Third Consultation

August 19, 2011

This morning, prayers were answered as mom went through the bone marrow biopsy with flying colors.  Although they needed three people to try to take the biopsy, it was not very painful or uncomfortable.

The consultation with Dr. Zakem went very well. He did not recommend radiation treatment for mom as he feels the pain is not really caused by the lower bones but by the nerves along the sides because of the collapse of T8.  Therefore he did not feel it would do her any good.

He did order more blood work and a urine analysis to determine how much protein is in her urine and the plasma tests will be a better factor in determining how advanced the cancer is.  Depending on how those results come out will be a deciding factor if she is a candidate for stem cell treatment as well.  Usually if you are over 70, they do not recommend the stem cell transplant but because of mom’s age and overall health, he would highly consider it.

The treatment plan would be to do chemo for 3-4 months to get her into remission and then go from there.  There are three different types of drugs that he would use if we are anticipating stem cell transplant in the future as they have had good results with the combination.  The one would be Revlimid which is a thalidomide which caused birth defects in the 50’s but I don’t think that is an issue here.  The two drugs would be oral and the other an iv.  The side effects should be minimal as well so there is good news there.

Cancer is at the forefront of my mind constantly.  I cannot imagine living like this for years and I am not the one personally experiencing it.  It seems like you would always think any ache or pain would be “cancer”.  Whether it is getting worse or coming back, the thought would always be there. 

The strength God has given my mother is amazing to me.  I have not seen or heard her complain of her future, her past or her present.  She is always thankful for what she has been blessed with.  Oh, she complains about things; being in the chair, her hair getting too long to do anything with, waiting around for others to do for her what she used to do for herself.  But through it all, she thanks God for what she can do.  Confident He will restore her to the point where she will be able to serve Him in a way that will bring Him the most glory. 

I remember when I was young, thinking that my parents knew nothing.  Well, nothing is a little strong, but they certainly didn’t know what I was going through or feeling.  Now, I can look back with experienced eyes and see that they were trying to spare me the heartache they may have already experienced or I was headed towards.  Oh, to know then what I know now.  It seems as if my mother is more of a teacher to me now when I am an adult than I allowed her to be when I was a child.