still here...

Hey Ya'll!  Sorry it has been so long.  Mom has been doing the usual since we left off, chemo every Monday.  Life has been pretty regular and rutine until this week. 

In the words of Dad...

     Mom had a new scan on May 7th.  These scans came back negative.  Her cancer is still in remission and the fluid that has been around her lungs seems to be not increasing, and actually decreased by a small amount.  Praise God!!  This is great news and a huge blessing!  Thank you Jesus for her chemo drugs, Tigatuzamab and Abraxane.
     She struggles with the fact that even though she is in remission, she has to continue chemo from now on.  Like indefinitely.  Positive to that is that she is still living and the hope that we find in the advancement of the fight against this horrible nightmare with medication.  The development of these two drugs allow women to have Hope.
     However, she is till having problems with her right ear and left arm.
     Her ear has been diagnosed with MRSA (click here to learn more about MRSA) about two weeks ago.  She has been waiting to see an Infectious Disease doctor since then.  This past Monday, May 14, before her chemo treatment she was finally able to see the doctor.  He seemed to be more concerned with her arm than her ear.  (Her arm has been very red and swollen since last week.)  After chemo that day he decided to put her in the hospital at UAB to do some tests on her ear and arm.  After all, her ear has been hurting her for about 7 or more months.  We were ready to find out what was going on. 
     Yesterday, they did a CT Scan of her head and an ultrasound of her left arm.  The news was not very good about either, but at least maybe now, her doctors can create a game plan going forward.
     First, her ear has an infection in the bone behind her ear.  Her ear has been draining since November and hurting very much.  Doctors have tired tubes, lancing her eardrum, and a series of antibiotics, but nothing seemed to work.  We found out a few weeks ago that it was indeed MRSA, but what the CT scan showed yesterday was that the infection is actually in her skull that is around her right ear.  They will treat this right now with drugs, but at some point in the future, she will have to have surgery to fix this problem.
     Right now, her doctors are more concerned with her right arm.  After many ultrasounds, this has shown a rather large blood clot.  This explains why last Tuesday her arm became swollen, red, and hot.  This is also the arm she has the lymphodema and cellulitis in.  They are giving her drugs to fight the infection and to also try and dissolve the blood clot.  She will be on these drugs for sometime, as she will have IV treatment at home twice a day.
     We have been in the hospital since Monday, and do not know when we will be home.  We are hoping sometime next week.
     Tonight, we are thankful for so much. We are thankful that her doctors found both of these problems.  She has felt so bad these last few months.  We finally have answers as to why now. 
     Thank you for ALL your prayers.  I ask that you continue to lift up our family, and most of all, my wife and best friend.


Now that we are all up-to-date now, I want to thank you for not giving up on us.  This has been such a LONG journey and we are not done yet!  Thank you for being our faithful friends, encouragers, and prayer warriors.  Your kindness and the loving spirit that you have shown our family during these trying months will never be forgotten. 

Here's promising to be a better blogger...xoxo,

c