Today is Jeannette's Birthday

Jeannette would've been 62 years old today, on this very cool date of 11/11/11.  We think of her even though she is not with us.

“Fly free and happy beyond birthdays and across forever, and we'll meet now and then when we wish, in the midst of the one celebration that never can end."  ~Richard Bach

Jeannette's Eulogy

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."

This quote by Kahlil Gibran is very fitting today, as we celebrate the life of Jeannette.  Jeannette wasn't an overly sentimental person.  She didn't put as much stock into words as she did into actions, and her actions while she was with us certainly were our delight. 

In the 25 years Jeannette spent in Fairfax she involved herself in the town in many ways.  When her sons were young she was involved with the PTA, with Boy Scouts, and with the CCD programs here at St. Luke.  As the boys got older she found more ways to be active in the area.  She joined the Empty Nesters Network, a group of friends who met monthly whose children had all grown.  She became a lay minister through a program at St. Michael’s College, and began the RCIA program here in the parish.  She also worked at Georgia and Westford Schools.  Ultimately, Jeannette took the job of secretary at St. Luke, and enjoyed it very much. 

Jeannette’s younger brother Leo and her older sister Mary, were planning to do the eulogy today.  However, after the visiting hours yesterday they decided not to.  They told me that all of you shared amazing stories of Jeannette’s contributions to your lives, and because of these stories they heard, they realized how Jeannette really came into her own here in Fairfax.  She was truly of this community, so although her childhood was important, it isn't the right focus of this celebration today.  Jeannette came here, to a town in Vermont where she knew no one, and built her own community around herself and her family, and that is really a testament to a life well-lived.  So today we celebrate that life.  You all have your own stories of Jeannette, so this eulogy didn’t need to contain childhood anecdotes or specific reminiscences; you have your own memories in your hearts.  

Jeannette’s brother Leo celebrated the birth of his first grandchild just last night.  In light of that, the follow excerpt from Ecclesiastes seems especially appropriate to end with today:  “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” 

Arrangements

We will hold visiting hours for Jeannette at Minor Funeral Home in Milton, Vermont from 4pm to 7pm on Sunday, September 18th.  The funeral will be at St. Luke's Parish in Fairfax, Vermont at 12 noon on Monday, September 19th.  If anyone wishes to bring food for the funeral luncheon after the Mass, they can call the rectory for St. Luke's during normal business hours at 849-6205. 

Jeannette will be buried at St. John the Baptist Cemetery in Valatie, NY at a time convenient to the family.  This is where Jeannette's parents and Tim's parents are buried.  This is also the most convenient visiting spot for family.  

Jeannette's full obituary will appear in the Burlington Free Press, the St. Albans Messenger, the Times Union in the Albany area, and the Register Star in Hudson, NY. 

The link to the funeral home is http://www.minorfh.com.  You can click on the link for Jeannette to see the obituary and leave online condolences.

The family is doing reasonably well this evening.  Tim's brother Terry and Terry's wife Lori are up, and Bob and Kathy Bessette are coming over after work.  Jeannette's brother Leo will also be coming in soon.

Thank you again to everyone for their outpouring of love and support. 

Jeannette passed away last night

Jeannette passed away peacefully in her sleep last night.  Tim and Jeannette's family has been notified.  I will post as soon as we have made arrangements.  Thank you so much for your support during this entire journey. 

Romans 8: 38, 39

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Some Bad News

After a week of sharp decline, Jeannette's visiting nurse said today that she believes Jeannette has about a week left to live.  Tim has called Jeannette's sister and brother, and they are coming in on Saturday, along with Jeannette's nephew Hank. Tim's sister-in-law Lori is staying through until Friday afternoon now, to continue to help Jeannette and the family.

Father Feltz came to visit this afternoon to give Jeannette Communion and the Sacrament of the Sick.  She was awake and aware and able to talk to him.  However, she has been sleeping very deeply for most of the past 2 days.

Currently Jeannette is still at home, but the hope is to get her into Respite House (a local Hospice center) as soon as possible.  She has some dissolve-able morphine tablets that she has taken to help with her pain (which has really only started up in the past 24 hours).  She is resting very comfortably. 

Obviously the speed of this drastic negative change in Jeannette's condition has taken all of us by surprise.  Tim has asked that people please not call the house, since the family is emotionally and physically exhausted.  However, Emily's parents Bob and Kathy Bessette will have all the most recent updates, and would be more than happy to talk to people "live" if that is helpful.  Their home number is 802 849 6773 and their cell number is 802 309 4953.  The Wills family can probably use Lori as their source of information since she is with the family right now.  I will also update the website at least daily from here on out.    

A Visitor

We are lucky enough to have Tim's sister-in-law Lori here right now. She is helping to take care of Jeannette while Jeff and Tim are at work, and also to just give them a small break. Emily's parents Bob and Kathy have taken some afternoons off to help as well.

Wednesday's Update

After a rough weekend, yesterday Jeannette couldn't keep any food down, but today she's kept down a little Ensure and baby food.  Home Health is going to start coming to keep an eye on her, and in an interesting twist the Home Health woman assigned to Jeannette is the same one who worked with Justin when he had his back surgery years ago.  Emily's parents brought over a shower chair they had, and a walker for Jeannette to use.  In order to get Jeannette stronger and better situated, Tim took this week off from work.  As anything progresses we will keep you updated. 

An Overnight Stay

Jeannette spent Thursday night in NMC hospital.  She had been in Dr. Thomas's St. Albans office awaiting a regular appointment when she became unresponsive.  Tim and the nurses couldn't bring her back around, so Jeannette was taken to the hospital, which was really only feet away.  After regulating her blood pressure (which was extremely low) and hydrating her and watching her overnight, she was released back home on Friday afternoon. 

Jeannette had a good weekend last weekend, including sitting at the table with the family and eating a somewhat normal dinner.  Then the rest of the week was a slow slide downhill.  It seems that when Jeannette is drinking and eating enough and properly hydrated, she needs blood pressure medication to keep it within a healthy range.  However, when she's dehydrated and weak, the blood pressure medicine drives her too low.  Jeannette also may have missed some pills last week, and a combination of a number a factors seems to have caused her episode.

Tim is going to call Home Health on Tuesday and set up some regular visits from those nurses.  They will monitor Jeannette's blood pressure/draw blood and do some physical therapy with Jeannette to work on getting her strength back up. 

When we go a long stretch without updating this blog, it just means that the status quo is the status quo.  A lot of the time we are just plugging along.  Thank you all for your continued support.

Several hospital visits later...

Jeannette went to the ER at Northwestern Medical Center two weeks ago, complaining of pain in her esophagus and stomach.  After an X-ray showed no blockage or major issue, Jeannette was hydrated and sent home with Maalox with lidocaine to help with pain and to sooth any damage medications had caused to her stomach and throat.

After a week of treatment with the Maalox Jeannette felt as if her symptoms were no better, so her primary care physician Dr. Miller told her to go to the ER at Fletcher Allen.  That is where she and Tim spent this past Friday. There she was again hydrated, and after drinking the dreaded barium solution, she was given a CT scan.  The scan again showed nothing that accounted for her symptoms.

Just to be sure nothing had been missed, Fletcher Allen scheduled an endoscopy for today, which Justin and Jeff took Jeannette to.  After the tube had been sent down her esophagus, the doctor reported back that there were a few erosions in Jeannette's stomach, but that they were nothing major.  He is sending a sample to be biopsied, but said that these small issues shouldn't account for how poorly she's been feeling.  Jeannette was again hydrated, and spent some time discussing good food options and ways to eat to help get her back on track.  Slow and steady is the trick, since Jeannette has barely eaten anything for nearly a month at this point.


Jeannette will continue to follow-up with Dr. Miller and work to get herself back on an even keel.  Many of her other symptoms (fatigue, lack of appetite, nausea, dizziness) will likely be solved by simply getting back to a normal pattern of eating.

A Few Photos of the Visit (so far)

 

 Mary, Leo, and Jeannette:  The Guelpas!

 Cousin Eric and Jeff

The Siblings again

 Henry, Mary, Martha, Leo, and Tim

A few updates

Thanks for your patience, everyone.  It's hard for us to post frequently when a) not a lot is changing, and b) not a lot is positive.  However, here is a little bit of an update.

The good news first: tomorrow (Saturday) Jeannette's sister Mary Wiethake, brother-in-law Henry, and nephew Eric are coming into town from Colorado!  They are visiting until Tuesday and staying with Justin and Emily.  On Sunday Jeannette's brother Leo and his partner Martha are coming up for the day and there will be a big family dinner at Justin and Emily's house.  It will be a nice chance for all the siblings to be together.

In other news, things haven't  progressed much from the last post.  Jeannette has good days and bad days.  She isn't sleeping well through the night and yesterday got a prescription for that.  Today she received hydration and medicine to help with a few digestion issues she's been having.  Jeannette has been on and off some other drugs, so it's hard to know which of her symptoms are caused by what.  Side effect of the medicine, side effects from coming off the medicine, a need for new medicine?  It's not easy to sort out.

Hopefully my next post will include pictures of Jeannette with her family, and a few shots from the Wiethake's visit with us. 

Holding Pattern

Today we received the results of the spinal tap: everything was clear!  The findings showed no abnormal cells and no elevated proteins, which means that there is no cancer on Jeannette's brain lining.

However, this good news was dampened by the fact that the oncologist has no clue what is causing Jeannette's symptoms.  She is still extremely parched even though she is drinking a huge amount and received IV hydration today and yesterday.  She is fatigued and yet has insomnia, can't eat even though she isn't really nauseated, and is generally just unwell.  Without a diagnosis, the doctor said he cannot treat her symptoms.  All the tests they have done on her (including the spinal tap, blood work, kidney function, etc) have come back clean.  Other than the obvious (lung cancer), Jeannette's sickness cannot be explained.

This is obviously very discouraging, but Dr. Thomas is starting Jeannette on a few new medicines and is hoping to see a difference.  He believes if we can get her sleeping more regularly then she will feel better want to eat more regularly, and that in turn will make her more well overall.  Only time will tell.

Staying Put

After having a good weekend, Jeannette was back to feeling less well today.  Also, Dr. Thomas has scheduled her follow-up appointment from the spinal tap for Wednesday afternoon.  For both of these reasons, the trip to the Cape has been officially called off for this summer.  It's too bad, because the entire family was looking forward to it, but it is the right thing to do. 

Hopefully Wednesday's appointment will give us more answers on how to keep Jeannette feeling better, and we will post another update after that. 

Kathy Bessette's 54th Birthday Party

Today was Emily's mom's birthday, and Jeannette was feeling well enough to join the party for a couple hours.  The difference between Thursday and today is amazing; truly it is like a gift from God.

On the menu?  Homemade pizza (four kinds), salad, chips, and chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream.  It was so nice for Jeannette to be able to visit with friends outside her own home.  Keep all the prayers and thoughts coming that the Cape might still be possible!

Got Steroids?

Since Thursday evening Jeannette has been on a fairly enthusiastic steroid regimen.  It seems to be helping quite a bit.  Friday evening she ate a turkey sandwich for dinner, and then this morning she had yogurt and fruit.  Tonight Justin and Emily joined her and Tim for supper, courtesy of Jeannette's sister Mary.  Jeannette ate some chips and coleslaw and the better part of a BLT.  Today she was also able to do some laundry, dead-head plants, play Solitaire on the computer, and generally just be more present.  Conversation at supper was lively, and Jeannette seemed to feel much better.  While we are well aware this isn't a cure, we are grateful for whatever we can get.

Late Friday evening Dr. Thomas called Jeannette and Tim and said the early spinal tap results did not show elevated proteins, which is good.  The final test results should be ready on Monday.  Even if the spots on Jeannette's brain lining are cancer, the spinal tap would only show conclusive evidence of the cancer 50% of the time.  If the spinal tap ends up being inconclusive, further steps would have to be taken to figure out exactly what is going on.  Regardless, Dr. Thomas said whatever is happening with Jeannette's brain lining is causing inflammation, and her body's reaction to that inflammation is making her feel ill.  Hence, the steroids, and they do seem to be helping her symptoms.

If a positive trend continues, there may still be hope for the Cape this coming week.  Send thoughts and prayers!

MRI Results

The whole family went to meet with Dr. Thomas today.  He said the results of the MRI showed a possible spread of the cancer to Jeannette's brain lining, though not the brain itself.  Tomorrow Dr. Thomas is going to try to do a spinal tap in his office to confirm the diagnosis; if he cannot complete the spinal tap, Jeannette would then go to Fletcher Allen to have it done.  The point of having Dr. Thomas attempt the tap is to cut down on time Jeannette would have spend away from home tomorrow.

If the tap does show cancer, there are several possible options, including chemotherapy delivered directly to the site via port.  If the tap does not show cancer, Dr. Thomas said he will have to rethink what could be causing Jeannette's symptoms (nausea, fatigue, dizziness, etc).  Either way, Dr. Thomas said many patients with this inflammation of the brain lining do well with steroids, so Jeannette is going to take some both tonight and tomorrow morning before her appointment. 

Tim and Jeannette are going to try to make headway on a serious sleep deficit; checking this blog would be the best way to keep up-to-date right now, rather than phone calls.

No Cape

Jeannette is not feeling well enough for us to go to the Cape this weekend.  She has had hydration three days in a row, and has testing scheduled for today and tomorrow.  We will post more information as it comes.  Keep your fingers crossed that possibly by next weekend Jeannette will be feeling up to a little vacation.

“Vitality shows not only...

...in the ability to persist, but the ability to start over.”  F. Scott Fitzgerald

I know it's been a little while since there's been an update, so we wanted to take a minute to catch everyone up.  Jeannette's last chemotherapy session was July 7th.  Since that time she has not really bounced back.  Jeannette has been very nauseated, extremely fatigued, super thirty, and overall just not herself.

This past weekend was especially difficult.  Tim and Jeannette went in to see Dr. Thomas's P.A. today, Christine.  Christine gave Jeannette fluids, and Tim said he could see some color returning to her cheeks as they waited.  Tomorrow they are going back in again for more fluids and to check on Jeannette's overall health, as compared with today.

Traveling to Cape Cod is still up in the air.  Clearly Jeannette doesn't feel well enough right now to make the trip, but things might change by closer to the weekend.  Justin and Emily weren't able to head down until Thursday anyway, so maybe everyone will just head down together at that point.  We will keep you all posted.  Cross your fingers that this vacation can happen; it is much needed by everyone! 

Every small setback and and every long day with Jeannette not herself feels like we're starting over, but we're persisting, as the quote says.  Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and meals and well-wishes.

An Update

Thank you again to everyone who is bringing Jeannette and the family food, or sending cards, or saying prayers.  It is truly appreciated.  

If things are starting to seem repetitive, that's because that's how they feel to us too.  Jeannette went in for chemotherapy on Thursday and again did half of what a regular dose would be, in the hopes of keeping her from feeling too ill.  Jeannette's treatment was in St. Albans; Justin drove her up for blood work and had lunch with her, then she received the chemo and Jeff picked her up.

Saturday evening through Sunday and into Monday morning is usually the span of time during which Jeannette
 feels the most ill, so she is laying low.  This is her last chemotherapy treatment until July 29th; next week she will receive a CT scan, and the following week she will be in Cape Cod!

Happy Fourth of July!

Second Round of the "New" Chemo

Last Thursday Jeannette received a new mix of chemotherapy.  Although she felt somewhat tired and sick last week, she was much improved from how she had been with the original chemo blend. 

Yesterday Justin took Jeannette to her treatment, and they found out that her blood pressure was quite low.  Because of this, Jeannette received only half a dose of chemo.  Last night she was feeling well enough to attend Emily's grandmother's 85th birthday party.  Today Jeannette was still feeingl up to going out shopping with Tim, who took the day off.

Next week Jeannette is again scheduled for treatments before taking two weeks off so she can enjoy a vacation, including some time in Cape Cod.

Yesterday's Chemo

Yesterday Jeannette had chemotherapy as scheduled- hooray! It was a type of chemo that was different from what Jeannette had been receiving. It took Jeannette less time to receive her dose, so that was good too. She is back on steroids and some other medications as of Thursday.

Right after the treatment Jeannette felt good, but some of the nausea is already beginning to set in. The hope is that the exhaustion with this new type of chemo will not be as severe.

A New Chemo Plan- Again!

At this point Jeannette has had two weeks off from chemotherapy.  Two weeks ago it was cancelled so her body could have some time to reset.  Last week it didn't happen because a new time had never been put into the books.

This week, chemotherapy was scheduled.  Kathy Bessette (Emily's mom) took Jeannette to breakfast and then Jeannette went to the lab and had her blood tests done by Bob Bessette (Emily's dad).  Tim then met her at the doctors and they talked about the treatment thus far.  They all decided it is best to try another type of chemo due to the fact that the original left her in "zombie mode".   Therefore they cancelled today's treatment.

The doctor took Jeannette off of the steroids and rescheduled chemotherapy for next week. They will then introduce a new type of treatment.  The doctor was encouraged to hear that Jeannette wasn't having any real pain.  Jeannette's next appointment will be next Thursday.

On another note, Jeannette and Tim and the family have firmed up some plans to head to Cape Cod for a week this summer.  Ocean breezes and lobster dinners... bring it on!

A few pictures

There are courtesy of Jeff!  Thanks Jeff!

This photo is of a flower arrangement Dan Gleason did for Jeannette.  Isn't he talented?  It looks sort of like a flower version of an ice cream sundae with a cherry on top.  Gorgeous!

This next photo is of Leo (Jeannette's baby brother) and Jeannette when Leo came up to visit over Memorial Day weekend.

You also probably noticed that the main photo on the heading of Jeannette's blog page has changed.  Several people requested that Emily show her face in the picture, so, by popular demand...

The new main photo was taken last night at the first Wills campfire of the season.

Mid-week Update

Since Jeannette's chemotherapy treatment last Thursday she had grown increasingly exhausted and unable to focus.  Finally today she and Tim went in to see the doctor, who agreed that the symptoms she was experiencing were excessive.

The doctor decided to postpone Jeannette's next chemotherapy treatment, which originally had been scheduled for tomorrow.  Instead, she will take this week off and resume chemotherapy next week.  Right now the doctor has also taken Jeannette off all the medications she was on, so they can "reset" her body and find out what may be causing her symptoms.

Jeannette received IV fluids and steroids while at the doctor's today, and she was prescribed oral steroids as well.  Already this evening Tim said she seemed more herself, so thankfully it seems like things are on an upswing again.

Jeannette's Second Chemotherapy Session

On Thursday, May 26th Jeannette had her second round of chemotherapy, this time at Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans which is much closer to her house.  Although she is quite fatigued, Jeannette is feeling less nauseated this time and Justin and Emily had dinner with her and Tim tonight after she got home from Mass.

Jeannette is suffering from a bit of
 

Tim decided to take advantage of this and challenged her to a game of Scrabble.  He insists this is the only way he'll ever have a chance to win.

Biopsy Part Two

Jeannette had the second biopsy today of the spot on her lung.  She said that it went well and she's resting comfortably at home, eating chicken soup and feeling somewhat better than she did over the weekend.  Her next chemotherapy session is scheduled for Thursday, so Jeannette is hoping that if the biopsy shows another type of chemotherapy treatment is an option, she'll know it by then. 

Update: post-chemo

Jeannette had her first chemotherapy treatment on Wednesday.  For the first couple of days afterward she felt really good, perhaps due in part to the steroids they had included with her chemo.  Since then, however, she has been quite nauseated and tired.

Her biopsy is still scheduled for Monday morning, which hopefully will lead to another type of treatment being available. 

Jeannette's First Day of Chemo

Today Jeannette had her first chemotherapy treatment at Fletcher Allen.  She was there for five hours, and reports that it went really well.  Jeannette had no adverse reactions to the chemo drugs like people sometimes do, and the doctors included steroids in the medicine to help alleviate the pain in her back.

A biopsy is scheduled for Monday so doctors can sample a bigger piece of the spot in Jeannette's lung.  They will be testing the tissue to see if a new pill form of treatment can be used for her.  Jeannette's next chemotherapy appointment is scheduled for a week from tomorrow (Thursday the 26th).  From here onward Jeannette will be able to receive her treatments in St. Albans instead of Colchester, so she will be much closer to home.

Thanks to everyone for the continued prayers and support. 

The Chemo Plan

On Tuesday (May 17) Jeannette will go to a class to learn about what she can expect throughout her time on chemotherapy.  On Wednesday (May 18) she will begin chemotherapy with a 3-4 hour session.  She will continue weekly sessions after that point for a duration to be determined.

Update from Jeannette's PET Scan and Follow-Up Appointment

Today (Wednesday, May 11th) Jeannette had a meeting with Dr. Thomas to follow-up on the PET scan she had Monday. 

The PET scan revealed that the cancer is not in any of Jeannette's organs other than the lung where it originated.  However, the cancer has spread to numerous bones in her body beyond those of her legs.

Next week our family will attend a meeting that lays out what to expect during chemotherapy, and chemotherapy will begin next week as well.  

"Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death."   ~Anonymous
"The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it."  ~C.C. Scott
"Do not be afraid of tomorrow; for God is already there."  ~Author Unknown

Next Up: The PET Scan

Jeannette's PET scan is scheduled for next Monday, May 9th.  She will meet with the oncologist on Wednesday, May 11th to hear the results of the scan anddecide how to proceed with treatment.

Prayer to Saint Peregrine

Jeannette's sister (Mary Wiethake) lives in Colorado.  Mary sent us prayers for healing, printed on beautiful paper.  Mary asked that we share some of the prayers here on Jeannette's site so that others might join in saying them.  Today's prayer is to St. Peregrine. 

St. Peregrine Laziosi, much like St. Paul, opposed the Church in his youth before converting.  When Peregrine was afflicted with cancer of the foot and amputation had been decided upon, he spent the night before the operation in prayer. The following morning he was completely cured. This miracle caused Peregrine's reputation to become widespread. He died in 1345 at the age of eighty-five, and he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.  (www.catholic.org/saints)

St. Peregrine, Patron Saint of those suffering from cancer, we confidently turn to you for help in Jeannette's present sickness.  We beg your kind intercession.  Ask God to relieve her of this sickness, if it be His Holy Will.  Plead with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Sorrows, whom you loved so tenderly, that she may help Jeannette through her powerful prayers and loving consolation.  But if it should be God's Holy Will that Jeannette bear this sickness, obtain for her the courage and strength to accept these trials with patience and resignation from the loving hand of God , because He knows what is best for the salvation of her soul.

St. Peregrine, be Jeannette's friend and patron.  Help her to imitate you in accepting suffering, and to unite herself with Jesus Crucified and the Mother of Sorrows, as you did.  We offer Jeannette's pains to God with all the love of our hearts, for His glory and the salvation of souls, especially our own.  Amen. 

Meeting With Oncologist Today

Jeannette met with an oncologist, Dr. Thomas, today at Fletcher Allen.  The meeting was to discuss other treatment plans now that Jeannette has completed radiation on her legs.  Dr. Thomas said he wanted to order a PET scan before they decide upon a chemotherapy regime.  His office is working to schedule that scan for later this week, and after that we will know a lot more.

Sometimes, taking things in small steps is good.  See below:

 

The Second Week of Radiation

Jeannette's second week of radiation has been progressing as expected so far.  Family members and friends have been taking turns keeping her company on the trip to and from the hospital.  On Wednesday Jeannette even snuck in a bit of a girls' night out with a few ladies! 

We all continue to appreciate the support and love everyone has expressed for Jeannette and her family.  Thank you!

Two Positives

Jeannette just finished her first week of radiation; since she only has two weeks of radiation ordered at this point, that means she's halfway through!  Jeannette says her legs have been causing her less pain, which is likely due to both the radiation and the new combination of medication she is on.  Regardless of the reason, we are grateful! 

Also, Jeannette had another scan done on Thursday the 21st to see if the cancer had metastasized to her brain as well.  The results came back today and they are negative- no cancer in the noggin!  This is certainly cause for a happy dance.

We wish everyone a wonderful Easter. 

Good Friday

"Without the victory of the Resurrection, the death of Jesus would have been in vain. For death by itself is no victory, no matter how well-meaning the sacrificial lamb, no matter how noble the cause. Through His resurrection, Christ broke the power of death once and for all time. Salvation was not completed only because of the cross. It was completed by the victory of the empty tomb.  'Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.'"    

                                                                                                                      ~Katherine Walden

A Big "Thank You"

Jeannette wanted to thank everyone who has said they are praying for her, as well as everyone who has offered support in so many ways.  It means a lot to her, and to the family.

"As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily.  The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world."   

                                                                                                                                  ~Terri Guillemets

 

Did You Know?

**  that 40% of people have already progressed to Stage IV lung cancer by the time they are diagnosed (like Jeannette has)?

**  that over 220,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year in the U.S.?

** that 160,000 people die annually from lung cancer - more than breast, colon and prostrate combined?.

**  that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women?

**  that the average lifetime chance that a woman will develop lung cancer is 1 in 16?  


Why aren't there huge Walks and Races and Whatevers for the Cure of Lung Cancer?  Lung cancer does not receive the publicity that it is due; sadly, perhaps this is because there is a low survivor rate and therefore there are fewer people to advocate for the need for awareness, research, and fund raising.  One very real way we can all support Jeannette is to raise money for research and to push for earlier diagnostic tools for lung cancer.   

Jeannette's First Radiation Treatment

Today was Jeannette's first session of radiation therapy at Fletcher Allen Health Care.  Justin drove her to her appointment for 12:45pm, and he found it very easy to park and get to the Radiation/Oncology area of the hospital.  The location was very "user friendly", he said.

At her appointment last Thursday, Jeannette had tattoos done on her legs to show doctors where to focus the radiation.  However, at today's appointment they redid x-rays to make sure that the tattoos' placements were accurate.  The actual radiation took only about 15 minutes to administer.  It was a totally comfortable procedure for Jeannette.  The nurse who was present was able to provide helpful insight and advice on managing the pain in Jeannette's knees, and suggested combining two medications for maximum effect.  Jeannette liked her nurse very much.     

Jeannette knows her radiation therapy schedule for the rest of this week, and has family members to drive her on any day that she chooses to use them; she is able to drive herself if she wishes. 

What Cancer Cannot Do

Cancer is so limited.
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.

How We Got Here

Jeannette had been having pain in her right knee.  An MRI showed a tumor on the bone.  The doctors ordered a follow-up chest CT scan and bone scan because they knew the tumor didn't originate in the knee.  The CT scan showed a golfball-sized growth in the upper lobe of Jeannette's right lung.  The bone scan showed spots on both femurs.  A needle biopsy was performed Tuesday, April 12th.  As a result of the biopsy Jeannette learned that she has Stage IV lung cancer.

On Monday, April 18th Jeannette begins two weeks of radiation specifically to her legs.  The radiation is intended to shrink the tumors on the bones in her legs.  This will help to reduce the pain that is resulting from the tumors, and hopefully stop bone deterioration.  Jeannette is able to drive herself to these appointments, which may only last 15 minutes apiece. 

After the radiation is done chemotherapy will start, because the cancer has traveled through Jeannette's blood.  The chemotherapy will begin sometime after May 2nd.     

Welcome

Hello, friends and family.  This blog is a place for Jeannette to update you on her cancer journey.  Please check back here often for pictures, information, and to lend your support.