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.