She's home!

10-25-09 Kecia is home! She was so happy to see her "baby", Min Penny. (her dog) She called to let me know she was home, and then she crashed. We all know that the hospital is the last place on earth that a person can get any rest, so she was exhausted. I called to check on her and Jeanie said she had awakened briefly to eat and then went right back to sleep so I guess she is going to catch up on all that she missed this week. They are still keeping a close eye on her complications, but her doctor is very pleased with her recovery. Thank you all so much for keeping our family in your prayers. We are very much aware of them, especially in times of need and the comfort and strength they bring are indescribable!

still in the hospital

Saturday (don't know the date) Kecia thought she would be out by now, but some minor complications have her staying at least one more day. Her blood counts are pretty low so they gave her a transfusion yesterday. It took 4 bags to get her to a "safe" level. Her doctor said she may need another today. Her epidural which has so far controlled her pain pretty well, was removed yesterday and her pain level increased quite a bit. Also, one of her incisions kept bleeding (probably due to her low blood levels) and they wanted to keep an eye on that. Otherwise, she is doing great! She really looks good and her spirits are high. She has had alot of visitors and one of her friends, decorated her room all bright and cheery. As far as hospital stays go..this was a pretty good one. She has really appreciated all the visits, flowers, cards, calls and prayers. I'll let you know when she gets home.

Out of Surgery

Kecia is out of surgery and in her room. They didn't get her back into the O.R. until 2:30 and then it was a 5 hour surgery. I don't know all of the details but Jeanie said the doctor reported that everything went great...just as planned and that Kecia's body responded wonderfully throughout the surgery. She spend an hour in the recovery room and within minutes of arriving at her own room she began the inspection of her body. (so like Kecia isn't it?) A few minutes more and she started trying to text people. She wasn't really able to do it but Jeanie says it was funny to watch her try and pick up right were she left off. I appreciate all of the people who have been praying for Kecia on a daily basis. Knowing that there are literally thousands of people praying for her has given Kecia the strength and courage to face some unbelievably difficult things in the past year. I will talk with her in the morning to get the full story and I'm going up to see her tomorrow evening so I will send out another update after I get back. God bless each of you for taking the time to love our family and for investing yourselves in this very emotional journey. You are GREAT company to keep!

Reconstruction

10-15-09 (I hope that's the right date) I have so much to tell you that I'm not even sure where to start. Hold on tight..here we go....When they found Kecia's brain cancer they wanted to do a CAT scan because it can show everything in greater detail but they couldn't because her breast shields contain metal. Her new doctor (who is really her old doctor), Dr. Wazenski, wants to get that done ASAP so it is scheduled for this coming Tuesday the 21st. She will do her last radiation treatment that morning and then check into the hospital for a 1pm surgery. She will be at Medical City in Dallas. I'll let everyone know the room number when I get one. They are going to do the complete reconstruction right then so Kecia will have "real" fake boobs instead of shields when she leaves the hospital. YEAH! Maybe those will help take her mind off of the fact that her beautiful hair has once again fallen out and left her bald. She made it all the way up until Tuesday with very little hair loss. Then yesterday it just starting coming out in huge clumps. It's really hard for her, but she is taking it like the trooper that she is and tries to stay focused on things that she can affect like work and staying current on medical research. I'm not sure if I already told you this, but her doctor also wants her undergo a procedure called gamma knife radiation. It would involve her wearing a halo to stablize her head and neck while the doctor drills holes in her skull where the 4 cancer spots are located. They then use this gamma knife to remove anything left after radiation including the "mark" that is left even after the cancer is dead. If she is doing well after reconstruction he would like to do this procedure about 2 weeks later. She is nervous about it because she has to be awake for the whole thing. I can't even imagine how unsettling it would be to hear a hole being drilled into your head. She is, however, excited about the chance to completely rid her brain of cancer. Once they are able to do a CAT scan they will know more whether or not they will move forward with this gamma radiation. As of this morning Kecia was saying that she thinks she would like to have visitors once she is feeling better after her reconstruction surgery. She guesses that should be around Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. Of course it will depend on her recovery, but I will try to keep you all updated so you can gage when to stop by. I know there is something else I wanted to tell you but I'm in information overload and this is all I can remember right now. It would be easy to see why Kecia might be down and depressed with all this frightening medical stuff going on, but thanks to all of your prayers, Kecia is in remarkably good spirits. An amazing peace has come over her and she feels mentally and physically ready to handle these challenges. I have no doubt that this is an example of our prayers in action. Please continue to lift her up in prayer especially as the day of surgery draws near.

Great News

10-11-09 After lowering Kecia's steroid from 15 mg to 4 mg per day Kecia is back to her old self! She is feeling much better and was able to get caught up on her work. Her doctor thinks she is lucky not to have had a heart attack on such a high dose. Fortunatly they were able to catch the mistake and correct it before anything serious happened. Another praise...Kecia was told that the radiation would cause her brain to swell, giving her severe headaches, but so far she has not had either. She does have alot of "scalp pain" which she describes like a bad sunburn all over her head, but she says it is tolerable and not a big deal. She is about 3 days into the first chemo pill and so far so good. She will start the second one next week. She is a little concerned about the cost of her medications as the first pill is costing her about $90 per week and she was told that the second one is considerably higher. Say a prayer of thanksgiving this week as we are so grateful to have fixed Kecia's prescription problem! But also a request that her finances are able to cover her meds.

new treatment

10-08-09 Kecia was concerned that her doctor wasn't doing the most aggressive form of treatment so she went to her old oncologist for a second opinion. As expected, he said that if he were treating Kecia he would be doing a few things differently:
1. he would do a treatmemt called gamma radiation that puts electrods directly on the cancer and radiates them
2. he would do the full hysterectomy instead of just an ovarectomy
3. he would be doing chemo now instead of waiting until she finishes radiation

These are things Kecia was wanting to do so she has decided to go back to Dr. Wazenski for treatment. (She left him originally because his clinic and staff were having problems that were affecting the treatment she was getting. He has since moved to a hospital nearby so she is hoping these problems will not get in the way again.)

Kecia found out yesterday afternoon that she does not qualify for the trial study because she does not have any cancer in her soft tissue (aside from the brain) and that is a requirement. So that takes one big decision off her plate. We were praying for an obvious reason to either go forward or reject the trial and it couldn't be more obvious that she will NOT be in the study. We are thankful that Kecia doesn't have to make that decision.

Dr. Wazenski also said that the reason that Kecia has been in a constant state of "panic attack" is because she is on a huge dose of steroid to keep her brain from swelling from the radiation. He dropped it from a 15 (mg I assume) to 4. If she starts showing symptoms of brain swelling he will increase the dose to control it, but try to keep her low enough to avoid the constant panicky feeling.

She started the chemo pills today:one is taken four times a day, the other is taken two times a day. She can expect to be pretty sick for a few weeks. But once all the cancer is gone he will lower her to a maintenancw dose.

They are already looking for a surgeon to do her hysterectomy in the immediate future. Will update more when I know more. We are so thankful to each of you who have stood by Kecia's side through this whole ordeal!

10-06-09 I went with Kecia to her appointments yesterday and it broke my heart to see what she goes through just to make sure that she wakes up to another day. Before her body can be pushed back into the machine that shoots radiation to the cancer site, her head must first be positioned exactly right. From her chest up she is strapped down on the table. Her shoulders are secured tightly so that she can't move even a fraction of an inch. A large mask (I will call it for lack of a better word) that is as deep as her head is strapped tightly over her face and then secured to the table. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to complete the actual radiation, but it ends each day with Kecia in a full blown panic attack. She can hardly breath, and she is helpless to move to a position that would allow her to take deeper breaths. They administered a medication to help with anxiety, but she is shaking and dripping with sweat when they are done. The tech said that it is so tramatic that children are automatically put under for the daily procedure. It broke my heart to see her so exhausted and terrified!
The radiologist reported that there were no other cancer tumors in her body. Praise God! They did blood work to determine if there is estrogen still being produced inspite of her "menapause shot". If there is, that will explain how the ones in her brain were able to grow. Also, they definatly want to switch her to a different chemo since it did not stop the growth. If there is estrogen in her body she will have to get an ovarectomy (remove the ovaries), but Kecia has decided that regardless of the results she wants them removed. In fact, she would like a complete hysterectomy unless there is a good medical reason why she should keep the uterus. She meets with the GYN-oncologist next week to discuss and schedule that surgery.
She has also decided to go forward with the Trial Study if she is accepted. They said they will not take her is she is using the menapause shot, but they will if she has her ovaries removed. She is applying for the study now but will not know until a few days before if she is actually qualified. There are alot of things that can happen at the last minute that could disqualify her. (low blood counts, hospitalization, sickness)
You may be thinking "well, Kecia has definatly decided to continue with treatment" and physically she has, but emotionally she is not committed to her recovery. She is in a serious state of depression. When given "good" news, it's as if it doesn't really register to her. I believe she is in constant fear and it is consuming her. Please pray for Kecia's emotional and spiritual peace and resolve. I am praying that God will help Kecia find the inner strength and fight that she is known for. I am praying that He will surround her with His presence and pour peace all around her.

Trial Study

10-02-09 Kecia has decided to once again fight and not give in to the cancer that keeps attacking her body. She now faces another very important decision. Her doctors think that she will qualify for a new trial study of a certain chemo pill. The pros would be that it is supposed to target cancer on the brain and it would be taken orally rather than through IV. The cons are that it has not yet proven itself and is still in the trial stages and that she would have to have no treatments for 2 weeks before she could begin. This would mean giving the cancer 2 extra weeks to spread and grow without even knowing if the treatment will work. She will be told on Monday if she qualifies. She needs to know by then if she is going to do it or stick to her more traditional methods. If she does not enter the trial, her doctor has another chemo that he hopes will supress the cancer and that she will not be resistant to. She is so scared of making the wrong decision. It is little more than a guess one way or another. We were only able to speak on the phone for a few minutes while she was between scans so I don't know if there is more info or if that is all she has to make her decision with. She asked that I send out an urgent request asking everyone to pray that God will speak to her in a way that she can understand and help her make the best decision. She should also have the results of her full body scan by Monday afternoon to determine whether the cancer is contained in her brain or if it has spread elsewhere. Please keep praying about that as well.

Bald but Beautiful

10-1-09 Kecia's mom just called me and said that they have taken Kecia's measurements and will do her first radiation treatment in about an hour. Both she and Kecia were crying. Her doctor talked to her about the side effects of radiation on the brain. She should expect to have severe headaches, nausea, severe fatigue, and 100% hair loss. Only two weeks ago she started going in to work a few hours a week and joined the Bible study where she is developing new friendships. She commented that it finally felt like she was getting her life back. She bought a few nice skirts, has long hair again (even if it isn't her own) and was trying to get back in shape. Realizing that she is starting over is so painful for her. Thank you all for you constant prayer. We have seen God work a miracle for Kecia once. Let's ask Him to do it again. I am praying for complete recovery from cancer!