First Chemo Down!

Jen had Chemo #1 out of 6 on Wednesday and as promised, was on a steroid high for two days and was able to enjoy the Homecoming Parade in Aptos, Matthew being one of the Kings on the Homecoming Court. Here he is with Hannah Grantz looking fine in the Thunderbird! (Thanks for driving, Lori Hoover!)


Here is Jen in the process of getting well:


The nurses in the Chemo room at the Doctor's Office were terrific, positive, nice, helpful, smiley and full of candy. One of the nurses is a cancer survivor herself, so you know what she's talking about comes from experience. Many visitors came by including Barbara Thompson, Grace Callahan, Peter Callahan (who made the room laugh with a few funny stories) and cancer secretary, Julia (Nini) Frey. There is a lot of commaradarie in the chemo room as some patients come in for just a short treatment and others stay for hours. All seem in good spirits and are happy to help you with anything you need, like, where are the good drinks (the sodas and waters and juices in the mini fridge) and what's normal on all the equipment.

As predicted, Friday morning, Jennifer awoke with aches and pains and some fatigue -- again, all normal, though quite annoying. She was not going to miss Matthew doing his Senoir Homecoming Skit. Matthew rocked the house!

Chemo treatment #2 is November 7.

Jen says thanks for all the positive messages and prayers, she loves them. Keep them coming! Jen is very grateful for all the support she has in her life. Keep it coming and please feel free to comment on this site as much as you like. Emails are always welcome too!

More soon...

The Plan in Gammo's words...

Hi all, Jennifer had a great visit with oncologist Dr. Alexander this morning and the plan is this: she's to get a CAT scan sometime soon and blood work and then report back to Dr. Alexander. He is going to consult with Dr. Lilya (the surgeon) about hormone therapy options but he feels at this point they will proceed with chemo once every three weeks for 6 sessions and then see where they are. The main side effect will be hair loss. Nausea will be eliminated with a shot of some other new medicine. Starting date for this will be soon but not exact yet.

And she should resume immediately everything that she wants to do. Exercise is an excellent idea altho Jen pointed out to one of the doctors that when she and her friend Sheri started a walking routine several months ago, Sheri ruined her feet and Jen got cancer - so perhaps they want to rethink the walking thing. Maybe swimming.

Grace has decided we will all sport Paris Hilton wigs for the duration - not just Jen - altho I don't think Peter and Matthew will be up for that.

I am continuing to hold Jennifer in my heart as being in perfect health. And every one of you and your support are sustaining all of us and speeding Jennifer to a full recovery. I am so grateful.

With love, Jane

The Plan

Here is the plan. In the next my mom will have some more blood work done, another CAT scan, and some various other tests....then but she will start Chemo...just the regular chemo stuff..6 sessions every 3 weeks for a total of 18 weeks...her hair is expected to fall out....so for those of you that wanna, go ahead a shave those noggins! haha! just kidding, but matty will be shaving his head, and probably my dad too...so as of right now all looks good and well and routine....so there ya go!

Staples Out

Nothing much is new yet.....my mom is doing awesome, they took her staples out yesterday.....pretty snazzy.....thank you all once more for everything!

Just Hangin out...

Nini is here today visiting which is a lot of fun, we are all hanging out, my mom is still doing awesome, her staples are to be removed next this coming friday, and there is going to be a meeting with the doctor on wed. for a check up and to start the attack plan...we have been eating lots of great food, thank you all for that, and for lori for setting up our meals for us, and for the continuous flowers, they are all lovely.....thanks so much.

Finally Home!

My mom is home now finally!! yay!! thank you all for all of the beautiful flowers! they are all wonderful....we have been getting many offers for dinners for us, and Lori Madden has volunteered to take care of scheduling that for us, so if you are interested please call her (Lori Madden) @ 768-1177.....thank you for all of the excellent comments...my mom is doing good....thanks!

tuesday!

my mom is on solid foods now!!! i have been spending the nights with her on a silly couch, all of her tubes have been removed....she is walking a lot, and eating regular foods again, and she has been in the computer, i figured out what was wrong with the comments things so hopefully it should work now.....thanks all.....All is well....