Cancer is a horrible disease.

But, for Anna, today was a good day fighting it!

Thank you so very much for all of your prayers!

Every specific prayer for today was answered the way we wanted.

For that, we are very thankful!

Halfway There / Prayer Request For 4th Round Of Chemo

 

Anna is halfway finished with her treatment plan of chemotherapy!

We are SO excited to be halfway there!

Thank you all for all of the prayers, cards, calls, and support!

It all means so much to us and it has all been so helpful! 

As I said in my last post, Anna did so much better with the 3rd round.

They had the nausea medicine just right for after the chemotherapy.

She vomited one time after chemo and that was it.

She was still exhausted but so happy to not be vomiting.

Her energy level returned faster as well.

This past weekend, she even went to spend time with a couple of friends.

They didn't go in any crowds but she was just happy to have the energy 

to drive and to be out of the house.

I was so happy for her!

Overall, she said she has almost felt normal for the last week.

I am thankful!

Her 4th round of 6 chemotherapy treatments is tomorrow.

And the white blood cell booster shot will be on Sunday.

We are praying the lab work goes a lot better this time 

and that they get her blood on first try!

We are praying that she doesn't have any chemo reactions! 

And we are praying she gets a really good and compassionate chemotherapy nurse 

- that matters so much.

And we ask for your prayers, too!

Thank you!

Anna's mama

Update PET Scan Results and Chemo Cycle #3

 

First of all,

Anna's PET scan results were WONDERFUL!

The scan shows that the cancer has shrunk substantially

and

that the treatments are right on track

for it to be totally resolved!

WE ARE SO, SO, SO THANKFUL!

Thank you for all of you who have prayed for my Anna!

Answers to prayers are not always yeses.

We know that well.

So we do not take it lightly that this one is.

And we rejoice in the fact that Anna's cancer has shrunk! 

Not only can Anna breathe better because the cancer is no longer pressing on her airway

but I, as her mama, can finally breathe a little better knowing 

there's a scan proving that a miracle is taking place.

Miracles come in all kinds of different packages.

And I am so thankful for this miracle that's being delivered into my child's body

through chemicals that "know" how to resolve and are "programmed" to target 

the disease 

that threatened her life. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Anna’s day today was to start simple - lab work with blood being drawn from her port. Well, turns out her port is tilted some which makes it a little more difficult for everything. They were able to get access but were not able to draw blood. They kept flushing it with saline – 4 or 5 in a row pretty fast. They decided to draw blood the regular way and that didn’t go well, either. 
Anna inherited my veins that make it so difficult to draw blood! Our veins roll and they dig and dig trying to find them. It’s very uncomfortable. During the 2^nd attempt and having just had that rush of saline, Anna ended up vomiting. They then got the “expert” who ended up getting the blood on her 1^st try. (By the way, we do not in any way fault the nurses – it really is our veins –  they said they would put a note in her file that we can just ask for the “expert” first next time)!

 

 So what should have been a 10 minute port access/blood draw ended up taking 45 minutes. But, thankfully, that ended up being the worst part of the day.

 

Anna’s 3^rd round of chemotherapy went well today!

She did not have any reactions.

They added 2 new nausea medications this time and that helped during the day.

And, so far, she has not thrown up a single time since we’ve been home.

She is very weak and she has fallen asleep but, overall, she seems better this time.

 

I’m praying it stays that way!

 

Please pray that she will not have lingering side effects and her “bounce back” will happen even faster this time!

 

She is scheduled to get the white blood cell count booster shot on Sunday so we are hopeful that will help keep her out of the hospital like it did with round #2.

 

We appreciate you all so very much

and we are grateful for all of your prayers!

 

Thank you so much!

Anna’s very thankful mama

Anna Update/Summary/Prayer Requests

 

Update:

Thank you so much for the prayers for my Anna!

She finally felt good this past week and was even able to go outside in the snow with Luke and Lauren for about 15 minutes - long enough for some photos!

Summary of  Anna's last chemotherapy:

The day of Anna's last chemotherapy went so much better than the 1st time! We were so thankful she did not have a single reaction that day! But the nausea that started that day lasted a long while. It was almost a week before she could eat without vomiting and that was with nausea medication. For a while, I was worried she might need to get some IV fluids.

As far as we know, her white blood cell count stayed up this time. She never had any signs of a neutropenic fever or any other symptoms of low white blood cell counts so the doctors didn't check her counts and she didn't have to go back into the hospital. We are so thankful for that!

However, this last round left her very weak. She didn't even really get out of bed for 2 weeks. Maybe it's because she didn't substantially hold any food down for almost a week. Maybe it's the chemicals building up in her system. We really don't know. What we do know is that she was so weak for over 2 weeks. Her strength really just returned a few days ago...just in time for the next round.

Prayer Requests:

Please say a prayer for Anna. She has a PET scan tomorrow to assess how effective her treatment has been so far and if anything new or different needs to be done. She is, understandably, very anxious about the results. We will not know those results until Friday morning at her oncologist appointment that is scheduled right before her next round of chemotherapy. 

Please also say a prayer for Anna's 3rd round of chemotherapy on Friday to go as smoothly that day as last time did and please pray for her to not have as much nausea and weakness afterward. They have added 2 new nausea medications for this round so we are hoping and praying that those make a huge difference!

Thank you so very much!