As you may recall, a couple of months ago, I told you Jessica's step mother was diagnosed with cancer. Besides being distraught because of a loved one so close to me being sick, it disheartened me to see someone so healthy come down with cancer unexpectedly - someone who took measures to live a long life.
Well, since she was first diagnosed and I blogged about it, things haven't been all that great. After a little bit of false hope for a curable type of cancer, we found out she had something called leiomyosarcoma, which is in its simplest form, a cancer of the connective tissue. This is basically what holds all your organs in place. Unfortunately, you can't really cut out the cancer as well, it holds your body together. On the other hand, as far as chemo goes, there is really no known combination of chemo drugs that are known to be effective in "curing" the cancer.
With that in mind, when we found all this out, Fran decided that she didn't want to go through the pain of chemo if the doctor could not guarantee that it would add anything to her life and could in fact make it more painful. The doctor said that route would maybe give her 6 months. The doctor couldn't say, "Do chemo and you will get at least an extra 6 months or so," because he had no idea. So, she was all set to do no chemo when she had a conversation with a chemo nurse who told her that the only certain thing she knew about is what would happen if she did no chemo. If she tried chemo, there was no certainty what would happen and she has seen miracles happen before.
So in the end, she decided to give chemo a go. She is currently in week 5 of a 9 week go at this. Week 1, she does one chemo drug, week 2 is 2 drugs, and on the third week, she rests. Then it starts over again. She is doing 3 cycles of this for a total of 9 weeks and then they will reevaluate and see if it is working.
In week 3, her rest week, she actually ended up in the hospital for a few days. But after a week of poor health, she got right back on the chemo horse in week 4. She is really weak and spends most of her time in bed lately, but she is sticking with it. Her braveness and strength and willpower has been truely inspiring. I just hope at the end of week 9, we are given some encouraging news.
I went to the doctor today because I NEVER get headaches and well, I have had a headache pretty much for 3 weeks straight. My doctor thinks it is stress, but referred me to a neurologist. Well, if it is stress , I guess that would be pretty believable at this particular time. We shall see....
9 comments:
Yeah... I love Fran with all my heart and it KILLS me to see her like this. She has always been such an active, lively, go get 'em person and now she's tired and run down. But she's maintained a positive outlook through it all and I couldn't be more proud of her for that. She remains an absolutely awesome woman. We're quite lucky to have her in our lives, huh Manuel?
I hope things turn up after the chemo series is done, for you and her. Take care
My thoughts and prayers for Fran and she is very brave for having such a postive outlook on things.. Hope you feel better soon Manuel..
I'm so sorry she has to go though all of that. i've seen way too many people I love fighting cancer in my life.
My prayers are with all of you.
Thanks for your own interpretation of the recent events Manuel. I know everyone who knows and loves Fran is under a lot of stress. I am praying for her and for the family. I am hoping for a miracle but am prepared for the worst. We've dealt with cancer before...we know about the hopes and disappointments. I am not surprised you have headaches and pray it is only due to stress. Take care of yourself sweetie. I love you. Hugs to you and Jess.
Hi - I'm a 7 year leiomyosarcoma survivor. Join the on-line group that has over 500 families with LMS. You can ask questions and learn a lot... it save my life 6 years ago. Join here:
ACOR L-M-Sarcoma
http://listserv.acor.org/archives/l-m-sarcoma.html
Sending Hugs,
Sharon in San Francisco
Thank you for the update. Know that all your blogging friends join you in hoping for good news in a few weeks.
And look what happens when you post stuff online! People, like S in SF, above, reach out with help!
I found your blog through my LMS on line group..I was diagnosed five years ago, and the chemo combination of Gemzar and Taxotore (Gem/Tax) is really effective. It sounds like the routine your Mom-in-law is on is the same three week schedule as I was. Presently, after 8 rounds, I am on a break partially cause the chemo has kept things in check. It's very tough, but can be helpful...my thoughts are with you!
Fran is in our thoughts every day (as are you and Jess). We know what it's like to go through this, and we appreciate the update.
-Sal and Katie
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