Earl's third chemo treatment

Earl received the third round of chemo today. He will get a fourth treatment next Monday. Then he will go in on Sept. 3rd for blood work to see what his CA19-9 is. This will give them some idea as to how the chemo is working.

He also got a shot today to help with the diarrhea. He got the shot around noon and can tell tonight that it is helping. The shot is supposed to work for 30 days!! This has been such a big problem for weeks. I know he will be so happy, if it really works.

Earl will go back to get results of blood work on Sept. 8th.

Update on Aunt Gladys

Email from Sandra on 8/18/08:

Everyone,
Thank you so much for your prayers, visits, and encouragement
for mother. Ten days after her bowel resection, which is a
major surgery for a 40 yr. old, she is leaving the hospital
today to go to Morningview Transitional Care. 

She is doing well with the pain, and is determined to get
her strength back again.  At 91 yrs. old, it may take a few
weeks to get her back to the point she can again live in her
assisted living apartment, but she is determined.  Mom is
having difficulty eating, as nothing tastes good wish I had
that problem!), but she is faithfully drinking Ensure each day
which will provide some nourishment.

She is most upset about missing so many Sundays at Madison
Avenue!  I appreciate all who have come to visit her.

When she gets to Morningview Transitional Care, she will be
listed as Gladys Russell.

Thanks so much for caring!

Sandra

Up on Aunt Gladys

Aunt Gladys is having good days and not so good days. Her bowels and kidneys seem to be back on course. They have been getting her to walk some. She sits up on side of bed to eat. When she walks she has pain at her incision. Pain seems to be her main problem. She may get out of the hospital Monday or Tuesday.

Update on Earl's treatments

Took Earl back to the doctor last Friday for his second shot. Turns out he wasn't supposed to get another one that soon. We didn't find out why he had been told to come back. Wasted trip!

Blood work on Monday showed his white count is much improved. He is scheduled for the third treatment next Monday. Then a scan to see if the chemo is doing anything. No schedule yet for scan.

Please continue to pray!

Lillian

Update on Gladys

(Copied from email Tues afternoon)

Everyone,

Thanks so much for the prayers for mother's recovery!
After her bowel resection last Friday, we were afraid
she was facing renal failure over the weekend.  Her
doctors have done a great job of dealing with that,
and she has apparently "turned the corner" today.

The doctors have reduced the amount of pain medication
she is receiving, so the pain is a problem.  They felt
she needed to be more alert to be able to get up, and
sit in a chair, etc.  Today her bowel system worked,
so there was celebration by the nurses!

We all know that 91 years is a good, long life, but
I think mother plans to be here a good while longer.

Thanks again for prayers and support.

Sandra

Update on Aunt Gladys

Surgeon removed about 10" of her colon, untwisted a kink that was found in her colon below the tumor, and repaired a hernia. She was having a lot of pain after surgery, so an epidural was done to help control that. Doctor now thinks the kink/twist may have been causing the blockage.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, her kidneys are not working very well. She has been given a lot of IV's to try to get her kidneys working, but is not having much output yet. Nurses were trying to contact the Doctor to find out what should be done about her kidneys.

She is doing better. Not having very much pain today. Not using much pain medicine.

Please remember her and her family as you pray.

Lillian Lancaster

Surgery for my Aunt

Gladys Russell (91 yrs old)
March 14, 2008 at funeral of her sister, Kate

Gladys Russell, my Aunt, spent eight days in the hospital
week before last. She was having abdominal pain and Dr.
thought her stomach was just not emptying because the
muscles were not working right. She was put on a drug to
make the stomach contract and hopefully empty better.

She had been out of the hospital for seven or eight days
when she was re-admitted to the hospital this week due to
bleeding from colon. Her daughter, Sandra, was called
at 4 a.m. and went and picked her up and took her to the
hospital.

A colonoscopy was done Thursday. They found the bleeding came
from diviticulitus(sp?). Looking higher up in the colon, they
found a cancerous tumor that was virtually blocking her colon.
This may have been the reason for her stomach not emptying.
If not for the bleeding, the tumor would likely not have been
found.

Surgery is planned for sometime today (Friday). Doctor is to
meet with the family Fri. a.m.

Dr told Gladys that if she had to have the tumor, it was in
the best place. They should be able to remove it and do
resection. Dr. doing the scope did not think it was involved
outside her colon. He was pretty certain it is cancer. Biopsy
was taken.

Colon cancer seems to run in the Trentham family. If you
aren't being checked every five years, you should check
with your doctor. Colon cancer is so treatable, if found
early. Otherwise, it is a silent killer. THERE ARE NO SYMPTOMS
until it's too late! Ask me.... I know.

Second treatment

Earl went for his second chemo treatment on Monday. His white count was down to 1700, but they proceeded with treatment. He had to go back on Tues. to get a shot. Assume this was to aid in increasing his white count. He ached all over the next day.

He goes back today (Friday) for another shot. The third chemo treatment has been postponed. He will skip next Monday, so it will be two weeks between the 2nd & 3rd treatments. Guess this will depend on his white count by then.

He went thru 10 treatments last fall and his white count never got low. Now, after one treatment his white count is this low?? Same chemo.

Earl is still able to work most days. He went to Crossville today (Thurs) to office of a client. He is still having the back pain, when he lays down to sleep. Sitting straight up is only way to relieve the pain, until the Tylenol kicks in.

He has lost so much weight. Still around 160 lbs. He is concerned about his ability to continue playing handbells. He loves playing, but his bells are fairly heavy, so don't know if he will commit to another year.

Please continue to pray for Earl.

Thank you!
Lillian

The Ugly Beast is Back!

Yes, it’s back! Earl’s cancer has returned… or maybe never left. His CA19-9, which has been less than two for the last year has jumped up to 40. Up to 35 is considered normal, but for Earl, it is elevated. He finished up his treatments at the end of December. So, it’s only been seven months.

He has been experiencing back pain in the kidney area of his back for a couple of months. It mainly occurs at night when he lays down. Tylenol has been controlling it fairly well. Doctors had been trying to track down the cause of the pain.

Then, he started losing weight around the end of May. He had lost 26 lbs. putting him down to 158. He has had no appetite during this time. He had gained about 5 lbs. in the last 10 days and was 165 today.

He is on his fifth round of antibiotics for a bladder infection that won’t clear up. It will clear up, but flares up again after the antibiotics stop. They thought the pain might be from the bladder infections. Another doctor thought it might be related to the radiation. Not according to the radiation doctor! It would have shown up much sooner after the radiation.

He finally called the Oncologist and when he found out Earl had lost so much weight so fast, he ordered a PET scan for last Thursday. We went this morning and got the news that his cancer is back and “glowing” in the area of the pancreas and has spread to lymph node(s) down deep on the left side of his heck…. behind the collar bone.

The Doctor, when asked, told Earl “It is fatal. I can’t cure you, but I think we can buy you some time”. So, we are back to square one. Without treatment, Earl may have six months. With treatment, he might have one to two years. All this will depend on how he responds to the chemo. It’s pretty much the same story we got, when this started in April of last year.

He was told today there were three different chemos he could be given, maybe all together. This would be very hard on him and make him very sick. They are going to try the same one he got the first time. See how he responds to it. Guess the others will be later options. He goes back tomorrow for chemo, then will continue on a Monday schedule.

Earl has contacted his Philadelphia surgeon, who has asked for copies of the PET scan and/or the report. Don’t know if he will have any suggestions or not. Additional surgery is out of the question, according to the Oncologist.

It’s been very hard telling the kids and the rest of the family. Earl’s Mother is 91 and is the last member of her family left. I know this will be very hard on her, as Earl is her only child. Her health is not the best, but she is still taking care of herself at this time. She has her own apartment, where our two car garage was.

We thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for all your prayers, support and encouragement during the past year. It has meant so much to us.

We again ask that you remember us as you pray. We are gearing up and will wage another battle against this powerful enemy. The war isn't over yet!

Lillian

Ryan's story continues

If you click on the "Overstreet" label way down on the right side, you will find earlier part of Ryan's story.

Ryan ended up having to change oncologist in January due to his insurance changing at work. This change resulted in him having to find new doctors. He ended up with the very doctor who treated Lance Armstrong. He is more aggressive in the treatments. Ryan was successfully treated with radiation and chemo and pronounced cancer free with the lung cancer.

Then, about two-three weeks ago, he got an infection in the lung connected with scar tissue. They did scans, x-rays.... something that included the upper part of the liver when they looked at the lung. Lungs did not show any cancer, but they did find a small place in the liver. Sounds like it was just a fluke that they even found this. Full body scan did not find any more cancer.

Ryan got a port put in yesterday and received his first round of chemo to treat the liver cancer. He will get three treatments, each three weeks apart. Then, they will go from there. His Dad (my brother) said this chemo will "knock him on his fanny" by the second round. Must be much worse than what he got for the lung cancer.

Ryan's job, where he had worked for 12 years, was eliminated some time in April (I think). So, he is still out of work at this time.

The company paid insurance will end Oct. 1st. Please keep Ryan in your prayers. Times are very hard for the family right now.

More pain

Earl has appointment with oncology doctor on Monday to get checked some more. He is still having pain. I finally got him to call the radiation doctor, since everyone else keeps telling him they think the pain is from the radiation. When he did call the radiation office, he was told that they did not think this long out would be related to the radiation. If the radiation was going to cause problems, it would have happened within a couple of months of the treatments.

We're thinking again that it is likely his kidneys. He says the burning has started again, too. I had him start drinking cranberry juice yesterday and he says he feels better today. I just hope they'll DO something.... find out what is causing the pain.

Trip to Atlanta

Earl seems to be doing a little better. His back pain has been less the last few days. He is still taking the muscle relaxers.

He attended an IRS seminar in Atlanta this week. Left here on Monday. Seminar was Tues-Thurs. He also met with two clients in the evenings. He got back home around 8:30 last night.

He said his back didn't hurt Tues & Wed nights in Atlanta. If it hurt last night, he's going to blame it on our bed!! Just wait.... I know he will. :-)

Update on Earl

Well..... we don't know for sure what is going on. Tests show there is nothing. No infection, no kidney stone(s), no bone cancer.

Earl went back to primary doctor yesterday. They've about decided all the back pain is somehow related to the radiation. The nurse used to work for our Oncology doctor and said she had seen this happen numerous times over the years. It just takes time to get over it, but can be a very painful process. No one has given Earl any idea of how long this may continue. Guess every case is different.

The doctor gave Earl a prescription for a muscle relaxer. Earl tried them last night. Worked fairly quickly to ease the pain, but did not last. He had to take Tylenol, too. Then, took another muscle relaxer after about six hours (instead of eight, as directed).

It is a big relief to finally know there is nothing major wrong. I just wish he could get some rest. This is an every night thing. Sitting straight up on the side of the bed seems to be the only thing he can do that helps. He takes Tylenol and then sits there until the pain eases.

Good trip to Philly

Dr. Watson was smiling today! That, in itself, was impressive.

Dr. W stated that he was impressed that Earl is doing well one year later. All the scans and lab reports were reviewed and all were clear for cancer.

The only concern is the back pain Earl is still experiencing mainly at night. Earl is to call and arrange for an x-ray to look for a possible kidney stone. Earl keeps saying it feels like the pain he had with a stone years ago. He plans to keep pushing the doctors here to find out what is going on. We hope they will figure it out.

Update June 14th

Earl is a little better (he says), but I still find him sitting up on side of bed during the night waiting for the Tylenol to kick in.

He did talk to a nurse at the doctor's office day before yesterday. She still says the discomfort is from the bladder infection. He still has medication to take thru Tuesday. If he is still hurting then, he is to call and see the Doctor again.

He will be flying to Philadelphia on Wed. to see Dr. Watson for his one year checkup. He will be taking scans done here for the doctors in Philly to view.

Please continue to pray that the scans are clear and there is no sign of a recurrence.

No stone

Earl finally called the Doctor and was told the pain is associated with the bladder infection. So he has been given an even stronger, fourth antibiotic. He is to take this one twice daily for 14 days. This infection is just not going away. We hope this med will take care of it.

Another scare!

I feel like we are getting really paranoid. With all that is going on with Thomas, we are so ready to read every ache or pain as "something" wrong.

For the last three weeks or more, Earl has been experiencing "back pain", mostly at night. I have been finding him sitting up on the side of the bed at all hours just about every night. He comments that his back is hurting and he has taken Tylenol. The pain would ease off after a little while and he would go back to sleep.

He has been told that if the pancreatic cancer came back he would likely begin having sharp, shooting pains in his back. What he has been experiencing were not sharp or shooting, but definitely pain. It is located just below the center of his back. Not really in his spine, but "inside" he said. We haven't been able to understand why only at night. When it first started, he thought it might be weak back from sitting so much the last few months. I thought it was too high up on his back and had asked him if it might be a kidney infection.

He had some pain during the day yesterday. Last night was really a bad night. Over about six hours he took just about every pain med he could find and nothing helped. He took five or six different pain pills. He has quite a supply he has accumulated over the past year! He tried them all! He said nothing helped. I'm surprised he didn't OD. I couldn't believe it when he rattled off all he had taken!!

Finally, early this morning he went to the bathroom and said the pain eased off afterward. So, he thinks he may have a kidney stone on the move. No pain during today. I just went in to check on him (2 a.m.) and he is sitting on the side of the bed again. Said the pain is not anywhere near as bad as last night. A Tylenol is helping tonight, so hope he will be able to get some rest tonight. 2:15 a.m. and he has laid down.

Many years ago, he had a kidney stone that started moving the day before Thanksgiving and he finally passed it the day before Christmas. What a month!

I would really hate for Earl to have a kidney stone, but would sure rather it be that than cancer.
Please pray for Earl to get some relief from this pain. I hope he will go back to the doctor and see if they can do x-ray or whatever to look for the cause of this pain. Recent scans did not show anything, but I don't know if they were even looking for something like a kidney stone. They were concerned about the bladder problems then.

My nap earlier tonight is wearing off.... guess I need to get to bed as tomorrow is another work day!

The Doctor called....

The Doctor himself called Earl saying "I've got good news!" Kinda scared Earl at first that the Doctor actually called. But, everything tested "No cancer", just some kind of infection, apparently related someway to the chemo and/or radiation.

Earl is on his third round of antibiotics. Guess we'll see how it goes. The urologist has turned Earl back over to the Primary Care doctor for follow-up.

Guess we can quit worrying for a while. At least, until the next scan.

Earl is to return to Philadelphia on June 18th for his one year check-up. He reminded me last night that June 4th is anniversary of his surgery. (I already remembered or had not forgotten.... that date will stick with me for a long time!)

Now, if Earl can just make it thru this second year the Philly doctors will be happier and we'll rest easier, too.

Test results, another procedure

Scope of Earl's bladder this week revealed two places. One is a red almost star shape place and the other is a polyp type protrusion.

The doctor has scheduled a biopsy to be done in out-patient surgery on May 13th. Tests on the biopsy will tell what type of infection it is. Doctor is assuming it is an infection, since prior urine tests have not indicated cancer.

We hope and pray that this is just a severe infection and the biopsy will help the doctor prescribe the proper antibiotic to clear it up.

Lillian

This month.... another concern

Earl has been to several doctors in the past month. His problem is blood in his urine. About a month ago, his urine was very red for about two days. By the time he could get in to see a doctor, it had cleared up as far as he could tell, but analysis still detected blood being present.

He has gone thru two rounds of antibiotics, which has not stopped or cleared up the problem. The urologist will do a scope of his bladder in about a week to try to find the problem. Recent scans have not picked up any cancer. Dr. says he sees this often after people have had radiation.
Last night, Earl complained about his lower back hurting. We hope that is just weak muscles from sitting so many long hours during tax season. I know Earl is probably getting a bit paranoid because of what is happening with Thomas (Melanoma). Every little ache and pain becomes a big fear that something might be going wrong.

Please pray that these things will not turn out to be a serious problem and that they can be managed in some way.