Today went a lot better. Cara slept all day yesterday, but felt much better this morning. She met with the doctor's office this morning and they think it was a combination of the treatment, the sedative from the placement of the line, and the medicine they gave her for nausea.
She woke up this morning and wasn't exactly raring to go, but she seemed much more like her old self. The treatment went well today. She hopes that she has a lot more of these days--me, too!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Day 3 Mission Accomplished
Today was a tough day. We went to the hospital early this morning to have the PICC line inserted. The radiology folks were able to use some dye to determine what was going on with the veins and it showed that they are a tangled mess around that scar. So--they went directly into her jugular and her "line" is located in her chest.
Following the procedure, we went over to the cancer center so that Cara could get her next treatment. They had sedated her for the procedure, so she was pretty nauseous and had a terrible headache. She rested while she had her treatment. She's pretty much slept since we've been back home, too. This one really wore her out.
I wish there was some way that I could make this easier for her. She's such a great mom and a great person--I hate it that she has to go through this...
More later.
Following the procedure, we went over to the cancer center so that Cara could get her next treatment. They had sedated her for the procedure, so she was pretty nauseous and had a terrible headache. She rested while she had her treatment. She's pretty much slept since we've been back home, too. This one really wore her out.
I wish there was some way that I could make this easier for her. She's such a great mom and a great person--I hate it that she has to go through this...
More later.
Monday, July 26, 2010
You Just Can't Make Up this Stuff!
Cara and I arrived at the KU Medical Cancer Center bright and early this morning to begin her chemotherapy. It felt a little like the first day of summer camp—we had to find our way around, meet new people, and get a feeling for the place.
The first task was to place a PICC line. I now know that stands for Peripheral Intravenous Central Catheter. It’s a permanent IV that goes to the vena-cava of her heart so that the chemo will be pumped directly by the heart to her entire body. The PICC nurse was named Kathy—a lovely lady who inserted 69 of these things in the last month alone—it was not her first time at the rodeo. It’s quite a production that requires masks and sterile gowns and about 20 sets of gloves. They use ultrasound and gps to determine where this line needs to go. She found the vein and it looked more than adequate for what they needed to do. She was able to insert a needle into vein quickly and easily and started to put in a guidewire that leads the way before the catheter is inserted. She was able to get in about 6-8 inches and then the wire just stopped. About 700 tries later, she finally gave up—that wire was just not going to get through the vein to the heart.
OK, so about ten years ago when Cara’s addiction and behavior issues were at their worst, she got shot. In the shoulder. So it appears that the scar tissue from the gunshot was blocking the insertion of the PICC line. So once again, her early days are coming back to haunt her.
They placed a regular IV and they were able to give her the first of her 20 treatments. From that point on, everything went smoothly. We were there for about 5 hours. It was tedious, but everyone is so nice and thoughtful, that it wasn’t really so bad.
We will go to the hospital (the Cancer Center is about 15 minutes away from the actual KU Medical Center) on Wednesday where they have people with more expertise and more equipment so that they can see exactly what is going on with the vein.
She didn’t feel much effect from the treatment right away, so we went ahead and ran some errands on our way home. By the time we’d been out for a couple of hours, she was more than ready to come home and rest. She felt feverish and tired through the evening, but she felt like eating dinner and hanging out for a bit.
The first task was to place a PICC line. I now know that stands for Peripheral Intravenous Central Catheter. It’s a permanent IV that goes to the vena-cava of her heart so that the chemo will be pumped directly by the heart to her entire body. The PICC nurse was named Kathy—a lovely lady who inserted 69 of these things in the last month alone—it was not her first time at the rodeo. It’s quite a production that requires masks and sterile gowns and about 20 sets of gloves. They use ultrasound and gps to determine where this line needs to go. She found the vein and it looked more than adequate for what they needed to do. She was able to insert a needle into vein quickly and easily and started to put in a guidewire that leads the way before the catheter is inserted. She was able to get in about 6-8 inches and then the wire just stopped. About 700 tries later, she finally gave up—that wire was just not going to get through the vein to the heart.
OK, so about ten years ago when Cara’s addiction and behavior issues were at their worst, she got shot. In the shoulder. So it appears that the scar tissue from the gunshot was blocking the insertion of the PICC line. So once again, her early days are coming back to haunt her.
They placed a regular IV and they were able to give her the first of her 20 treatments. From that point on, everything went smoothly. We were there for about 5 hours. It was tedious, but everyone is so nice and thoughtful, that it wasn’t really so bad.
We will go to the hospital (the Cancer Center is about 15 minutes away from the actual KU Medical Center) on Wednesday where they have people with more expertise and more equipment so that they can see exactly what is going on with the vein.
She didn’t feel much effect from the treatment right away, so we went ahead and ran some errands on our way home. By the time we’d been out for a couple of hours, she was more than ready to come home and rest. She felt feverish and tired through the evening, but she felt like eating dinner and hanging out for a bit.
The Story
Let me tell you about my special daughter, Caroline. She'll turn 31 in a couple of weeks and she's had quite a life. From the time she was about 13 until 4 1/2 years ago, she fought every demon I can imagine--she did a lot of drugs and kept running away over and over. We tried one treatment program after another, but she managed to bamboozle all of us, determined to set her own course in life.
Then, in January 2006, she decided it was time to come back to us. She went through rehab at Valley Hope in Atchison, Kansas and has been sober ever since. She was pregnant and in May 2006 gave birth to Hannah who is a frilly, fun four year old who keeps us all on our toes. While it hasn't been all smooth sailing, Caroline has continued her recovery. She now works for an agency in Kansas City, MO called Synergy and does street outreach with homeless youth. She and Hannah moved into a Habitat for Humanity house at the beginning of the summer. Her house is beautiful and we're so thankful that she has a safe and very comfortable home. Cara also has a 13 year old named Lexi. Lexi's lived with me since she was little. She's our dancer and our scholar. She's taken dance lessons since she was four and is really looking forward to being an 8th grader at Pittsburg Community Middle School.
This summer, Caroline was diagnosed with melanoma. She had a mole removed and it showed cancer in May. In June, they cut around the site of the mole and checked to see if any lymph nodes were affected. There were small spots on two nodes, so they removed all the lymph nodes under her left arm. The other thing that goes with this is a year of interferon chemotherapy. The treatments began today. She'll have 20 daily treatments (Monday through Friday). After that, she'll have some maintenance treatments for a year--the doctor said she'll give herself shots 3 days a week.
The interferon stimulates her immune system to fight the cancer, so she'll feel like she has a bad case of the flu that won't go away until the treatments are concluded. I decided to write this blog to keep all of you who know and care about us informed.
Lexi and I have moved in here in Kansas City to help drive Cara to her treatments and help with Hannah during this first month. She gets her treatments at the KU Medical Cancer Center. She'll be off work for now--hopefully she'll be able to go back to work in 5-6 weeks. We'll just have to see how she does.
I'll post as the month develops to let you all know about her progress. We're so grateful for all the help and support that we've received from friends and family alike.
Then, in January 2006, she decided it was time to come back to us. She went through rehab at Valley Hope in Atchison, Kansas and has been sober ever since. She was pregnant and in May 2006 gave birth to Hannah who is a frilly, fun four year old who keeps us all on our toes. While it hasn't been all smooth sailing, Caroline has continued her recovery. She now works for an agency in Kansas City, MO called Synergy and does street outreach with homeless youth. She and Hannah moved into a Habitat for Humanity house at the beginning of the summer. Her house is beautiful and we're so thankful that she has a safe and very comfortable home. Cara also has a 13 year old named Lexi. Lexi's lived with me since she was little. She's our dancer and our scholar. She's taken dance lessons since she was four and is really looking forward to being an 8th grader at Pittsburg Community Middle School.
This summer, Caroline was diagnosed with melanoma. She had a mole removed and it showed cancer in May. In June, they cut around the site of the mole and checked to see if any lymph nodes were affected. There were small spots on two nodes, so they removed all the lymph nodes under her left arm. The other thing that goes with this is a year of interferon chemotherapy. The treatments began today. She'll have 20 daily treatments (Monday through Friday). After that, she'll have some maintenance treatments for a year--the doctor said she'll give herself shots 3 days a week.
The interferon stimulates her immune system to fight the cancer, so she'll feel like she has a bad case of the flu that won't go away until the treatments are concluded. I decided to write this blog to keep all of you who know and care about us informed.
Lexi and I have moved in here in Kansas City to help drive Cara to her treatments and help with Hannah during this first month. She gets her treatments at the KU Medical Cancer Center. She'll be off work for now--hopefully she'll be able to go back to work in 5-6 weeks. We'll just have to see how she does.
I'll post as the month develops to let you all know about her progress. We're so grateful for all the help and support that we've received from friends and family alike.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)