Hi Everyone—
Well, I went to see the pain specialist and he was awesome! He was the first doc that actually was able to give me pain meds orally that took away the pain!! I am not out of the woods with this toe, though. He would like to do a pain block (possibly the first of three) on me on Wednesday, but before he does it he wants me to have the toe evaluated by yet another surgery, to make sure the toe is salvageable. Even though it has already been evaluated by my regular doc, my oncologist, a rheumatologist and a vascular surgeon, he’s still not sure I won’t need an amputation of the toe. So your prayers are really needed here. Of course I don’t want to lose my toe! If all goes well with the evaluation on Tuesday, then we will proceed with the pain block on Wed. Thanks so very much for your support in thoughts and prayers! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone! We all have a lot to be thankful for!

Well I thought I’d bring you all up-to-date on where I’m at right now, since being in the hospital. I went for a follow-up at the cardiologist, and had a normal rhythm EKG. They were very pleased and don’t need to see me back for six weeks; just before Christmas. I also saw the vascular surgeon, and both agree that now that my heart is on the mend, my toes should be too. They say that there are little “embolic” clots in the very tip of my toes, stemming from the heart problem, which is stemming from chemo. Of course all roads lead back to chemo. In the meantime, I’ve been in excruciating pain with the toes. My oncology nurse practitioner said she couldn’t stand seeing me in such pain, and gave me liquid morphine to get through the nights until these toes clear up. Thanks to my good friend Dr. Tom, I’ve been hooked up with a pain specialist. I have to wait until Thursday to see him. I’m hoping he can help—I’m sure he can. Thanks, Tom! The good news is I took the liquid morphine last night and it got me through without any help from the Lidocaine creams & patches I’ve been using. I even got through the entire day today teaching and didn’t need to use any Lidocaine, so maybe it is starting to get better. It’s very hard to walk on because the big toe is blistered all over from all the pain meds I’ve used on it. Please do keep me (and my toes) in your prayers for a quick resolution. I was able to get back on my chemo regimen yesterday. Thank you for all the wonderful emails I’ve been getting from all of you. They really help.

Hi everyone--
Well, I'm home. It was interesting. I went to the ER and my heart rate was 167. They kept giving me IV meds to bring it down, but it would only go down for a little while and then it would go back up. It stayed high all weekend. After two IVs gone bad (the meds leaked into my arms), both of my arms are red, swollen and extremely sore. My veins are shot from chemo. They did another echo and this time it showed my heart function was basically normal! They didn't know if things had changed or if the other echo I had at ValleyCare was just wrong. Finally yesterday morning (Monday) they put me under for a few minutes and shocked my heart back into a normal rhythm. Now I just need to keep it that way. They're calling it an "atrial flutter." I feel much better now, but still weak. I have the best of intentions to return to school tomorrow, but will see how I feel. After all, I still have Halloween candy to give out to my students!! I cannot get over all the wonderful emails you have sent. Please know that your prayers are getting me through all of this and I truly appreciate them!

Well, I saw the cardiologist on Friday, he wasn’t much help. He changed some medications, can’t figure out what’s wrong with my foot or why my heart function is low. His best guess was the chemo or the radiation to the chest. He wants me to have a nuclear stress test, which is scheduled for Friday, and then come back for a follow-up. I was pretty fed up, so I called my oncologist. He thinks I may have a virus (since I’ve had a fever) that is really kicking my behind, so he prescribed a six-day steroid. I do feel a bit better. I actually started feeling better Saturday morning before I started them. If things continue this way I’m hoping to be in school tomorrow. I’m still moving slowly and out of breath, but I definitely feel better. I hope to go back to chemo on Thursday. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. It really gets me through.

Well, so much has happened, and yet so little. It took all day to get ahold of the cardiologist, and now I’m going to see him in the morning. For some reason, I had a fever today, so now the oncologist thinks I probably have a bug and that’s why I’m so weak. They changed my antibiotic to something super strong. Then they called back and said they read my labs a second time and realized my sodium was extremely low (to the point where most people would be hospitalized), and that I need to cut my fluids way back to a liter and a half a day--so much for “flushing out the bug.” My heart rate was quite high yesterday in the hospital, so they put me on something to bring it down. It seems to be working. We decided to hold off on chemo this week and start round 13 next week. I know it’s confusing. I’ll update after I see the cardiologist and maybe I’ll have some answers. Thanks for the prayers, everyone!

Hi everyone--
Well, I've been in the ER all day. I'm home now. I wouldn't let them keep me in that jail overnight. There is something wrong wtih my heart. It's functioning at 45%. I guess that's probably why my toes are blue. I'm seeing a cardiologist tomorrow. Supposed to have chemo too, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. They did bloodwork, a chest x-ray, a CT angiogram, an echocardiogram and an EKG (all today). They want me home from work this week, but I plan to be back Monday. I hate being at home and miss my students. Please keep the prayers going--they are what gets me through all of this. Thanks so much everyone.

Hi everyone--
I thought I'd update you, since it's been a while. I just finished round 12 of chemo. I became a little anemic this last round again, so I got my Aranesp shot and now some of the tiredness is getting better. The last few weeks I've been exhausted. I'm not sure if my next scan will be after round 13 or round 14.
I still don't have any resolution with my toes. The angiogram also showed no significant circulation problems, and yet my toes are still blue, cold, numb and painful. Now they want to do an echocardiogram. I've been seeing doctor after doctor for over five weeks now and no one can figure it out. I'm a little worried because I've noticed the toenails on that foot are not even growing, and yet I get no reaction from the doctors when I tell them that. I'm thinking about acupuncture for the pain. I'm just saying my prayers and trusting I will have an answer sometime soon. Thank you so much for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers!