PET results and Recovery from Surgery

 

So I'm starting recovery again, and this time there was more pain the first few days but I'm actually starting to feel better more quickly.  I still need to be very easy on my right arm to prevent complications, as 6 lymph nodes were removed on that side. (I'm going to a lymphodema prevention specialist on Tuesday and will find out more about restrictions during recovery about that time.)   I will forever have an increased risk of infection on the right side, and will need to be careful about touching anything that may have bacteria with my right hand (hello cleaning gloves!).  Please join us in praying that there are no complications with having had the nodes removed, especially lymphodema, which is incurable.  Please also join us in praising God that preliminary results show no cancer in the auxiliary lymph nodes!  This is especially miraculous, as my PET results came back CLEAN except for a small spot on the right lymph nodes (which the doctor is now saying was probably just inflammation left over after the other surgery!)  Last time we had a "clear lymph nodes" result at surgery, they found a microscopic cancer in the sentinel lymph node later.  This, combined with the spot on the PET, lead my surgical oncologist to remove all the auxiliary lymph nodes on the right side on levels 1 and 2 (out of 3 levels).  We are praising God for the preliminary results and asking God for a "clear of all visible cancer" result after pathology results come back.  

Jimmy (and Josh) have sweetly worn their "team Jen" shirts a few times, sometimes pulling them out of the dirty laundry saying "I want to wear my punch mom's cancer in the booty shirt!" . . . Love them so much.  Though they can't understand everything, they are interested in learning and understanding as much as they can.  Its so neat seeing them, particularly Jimmy, trust God to care for me.  Jimmy told me today that God healed me from my cancer but I still need medicine keep it from coming back. He also said that God is really the only one that can "beat up" cancer.   So much wisdom from such a young mind.  We are praying that Jimmy is right that the cancer is gone!  We 

will find out more on Friday and Monday about: the PET scan, the oncotype (cancer genetics= aggressive nature of the cancer), and the pathology results from the lymph nodes removed on Tuesday.   Please pray for low aggressiveness, clear lymph nodes in the recent surgery, and clear definitive result of no cancer on the PET scan (now that we have removed and tested lymph nodes in the questionable area).  

Please also pray that I heal quickly from the surgery and am able to start chemo on the scheduled date.  The sweet nurses gave me a heart for my surgery drain (starting over again with that!  :P).  My surgical oncologist reminds me of a caring father, "You're gonna be okay kid."  We are blessed beyond measure with my treatment team (and they all meet together to make sure all the bases are covered!)  Please pray that God guides us in finding and making decisions on reputable IV nutrition from holistic physicians that are willing to work with my hemotology oncologist and is knowledgeable, yet sympathetic to the financial hurdles of cancer patients.

I can't thank you all enough.  For those not on facebook, I wanted to share this recent post I made:

  

To the individual that annonymously blessed us with $100 for my cancer treatment (among so many others who have blessed us with prayers, giftcards, gifts, etc): We cannot thank you enough. We are embarking on a journey, where only conventional medicine is covered by insurance. In addition to chemotherapy, we are hoping I can have nutritional IVs to build up and detox my body, at times when my oncologist says its ok. This seems like a no brainer. My kidneys and heart are already struggling before chemo, so we need to strengthen them as much as possible. This is not covered by insurance and costs $150-$200 per IV, costing upwards of $3000 total. We are using vegetable juicing and essential oils with very high anti-oxident properties to neutralize cancer causing free radicals. This is not covered by insurance, yet taking these steps to strengthen my body yields a 50 percent reduction in cancer re-occurrence. Using caps to save my hair is also not covered by insurance. Thank you kind person, for helping me to stay strong, and in turn helping me to be strong for my kids and my family. We cannot thank you enough! (And in case you didn't catch it, we are thankful for ALL that are sacrificing for us, I am using this as an example. Though we are stretched, we would not even be able to think about some of these treatments if we didn't have help. Thanks for showing us love!)

See this:

Several studies of high-dose vitamin C in patients with cancer have been done in recent years, including the following:

Studies of vitamin C alone

Intravenous (IV) vitamin C was studied in patients with breast cancer who were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The study found that patients who received IV vitamin C had better quality of life and fewer side effects than those who did not.
A study of IV vitamin C and high doses of vitamin C taken by mouth was done in patients with cancer that could not be cured. Vitamin C was shown to be a safe and effective therapy to improve quality of life in these patients, including physical, mental, and emotional functions, symptoms of fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, and appetite loss.
Vitamin C has been shown to be safe when given to healthy volunteers and cancer patients at doses up to 1.5 g/kg, while screening out patients with certain risk factors who should avoid vitamin C. Studies have also shown that Vitamin C levels in the blood are higher when taken by IV than when taken by mouth, and last for more than 4 hours.