Hello everyone,
I wanted to quickly update you on my City of Hope visit yesterday. They were wonderful. It was great to hear (and validating) that after reviewing all of my info, the totally agree with my course of treatment from what I've already had to where we are planning to go from here. My doc will be very happy and his head can now get even bigger. :)
My surgery on the paralyzed left vocal cord is on Friday and I have been counting down the days. Please keep all the medical professionals working on me, my doc and me in your thoughts and prayers on Friday at 1:00 as I have my surgery. I pray that it will be successful and that I will be TALKING and SINGING His praises again very soon!! I can't wait to be TALKING with you all again!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Miraculous!
Well, I got my PET scan results, and it is a miracle! The decrease in size & especially cancerous activity is so significant that we are going to stop chemo! We will just have monthly checks for now. The miraculous thing is that usually I have PET scans in-between rounds of chemo, but in this case I have been off chemo for six weeks and we still had this significant decrease. Originally they always told me that even if we had a decrease, we would probably still go a few more rounds of chemo before we stopped. So I'm assuming that it must have been quite a bit for them to say we could stop for a while. Anyway, I'm very happy.
Also, thanks to my incredible aunt Ani, I am flying to southern California on Tuesday to get a second opinion on my cancer at City of Hope. It will be a day-long trip and then my long-awaited surgery for my voice is a week from tomorrow on Friday, July 24th! I'm counting down the days! Please keep me in your prayers, for the City of Hope visit to be helpful and the surgery on Friday to be successful. I am so thankful to God for this wonderful news & thankful to all of you for the prayers of support!
Also, thanks to my incredible aunt Ani, I am flying to southern California on Tuesday to get a second opinion on my cancer at City of Hope. It will be a day-long trip and then my long-awaited surgery for my voice is a week from tomorrow on Friday, July 24th! I'm counting down the days! Please keep me in your prayers, for the City of Hope visit to be helpful and the surgery on Friday to be successful. I am so thankful to God for this wonderful news & thankful to all of you for the prayers of support!
Friday, June 26, 2009
I know it's been a while. These past two weeks have been extremely tough. Coming out of a very stressful last three weeks of school, I ended up in the ER the day after graduation. I went back three more times that same week. It turned out I had a lung infection and a UTI. I'm on so many meds right now I can't believe it, but most of them will run out in a few days. I've just been sleeping away the past two weeks. The good news was that while I was in the ER they took a CT scan of my abdomen/pelvis and all was clear. The scan also caught the bottom of my chest, and when they compared it, it was exactly the same.
This chemo drug I've been on (Taxol) really took a huge toll on my body. I cannot tolerate it. My hands ended up with a horrible rash that burned and itched horribly. It gave me continuous body pains (muscles and bones) than nothing would help. There are so many other things I could go on and on. Anyway, I'm going to have a PET scan probably next week to make sure there is nothing of any urgency right now, so I can concentrate on getting strong for my voice surgery at Stanford on July 24th. I just can't wait. It will be a 2-3 hour surgery where they will rotate my left vocal cord and may also borrow a nerve from another place in my neck if necessary. I'll be at Stanford at least overnight, if not two nights. He says I'll be able to talk right away, but the voice will sound strained until the swelling inside goes down.
When I recover from the surgery, the plan (pending PET results) is to go back to chemo, this time on the drug Doxil.
Sometime in all this mess I've got an 8th birthday party to plan for Amanda, so please pray for strength! I cannot thank you all enough for your prayers and support.
This chemo drug I've been on (Taxol) really took a huge toll on my body. I cannot tolerate it. My hands ended up with a horrible rash that burned and itched horribly. It gave me continuous body pains (muscles and bones) than nothing would help. There are so many other things I could go on and on. Anyway, I'm going to have a PET scan probably next week to make sure there is nothing of any urgency right now, so I can concentrate on getting strong for my voice surgery at Stanford on July 24th. I just can't wait. It will be a 2-3 hour surgery where they will rotate my left vocal cord and may also borrow a nerve from another place in my neck if necessary. I'll be at Stanford at least overnight, if not two nights. He says I'll be able to talk right away, but the voice will sound strained until the swelling inside goes down.
When I recover from the surgery, the plan (pending PET results) is to go back to chemo, this time on the drug Doxil.
Sometime in all this mess I've got an 8th birthday party to plan for Amanda, so please pray for strength! I cannot thank you all enough for your prayers and support.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
THEY CAN FIX MY VOICE!!!
Hi everyone--
I couldn't wait to tell you. I went to an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist yesterday morning. He was wonderful. He did a complete ENT exam on me and told me that during radiation in the summer of 2007, it damaged my recurrent laryngeal nerve, which runs from the brain stem, down the neck, down the chest and back up again. This paralyzed my left vocal cord. Since it's paralyzed, it cannot meet the right cord to vibrate and make sounds properly, and I'm also losing a lot of air because of it. The right cord is trying really hard to meet the left one, but it can't reach. There is a procedure where they can move my left cord over so that the right one can meet it and I will be able to sing and talk normally again! The doc was extremely knowledgeable (Dr. Michael Murphy), but he told me that since he's still young in his career (seven years), and I make my living singing and teaching singing, he is going to send me to Stanford to see one of the top two specialists in the country for the procedure. His name is Dr. Ed Damrose, and he specializes in working with singers. He's had many articles published, two of them being specifically on the recurrent laryngeal nerve, so I'm very excited to meet him and get this done!
I am just thanking God for this news, because of everything that I've gone through in the past three and a half years since my diagnosis, this has by far been the hardest for me. I can't thank you all enough for the love, support and prayers you've given. Please--keep them coming.
I couldn't wait to tell you. I went to an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist yesterday morning. He was wonderful. He did a complete ENT exam on me and told me that during radiation in the summer of 2007, it damaged my recurrent laryngeal nerve, which runs from the brain stem, down the neck, down the chest and back up again. This paralyzed my left vocal cord. Since it's paralyzed, it cannot meet the right cord to vibrate and make sounds properly, and I'm also losing a lot of air because of it. The right cord is trying really hard to meet the left one, but it can't reach. There is a procedure where they can move my left cord over so that the right one can meet it and I will be able to sing and talk normally again! The doc was extremely knowledgeable (Dr. Michael Murphy), but he told me that since he's still young in his career (seven years), and I make my living singing and teaching singing, he is going to send me to Stanford to see one of the top two specialists in the country for the procedure. His name is Dr. Ed Damrose, and he specializes in working with singers. He's had many articles published, two of them being specifically on the recurrent laryngeal nerve, so I'm very excited to meet him and get this done!
I am just thanking God for this news, because of everything that I've gone through in the past three and a half years since my diagnosis, this has by far been the hardest for me. I can't thank you all enough for the love, support and prayers you've given. Please--keep them coming.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Well, I just realized I really haven't updated you in a while, and so much has happened. The bad news I shared in the last blog was actually incorrect. We thought the spots had grown, because San Ramon Regional was comparing the CT scan to the last scan THEY took back in November. They didn't know I had had a PET scan two months ago at another facility. There was actually not really any change from the PET two months ago to the CT at San Ramon. They had released me on Friday, I went back to school on Monday feeling fine, went to our competition on Saturday at Great America (and WON), and I've been working ever since. I was so proud of my students for getting the highest scores of the entire festival, including bands and orchestras. They also won the best overall choir, and the biggest trophy (for character ed, showing good sportsmanship). I could not be happier.
I had a follow-up with the pulmonologist and my lungs are clear and I'm doing great. I started a new (for me) chemo drug; Taxol. It is again a drug they use for many other types of cancer. I pray this one will get me to full remission. I will lose my hair again, and I've already been wearing my new wig--stop by and check it out if you get the chance! The new wig and the 52 pounds I've lost have made quite a difference in my outlook. Thank you so much for your love & support through your thoughts, prayers and emails. Please keep 'em coming...
I had a follow-up with the pulmonologist and my lungs are clear and I'm doing great. I started a new (for me) chemo drug; Taxol. It is again a drug they use for many other types of cancer. I pray this one will get me to full remission. I will lose my hair again, and I've already been wearing my new wig--stop by and check it out if you get the chance! The new wig and the 52 pounds I've lost have made quite a difference in my outlook. Thank you so much for your love & support through your thoughts, prayers and emails. Please keep 'em coming...
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Hi Everyone--
Hope you all had a wonderful spring break. I got sick the day after Easter,
was hospitalized Thursday and came home Friday night. They found fluid in my lungs, and after a CT scan, Echo and seeing a pulmonologist, they said there was no clot in my lungs (which they originally suspected). That was the good news. The bad news was that the spots on my lungs were starting to grow (well, I have been off chemo for three months). I also had a touch of pneumonia. I guess it's some kind of coincidence that a week after tour last year and a week after tour this year I ended up with pneumonia. Now that my toe is healing up, I'm seeing my oncologist on Wed. to start a new plan with yet another type of chemo. I'll be losing my hair again, but then I'm pretty much bald already, so I'm happy to go back to a wig. I've been on antibiotics and diuretics to get rid of the fluid, and today I feel much better, praise God! I hope to get right back to school on Monday and can't wait to see my students and prepare for our competition a week from today! Please keep me in your prayers for us to get the right chemo drug to get rid of this thing and go into full remission. I believe it will happen.
P.S. I hope you all saw my student Nick when he asked his girlfriend to the prom on Good Morning America Monday! (she said yes) you go Nick! :)
Hope you all had a wonderful spring break. I got sick the day after Easter,
was hospitalized Thursday and came home Friday night. They found fluid in my lungs, and after a CT scan, Echo and seeing a pulmonologist, they said there was no clot in my lungs (which they originally suspected). That was the good news. The bad news was that the spots on my lungs were starting to grow (well, I have been off chemo for three months). I also had a touch of pneumonia. I guess it's some kind of coincidence that a week after tour last year and a week after tour this year I ended up with pneumonia. Now that my toe is healing up, I'm seeing my oncologist on Wed. to start a new plan with yet another type of chemo. I'll be losing my hair again, but then I'm pretty much bald already, so I'm happy to go back to a wig. I've been on antibiotics and diuretics to get rid of the fluid, and today I feel much better, praise God! I hope to get right back to school on Monday and can't wait to see my students and prepare for our competition a week from today! Please keep me in your prayers for us to get the right chemo drug to get rid of this thing and go into full remission. I believe it will happen.
P.S. I hope you all saw my student Nick when he asked his girlfriend to the prom on Good Morning America Monday! (she said yes) you go Nick! :)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Hello everyone--
Well, I'm home from the hospital. The surgeon was very pleased. It went very smoothly. The surgeon was wonderful. He said that with the toe gone, it should help to give my body's immune system a boost. I felt so blessed to have had my friend Tom watching over me (even though he was way too busy in OB that day).
I had to have my little mourning cry at 3:30 am when they changed the dressing and I had the first look at the foot without a big toe, but I got over it. It was nice to wake up with no pain, although the pain started in yesterday about 11:30 am. I'm dealing with it, and am sure it is going to get better and better each day. I have to heal so I can be well enough to take my 30 Chamber Singers to Disneyland April 3-5. I'm going to try to get back to school either Monday or Tuesday with my little scooter to move around the classroom. Amanda loves the scooter, and wants to have scooter races with me--well I'm not quite ready for that yet :) I also want to get in to see at least the second weekend of performances of our musical, Bye Bye Birdie.
I thank each and every one of you for the support, love and especially prayers, because I couldn't have asked for an easier experience, and I know that is what helped. Thanks also for all the encouraging emails!
Well, I'm home from the hospital. The surgeon was very pleased. It went very smoothly. The surgeon was wonderful. He said that with the toe gone, it should help to give my body's immune system a boost. I felt so blessed to have had my friend Tom watching over me (even though he was way too busy in OB that day).
I had to have my little mourning cry at 3:30 am when they changed the dressing and I had the first look at the foot without a big toe, but I got over it. It was nice to wake up with no pain, although the pain started in yesterday about 11:30 am. I'm dealing with it, and am sure it is going to get better and better each day. I have to heal so I can be well enough to take my 30 Chamber Singers to Disneyland April 3-5. I'm going to try to get back to school either Monday or Tuesday with my little scooter to move around the classroom. Amanda loves the scooter, and wants to have scooter races with me--well I'm not quite ready for that yet :) I also want to get in to see at least the second weekend of performances of our musical, Bye Bye Birdie.
I thank each and every one of you for the support, love and especially prayers, because I couldn't have asked for an easier experience, and I know that is what helped. Thanks also for all the encouraging emails!
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