Where is my morphine

The surgery went fairly well yesterday. The surgeon replaced the malfunctioning port and installed a new port. The nurses did have some trouble accessing it after the surgery which made Andrea very nervous. Eventually, the nurses were able to successfully access the ports and they have been working great ever since. There is no sign of leaking and Andrea is being administered her chemotherapy drugs through the ports without a problem. I am hoping this was her very last surgery.

The multiple surgeries, however, and having doctors/nurses mess with her port has caused her a great deal of pain in her shoulder. Most of the day yesterday after the surgery, last night, and this morning she has been in a ton of pain. For some reason, also, it is always a struggle with the doctors to get her enough pain medication so that she can be comfortable. I have asked the doctors this morning to get her a PCA pump. It is a device that automatically administer morphine to Andrea and she can also press a button to administer more morphine when she is really bad pain. They should be able to get that for her and that has really helped in the past.

The goal for today is no surgeries and just some rest and relaxation. As she gets further in time from her surgeries, hopefully, the pain will subside and she will feel better.

Another surgery today

Well, yesterday was somewhat of a whirl-wind. As you may know, Andrea a few days ago was supposed to have a new port-a-cath installed because the one she had surgically implanted in her shoulder was defective. Instead of replacing that port, however, the surgeon simply "moved" the port to a new location. So, she still has a defective port. All of us were very disappointed that a new port was not installed. The surgeon did try and assure us that it was checked and was working properly.

Yesterday, however, the port started leaking again. Andrea was in intense pain all day due to perhaps the leak and the placement of the moved port. In the end, the defective port reared its ugly head and the surgery a few days ago was for nothing. We also had to stop her chemo for a day because it cannot be adminisitered with a leaky port.

So, today, Andrea AGAIN is having another surgery for her port. This time it will be fully replaced. After the surgery, they will start the chemo back up. This is really frustrating for Andrea and all of us. This will be her fourth surgical procedure to deal with what is supposed to be a simple surgical operation. I am not sure why the doctors tell us one thing will happen and a competely different result occurs. Its frustrating, very painful for Andrea, and all of it is completely unnecessary.

Hopefully, this will be her last surgery. On a more positive note, even through all this, Andrea stayed postive most of yesterday and even took some walks with Mrs. Taylor and watched a little TV with me. She is in remission and things from a cancer point of view are looking great. Things from a surgery point of view, not so great. Also, I did take a short break from the blog to study, but now I am done with my exams and should be in full blogging force.

Anshul

out of surgery

dear family and friends
Andrea did well after surgery unfortunately the new site was placed in an area that has been very painful, she can't move her right arm without extreme pain. But she is resting with the pain medications and this morning she enjoyed alittle breakfast and my reading her the letter from Ralph, Patty and the bog. I put up some of the pictures you've sent and the new cards and letters which she enjoys waking up too. We also read a couple of the jokes of the day. In fact since Andrea's surgery was so late in the day she felt terrible by the time they got her started at around 4pm, The anesteaialogist was very good and made her comfortable within a few minutes, which was a relief. So we read extra Sam and Emily jokes that afternoon. :-)
Also unfortunatly also we planned on the defective port being removed and being replaced but the surgeon thought it appeared to be working when then moved it and thought it would be better to try that, however it still doesn't work as it should and after being checked by nurses on floor and then Dr. Kents and his nurse he told Andrea it needs replaced. So poor Andrea has to go back to surgery and have it replaced and it is scheduled on Friday. One part of the port is working as before but since they needed a dual port because of all the chemo and other drug interactions they are able to use it for some chemo but the port it has to be replaced so they can do multiple chemo and other drugs at one time.
We were all upset and sad about this but when we think about it as Dr. Kent still says
ANDREA IS IN REMISSION :-) and so hopefully this next port will work great till she is done in hopefully four more months. Also Dr. Kent said when he did his bone biopsy the bone had felt mushy not even like bone the first time but this time it was a very hard bone to get a specimen so though she has more bruising and pain there compared to the first time it's a "good hard bone" "It's amazing." Yah :-)
Andrea started with me a few moments into the blog but is now asleep. So I am sending this up date and our thanks and love Sharon and Andrea

Remission...possibly

Dear Family and Friends,

I had my pet scan yesterday and saw Dr. Kent afterward who told me that I am now in Remission!!! The CT Scan and Pet scan were remarkable. :) We cried and hugged. He also mentioned that because i have responded so quickly to the chemo treatments (thoughts, prayers ,love and H-milk XOXO) that my complete cure and the chance of it coming back is extremely low. I am so thankful. It still makes me cry thinking about it. I have four more months of difficult treatment but I at least know it's to keep it away.

I have a red tender area on my head that has been slowly getting worse and Dr. Kent wasn't sure what it was so he sent me to a dermatologist after his apt and they weren't sure but because I'm a cancer patient they automatically thought it could be cancer. I was in complete shock and really upset. Dr. Kent has done at least 3 tests on my head and examined it and he never thought that. In fact when mom was worried about an infection in that area he immediately told her it was not lymphoma and that it doesn't spread that way but it could be inflammation from a fungal or drug reaction that i've had. We don't really believe the derm but Dr. Kent will let me know.

I am checking in for surgery today after 1pm so keep me in your thoughts. I have to replace the port the first surgeon screwed up and a bone biopsy then I start another round of chemo tonight. rough day.

I have had several good days this past week. Mom and I went to the zoo. We enjoyed the birds and gorillas. I was able to see Crizen. Mom, Dad, Crizen, and I went for my nightly walk but added Dairy Queen. :) I also enjoyed going to Layton's Baptistism.

these next few months will still be hard from the treatments, although I feel a little stronger from this time off to heal a little, I want to thank you all for your thoughts, posts, pictures, cards, and prayers I truly believe they help me everyday.

I love and miss you.

love andrea rose (hopefully cancer free)

Big Day for Andrea Today

Hi everyone,

I apologize I have been MIA on the blog - I have a big test coming up (IL bar). I wanted to post today because it is big day for Andrea today. She is having a CT-scan and P.E.T.-scan of her chest-abdomen-pelvis. These scans will hopefully show that she either has no cancer left or minimal amounts left. She is extremely nervous and very emotional today. She can use everyone's positive energy, prayers, and thoughts.

I am hoping that the scans go well today and am hoping for positive results.

Edit: The PET-scan has been rescheduled for Monday. Andrea was very upset about that but I am still hopeful for positive results.

Anshul

Making progress

Dear Family and Friends,

I realize the postings have been fewer lately but I am doing okay. Everything still makes me tired but having more normal moments. I have been walking, eating, and trying to mentally get relaxed yet also back into fighter mode. They have me on meds to help save my fertility but the side effects of hot flashes(many, many, many hot flashes) and extra emtions have made things harder. Mom and I are quite a pair together with the hot flashes.

I had my apt. with Dr. Kent on Monday. He still wasn't to happy about my wound so I have until Tuesday to get as much healing done as possible. Tuesday will be a really hard day. I am having surgery to replace the port that the first surgery screwed up, a bone biopsy (to see if it is still in my hip), and if the wound is healed enough they may close it (doubtful due to increased chance of infection). Then that same evening I start another round of chemo. Anshul also takes the bar that tue. and wed. So extra loving thoughts on Tuesday would be helpful.

I went on a wonderful walk with dad at the lincoln park gardens on Monday. They were very relaxing. I went with mom to target this morning. i had a freak out moment halfway through but with moms help pulled myself back together. lots of people and stuff were alot but I walked past a summer dress and I think that was the freak out moment. When I was dreaming of summer and making summer dresses for me and kathleen this past winter this is soooo not what I would ever have imagined. How upsetting but everyday I am trying to get stronger and everyones cards, posts, and thoughts help so much.

Mom and i had a nice lunch and a wonderful walk this evening. She has been working so hard and is such comfort for me. I am so lucky. Anshul has been really studing hard for the bar exam next week and as tired as he is his love and help have been a comfort. Kathleen moves to Indy the first of August and I am soooo looking forward to her wonderful joyful spirit. She always comforts me.

It's the end of my day and I am tired but mom and I are going to try the lincoln park zoo tomorrow morning for some fun. Mom's fixed dinner and we are going to relax and watch some tv.

I love and miss everyone. Thank you for all the love.

Love Andrea

Time off

(note to everyone I wrote this several days ago but I am still learning and everyday seems
Hi everyone,

It has been a few days since my last post. It has been busy and slow at the same time. Taking a few walks, eating, drinking lots of fluids and trying to get back in a good mental state of mind. I had a doctors apt on Friday in hopes to help heal my wound faster so i can start chemo again but she forgot to order the equipment so i won't get it until Monday. I was really upset because any delay means less healing.

I (with the majority of the help being my mom) watched my nephew Layton. Anshul was able to get him to grab his feet. Layton was a joy and such a happy little guy. Later Morgan, me, my mom went for lunch. My first time actually eating at a restaurant.

My dad came up on Saturday and we went for a really long walk along the lake. It was very tiring but proof that i am getting stronger. It helps that mom, dad, and I rewarded ourselves by sitting by the lake and eating ice cream.

I miss and love everyone. Love Andrea

I'm Home!!!

Dear family and friends,

After two very difficult months I am going to post on my own today. This is an emotional blog for me. I have completed two incredibly hard emotionally and physically months of treatments and hospitalizations from so many complications. There are no words to describe how hard and sad this has been for me but the love and support from everyone has truly helped me get through this so far.

My last hospitalization was an extremely hard time because i have had almost no time in the last two months to be at home and not feel totally out of it and sick. I have depended on the letters, cards, packages and postings to remind me of how loved I am. Mom taped the pictures and letters on the wall in front of me. They were a constant source of comfort and reminders of how loved I am and this will soon ( hopefully) be a terrible moment in time.

Uncle Toms letters reminded me of how wonderful and funny moments we shared as i was just a little girl. Karen's postings have been great and her buckeyes are being greatly enjoyed. The notes and pictures from Beckey have such wonderful memories. The packages from my family and friends have been so much fun. Sam and Emily's notes and jokes for the day have made me smile. Lauren has provided me with the extra nourishment of friendship and love by sending me her H-milk. Crizen has helped me with my hair (and lack there of). There have been so many cards, letters, packages, postings, thoughts and prayers and each and every one of them have touched my heart and is helping me get through this.

I am so thankful I have such loving family and friends. I am 1/3 of the way through and my doctor thinks that as far as tough treatments are concerned that I am halfway through. Due to complications from surgury he has decided to delay chemo for another week. It will be much needed for my body and my mind. It will also be a much needed break for my mom, dad, kathleen, anshul and his family who have worried and fought and worked soooo very hard for me. This has been really hard on them and they have helped me surrive and fight this.

I love and miss everyone. Thank you for loving me so much.

Love Andrea

Andrea is at home!

Andrea is safely at home. She is feeling great and no nausea in sight. She was discharged at 1 pm today and had a great day at home. We played with Jaden and Max- our neighbors/friends' kids, took walks, and had some gyros. A great day and one of the best at home since Andrea was first admitted into the hospital.



She felt so good today that she wheeled Mr Taylor out of the hospital.

Another Good Day Today

Andrea had another good day today. Again, no nausea, lots of walks, and she even had a couple small meals. She is feeling really good and looking forward to going home tomorrow.

Her dad came up today. So, Mr. Taylor and I will hopefully be escorting her home tomorrow.

Good day today

I think we have finally found a cure for the nausea - Valium. Yesterday, Andrea has a bunch of scans/tests and even a MRI of her head/ear. All of the tests came back normal except they did show that Andrea probably has vertigo. It may be caused by all the drugs she has had or the infection in the mouth. They prescribed small dose of valium for it and it has seemed to really work.

She has had hardly any nausea today. Only time she felt even a tad bit is when she was not administered the Valium on time. Even with that, she did not vomit at all today. She is eating and drinking more, taking more walks, and on the way to recovery. Also, Kathleen flew in last night and that has further added to Andrea's good mood. Overall, a very good day today and I am hoping that she progresses even further tomorrow and the nausea continues to be a thing of the past.

Good night everyone.

Nausea is still there

According to Andrea, the three things that she is currently dealing with is:
1) nausea - not being to keep fluids/food down
2) pain in her mouth due to mouth sores and her wound and
3) being loopy and not herself due to all the medication.

The pain has been manageable for a few days now and yesterday was the first day in a long time where she was not loopy and herself. So, we are making progress in that regard. However, the nausea is still there and she still cannot keep hardly any fluids/food down. She has an appointment today with a hearing specialist and a ear/nose/throat doctor to determine if vertigo is possible cause of nausea. Hopefully, we will get to the bottom of it today. Until she can eat and keep fluids in and keep hydrated, she is not comfortable going home.

We have gotten rid many of her problems. If we can get the nausea under wraps, Andrea will feel much better and will have a nice break at home. Hopefully, that can happen soon and she can go home this weekend.

Happy Anniversary to me!

Update: The nausea came back. We are trying to figure out why and hopefully we can get her feeling better again soon.

Everyone,

Andrea is feeling amazing today. The best day by far since she started chemo!

Let me give you some history. Yesterday started off good, but went downhill fast. Her counts kept coming up but as she got an appetite and starting eating, she got nauseated. She was throwing up all day and was very emotional. She was frustrated, mad, and upset that (1) she could keep anything down, (2) she was in pain, and (3) she was loopy and confused and hasn't been herself in a long time. Then, in the evening, Dr. Kent, her primary doctor, came in and talked to her and took off the drugs she was currently using. He put her on some other drugs for nausea and they worked great.

She was still not comfortable last night, but when we woke up this morning, she felt great. She was herself, talking up a storm, ate a good breakfast, in very little pain, and so far NO NAUSEA. This is definitely the best she has felt since her chemo started. And all this comes on the day we got married about 4 years ago.

So, happy anniversary to me.

White blood cells are back

Her white blood count is getting back to normal. They were 1.82 today. That made her feel better. She was very chipper in the morning and slept great last night.

Her mouth sores are improving. However, her abdominal wound is now infected and more painful. It is not looking so good now. Also her nausea came back today. So, good morning turned into a not so pleasant afternoon/evening.

She is also having tests done, a bone scan, cat san, pet scan, in the next few days. Hopefully, those tests will show that the cancer is completely gone or at least the tumor is ver tiny.

So we took some steps forward and some back. Hopefully, she will keep improving and the wound will not become an issue. The doctors may discharge us to go home this thursday. If her wound doesn't improve, we may be here longer. So, we are staying positive and looking forward to good news tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Mom (Raj Mangal)

Today was an okay day. Health wise, Andrea's counts did not come up much. Her white blood count is only 0.03. It is on the rise though. She was still in pain today from her mouth sores and could not eat anything. The positive news, however, is that she is visibly getting better. I think in a few days she will be okay. Today may have been the turning point. We are hoping that it was.



Also, today was my mom's 54th birthday (dot not feather) (you will only laugh at the last parenthetical joke if you knew my mom is an Indian from India and Andrea's mom is part Cherokee). My parents came up to Chicago to visit Andrea and it lifted Andrea's spirits a lot. We sang happy birthday, ate cake, and played a little monopoly. Andrea and her parents got my mom a card. Vipul (my brother), my dad, and I have still yet to get my mom a present. The Taylors are making us Mangal's look bad - they would not even let me sign the card. Maybe next year.

We are getting ready for bed and hoping her counts come up tomorrow. In the meantime, above are some pictures from our festivities.

A little better today

Andrea is a little better today relatively. She does not have as much pain in her mouth. Though, she still cannot eat anything because it hurts her to swallow. She is keeping down fluids and does not seem to be nauseated.

She even today a very short walk with Mr. & Mrs. Taylor. Her white blood count is still very low. Yesterday, her count was 0.01 and today it is 0.02. So, it is trending upwards and hopefully they will be back to normal in 2-3 days. I think that she will feel much better as soon as her counts increase. That seems to be what happened after the last round of chemotherapy.

I am hoping she keeps improving, even if it is in small increments. I think she will and hopefully will be able to enjoy a few days at home next week before her next round of chemo.

Back in the hospital

It was a rough rough night last night and terrible day today. Yesterday, Andrea developed some mouth sores and last night they became really painful. She said it felt like someone had shot her in the back of the neck. As a result, she could not shallow anything without a great deal of pain. Additionally she got very nauseated. So, we had a very late night last night and thought today would be better.

Today was even worse. The sores got much worse and she had a fever of 101.6 and possibly an infection. So, we rushed her to the ER and now she a bit more stable. She is still in a lot of pain and she still can't eat or drink becuase of the sores, but it is at least manageable now. She is getting a great deal of antibiotics and pain meds.

Hopefully, these meds will help and she can get out of here in a few days. I wish she could just have one reasonably happy and pain free day at home.

Thanks everyone!

Dear family and friends,

I read the notes to Andrea this morning they all made Andrea smile. My blog comments are a mixture of comments from Andrea because she is still too sick to do it but is well enough to enjoy them and add comments that I pass on along with a few of my moms notes. The days at home have been tough but still better than in the hospital. These days we've had a few tears about the unfairness of it all. The nausea seemed to get a little better, but then she got abdominal pain and cramps. Today that seemed a little better but now she has painful mouth and throat sores with improving nausea and abdominal pain.

She has kept down milk, a little apple juice and couple slices of toast these last few days. That has not been enough today as she got really weak just trying to stand up. So we have to get more fluids in-that is goal today. She has been too weak to go outside or even take a shower. Today should be her lowest count day and hopefully we can start making steady progress toward her feeling better.

When she is having a bad moment we stop and think about all the positive energy and love you all are sending her and that gives her comfort thinking that. At times it makes her sad because she misses you all and wants her normal life back. Its still a comfort though knowing you are all there and when she is better soon she'll get to enjoy seeing everyone again.

She also really loves my reading her your letters. Last night when she was feeling bad she smiled and remembered Tom singing grateful dead songs to her in the car and the trip to Florida and the letter about the twins brought back memories from camp. The pictures of the twin were also fun. The twins were so cute and getting so big. Grandma's garden looks amazing.... go grandma. In all, the package from Lisa, John, Sam & Emily was fun. We are working on the jar of jokes several times a day.

Marys cookies also made us both smile and, yes ,Karen we are still looking for a few buckeyes in the mail. Thank you everyone for everything. It means so much to Andrea and to all of us at her side trying to help her through this nightmare of an experience.

We send our love,
Andrea and Sharon

Relaxing at home

Andrea is at home relaxing. She has still been nauseated, but she is getting better day by day. She is also feeling very tired because her white blood count is down. We are hoping to make it to this coming weekend without going to the hospital. Her counts should be back up by then and we will be safe from infections. Also, she is thankful to everyone for their love and for their cards, letters, and blog spots. She loves reading them.