We Made It!

Well, we finished "The Siege" in one piece! In that last week or so, it was iffy as to whether or not we'd actually get to Perdito... Mom's white blood cell count was abysmal, Steve (Molly's Husband) and Dad were buried with work issues and then it looked like Mom had a little infection... but with 24 hours to go we were cleared for take-off. We spent a terrific 3 days in Perdito with the whole fam-dam-ly! 7 adults, 4 kids, and 4 dogs! The only one missing was Mom's basset hound, Cleo. At almost 17, she just couldn't make the trip. The weather was beautiful and we got to spend a good part of each day in the water. Mom went with Faith and the kids to a pristine beach on the Gulf of Mexico and even played with the kids in the surf! The food and company were, of course, fantastic.
And now we're home, and it's beginning to feel like summer is over. Mom met with her oncologist this week and her white blood cell count is still pretty low, so she's taking a break for another 2 weeks before she begins the last phase of treatment. This will be weekly chemo treatments with Gemzar: 3 weeks on followed by 2 weeks off followed by 3 more weeks... then... WE'RE DONE! Mom's oncologist gave her a wonderful gift this week, during a conversation about her white blood cells he mentioned that he was really hoping for, and working towards, a "cure" with Mom's treatment, and not just maintenance. He told her that none of us really realizes how well she has done, but that he really feels positive about her success.
So, with this additional 2 week break, it looks like Mom will still be trying to work a little, but mostly around the house for a while yet. She still gets wiped out really easily. We've moved our time-table back a bit too. We should be finished with chemo by late September or October and then... the CT scan that let's us know how she's doing.
Come On, Fall! Bring us a "Cure"!

A "Glowing" Report

Let's start with some Good News. As of today we are 2/3 of the way through "The Siege" of daily chemo and radiation. And Mom still has her hair! Her radiation oncologist has been calling her "Wonderwoman" because- up until last week- she was still driving herself in for treatments and going to work. The downside is that she has continued to have GI issues and- because the medicine is cumulative- chemo and radiation are starting to catch up with her. She gets really tired- I mean, Really Tired, easily. I joke all the time that she reminds me of a Dali painting the way she will run out of energy and just droop. But we have our eyes on the prize: a family vacation to Perdido Bay- on the Gulf of Mexico.
Hope all is well with you and yours and that you are enjoying this beautiful summer!

Week 2 and counting...

Well, we're into Week 2 of the chemo/radiation treatment. (Actually, we just finished day 5 but it counts as Week 2, so we'll take it.) So far, so good. Mom continues to work part-time and drive herself to and from treatments (giving me plenty of time to goof off!)
We had a really wonderful weekend with Mom's family. The conversations were lively, the food was unbelievably good and the weather was perfect! It was fun to watch all the kids (little and big) run around and have fun. The highlight of the weekend was Mom's opportunity to spend quality time with her 2 brothers: Dan and Myles, 3 sisters: Maureen, Joan and Susan, and her very good friend Marie-Paul (who traveled all the way from France.) Saturday night, while the rest of us played poker in the kitchen, they sat around the dining room table and swapped stories about their childhood. I haven't heard howls of laughter like that in years. I know that it was just the kind of "feel good" therapy Mom needs.
And there is so much going on this summer! Mom is off to her retreat next weekend and gets home in time for a huge Father's day cookout. Then birthdays, anniversaries, 4th of July... etc. all the wonderful every-day life celebrations.
So, now we "hang on tight" until the end of The Siege (which really hasn't been bad so far) then we head to the Gulf for a long weekend with just our family to celebrate.

Look Out, Bikers!

Well, Mom has been having a lot of fun in the past few weeks. She finished her last round of Gemzar and has been enjoying her "break" before The Seige.
She met with her Radiation Oncologist (nicknamed Dr. Glow... she has so many doctors now we have to give them nicknames to keep them straight!) and was told that she's coming through like a champ. I believe she said Mom is doing "better than 99% of people who have this done." Such an achiever!

In preparation for her radiation, Mom got several tattoos and body piercings. We think she's Harley shopping in the next day or so.

Just kidding! She did get marked with a pretty permanent marker, and they gave her some cool looking studs in her tummy that serve as guides for her radiation treatments. She starts the new chemo, 5FU, and her daily jolts this Wednesday.

In the meantime, Mom's continuing to work- a little better than part-time- and just spent a very special morning with Alli (her youngest granddaughter) at a tea party. All of Mom's brothers and sisters (as well as kids and grandkids) are coming in to Louisville this weekend for a reunion... we're really excited to see everyone! And in a couple of weeks, Mom is off to Gethsemane Abbey for a weekend retreat.

Hope all is well for you and yours-

Notes from Chemoland!

Hello all!
I realize that it has been a while since we've updated. I apologize. I got very busy at school and told Mom she needed to take over since she was feeling so well. (We see how well that worked! Haha!)
So, we left off with a Happy Easter that ended with a quick trip to the ER. Well, that turned into another 4-day stay at the hospital... Mom had a little bit of an infection and was low on her fluids. The way she put it she's like a droopy plant that needed a little water and TLC!
Since then, things have been going very nicely. Mom is back at work part-time and is two weeks into her 3-week round of Gemzar chemo. She took this week off b/c of a low white blood cell count, but should be good to go next week. And she is tolerating the chemo really well. Her only symptoms have been bad headaches and crankiness.
Now for the important details- she looks GREAT! She's trim... she's got all her hair... you know, all the really important things are terrific.
We're looking forward to a big family reunion here in a few weeks and then... "The Siege." 6 weeks of continuous chemo infusion and daily radiation treatments. ugh! But she young, and healthy, and she has all of us supporting her- so she'll do alright.
Now that summer is almost upon us, I'll be back in charge of the blog and sending out more regular updates.
Happy Memorial Day!
Jenn

Happy Easter!?

Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday this past weekend.
We here in the Wade camp had an excellent... or should I say "egg-cellent" time. We scaled back Easter celebrations this year, but were still able to have them at the house and it was wonderful to have all 8 adults, 4 kids and 4 dogs under foot for the day. We hunted for Easter eggs in the yard, ate a big ham dinner and ended the day in the emergency room.
Wait, what did that say?
Yes, Mom was fighting intermittent nausea all day and ended up with a fever and her doctor- taking no chances- asked us to bring her down to the ER. They poked and prodded her until they found a small abscess in her abdomen. So Mom is back in the hospital (just for a day or two) on some "big guns" antibiotics to clear it up.
A minor setback, but she's doing much better now.

Weekly Update

Well, I could be to-the-point and tell you that mom is "doing well, getting better." But I'm sure you'd like a little more information than that.
But really, Mom is doing well and getting better... every day! In fact, she'd probably be pretty much okay if it weren't for some persistant mild nausea, the drain, and occasional pain from her incision. (Ok, so she's not up to a marathon yet, but who is?)
She and Dad took a field trip to Kroger (the grocery store) today to get ready for Easter this weekend. We were all jealous because she got to ride in one of those little motorized carts!
Mom was a little disappointed this week because she had to put off her trip to Indiana to stay with Jim and Faith et al. Jim has come down with a case of sinusitis and bronchitis! (It's always exciting around here, I tell you!) But the plan is, she'll go home with the Indiana Wades Easter afternoon and spend a good week with them. I know she's really looking forward to it because she keeps mentioning "cabin fever." I hope it just her surroundings and not her roommate (me!)
So, as you can see, all is well here.
Happy Easter to all of you!

Progressing Nicely...

Hopefully, Mom will be able to write her own post later today or this weekend, but I wanted to give you a brief update about this week.



We are doing very well!! Mom's energy is increasing and we were able to enjoy time outside Wednesday and Thursday when the weather was nice. (She even had us doing yard work!) Yesterday morning Faith came by with David and Alli to give us some good laughter. At one point Alli looked at Faith with absolute 3-year old frustration and told Faith, "Mommy, you are wasting my time!" Too cute for words! After Mom's doctor's appointment yesterday (she is progressing nicely) we had a cookout with Dad, Molly and Steve.



Now begins the interval between healing from the surgery and beginning the next step of treatment, so daily updates would read pretty much the same, "Doing well, getting better." So, rather than bothering you with daily updates, we thought it might be better to send you more occasional posts, as we have more important information to relay.



It has been gratifying to know that the blog has been important to you. It has been awe-inspiring to hear how many of you have been following it. I want to thank you. I have always thought my Mother was a pretty wonderful person but to see and hear how she has touched so many of you makes me feel humbled. Your support has been one of the biggest factors in keeping her spirits up. She has said all along that she feels a deep sense of peace, and that she believes that comes from you and your love. :) :)



We'll talk soon!



Jenn

Good News... and Sad News

Mom slept "the sleep of the just" last night and woke up well rested and feeling better, better, better!!

And, best of all... NO MORE ITCHING! Mom has been itchy for almost a month b/c of the bilirubin salt that built up in her skin. So, the itching gone- and a good night's sleep- is a wonderful gift!

Mom has had some tremendous support. Her sister Susan came and spent almost everyday of Mom's hospital stay at her bedside. She was the best advocate and cheerleader! We are forever indebted to her for that.

Now, Mom's sister-in-law Joan has come to stay and help. Unfortunatly, Joanie learned that her brother-in-law Reg passed away this afternoon. Reg is survived by his wife, Suzanne and their daughter Elizabeth. Please take just a moment and offer prayers and kind thoughts to all of Reg's family as they cope with this loss.

Thank God Almighty!

We are HOME AT LAST!
It was a little disappointing yesterday when we found out that Mom would not be discharged in time for Anna's birthday party, Mom wasn't sure she could handle another day in room 453. But she made it. And everything looked so good this morning that they discharged her! She is home here and settling in nicely, wrapped in a blanket and curled up next to the fire.

We really need to thank the remarkably generous and thoughtful staff at Jewish Hospital. They found small and large ways every day to make all of us- especially Mom- comfortable and welcome.

Thank you, Thank you for the prayers and support that have seen her through thus far!

Hangin' Out

Mom and I had a great afternoon yesterday! We dozed (nothing like a nap to make you feel better) we goofed off, we laughed... She is in a great mood and really recovering nicely. We're still pretty confident that she'll be released on Saturday. Then she'll meet with her oncologist the week after that to firm up her treatment plans.

Mmmmm... applesauce!

Well! After a couple of rough days I am thrilled to tell you that Mom has had a great day! She started with 1/2 a roll, some applesauce and milk. Solid food!!!

We are still on target for Mom to come home this weekend- and we can't wait!

Thanks for all your prayers and positive energy, keep 'em coming!

Improving...

Slowly but surely Mom is improving. In fact, depending on who you are, it may seem faster or slower. For example, Mom's doctor just kept saying, "Wonderful! Wonderful! You're doing great!" To which Mom replied, "If this is great, I'd hate to see what 'bad' is like!" But she's hanging in there.

We limited visitors to family only for Sunday and Monday because she just needs to rest. Sunday she was very tired. She spent most of the day dozing, although she did get up and walk some. It was really funny because Dad and I went to sit with her yesterday afternoon and all three of us ended up napping! I thought I was reading, until I opened my eyes and my sister, Molly, was standing in the room ready to take over for the night shift.

Your Support

I have to tell you that your support has been wonderful. Every time I talk to Mom, I share with her your comments, and she is overwhelmed. A number of people have emailed or called asking for Mom's contact information at the hospital because you want to send something a little more personal.

She can be reached at the address below, although I will add that Mom is in a tiny little room and said that she was afraid that flowers or other gifts would end up shoved aside. She'd love to get your cards or notes, though. For those of you that have mailed them to the house, we've been taking the cards down to the hospital daily, so she's already getting them.

Today has been another great day, she's been up and walking and she is rediscovering the joys of clear liquids. She told me this morning that the grape juice tasted amazing! Anna, Emme, David and Alli all stopped by for a visit (one at a time b/c there are too many buttons in a hospital room for little kids!) and provided much needed sunshine and general kid-wonderfulness.

All in all, a good day.

Address for Mom:

Peggy Wade
Jewish Hospital
217 East Chesnut Street
Room 453
Louisville, KY 40202

Getting better...

I'm sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get back to you, but I wanted to see her before I said anything else to you, and I got to see her yesterday evening. She's really improving quickly. Her NG tube is out and she's been up. Yesterday she walked down the hall a little!

Her doctor called her "The Yellow Rose of Texas" b/c she's a little jaundiced, but I told her I thought she had the whitest teeth I'd ever seen!

The pathology report came back with the clinical staging and it's a 2. This means she will definitely have to have chemotherapy and radiation once she heals from surgery. It's going to be a little more of a fight than we thought.

But, as Mom says all the time, she's "in great shape for the shape I'm in."

Note...

If you are trying to post a comment, I have somehow set up the blog so that they are emailed to me first. Sorry for the delay, but we are getting messages!

Thanks!

Good News!

At 11:50 this morning, I called and talked to Mom just before she was sedated. I told her about the overwhelming support she has been receiving and told her that you all were sending her prayers and positive energy. She told me, "I can feel it!"

And I guess she could. Things could not have gone better. They started surgery just before 1pm and finished right around 4:30. The doctor came out and told us that everything went really well and "there was no evidence of metastasis." YAY!

We also found out that she was off the ventilator by 5:45. She'll spend 12-24 hours in ICU- just as a precaution. Then she'll be moved to a step-down unit. The doctor said we can expect her to spend about 10 days in the hospital.

Molly, Jim and Mom's sister Sue are going to hang around this evening until Mom's out of recovery- or they get kicked out- whichever comes first; but I wanted to get home to the blog and let you know the good news...

We are so blessed!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, today was all about pre-op testing, magnesium citrate (boo!) and jello (green in honor of St. Pat!)

After a big family dinner and a quiet anointing of the sick last evening with the priest from Jim & Faith's parish, Mom's in good shape for tomorrow. She goes in at 10 and surgery starts, as she put it, "at high noon." We expect that surgery will last about 5 hours, and an hour or two of recovery, then its off to ICU for a couple of days of extra special care.

All of the family will be downtown at the hospital off-and-on tomorrow, so we'll also be celebrating Anna's 11th birthday!

I will keep you posted!

Background Info

Mom was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas last Friday after a CT scan, an ERCP with stents, and an EUS with biopsies. (And that was just for diagnosis! Whew!)

Well, she went with my dad, Richard, this morning to meet with her surgeon and everything is set for surgery at noon on this Wednesday, March 18. This surgery, called a Whipple is a pretty big deal, and will take approximately 5 hours. Then she'll be in the hospital for a week to 10 days if there are no complications.

We're all confident, and Mom is in great spirits.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers- especially Wednesday at noon!

Well, Here We Are

Hello! If you've been invited to read this, you are following Peggy Wade's cancer treatment. Some of you know me, but for those of you that don't, Peggy is my Mom. I am her middle daughter, Jennifer, the teacher. Just after she was diagnosed, Mom and I talked about the best way to keep everyone informed about her progress and we decided that- since so many people are scattered all over- and because we don't want people waiting around for phone calls and emails, this blog might be the best way to keep you in the loop. Feel free to post any questions you have, or email me at jenniferwade.mat@gmail.com. I will do my best to post every couple of days.