Update and Progress

The Chemo treatments

     Peggy has now had her 4th round of Chemo.  The first one was bad, she said it was like a 3 day bad acid trip.  The last three haven't been as bad, but the Chemo really wipes her out.  She takes a treatment every other week and they last 3 days.  We go to the cancer center and they administer one type that last 2 hours.  Then they attach a second kind via a pump and we go home for 46 hours.  Peggy calls it her "purse", haha.

   

     The side effect that most bothers her is the extreme fatigue.  She sleeps a lot during the 3 days.  And she can't stand not being able to get up and do stuff!  And then there is the very annoying weird side effect of this particular kind of Chemo; it makes her hyper sensitive to cold temperatures.  If we go outside and she breathes in cold air, her throat spasms and tries to close up.  Same thing if she drinks anything cold.  In this weather, even room temperature water is sometimes too cold.

     Her hands and feet are affected, too.  She can't reach into the fridge and pull out cold stuff without her hands cramping and spasming.  I try to get all the cold stuff out when she's cooking.  She IS still the cook at our house!  I try and do pretty good with her supervision....

    She has 2 more treatments to go before Dr. Wilson will do another PET scan to see if the treatment has slowed down or shrunk the cancer.  So, at about the end of February we'll know how she is doing. Think & Pray "SHRINK, CANCER, SHRINK!"

Vanderbilt

    We went to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer center in Nashville this past Thursday.  This was for a second opinion or consult.  But it was also to see if there are any clinical trials that Peggy qualifies for in case we need one later.
      We met with Dr. Kristen Ciombor and she was wonderful.  She is an oncologist that not only specializes in gastric cancers, but she is also one of the research doctors.  She showed us Peggy's 1st PET scan.  This was the first time we had seen it.  She explained everything to us in a more human way and that made us understand what was going on a lot better.      She also said that Dr. Wilson in Tupelo was doing exactly what she would be doing!  There aren't any clinical trials for Stage 4 stomach cancer right now, but she said there could be in the near future.  She's going to review the next PET scan and keep up to date on our progress and charts.  We also asked her about Immunotherapy and she told us that was a possibility but not at this time.  Our hope and prayer is that Peggy won't need clinical trials or Immunotherapy, that the current treatment will work, but It's really reassuring to have some more ammunition in our back pocket!

Everyday Life

          Peggy started her last semester at Ole Miss 2 weeks ago.  The Ole Miss Student Disability Service made it possible to attend classes from home via cameras and audio!  That way she has limited exposure to germs while her immune system is down.  She has classes on Tuesdays & Thursdays and works on her online classes the other days.  All her school classmates (her “kids”) have either come by or called to pledge their support of her finishing with them!  They are a great bunch of girls.  They will be working on their Senior projects in groups.  Peggy will be finished in May then on to an internship and graduation!

          I have been working on our taxes, doing a little bit of side work, keeping our schedule straight, and trying to do as much of the housework caught up as I can. (Except cooking, haha).  But like I said before, she’s been teaching me.  It’s hard to keep everyone in the loop, so we truly appreciate everyone’s calls and text to check on us.  Be patient with me on updates, keep the love and healing prayers coming, and God bless you all.

Peace,
Moe

In the beginning....

     The Saturday before Thanksgiving, I took Peggy to the ER with horrible pain in her belly.  We thought it was a really bad intestinal virus because she had been sick for a week.

     Well, they did a ct scan and found a mass in her stomach.  Our world spiraled down quickly.  They admitted her and started her on Morphine.  That was scary in itself.  After more test and then a biopsy of the tumor, they determined she had stomach cancer, but they couldn't tell us what kind or what stage until we saw an oncologist and had a PET scan.

     The waiting was AGONIZING!  Over a week later, we saw Dr. Hill at the Tupelo Cancer Center.  He was an ASShole.  Said she had stomach cancer, had 3-5 months to live, all the answers to your question are here on this report (lots of big words we didn't know what the fuck they meant), we'll schedule the PET and call you."  I tried to ask how can you stage the cancer before the scan?  How soon can we get the scan?  He said, "well it's a machine in very high demand, could be 2 day or 2 weeks then he said, "you can follow the exit signs, go out to your car, and leave now" !

     Scared and crying our eyes out, we went to the car and just started driving.  We ended up at a dear friend's work place.  We were mad as hell, scared to death, and our friend started making phone calls to people she knew in the oncology field.  I called Rick, another very good friend and he arranged for the PET scan very quickly!

    After the PET scan, we changed Doctors to Paschal Wilson, also in Tupelo.  He was very much nicer and spent a lot of time with us.  Unfortunately, Peggy's cancer is stage IV (4).  It has metastasized into her adrenal glands and several lymph nodes.  But he said with Chemotherapy we might could slow it down and maybe (hope pray beg) put the cancer in remission.  He also said with treatment the "average" life expectancy was 1 year.  BUT we all know Peggy is not average!

     Everyone please pray for Peggy and me as we have already started the battle!  I love her to the depth of my heart and soul, and the world needs Peggy!

     I will post later as to our progress and plans.

Introduction

     This blog is for me and Peggy to share with our friends and family our journey with Peggy's stomach cancer.  I have been remiss in keeping everyone updated.  It's hard.  Ran into a really good friend yesterday who didn't know about it and she and her husband are going through similar battles.  So I will start posting here and sharing the link on Facebook.

     We are most grateful for everyone's prayers, healing thoughts, and support!