Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Today we saw Laura, Dr. Agerwal's nurse practitioner, just to follow up on how Mom is doing.  Not a lot really happened.  Just routine follow up.  It was decided that Mom should go ahead and have a port placed for her chemo.  I will attach an explanation of what a chemo port is at the end of this post for those who aren't familiar with them.  She is scheduled to have the port placed on Friday, Jan. 6th.

Since it's the week of Christmas, Jeff thought it would be fun to wear his Santa suit (after all he IS the real Santa).  It was really fun for everyone.  People stopped him all day telling him what they wanted for Christmas and he gave out candy canes.  One doctor came over and asked if she could take his picture to show her kids that Santa showed up at her work to check up on the kids.  He walked around to many of the patients and it brought a lot of joy to them as well. Lots of smiles!

After her appointment with Laura, Mom went to the infusion center for her chemo treatment.  All the nurses up at Huntsman are wonderful, but there is one nurse in particular that we have really felt connected to.  Her name is Tawnie, and she has really helped Mom so much!  She is truly an angel!  We are so very grateful to her for her tender loving care of Mom.

What is Chemotherapy Port
A chemotherapy port is a relatively simple and painless way to deliver chemotherapy drugs into the body. Chemotherapy is a medical treatment for cancer, which can have many harsh side effects. A chemotherapy port can be a more comfortable way of administering chemotherapy and also prove safer for the patient’s overall health.
Chemotherapy is usually given in cycles of treatment that can last for a few days to several weeks. Several drugs are often involved in a course of this treatment often administered through the use of a drip or IV line. If no port is installed for a patient, this can mean multiple needle sticks not only for the drugs, but also to draw blood for tests.
Finding a vein from which to draw blood and then yet more usable veins for IV lines can be difficult even in a relatively healthy person. For a cancer patient, this can be even more problematic, since they might already be experiencing physical issues and side effects from the treatment as well as from the disease. Common side effects of chemotherapy are nausea and vomiting, weight loss, anemia, fatigue, and increased chance of infections.
The consequence of vomiting and weight loss is dehydration. Dehydration can make the skin overly sensitive and cause finding veins suitable for an IV line or blood draw difficult to locate. Anemia is the result of the low white blood cell count caused by chemotherapy treatments and other treatments the patient might be taking such as radiation therapy. This low white blood cell count is one of the causes of an increased risk of infection. Every needle stick then becomes a possible entry point for infection to such a patient.
It’s also natural that the more a patient is stuck with needles at a time when they are already feeling sick can cause apprehension and be emotionally draining. In short multiple injections, blood drawing, and IV jabs make a bad situation even worse.
A chemotherapy port or portacath is a medical appliance installed beneath the skin. A mild anesthesia is used on the site reducing the pain. A catheter then connects the chemotherapy port to a vein. Drugs can then be injected into or blood can be drawn through this port. This reduces the pain a patient will experience during chemotherapy and a single site is easier to keep free of infection.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Attended church today with Mom and Dad.  Mom was doing well but seemed a little tired still.  She was ready to go home and rest after it was over.

Thought it would be fun and very meaningful to Mom to hear of how she has impacted each of you.  So if any of you have a special memory, or experience you have with Mom or if she has touched you in some way and you would like to share it with her, you can send it in an email to judysjourney2011@gmail.com.

So many times in life, people touch your life in ways they never would have expected or realized.  It never hurts to know who and how you may have impacted someone for good.  I hope each of you are able to see ways you have touched the lives of others in a positive way this Christmas season.  Much love to you all!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Christmas shopping was on the list of things to do today.  Mom was all decked out in her festive Christmas red and ready to hit the stores.  With her walker we have to slow her down sometimes.  She's a woman on a mission! 

Mom was quite the trooper today.  She got through half of the shopping before she needed to use the wheel chair to rest at bit. 

Dad wore his Santa hat and of coarse was stopped by every small child, teenager and even some adults to pose for pictures and listen to wishes.  Its fun to see each child's eyes light up when they see him.

I just had to snap this shot.  It warms my heart to see them walking arm in arm.

Friday, December 16, 2011

With Christmas quickly approaching, and so much going on, we thought we had better do some Christmas baking as it has been a tradition in our family for as far back as we can remember.  We have a list of cookies that we always bake.  We started today with sugar cookies and thought the kids would have fun decorating them.

We ended up with three batches of sugar cookies.  The kids had fun decorating the cookies and we took over when they decided they were done.

Dad enjoyed a nice nap while we baked.  :)

Monday, December 12, 2011

This morning Tai and Anthony had an orchestra concert at school.  It was the first one that Grandma and Grandpa were able to attend, so it was really fun!

Tai plays the violin.

Anthony plays the cello. 

They did a really good job.  The boys wouldn't smile to save their lives, trying to be cool.

All the kids in the assembly kept looking back at Santa Clause, in disbelief that he was really there.  It was very entertaining to watch. The kids all behaved very well as they knew they were being watched.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

It's cold outside and the inversion has set in, so it's smoggy outside.  Since it's going to get colder, we thought we should head downtown to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.

It was very crowded.  But we made our way to the nativity and watched as the story was narrated. It was beautifully done and all enjoyed seeing it.  Lizzy (my three year old) kept telling everyone to be quiet so they don't wake up the baby Jesus.

The nativity presentation was long enough that we were all cold and ready to go inside the North Visitor's Center to warm up a bit.

We wheeled Mom up the ramp to see the beautiful statue of the Savior.  There were so many people there we couldn't get pictures any closer.

Soon we were outside again looking at the lights.  I didn't get very many good pictures of the lights because I had to try to keep up with everyone and didn't want to loose any children.

Mom was well bundled!

These lights were floating in the reflection pool around another Nativity scene.  They add a really cool effect.

Doug, Jill and Mom

Everyone standing in front of the fountain, looking back at the temple.

It was a beautiful night, and we were so glad we were able to share this experience with Mom and Dad.  And at this point we were ready for some hot chocolate!

So back to Mom and Dad's apartment we went, and Grandpa made everyone some wonderful hot chocolate.

Liz was putting make-up on Grandma

We made another great memory tonight.  We are so blessed and grateful that we are able to spend this Christmas with Mom and Dad. 

Monday, December 5, 2011

Today we took Mom up to Huntsman to see the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Randle.  He wanted to check and see how her hip pain was relative to the tumor on her pelvis.  So they did several new x-rays and included her right femur bone as well since they found a shadow on it in the last x-ray done when she was in the ER almost 2 weeks earlier.  At the time the radiologist said it was a possible tumor but they weren't quite sure. 

Well today, they still aren't sure but want to give it another 6 weeks and see how Mom does.  She still has pain when ever she is up and walking around.  She can't walk for very long without it bothering her. 

From the x-rays, the tumor on her pelvis hasn't changed at all.  So that's good that it hasn't grown anymore.  Dr. Randle wants to see her in 6 weeks to see if she needs to have a hip replacement.  So for now we just keep her from running marathons and wait and see.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

My kids are convinced that Grandpa Jeff is in fact the REAL Santa Clause.  After all, all the evidence proves it!  He has the white hair, the white beard, the deer, the suit and the red truck, (which he drives around when it's not Christmas Eve, so he doesn't wear out the deer).

Well, today Anthony came running in so excited because Grandpa's reindeer were here!  They come over every now and again to check up on Grandma and Grandpa and make sure things are in order for Christmas.  Today it was Dasher, Dancer, Cupid, and Vixen.  We could see them from our sliding glass door.

(Now don't disappoint the kids by telling them that these are mule deer and not reindeer.)

It's been really fun for all the kids to have Grandma and Grandpa around this Christmas season!

Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011

Today was a big day as well as a very full day for Mom.  She decided she wanted to go look for a wig today.  So Jill, Dad and I took her to shop for a wig. 

Everyone really liked this one...

except for Jeff.

This was his pick....

We didn't like it so much.

So we tried this one.

Mmmm, but we didn't love it.

Then we tried this one...

It was a hit!  Ding, Ding, Ding, Winner!

All that wig shopping was making Mom hungry for ice cream.  So where do you go in the Salt Lake Valley when you want a great shake?  Iceberg of course!

Lizzy and Grandma are kindred spirits.  They both LOVE their ice cream!

 This is a mini-iceberg.

And Lizzy ate about 2/3 of it!  Grandma did pretty well too but didn't eat as much as Lizzy this time!

Mom's right leg seems to be bothering her a little more each day so we thought she might need to have a wheelchair when she wants to go places that would just be too much for her to walk with the walker.  One of our dear neighbors offered to let us use a wheelchair that she has for as long as we need it which was very kind of her.

Every year here in Sandy, Utah, there is a Festival of Trees at the South Town Expo Center.  This is where people donate beautifully decorated trees, wreaths, centerpieces, mantle pieces and gingerbread houses to be sold to raise money for Primary Children's Hospital. 

 

Mom and Dad wanted to go and see it and since we now have a wheelchair for Mom to use we decided to go.  It was beautiful!  And very touching.  Most of the items were made as a tribute to a loved one who had passed away from cancer or families of children who were patients at Primary Children's Hospital.

This was a beautiful nativity mantlepiece.  It was very moving.

I started taking pictures, but it was getting hard to push the wheelchair and take pictures at the same time.  And there were thousands of people there!  I didn't want to lose anyone.

It was a great activity for our family to share with Mom and Dad.  Dad wore his Santa hat and all the children that saw him would run up to him and hug him or ask to have a picture with him or just tell him that they had been really good this year.  It was really sweet!

It was also a rather emotional night as well.  As we walked around and looked at different displays, I was reminded of different projects my mother and I worked on when I was a child.  It brought back so many warm memories.  Mom is a very talented lady.  I am so grateful to her for sharing those talents with me and teaching me so many different skills.  They have greatly enriched and blessed my life.  It's truly an honor to be one of her daughters.  Love you so very much Mom!