Today Pat had a consultation with her radiation therapist.  She will begin two treatments per day, five days a week, for three weeks.  She was told that she would get one treatment in her right lung and one for her brain.  Although the MRI did not show any sign of the cancer in her brain, they are going ahead with the treatment as a preventive measure.

She is very sick from the chemo that will continue three times a week for five more weeks.  Being extremely fatigued, she is struggling to take phone calls.  I have been sick with the flu and have not been able to see her; this is very hard for me as we are, and always have been there for each other.

To date she has lost twelve pounds.  This has all happened so quickly.  Unbelievable how your life and the lives of those you love so much can changes so quickly.  Keep us in your prayers and most of all pray for my beloved sister as she battles an enemy so cruel that it takes everything you have in you to win.

So happy to tell you that Pat's cancer has not reached her brain.  This gives us hope for the first time.  Although this is a tough one to beat we are all elated with the news.  She has a fighting chance!!  Certainly our prayers have been heard and answered.

She is beginning to feel the effects of the chemo.  Nausea, but controlled at this point.  She will now begin her radiation therapy five days a week in addition to the chemo.  They have given her several knitted caps to wear as her hair will begin to fall out soon.  She wants bandannas, so I will spend this weekend going through all my scrap material and sewing her an array of them.  God is good!

The results of Pat's PET scan came back.  No other organ involvement.  Good news for sure.  Now we must wait again.  There will be a CT scan tomorrow to rule out brain involvement.  The doctor tells Pat that the kind of cancer she has "likes to migrate to the brain."  We are again on pins and needles; all this waiting is torturous.

She began her chemo today, an eight hour session, combined with her first dose of radiation therapy.  It will be a rough night for her.  Tomorrow she will receive another two hour chemo treatment along with the daily radiation.

The consult this morning was loaded with information.  The doctor told her that if they were not VERY aggressive, her lung is in danger of collapsing due to the size of the mass that now is blocking air flow to her right lung.

Some of you suggested viewing the Netflix, "Gersom Miracle" which I did today.  I wonder...if this  has such a high success rate WHY are we, the most powerful nation on earth, not using it???  Something as simple as changing your diet cures you of all that ails you and prevents even the common cold.  I need to do more reading.  If anyone reading this has used this diet or knows anyone that was cured of cancer by following it, please contact me.

I am trying to fix the comment link on this blog as many of you have tried to leave messages for Pat.  Until I can figure out how to do that please send me an email that I can print out for her to:
                                                  jean.duemling@gmail.com

Just put FOR PAT in the subject box.

You have cancer.  Those are the words we have all come to fear.  Last week my sister, Pat, heard those words.

We have gathered as a family, prayed, and visited.  We all still find it hard to talk about the cancer.  It has consumed us.  We are scared of what we will find out in the days to come, and afraid of not knowing what will happen.

Today, she had her port and pik lines put in, and is in some discomfort.  I am worried I spelled the pik line wrong... but can't bring myself to read any more about it, today. Tomorrow she will begin her war against her enemy, small cell lung cancer.  Although she knows what is ahead she is ready to fight for her life.

I thought I would keep this diary of what she is going through to keep all those that love her up-to-date, and maybe later it will serve someone else that is on the same journey.  Perhaps this will take the place of the endless phone calls I feel compelled to make daily; what else can I do?

Tomorrow we will have the results of her PET scan.  If the cancer is isolated in her lung she will also begin radiation therapy five days a week-- along with the chemo therapy 3 days a week, for six weeks. 

Keep us in your prayers as we journey onward, together.

J