Gamma Knife report

Hello friends and family,
Yesterday, Dec. 19, I had my second Gamma Knife procedure. Generally, it went well. I was the only patient they treated yesterday and was finished and riding out of the KMC parking lot at 1:30 P.M. Again, the staff in Gamma Knife and radiology is great. For those of you who are Centerville Noon Optimists you will be interested that one of the staff members has known Karl Frydryk since first grade. She says he is smart and helped her with her math. She also gave me his grade school nickname!

That was the fun part. The results of the procedure were not perfect. The more precise MRI yesterday morning showed another cancer spot they were not able to treat because of the position of the frame on my head and there were some other streaks they weren't sure whether they were of concern or were blood vessels. The nurse Diane told Roy I have a lot of blood vessels in my head - not sure what that means!

The follow-up will be another MRI in 6 weeks to see if the three spots "zapped" yesterday are going away and to see if these new findings are growing.

In the meantime, I guess I will need to be really busy! That shouldn't be too difficult with closing down the tree lot, celebrating the holidays, getting ready for Optimist Oratoricals and January financial reports, doing income tax and SKIING!

Have a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Your prayers and good thoughts are wonderful,
Margaret

The New Plan

Hello everyone,
The results are in and the new plan is made - not how I expected to be celebrating Christmas and the New Year awhile back, but happy it is as good as it is.

The PET scan from last week came back with very good news - even better results than in September. Dr. Calvo seemed quite pleased - said something like, "This is as good as it gets." There were some options, but what he strongly recommended since this is an incurable disease is that we try to keep it inactive by continuing to do chemo, but on a once every four week schedule and with just one chemo drug called Alimta plus the Avastin which is targeted therapy for cutting off the blood supply to the tumor. The impression I got is that Alimta has lighter side effects than the two I have been taking. He also said to wait until late January to begin the new treatment.

The MRI of the brain did show two and possibly three new "dots". The doctors all recommended whole brain radiation first, but said I may have another Gamma knife if that is my choice and it is. The Gamma knife is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 19. If more spots show up later, I will probably need to have the whole brain radiation.

We are planning to go to Montana in January to ski at Big Sky and may be able to go to Utah in February. Ryan Kaspitzke has called and said he will be home then and we are welcome. It would be good to see him and "Ski Utah!"

I hope all of you have a great holiday and thanks as always for the continuing prayers and positive thought. I really believe they help!

Margaret

Anxious wait for results

Hello friends and family,
I am not sure where the time has gone since my last post, but it might be hours and hours of tree lot preparation, helping to set up the lot, taking delivery of 1085 trees and working at the lot. I am already 3 months into being president of the Presidents Club of Dayton with a meeting coming up Monday. Next week I will begin making visits to the middle schools to promote the Optimist Oratorical contests. Those contests are in February, but that is not far away.

We enjoyed having Annabelle and Jim here for the Thanksgiving weekend. Roy brought Annabelle to the cancer center when I was there for chemo and she got to see how the tubes and bags were attached and how I can walk around with my pole. She had been very curious about all of that.

The weekend ended on a bittersweet note as Jim and Annabelle said good-by to their kittycat Chloe. Chloe has been diagnosed with an incurable, untreatable cancer and may live a few more days or weeks - maybe months - it depends on how long she continues to eat and stay comfortable with pain medication. We are thankful she stayed relatively normal for Annabelle and Jim to see her last weekend.

Yesterday was the last day of chemo of the 6th cycle which Annabelle had called the "happiest day of my life." Thursday was the brain MRI - will get results from Dr Taha on Monday afternoon - and the PET scan is scheduled for next Monday, Dec. 10. I will get results from Dr. Calvo on Tuesday morning and plan what treatment is needed next. It may be a break from chemo or a lighter schedule or ???

In the meantime, being an Optimist, I made an airline reservation for our ski trip to Montana in January including an overnight stay in Seattle if everything works out with the airline. That's kind of exciting since neither Roy nor I have been to Seattle.

Thanks to all of you for your continuing prayers and good thoughts. They are very appreciated and reassuring.

Happy Holidays,
Margaret

Pushing forward

Hello to all,
A lot has happened since my last post on Oct. 5 so I thought I would bring you up to date.

We ran the Minster 10K on Sunday, Oct. 7. It was quite warm which got to me later in the day, but I finished with no problems except a turtle's pace. In fact. I think the turtle beat me. Roy did quite well. We went on to Echo Hills in Piqua to play golf, but quit after 9 because we were so hot and tired - missed my favorite part of the course. We also had to get home to watch the Indians in the division play-off. They got through that with flying colors, but you know the rest of the story. Roy is still in mourning, but can't wait for Spring Training and next year!

On Wednesday the 10th, I was returning from an Optimist meeting in Fremont, was almost to the south Troy exit, when my left rear tire blew out and sent me spinning from the inside lane to the berm of I-75. The middle lane was clear, but while spinning, the left rear of my car slammed into the left rear of a semi in the right lane. The semi never did not stop, but my car did. It was a total loss. I'd had it for 40 days. Amazingly enough, I was not hurt at all, no aches the next day or anything. I can't say enough about the restraints and protection of the Infiniti - now the tire is another story???? With the help of the great guys at Infiniti of Dayton and State Farm, I was able to get another car just two weeks later.

On Thursday, the 11th, I was installed as President of the Dayton Presidents Club at the Convention Center in front of 500 people, (awesome, scary) and now am getting ready for my first meeting on Nov. 5.

I've had two chemo treatments in this 5th cycle, but yesterday, the doctor thought my white cell counts were too low and scheduled 5 days of shots before next week's treatment. It didn't make me very happy to be making all of those trips to downtown Dayton, but should be thankful I am not driving to Columbus everyday for weeks for treatments as a friend of mine is.

We are heading into a busy Optimist season with tree lot set-up and organization of teams the first week of November, Delivery Day on the 17th and lot opening the day after Thanksgiving.

Never a dull moment!

Thanks for your continuing concerns and good wishes. I appreciate each and every one of you.
Margaret

Another cycle is finished!

Hello everyone,
It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. Our schedules have been packed and I find myself a little short on energy. Could it be that training for a 10K, building two Junior Optimist Clubs and planning for another, closing out the Optimist year and starting another, getting ready to be installed as president of the Presidents Club, etc. may be the reason? My week off from chemo has been most welcome this week. I anxiously await the appointment with Dr. Calvo on Thursday afternoon for an update on the treatment plan. I expect it will be two more months of chemo.

Thanks for your continued good wishes and prayers. It would certainly be tough to face this disease and treatment alone.

See you soon,
Margaret

Good news

Dr. Calvo's first words were "Congratulations! Your PET scan looks fantastic!" He gave further explanations of the reduction of the big tumor and the spot on the rib and no new spots, but the relief keeps me from remembering exact words. He was very pleased with the results of the chemo. We will be continuing for three more cycles (months) with the chemo and take another look, but for now, we are all pleased. To all of you who have been praying and thinking good thoughts, thank you very, very much!

Waiting for results

Hello everyone,
The Ohio Optimist District Convention in Akron, Centerville Noon Optimist's Rocky Fork Golf Outing, my 50th High School Class Reunion and a great birthday party at the Rejects' Concert at Stubbs Park last Sunday are now history. Every event went very well and reflected a lot of work by committees and individuals who made sure all of the details were covered. Believe me getting one year older is better than the alternative. I've always joked about that, but it is no joke this year.

The last chemo treatment of the first three cycles was over today and now the wait is on to see if the chemo is working. The follow-up PET scan is scheduled for Sept. 6, and I should get the results from Dr. Calvo on Sept. 11. I am trying to keep cool until then.

Thanks for all of the cards and good wishes. I am sure they are helping.

See you soon,
Margaret

Here we go again!

Hello everyone,
I know it has been a long time since I have written. That is because we have all been so busy there was no time to write. We have gone to Chicago to help Jim get ready to move, then back to Centerville with Annabelle, went to a Dragons game and took Annabelle to Optimists where she crawled under the table again when introduced. That is three years in a row!

Then the rest of the family started to arrive - my sister Barbara, our brother-in-law Pete on Wednesday and Jim got here Thursday evening. He was just in time to cook for the rehearsal dinner we hosted for Ken's and Laura's wedding. Jim did an outstanding job on the food and we had a great evening talking with eveyone's relatives.

The wedding was beautiful with flower girl Annabelle leading the procession and carefully putting the flower petals all along the path. It was truly a beautiful evening. Best wishes to Ken and Laura.

Sunday was the Barclay family reunion in Zanesville. We really enjoyed seeing everyone. Roy's 95 year-old dad is doing very well and looking forward to his second cataract surgery on Aug. 23rd and tossing his glasses aside. Amazing!

It is a good thing, that was my week off from chemo because there certainly wasn't a day free, but today is back to reality - almost 6 hours of reality, but Dr. Calvo, the oncologist is very positive about the treatment and thinks it is probably working. We will find out soon - two more treatment weeks and then a PET scan to see what is happening. That should happen sometime the week after Labor Day.

Thanks for your continued good wishes and prayers. I am sure they are helping the chemicals work.
Margaret

Good News!

Hello everyone,
Today was the follow-up appointment with the neurosurgeon who did the gamma knife procedure seven weeks ago. The follow-up MRI was last Wednesday and I have been anxiously awaiting the results. Dr. Taha was smiling when he came into the room and very directly said the spots on the brain were gone and there were no new ones. The largest spot still shows where it was, but he said that may never go away - didn't see it as a problem and said come back for another MRI in four months. I told him this was the first good news I had received in a long time, and his response was that he liked to be the one to deliver good news.

Thanks for all of the prayers and good wishes.

Chemo is tomorrow and then we go to Chicago to help Jim paint his new house. Even with the forecast of high heat and humidity in Chicago, the world looks a whole lot better today.
Margaret

Lows and highs

Hello everyone,
This week's chemo was moved up to Thursday because the oncology office moved to new quarters on Friday. Yeah! Rumor has it that it will be a much bigger facility and even have wi-fi.

All went well - a bit shorter than the marathon 5 1/2 hours last week. But the Benedryl knocked me out of anything productive for the rest of the day. Lying in the sun by the pool was just about the only thing I wanted to do. I know, tough life! Thank goodness the sun did come out.

But Friday, the steroids must have kicked in. Running, laundry, housework, yardwork, computer work, Optimist work - there wasn't enough time to get everything done. The only downside was when night came, I couldn't sleep - was still going a mile a minute. Today seems a bit more normal whatever that may be.

Last Wednesday was the six-week followup brain MRI so I am anxiously awaiting those results due Aug. 1. The good part is that there is so much to do with preparations for going to Chicago to help Jim with his move to a new house, bringing Annabelle to Ohio, getting ready for my sister Barbara, Pete, and Jim to come in on Wednesday, Aug. 8, and getting ready for Laura's & Ken's wedding on the 11th and the family reunion on the 12th, I can't dwell on the fear of what I may learn. We are really looking forward to all of these events - haven't had so many family and friends together for a long time.

After all this comes the Ohio District Optimist Convention in Akron, the next week, my 50th HS Class Reunion and the following week, the Centerville Noon Optimist Summer Party. Wow! Bring on those steroids!

Enough rambling. Thanks for your continued good wishes and prayers. This is still an unbelievable situation, but knowing so many people are out there pulling for good results helps tremendously.

See you soon,
Margaret

A week away from chemo, but it is back

Hi everyone,
I haven't written anything lately, but have seen a lot of people what with the big Centerville Noon golf event last week and other events. The golf event was phenomenol. Judy DeMarco pulled it off with great class as always, but she even arranged for the greatest weather you can imagine!

Last week was also my week off from chemo, but true to predictions, the day of the golf outing was the 21st day after chemo and on schedule, all of my hair started to fall out in clumps. Today it is pretty well gone. Two wigs and lots of ball caps will help. Yesterday was the first day of the second cycle of chemo. Since Medicare will not pay for the Abraxane that the doctor wanted to and has been using, we had to switch to placlitaxol which is an effective drug, but takes longer to administer so yesterday's treatment was 5 1/2 hours - a long time.

Today I felt good - played golf and got a first - par on #14 and birdie on #15 at Sugar Valley. That helped the score a lot since some of the other holes were not too good.

I continue to appreciate all of the good wishes you send. You are an amazing group of friends - love you all.

Margaret

Chemo and on to Chicago

Even though I should be going to closing sessions in Montreal and getting ready for the President's Ball, life doesn't always work out the way one expects. Yesterday's chemo was better than I expected - about 3 1/2 hours total and after the Benedryl worked off, was able to help with the last hour or so of driving to Chicago. Annabelle's 5th birthday party is today - planned after I had to cancel the trip to Montreal. One door closes and another opens.

It is hard to believe it has only been two weeks since the treatments began - seems like forever - and now the first cycle is over. Next week - no treatment - hope the energy level holds out because Thursday is Centerville Noon Optimist's big golf outing to benefit Children's Medical Center, the Childhood Cancer Crusade and other projects for kids in our area.

I feel great - haven't lost much hair yet, but the wig is ready. I brought it and three ball caps to Chicago in case it all comes out and one time!

See you soon and thanks again for the calls and cards. They are very encouraging.
Margaret

July 5 update

Hi everybody. My apologies for not getting this update sooner, but actually that is a good sign -haven't slowed down long enough to type!

The second chemo was much easier than the first because I only received the two chemo drugs, Abraxane and the Carboplatin, along with antinausea stuff - only about a 2 hour procedure. The room wasn't crowded this time so I had plenty of space to do my Optimist work. Last Wednesday, my sister Barbara came in from PA and we had a great visit - the most relaxed time we've had for a long time. We shopped for wigs, went to chemo where she was able to meet Dr. Calvo and my nurses, then Saturday spent the day in Piqua seeing our old house and having dinner with our cousins and good friends.

The Fourth of July was "normal" - Americana race, Root Beer stand, cookout with good friends, etc. I missed going to the Optimist International Convention in Montreal and sincerely appreciate the people who stepped in to do my duties - Deanda Mills, Doug Fritz, Bob Moore and the rest of the Ohio contingent. My Activities Committee leaders, Stephanie and Danielle, were wonderful and understanding to get my responsibilities covered, also. I plan to have the chance to repay this help at future Optimist Conventions. Next year is Dallas/Fort Worth.

The cards, notes and other well wishes are wonderful. All have been so encouraging and more helpful than you can imagine.

Thanks so much and see you soon,
Margaret

Made it through the first one!

Here it is the day after, and I feel normal and look the same. The effects of the chemo are cumulative so I'd better live it up before the fatigue and other bad stuff set in.

The process took about four and a half hours in a recliner in a room with 7 others getting chemo. I felt lucky to have had the port installed so the nurse didn't have to poke around for a vein and I could move my arms without worrying about pulling out the IV as my next chair neighbor did.

The drugs started with Benedryl to counteract the side effects of the second bag which was Avastin designed to cut off the blood supply to the tumor. Next was a bag of antinausea medicine followed by the first chemo drug called Abraxene, then another antinausea bag followed by the second chemo drug called Carboplatin. The finale was a bag of Zometa to protect the bones from the cancer there and then a steroid to counteract something. I sure hope the people in charge of this huge combination were tops in their classes!

For all of you Optimists out there, you might know I wore a Centerville Noon shirt to chemo ready for the big Dragons night afterward. The first nurse who did the fingerstick bloodtest said, "What is a Centerville Noon Optimist?" I explained and she thought that was cool. My main nurse said her husband has been coming to our meetings with someone from his office - don't think I have met him. The last nurse who unhooked the tubes said, "You are the ones that put on the Fishing Derby, right?" She had taken her 6-year-old son for his first time of fishing. She said he had a great time and now wants to go fishing all the time. He really liked his door prizes. Small world!

Thanks for the wonderful messages, thoughts and prayers. They mean more than you can imagine.
Margaret

Today is the day

Thank you all so much for the very positve support. I don't feel alone going to the chemo today. The emotions I feel are indescribable, but must believe we are doing the right thing.
I worked the Dragons game concession stand last night for Springboro and hope to see my Optimist friends at tonight's game. I know we need rain, but sure hope it quits in time to see Laura throw out the first pitch.

I will let you know how it goes today. Thanks for showing so much care and concern. It means a lot.
Margaret

Thanks and update

Thank you, thank you, thank you. The well wishes from all of you have been so inspiring. Thanks for sending.

After working at the OIJGC District Tournament at Weatherwax, Roy and I took off for Dayton and the oncologist's office by MVH. We made it with 4 minutes to spare, then waited for over an hour to see the doctor.

After a few preliminaries, he said, "When do you want to start chemo?" I told him I didn't, but then we went ahead and scheduled it for Friday at 12:30. I will be able to ride the RTA to the office, then Roy will pick me up to go to Optimist night at the Dragons.

The doctor made the chemo sound simple. The nurse who deals with it everyday made it sound more ominous. She had a piece of paper to tell me how to deal with every side effect and the papers fill a two-pocket folder. As soon as I sort out the names of the chemicals I will add them to the post in case anyone has experience to share.

The treatments will be once a week for three weeks, then one week off. That is called a cycle. After three cycles, the PET scan will be repeated to see if the chemo is working. The first treatment will take at least 4 hours, but after that some of them will be shorter.

The follow-up to the gamma knife procedure will be another MRI in six weeks followed by another visit to the neurosurgeon and ?? The port installation is getting more comfortable as the bruising and swelling go away. Dr. Calvo says I won't even notice it soon. I hope he is right.

This post is probably in the TMI category, but read it if you wish. Thanks again for the many replies, cards, calls, flowers, etc. There are certainly a lot of people out there pulling for the right outcome.

Gamma Knife and port installation

Hi everyone,
Wednesday, I had the Gamma Knife procedure to zap three spots in my brain. While it was a long day, the nurses in Gamma Knife were wonderful and made the procedure as pleasant as possible. Diane and Kathy were really great. All I have to show for that are four holes in my head. You all thought I had a lot more than that, I'm sure.

Thursday was the installation of the port where the chemo will be administered. The procedure was just minor surgery and didn't take very long at all. The residual effects have not been very pleasant - pain, bruising, swelling, ugly - but that should all get better.

I will see the oncologist Monday and expect that chemo will start soon. Then I will really have something to complain about. In the meantime, it's full speed ahead.