Surrendering

I love this video. To me, this cancer journey has not been about surviving but about surrendering. There is no doubt that God lives and is aware of our every need. I can feel him right beside us teaching, loving, and leading us back home.

On our way to chemo

My mom flew in yesterday!

On our way to chemo! Praying my numbers are up!

Got the results back. We are good to go! 👍👍
White blood cell count is up. Platelets are still low,
but high enough to proceed.

Our new look

My hair has been falling out since last Friday, so we chopped and buzzed.
I'm donating 8 inches of hair to Children With Hair Loss.

This week's update: Infusion rescheduled

Hi team!

My sweet friend sent this fruit bouquet today at
just the moment I needed a pick-me-up!

Thanks for your continued prayers and support this week. This morning I had a follow-up appointment at 10am with LeeAnn, the dietician, to ask some more questions about cancer supplements and diet recommendations. Glen had a dermatology appointment in the same building while I was meeting with LeeAnn, and then he rejoined me for a bit before my infusion, which was scheduled supposed to be at 11am. 

Unfortunately, after taking all of the blood draws and getting my port accessed, I was unable to do the infusion because my blood labs came back very low. Dr. Curley looked at the results and decided to postpone the infusion until next Friday. My white and red blood cell counts were low, in addition to my hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelets, and neutrophils absolute. I do not know what all of those are and was unable to speak with the nurse navigator, David, or Dr. Curley. I left a message with David to get some more information.* And I asked the nurse, Yvette, who took my blood labs, if there was anything I could eat or do to bring these numbers up during the next week. She said no, that every person reacts differently to the chemotherapy and that it is not uncommon to have to put off an infusion due to low blood counts. I felt a little bummed that we had to reschedule because we are anxious to keep fighting the cancer. It’s kind of like gearing up for a baby delivery only to be sent home and told you aren’t ready yet. :) But I realized there was nothing I could control here and decided to focus on something I could control.

This last week I felt much better than my first week. I had less nausea but more fatigue, perhaps due to the low blood counts. I did not have to take any nausea medication and my constipation finally regulated. I was able to control my nausea with what I ate and how often and I was able to regain the weight I lost during the first week. I am still taking the antacid to settle my stomach and I am continuing to walk almost every morning with Glen or Rebekah. We spent some time working on updating our wills and coordinating with insurance for chemo treatments. The highlight of the week was celebrating Rebekah's 21st birthday!

On Tuesday, we got some wonderful news that we have not been able to share yet. We heard back from our geneticist that our testing came back negative for all gene mutations linked to breast cancer! Great news for reducing our chances of the cancer coming back and for our children being possible carriers for the gene mutations.

We are looking forward to a great week. My niece who lives in Queen Creek offered to take some family pictures for us before I lose my hair and before Paul leaves on his mission. Thank you, Cass! Next Thursday, my mom will arrive from Utah and will stay with me while Glen takes the kids on June 27 to Manti for an Andersen family reunion. They will be at the reunion for one week and then the younger three kids will stay with some Peterson cousins for an additional week while Glen and the older three kids come back for work and school. 

We hope you are all well and we send our love!

Di

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*UPDATE:

I just got off the phone with my nurse David and he was able to give me some more information about my blood results. He said that the chemotherapy drugs will affect my bone marrow, which is where white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets are all produced. I am low in each of those areas. In order to proceed with an infusion, they like white blood cells to be above a 3 (which is still lower than the normal range of 4-10.9). I was a 2.4, so they looked at my numbers for Neutrophils absolute, which is a specific type of white blood cell that fights infection. The normal range for that white blood cell is about 1.5-8.3 and they won’t give chemo if it is below 1. I was 0.62, so they are very concerned about my risk of infection and that was the primary reason for them postponing my infusion today.

Even though I am also low in my red blood cells, hemoglobin and hematocrit (which all indicate I am anemic), they were still high enough for them to give me an infusion. The hemoglobin number is primarily what they look at to monitor my anemia. Normal range is 12-16 but they will still give chemo if it is above 10. I was 10.2. If I drop below 7, that is when they look at having to do a blood transfusion. Platelets numbers, which indicate my ability to stop bleeding or clotting, have to be at at least 100 for chemo and I was at 112, normal range is 130-450. So ... that may be more info than you need or want but FYI. These numbers are not affected by what I am eating or not eating or doing. It is merely a result of how the chemo is affecting my systems.

Also, David told me that when they give chemo amounts there is an acceptable range for effective treatment, they usually begin somewhere in the middle but everyone’s body responds differently and if my numbers don’t come up, the oncologist may reduce the dosage so that it is still effective but not quite as hard on my body. Next week, if my numbers are up, I will receive the same treatment of Taxol that I was going to receive today and my treatment schedule will just push out a week. So we will be praying for a week of healing and that we can move forward next week!

New date night!

Glen's dresser has turned into my
new medicine cupboard.

After this last week, Glen and I decided we needed a new date night. For years, we've gone out almost every Friday night to eat, to talk, to relax — sometimes alone and sometimes with friends. With chemotherapy scheduled every Friday for the next few months, we decided that Thursday was going to have to become the new Friday. Last week, I felt the worst of the side effects by Sunday night. I have been very nauseous, constipated, and cramping. My stomach has just been eaten up with all the new meds and we have had to experiment with new remedies every day. Although I am no stranger to nausea after our seven pregnancies, this has been a little bit more tricky with the combination of side effects and with the changes in how I am feeling throughout the week as the chemo side effects wear off. By Thursday, I was feeling better than I had the rest of the week, so Glen and I went out to celebrate. We picked up more prescriptions at the pharmacy 🙂, split a sandwich, and sat outside the temple to talk. That was heaven to me.

I thought a lot about the prophet Alma this week and gained a new admiration for this great servant and missionary. In the Book of Mormon, we read the story of Alma, who was a prophet that lived and preached in the Ancient Americas about 80 BC. He traveled to a city named Ammonihah where the people were hard-hearted and were choosing to live wickedly, contrary to God's commandments. Alma labored diligently and prayed mightily that the people would repent, but instead they mocked and persecuted Alma, spit upon him, and cast him out of their city. As he departed and while sorrowing for the people, an angel of the Lord appeared to Alma and blessed him for his faithfulness in obeying what God had asked him to do. Then the angel commanded him to return to Ammonihah and to tell the people of the city that if they did not repent, they would be destroyed!

I cannot imagine how Alma felt at that moment, but what I love about him is that the scriptures record “he returned SPEEDILY to the land and entered by another way.” It isn’t long after Alma obediently returns to Ammonihah that he sees the WAY that God has prepared for him to follow his commandment. Alma had been fasting for many days and when he re-entered the city he was met by a man named Amulek who had received his own vision from an angel saying that he would meet a prophet and that he was to receive him into his home and feed him and that he would be a blessing to him and his family. God had already prepared the way. Amulek was the way and later becomes a tremendous missionary companion to Alma in sharing the word of God.

What if Alma had chosen not to return to Ammonihah? What would have become of Amulek and his vision? What would have become of the people of Ammonihah? Returning to chemo today felt a bit like my city of Ammonihah. I was not ready to get persecuted again as I was just beginning to feel better, but I took great courage in Alma’s example to me to return speedily and to trust in God that a way and a blessing would be prepared for my next week. Glen and I took the stairs to our morning appointment and we felt strengthened in our faith as we climbed.

At 9am we met with a dietician named LeAnn who specialized in nutrition for cancer patients. We talked for over an hour and peppered her with questions about how I can find the best food and liquids to curb my side effects, and how I can best nourish my body throughout this chemotherapy. We ran out of time before I had to head into my infusion at 10am but we are going to follow up with her by phone next week and she is available to us as a resource at any point throughout my treatment. She was very helpful.

One of my nurses, Yvette, took this picture.
So grateful for awesome medical staff!

I was tired and groggy throughout the two-hour infusion. The Benadryl they give me with the Taxol gets me every time. I also received more anti-nausea medications and talked with my nurse, David. Because I am still really struggling with constipation, he instructed me to take half a bottle of magnesium citrate when I got home to clean things out before this next chemo dose hits. This is similar to what they give people before colonoscopies to clear out their bowels, so I imagine the bathroom and I will become good friends over the next few days 😊. If that half bottle does not bring any results, I am supposed to take the remainder.

During my infusion, I spoke with an older woman sitting next to me who was finishing her last treatment for breast cancer but who had just been diagnosed with second occurrence of ovarian cancer. Can you imagine? She was a beautiful woman and she inspired me with her positivity as she loomed a blanket for her son.

We feel blessed and sustained by you daily and know that we can run this marathon one day at a time because of the love of our Savior.

Chemo update from Glen

Since chemo last Friday, things have gotten progressively harder. The medication they gave her that helps with nausea wears off by about day 3, so they say to add the second anti-nausea medicine starting today. She has been able to eat a little bit and is doing her best to drink as much as she can. Beka, Diana, and I went for a 2.5 mile walk this morning — Di was very determined to get that in.

The anti-nausea medicines are helping, as are the nausea hard candies that a few of you sent, but some of the meds also make her very tired. She was able to sit and read her scriptures for a bit today, and I found her resting on the couch in our room and snoozing at one point, so was grateful to see that.

About mid-afternoon today, she was determined to get her mind off of the nausea, so she came down and swept the kitchen floor (not the way I would get my mind off of it, or maybe I just need to do a better job at sweeping).

We are trying to make sure she is in bed around 9pm because she's been waking up before 6am. Still trying to figure out what to eat or not eat. 

She ate some taco salad that one of our dear friends brought tonight and that helped her. We played a game as a family for about 30 minutes after dinner and then she rested on the couch until bedtime. We are hoping this will be the hardest day and that things will start to improve before the next treatment. 

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes — they make a difference and we feel strengthen by them.

–Glen

Chemo Day 1

Today was wonderful ... because of all of you!

Day 1 is complete and that means I am one day closer to recovery. I started this morning with scripture study and read in the Book of Mormon Alma 7:11-12.

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

There is always one person in this world who knows exactly what we are experiencing and because He suffered all that we will experience, I don’t ever have to feel alone. Through Christ, I have felt great peace and joy among many other blessings.

Ready to rock day 1

Beka and I went for a walk outside in 90 degree weather this morning. Not super refreshing but it was invigorating. I was told by a radiologist that if I can continue to be active, I will do even better with my treatments, so we are working hard at doing that even on the days I don’t feel like it.

Glen and I met with a genetic counselor at 9 a.m. in the same building where I would receive chemo. We talked for about 40 minutes about what genetic testing is and what ramifications it can have, and then I completed the testing with a saliva sample. This genetic testing will evaluate about 85 different genes, many of which are associated with cancer and also other health issues. There is about a 15% chance that I may be BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 positive, which means that I have a mutation in one of these tumor suppressor genes which can be a reason for why I got cancer at an early age (under the age of 50). If I test positive, any of my direct family (my parents, siblings, and children) can receive a test free of charge if they choose. It will take 7-10 business days to get results.

Bracelet from Hannah

Before my chemo appointment began at 10:15 a.m., I put EMLA cream on my port, which helps numb the skin and reduce pain at the injection site. The needle went in without too much trouble. First, they drew blood samples from the port to test all of my blood counts and other levels to make sure I was safe to start chemo. Then, I found a recliner to sit in and got comfy with a soft warm blanket, fuzzy socks, water bottle, music, and books — all gifts from friends and family. Hannah also made me a bracelet to wear every time I have chemo. 😊

The first thing I was given was a bag of Pepcid to alleviate my reaction to the chemo. They then started with the Keytruda (the immunotherapy drug),  which did not have any side effects. After that I was given a dose of Benadryl, which made me very tired, followed by a bag of nausea meds mixed with a little bit of steroids that will all help me to tolerate the chemo. 

The Taxol chemotherapy came next for about an hour. This is the strongest of the drugs I will receive in this round of treatment. I felt a little queasy as this started and could taste kind of a metal taste in my mouth but not too bad. I sucked on ice pellets from Sonic. Sucking on something cold can construct blood flow to the mouth during chemo and help with mouth sores. 

The last drug I was given was Carboplatin. I mostly rested during this time, I listened to music, I texted a bit, and was able to call and talk to Glen twice. Every time I had to go to the bathroom, I took my chemo and IV stand with me. 😊

Before

I texted Glen when I was getting close to finishing, and he came and picked me up and we got home at about 3 p.m. It was a long day but we felt happy with how well things went. When we got home, I discovered one more way you all made this a wonderful day. Several of my friends had come to our home to paint the sitting area that is off of my bedroom. Glen moved all of his office furniture into the loft so that I could have a quiet area to rest while I am in treatment. 

After

My local friends, along with my generous interior designer niece and entrepreneur nephew, helped to create a “rejuvenation retreat” where I can heal and ponder and spend time with the kids. Even though I had helped to select some of the furniture that we were going to use, I was not aware it had already arrived and I certainly did not expect the room to be painted and set up. I was left speechless and all I could do was cry. 

We sat for a bit in this room talking with the kids as they came home from playing with friends, and then we enjoyed a delicious meal prepared and delivered by another friend from church. Bekah made my Mom's recipe for watermelon and lime slushies for dessert. Everyone loved it, so refreshing.

Other than feeling tired and a little nauseous, I ate dinner and everything is staying down. Doctor said everyone reacts differently, but usually the second or third day after chemo treatment is when fatigue and nausea become a bit tougher. All of the IV meds have worn off and chemo has done its damage. My next chemo appointment is Friday, June 12 at 10 a.m. It will be a shorter appointment because I'll only get the Taxol. They estimate 2 hours in the infusion chair, plus a blood tests. Side effects I will be watching for the next few weeks include dehydration, constipation, nausea, mouth sores, neuropathy in hands and feet, anemia, muscle or joint pain, and, of course, hair loss between 2–4 weeks after first treatment.

I never expected my first day of chemo to be so wonderful, but it was because of you. Thank you for being the Savior’s hands for today. We love you so very much!

First chemo appointment this Friday

We heard back from our insurance company that our treatment has all been approved! Medications will be shipped tomorrow to our oncologist and we will begin chemo Friday at 10:15 a.m. We expect to be there for about three hours for my first visit. Glen plans to drive me to and from the appointment, with work in between, since he cannot come in. My port placement is healing and less sensitive each day.